UPDATE: Oppenheimer Downgrades OmniVision Technologies to Perform, Removes PT on Lack of Visibility

In a report published Friday, Oppenheimer analyst Andrew Uerkwitz downgraded the rating on OmniVision Technologies OVTI from Outperform to Perform, and removed the $21.00 price target. In the report, Oppenheimer noted, “We are downgrading OVTI to Perform from Outperform and removing our $21 PT. Our thesis was predicated on 1) strong China sales driving volume growth and 2) improving gross margin from favorable product mix and manufacturing efficiency. While we do believe there is more room for growth for OVTI in China, we've changed our mind on gross margin expansion due to competition and volatility in product mix each quarter. Additionally, as we update our model to reflect our new outlook, we see lower EPS growth. We lower our FY14E revenue/EPS from $1,548M/$1.73 to $1,522M/$1.66. We believe a value of $16-$17 seems fair based on 10x our FY14E non-GAAP EPS of $1.66, implying little upside from here.” OmniVision Technologies closed on Thursday at $18.41.