UPDATE: Benchmark Reiterates Diodes at Hold Following PAM Acquisition

Benchmark maintained its Hold rating and $25 price target on Diodes

as the company has moved to expand its presence in the general purpose analog space. Benchmark commented, "Diodes announced the acquisition of Power Analog Microelectronics (PAM), a developer of advanced analog and high voltage power integrated circuits (ICs). Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. However, we believe the purchase price was fairly small. The acquisition of PAM will benefit Diodes in two ways. First, integrating PAM's packaging requirements into Diodes' existing facilities should benefit Diodes' manufacturing utilization rates, and hence, benefit gross margin. Second, PAM's product set makes Diodes a more significant player in general purpose analog ICs and takes the company into higher growth market segments." Diodes closed at $17.18 on Thursday.