** Shares of electronic gear maker Amphenol APH.N up 2.6% at $126.27 premarket
** Jefferies assumes coverage of the stock with "buy" rating and price target of $145
** The new price target represents a 21.7% upside to the stock's last close
** Brokerage says the market is overly penalizing APH "on concerns that optics will cannibalize copper in AI racks". It notes that copper will remain dominant for at least the next two years and views the broader optics shift as a "late decade dynamic," giving APH sufficient time to adapt its product offerings
** Jefferies also notes the market is underappreciating APH's order momentum, margin strength, diversified end-market exposure and attractive valuation
** 17 of 20 brokerages rate the stock "buy" or higher, 3 "hold"; their median PT is $167.50
** As of last close, stock had fallen 11.8% YTD, compared with a 7.3% decline in the S&P 500 .SPX
(Reporting by Ragini Mathur in Bengaluru)
((Ragini.Mathur@thomsonreuters.com;))
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