UPDATE: Goldman Sachs Reiterates Neutral Rating, Lowers PT on Ceres on Uneventful 2QFY13 Results

In a report published Friday, Goldman Sachs analyst Brian Lee reiterated a Neutral rating on Ceres

, but slightly lowered the price target from $4.50 to $3.85. In the report, Lee noted, “Ceres reported relatively uneventful 2QFY13 results, which came in below expectations. With the harvest season just underway, quantitative crop performance data was not available; however, preliminary indications of lodging and visible sugar content appear to be trending favorably compared to last year. 2QFY13 revenue of $1.0mn was below GS/consensus estimates of $1.1mn/$1.2mn, while EPS of ($0.36) also came in below GS/consensus estimates of ($0.29)/($0.31) mainly owing to higher opex and a $1.1mn charge to cost of product sales due to obsolete seed inventory. We lower our FY13E/14E/15E EPS to ($1.27)/($1.35)/($0.80) from ($1.20)/($1.31)/($0.76) prior on higher opex and COGS. Flowing through our estimate changes, we lower our 12-month price target to $3.85 from $4.50 prior.” Ceres closed on Thursday at $3.21.