Tuesday, March 25, 2014

"J.P. Morgan: Stratasys Share Decline Is Chance to Buy a ‘Core Holding’" (SSYS)

Monday the stock closed at $107.02 up 57 cents.
From MoneyBeat:
Shares of 3-D printing firm Stratasys Ltd. are down, but J.P. Morgan ChaseJPM +1.50% & Co. says the company still has plenty of ink left in the well.

Stratasys and other makers of 3-D printers, including 3-D Systems Corp. and ExOne Co., all fell last week after Hewlett-Packard Co. CEO Meg Whitman hinted to shareholders that her firm is looking to enter the commercial 3-D printing market. H-P, she said, had conquered some of the speed and reliability issues that have prevented widespread adoption of the technology in the past, and was set to reveal more about its plans in June.

But J.P. Morgan analyst Paul Coster says the 10% decline in Stratasys shares over three days last week created an “attractive entry point” for investors looking to buy in to a firm he says is the “best-in-class” pick among the existing 3-D printer companies. Stratasys, he wrote in a note to clients Monday, should be “a core holding for tech growth investors.”

While H-P “certainly has brand, distribution and technology” on its side, “the advantage lies with the incumbents,” Mr. Coster wrote.

In the note, Mr. Coster upgraded his rating on the shares to “overweight” from “neutral,” and reiterated his $125-per-share price target for the end of 2014. The stock was up 1.2% to $107.68 Monday afternoon amid news of the upgrade....MORE
GigaOm reports there is nothing coming out of Hewlett-Packard for a while yet.