Longbow analyst Shawn Harrison says his firm's final Q1 checks indicate that global connector and component sales rose modestly versus its March 2 checks. As a result, the analyst expects Amphenol's Q1 results to beat expectations. However, he thinks that the company will delay increasing its 2017 organic sales guidance until it gets more clarity on increases in mobile device production in 2H17.

BofA raised the firm's price target on Amphenol to $124 from $121 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares after the company reported revenue and EPS that beat both guidance and Street estimates. Following the report, the firm is raising EPS estimates and reiterates its Buy rating, citing strong execution, improving margins, positive estimate revisions and potential for AI driven upside.

UBS analyst Chris Snyder raised the firm's price target on Amphenol to $138 from $135 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. Amphenol's IT Datacom business reported 28% organic growth in the quarter, and the v-shaped recovery is due in large part to the company's outsized Data Center exposure, which is hitting the AI opportunity following a sharp period of destock, compounding the acceleration, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Assuming Amphenol hits their guidance and the non-AI business is flat to up 10% sequentially, the firm sees AI revenue of $190M-$240M in Q2, potentially doubling the firm's previous estimate.

In April, the Company purchased the remaining authorized amount of common stock under the existing three-year, $2B stock repurchase plan. On April 23, the company's board of directors approved a new three-year, $2B open market stock repurchase plan.

Bullish option flow detected in Amphenol with 7,956 calls trading, 8x expected, and implied vol increasing over 3 points to 32.37%. May-24 125 calls and May-24 115 calls are the most active options, with total volume in those strikes near 6,000 contracts. The Put/Call Ratio is 0.20. Earnings are expected on April 24th.