Shares of Ichor Holdings, Ltd. (NASDAQ: ICHR) fell by 7.9% on Thursday, closing at $21.7450 after hitting a low of $21.70 during trading. The decline occurred as 264,673 shares changed hands, marking a significant drop of 65% from the average trading volume of 747,557 shares. This comes on the heels of a previous closing price of $23.61.
Analysts have been closely monitoring Ichor, responding with a mix of ratings and price adjustments. On November 4, DA Davidson reduced their price target for Ichor from $35.00 to $30.00 while maintaining a “buy” rating. Conversely, Oppenheimer upgraded the stock from “market perform” to “outperform,” increasing its target price from $21.00 to $25.00 in a research note released on November 12.
On the other hand, Zacks Research recently upgraded Ichor from a “strong sell” to a “hold” rating as of December 5. Meanwhile, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on December 29, and Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock from “hold” to “strong sell” just a few weeks earlier on November 8. Overall, three analysts have given the stock a “buy” rating, four have specified a “hold”, and one has issued a “sell” rating. Currently, the consensus price target stands at $23.20, according to MarketBeat.
Latest Earnings Report Shows Mixed Results
Ichor released its latest earnings report on November 3, revealing a $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, which fell short of analysts’ expectations of $0.12 by $0.05. The company recorded a negative return on equity of 0.96% and a negative net margin of 4.26%. Revenue for the quarter was $239.30 million, exceeding expectations of $235.14 million, with a year-over-year increase of 13.4%.
Looking ahead, Ichor has set a guidance range for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 between -0.140 and 0.020 EPS. Analysts forecast that Ichor will report an average EPS of 1.01 for the current fiscal year.
Insider Activity Signals Confidence
In related news, Iain Mackenzie, a director at Ichor, purchased 10,000 shares of the company on November 17 at an average price of $14.53 per share, totaling approximately $145,300. This transaction increased Mackenzie’s holdings to 130,011 shares, valued at around $1,889,059.83. Insiders currently hold 1.90% of the company’s stock.
Institutional trading has also seen significant changes. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its stake in Ichor by an impressive 497.2% during the third quarter, now owning 1,698,239 shares worth $29.75 million. Similarly, Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings by 1,710.7%, acquiring an additional 807,792 shares, bringing their total to 855,011 shares valued at $14.98 million.
Other institutional investors, including Invesco Ltd., Bank of New York Mellon Corp, and Ameriprise Financial Inc., have also boosted their positions in Ichor, reflecting growing institutional interest. Currently, institutional investors own approximately 94.81% of Ichor’s stock.
Ichor Holdings, headquartered in Fremont, California, specializes in critical subsystems for semiconductor fabrication. The company designs, engineers, and manufactures gas delivery systems, vacuum pumps, and abatement solutions essential for managing process gases in wafer-processing tools.
As Ichor navigates a challenging market, investors will be watching closely for further developments and guidance in the coming months.
