what happened:
Shares of semiconductor design company Lattice Semiconductor (NASDAQ:LSCC) rose 12.7% in morning trading after the company announced it had appointed Dr. Ford Tamer as chief executive officer. Tamer succeeds Essam Elachmawi, who had served as interim CEO since June 2024. Elachmawi will continue in his role as chief strategy and marketing officer.
Tamer has extensive experience and expertise in semiconductors, networking and enterprise software. He served as President and CEO of Inphi for over nine years and previously held leadership roles in the Infrastructure Networking Group at Telegent Systems and Broadcom. Additionally, Tamer has an advanced degree from MIT that solidifies his resume.
Finally, the company reaffirmed its guidance on July 29, 2024, suggesting that there will be no major surprises in the quarterly earnings report, further supporting the fact that the company has been able to manage its leadership transition efficiently.
Overall, the market seems to support the move given Tamer’s solid track record and his appointment, which will not only fill a leadership gap but also bring stability and direction.
Is now the right time to buy Lattice Semiconductor? Get your complimentary full analysis report here.
What the market is telling us:
Lattice Semiconductor’s share price has been very volatile, fluctuating by more than 5% 22 times in the past year, but fluctuations of this magnitude have been very rare even for Lattice Semiconductor, indicating that this news has had a major impact on market perception of the company.
The biggest move we’ve covered in the past year came about two months ago, when shares fell 18.1% following news that the company reported second-quarter earnings results, with both the company’s revenue and EPS missing Wall Street expectations.
Looking ahead, the company’s revenue outlook for the next quarter also fell short of analysts’ expectations. The company pointed to industry headwinds, adding, “Our second quarter 2024 results reflect the impact of cyclical industry headwinds. The industry continues to undergo a period of inventory normalization, but we are beginning to see signs of improvement. We are well positioned for long-term growth as we continue our ongoing product portfolio expansion.”
Overall, Lattice Semiconductor had a mediocre quarter, which led analysts at Bank of America to downgrade the stock to underperform from neutral, citing “slowing growth prospects and weak outlook.”
Lattice Semiconductor shares have fallen 27.2% since the beginning of the year and are trading at $49.82 per share, 42.6% below its 52-week high of $86.84 in September 2023. An investor who bought $1,000 worth of Lattice Semiconductor stock five years ago would be looking at an investment worth $2,414 today.
If you’re not naive, it’s obvious by now that generative AI will have a major impact on large enterprise businesses. While Nvidia and AMD are trading near all-time highs, we like some lesser-known (but profitable) semiconductor stocks that are benefiting from the rise of AI. Click here to access our free report on our favorite semiconductor growth stories.
