Needham & Co. Inc. Recommends FLEX, ASTX
April 6, 1999--Analysts at Needham & Co. recently upgraded
their investment opinions of Flextronics International Ltd. and
Applied Science and Technology Inc. (ASTX) to STRONG BUYs
from BUYs. For full article, please go to the Multex Investor Network.
(http://www.multexinvestor.com/magazine.asp?ref=newbuys19990405.html)
and
New Buys and Initiations Needham & Company, Inc.
Recommends FLEX, ASTX April 5, 1999
The Multex Investor Network presents recent BUY
recommendations and initiations of coverage from
select brokerage firms.
Flextronics International Ltd. (FLEX)
Analyst John J. McManus recently upgraded his investment
opinion of Flextronics International to STRONG BUY from
BUY due to a rise in revenue and earnings-per-share growth
rates. He forecasts future growth of 30% per year coming
from acquisitions and technology purchases, and from
internal growth.
Flextronics is the fourth-largest turnkey electronics maker
for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in industries
ranging from medical to communications. Flextronics has
worked to build a customer base that includes major blue-chip
companies like Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) and Cisco Systems.
McManus believes the company's reach will continue to grow as
it "is expanding capacity worldwide and acquiring technology
and equipment assets to access new customers and boost revenue
growth." During fiscal-year 1998, Flextronics acquired Neutronics,
Altatron and Conexao, as well as Ericsson Business Networks'
manufacturing facilities. Each of these acquisitions has aided
the company in its goal to become an efficient, low-cost, skilled
contract manufacturer. As a testament to its success, the company
reported fiscal-1998 revenue in excess of $1 billion.
Needham & Co.'s fiscal-year 1999 earnings estimate for Flextronics
is $1.23 per share, a rise of 38% over fiscal-1998's reported
$0.89 per share. McManus raised his fiscal-year 2000 EPS estimates
to $1.58 from $1.55 and forecasts fiscal-2001 EPS of $2.05. These
estimates represent an increase of 29% per year for the next two
years. Based on year-2000 EPS expectations, his valuation target
for Flextronics is between $50 and $60. Shares of FLEX recently
traded at $49 11/16. |
