What Happened?
Shares of manufacturing equipment and systems provider Advanced Energy (NASDAQ:AEIS) jumped 6.8% in the afternoon session after Needham analyst James Ricchiuti maintained a "Buy" rating on the stock and increased the price target to $188 from $155. The analyst's positive view was based on expected significant growth in the company's Data Center Computing division and an anticipated recovery in its Industrial & Medical business. This action followed other positive analyst sentiment from late in the previous week, when KeyBanc Capital Markets also raised its price target for Advanced Energy after positive meetings with the company's management.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
Advanced Energy’s shares are quite volatile and have had 17 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 7 days ago when the stock gained 2.6% on the news that the company announced its next-generation fiber optic thermometry (FOT) converter, the M-1200, at the SEMICON West 2025 conference.
This new tool was designed for critical steps in making computer chips, known as etch and deposition. The company highlighted that the M-1200 offered enhanced accuracy and a wider temperature measurement range, which helps improve the quality and quantity of chips produced. The launch occurred amid broader positive feeling in the semiconductor sector, driven by high demand for advanced chips used in artificial intelligence (AI). As a maker of key equipment for producing these chips, Advanced Energy stood to benefit from increased investment in the industry.
Advanced Energy is up 57.2% since the beginning of the year, and at $181.35 per share, has set a new 52-week high. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Advanced Energy’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $2,513.
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