UPDATE: D.A. Davidson Reiterates Buy Rating, Lowers PT on Applied Materials

In a report published Wednesday, D.A. Davidson & Co. reiterated its Buy rating on Applied Materials

, but lowered its price target to $15.00. D.A. Davidson noted, “Trough quarter should reflect weak industry conditions. We are modeling F4Q revenue of $1.60 billion (down 32% sequentially) and pro-forma EPS of $0.05, slightly ahead of the Street mean of $1.57 billion and $0.03, respectively. The core semiconductor business is expected to decline 45%-55% quarter-over-quarter, compared to the large front end peers who reported ~15% sequential declines in calendar 3Q. We attribute AMAT's relatively larger decline to timing (off-calendar quarter end) combined with the weak macro and prolonged spending pause from its large customers. Meanwhile, the Display and Solar segments should remain at depressed levels (large panel weakness and continued overcapacity in Solar). Thus, while overall results could fall short of our expectations, we believe F4Q will mark the revenue and bookings bottom.” Applied Materials closed on Tuesday at $10.48.