UPDATE: Bank Of America Downgrades Xilinx

Bank of America downgraded Xilinx, Inc. XLNX Friday from Neutral to Underperform as the stock achieved its $45 price target.

Analysts led by Vivek Arya felt that “Xilinx has executed very well in the past three years with strong capital returns, but we believe the growth and leverage baton in PLDs will now be passed back to Altera.”

Arya commented that “Xilinx’s higher market share in China LTE radios also puts it greater risk of getting displaced by ASICs by customers such as Huawei, though this is not a new trend. Second, Altera’s relationship with Intel could provide it an edge in producing leading-edge 14nm tri-gate/Fin-FET products vs Xilinx’s partnership with TSMC.”

Lastly, “Xilinx also faces substantial sales deceleration, as EPS growth goes to 6-7 percent YoY in 2015/16, from 11 percent in 2014 and 21 percent in 2013,” according to the analyst note.

Xilinx recently traded at $42.81, down 2.05 percent.