Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore said he has become less constructive on semiconductor stocks through the year and he now believes elevated inventory levels and stretched lead times leave "no margin for error." Given his view that any lead time adjustment or demand slowdown could drive a "meaningful correction," Moore has downgraded his semiconductor industry view to Cautious from In-Line. He favors connector companies, like Amphenol (APH) and TE Connectivity (TEL) over analog/MCU at this point in the cycle, due to lower risk around lead time issues, Moore said. He also has a "strong preference" for high margin and more defensive models, such as Analog Devices (ADI) over lower margin and commodity exposed ones, like Cypress Semiconductor (CY) and ON Semiconductor (ON), he said. Despite his more cautious view on the space, Moore keeps Overweight ratings on Nvidia (NVDA), Xilinx (XLNX) and Ambarella (AMBA), citing his view that they should benefit from secular growth in the area of AI, data center, and autonomous. Other semiconductor names include Microchip (MCHP), Qorvo (QRVO), Micron (MU), Intel (INTC), Broadcom (AVGO) and Qualcomm (QCOM).

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.

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Microsoft (MSFT) is scheduled to report results of the third quarter of its fiscal year 2024 after the market close on Thursday, April 25, with a conference call scheduled for 5:30 pm ET. What to watch... To see the rest of the story go to thefly.com. See Story Here

Check out this morning's top movers from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly. UP AFTER EARNINGS... To see the rest of the story go to thefly.com. See Story Here

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.

Sees Q3 revenue $4B, consensus $4.11B. The company said, "For the third quarter of fiscal 2024, the company expects net sales of approximately $4.0 billion. GAAP EPS from continuing operations are expected to be approximately $1.71, up 2% year over year, with adjusted EPS of approximately $1.85, up 5% year over year. Third quarter guidance includes a $0.15 year-over-year headwind from tax and currency exchange rates."

BofA raised the firm's price target on Texas Instruments (TXN) to $190 from $175 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. TI's small Q1 beat and inline but sequentially rising Q2 sales guidance, "while modest, potentially marks a recovery inflection in industrial chip demand," with positive read-across for U.S. peers such as Analog Devices (ADI), Microchip (MCHP), NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) and On Semiconductor (ON), the analyst tells investors. However, despite an expected recovery, TI's sustained high capex intensity could keep reported calendar year 2024-26 pro-forma EPS below $6 per share, the analyst added.