Shares of Lumentum Holdings Inc. LITE, +7.22% rallied 5.5% in afternoon trading, after Raymond James analyst Simon Leopold pounded the table on optical and photonics company, saying losing the battle to acquire of laser technology company Coherent Inc. COHR, +1.19% was a good thing. In a research note titled, “Lumentum walks, we run to strong buy rating,” Leopold upgraded the stock to strong buy from outperform. He said that with the deal risk in the rear view, and potential upside led by 3D sensing, telecom, LiDAR and 5G, “we see an attractive entry point.” The stock rose 8.5% on Thursday following news that Coherent was going with II-VI Inc. IIVI, +5.71% as its favored suitor. Prior to losing out to IIVI, the stock had tumbled 25.7% since the original deal to buy Coherent was announced through Wednesday. “We liked, but did not love, the deal when it was first announced, but the bidding war ended at an elevated valuation for Coherent,” Leopold wrote in a note to clients. “We believe management’s decision demonstrates its discipline in selecting its battles.” Lumentum’s stock has lost 8.0% over the past three months, while II-VI shares have dropped 12.2% and the S&P 500 SPX, +1.66% has gained 6.2%.
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