Wolfspeed (NYSE:WOLF) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Wolfspeed, Inc. (NYSE:WOLF) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on the stock from $47.00 to $45.00. The stock had previously closed at $22.95, but opened at $22.42. Canaccord Genuity Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Wolfspeed shares last traded at $21.75, with a volume of 358,954 shares changing hands.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Wolfspeed from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Wolfspeed in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. TD Cowen lowered Wolfspeed from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Wolfspeed from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Wolfspeed from $30.00 to $25.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.43.

Insider Activity at Wolfspeed

In other news, Director Marvin Riley bought 1,866 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $27.05 per share, with a total value of $50,475.30. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 13,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $359,683.85. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Wolfspeed by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,079,067 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,832,000 after purchasing an additional 449,732 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Wolfspeed during the 4th quarter worth about $308,701,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its position in Wolfspeed by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,626,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,261,000 after acquiring an additional 352,609 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its position in Wolfspeed by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 1,906,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,952,000 after acquiring an additional 29,700 shares during the period. Finally, FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. boosted its position in Wolfspeed by 438.9% during the 4th quarter. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. now owns 1,431,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,272,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165,600 shares during the period.

Wolfspeed Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.42 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a current ratio of 4.58, a quick ratio of 4.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.55. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.84.

Wolfspeed (NYSE:WOLF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported ($0.79) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.82) by $0.03. The business had revenue of $200.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $201.49 million. Wolfspeed had a negative return on equity of 27.37% and a negative net margin of 96.12%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Wolfspeed, Inc. will post -3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Wolfspeed

Wolfspeed, Inc operates as a powerhouse semiconductor company focuses on silicon carbide and gallium nitride (GaN) technologies in Europe, Hong Kong, China, rest of Asia-Pacific, the United States, and internationally. It offers silicon carbide and GaN materials, including silicon carbide bare wafers, epitaxial wafers, and GaN epitaxial layers on silicon carbide wafers to manufacture products for RF, power, and other applications.