Cohu upgraded to Buy from Neutral at B. Riley

B. Riley analyst Craig Ellis upgraded Cohu to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $50, up from $38. The analyst believes a “slew of substantive” operations and product gains are underway this downcycle to position the company for strong revenue acceleration with gross margin expansion when spending inflects. The firm says the shares are “still-cheap” at current levels. The firm says optimism is “convincingly rising” that solid 2024 and 2025 capex growth lies ahead for semiconductor capital equipment names. FBR believes the fundamental profile and recent stock action mean investors again view semi caps as a growth cyclical, a stance that it believes should be supported if end demand can gradually improve.