Maxim Group Maintains Buy, $38 PT on Cree Post CFO Departure

Maxim Group remains rated Buy with a $38 price target on Cree

following the company's CFO departure. Maxim Group comments, "In the Face of Fanning Fears, CFO Departure Is a Logical Step at this Stage of Growth and Presages Further Transition from a Tech to a Lighting Company. …On May 22, 2012, CFO John Kurtzweil announced he was leaving to a smaller ~$350m company, Extreme Networks [EXTR: $3.64—NR], and we believe the knee-jerk reaction was to assume it was a castigation of CREE. However, as he (1) has only worked at tech firms, (2) left three of his last four employers in the same fashion (including Cirrus Logic [CRUS: $27.16—NR] for CREE in 2006), and (3) departed his last three companies prior to big rises in their stocks, we see no smoking gun implications in his resignation." CREE closed at $25.91 on Thursday.