UPDATE: Goldman Sachs Ups Target to $7 on LSI

Goldman Sachs maintains its Neutral rating on LSI

and raises its price target by 50 cents to $7 on strong guidance from the company. Goldman Sachs says, "LSI reported 4Q11 sales of $523 mn (down 4% qoq), in line with the Street at $527 mn, and at the midpoint of guidance (down 9% to up 1% qoq). Operating EPS came in at $0.11 (inc. ESOs), just ahead of GS at $0.10 on a $0.02 tax benefit, partly offset by slightly lower revenue and lower gross margin. 1Q12 guidance is for revenues to be $550 – 590 mn (up 5% to 13% qoq) - well above the Street at $510 mn and GS at $515 mn. Gross margin was guided to be 50% to 52% (ex. charges), with OpEx up around $17 mn qoq on SandForce costs." LSI closed at $7.08 a share yesterday.