UPDATE: Piper Jaffray Initiates Allison Transmission Holdings at Overweight on Secular Strength

Piper Jaffray initiated its coverage on Allison Transmission Holdings ALSN with an Overweight rating and a $24 price target. Piper Jaffray commented, "Like many cap equipment stocks, ALSN's end markets are currently characterized by a high degree of uncertainty. However, automatic transmissions are used in less than 5% of trucks and buses outside of the U.S., and as penetration increases in developing countries like China and India, we believe Allison's quasi-monopoly status will allow the company to expand internationally even without material growth in underlying truck, bus, and machinery markets. This potential for market outperformance, coupled with 45%+ gross margins, should give investors faith in our 2013 estimates and lead to an above-average multiple of 9x 2013 EV/EBITDA." Allison Transmission Holdings closed at $19.97 on Monday.