MKS Instruments price target raised to $120 from $96 at Needham

Needham analyst James Ricchiuti raised the firm’s price target on MKS Instruments to $120 from $96 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. MKS shares have outperformed many of the company’s peers in the last three months, which Needham attributes to a combination of modestly improving optimism in a WFE recovery, a stable macro backdrop and potential for incremental debt reduction and lower interest expense over the next year, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm is more confident on the margin on MKS’s prospects for 2024, but thinks the year will begin slowly, reflecting the mixed outlook for the semi business and a seasonally slow start in the Electronics and Packaging business.