Ultra Clean (UCTT) is still seeing resilient demand for wafer fabrication equipment even amid the geopolitical volatility, energy shock and a mixed Chinese market, Oppenheimer said in a note Tuesday after a meeting with company executives.
The investment firm said that this view is in line with peer KLA's (KLA) mid-March investor event trends, while noting that it is "positive that typically cyclical semicap demand has remained robust and is successfully absorbing another couple of weeks of negative Middle East-related macro risks."
Oppenheimer said AI demand is overwhelming macro risks for now, adding it estimates that this year's demand for wafer fabrication equipment is "very AI-heavy and less cyclical."
Meanwhile, Ultra Clean's "management noted that growth is increasingly constrained by the supply side and industry execution rather than demand, implying potential for upside as bottlenecks ease," the note said.
Oppenheimer kept the company's outperform rating and $85 price target, adding Ultra Clean is still a "potent,
leveraged play on the current semicap upcycle."
Price: 64.50, Change: +3.38, Percent Change: +5.53
Comments