UPDATE: Bank of America Merrill Lynch Reiterates Neutral Rating, Lowers PT on GT Advanced Technologies

In a report published Wednesday, Bank of America Merrill Lynch reiterated its Neutral rating on GT Advanced Technologies

, but slightly lowered its price target from $5.50 to $4.50. BofA Merrill Lynch noted, “GTAT provided weak Dec (4Q12) and CY13 guidance based on expectations for solar and LED industry fundamentals to remain challenging until late 2013 at the earliest. With concerns over customer liquidity issues (as banks limit exposure to solar/LED), ongoing trade disputes, and continued overcapacity in the industry, management has provided preliminary CY13 rev guidance of -25% Y/Y ($550M) at the midpoint. This reflects poly and PV revenue declining 53% Y/Y (compared to our prior estimate of down 55%), while sapphire revenue grows 38% Y/Y (vs. our prior estimate of up 37%). Longer-term opportunities like HiCz and sapphire mobility will likely materialize more meaningfully in 2014-2015. As anticipated, the backlog is expected to decline further to ~$1.2B (including the de-booking of DSS backlog), implying order levels remain weak near-term. With no expectations for a recovery in industry fundamentals into next year, we maintain our Neutral rating.” GT Advanced Technologies closed on Tuesday at $3.07.