- Believing the stock "deserves to trade at a discount or 11x P/E vs. last three year average of 12.5x," Citi's Atif Malik has downgraded Skyworks (SWKS -1.7%) to Sell, and cut his target by $4.50 to $65.
- Malik notes Skyworks has relatively high exposure to the iPhone 6S, whose sales have been pressured. He also cites a "lack of premium [RF] filters to address faster growing carrier aggregation market," and concerns about "increasing dual sourcing led competition in the low band market where SWKS participates." He could become positive on Skyworks if it makes further progress in lowering its dependence on mobile (still responsible for 80% of sales).
- Rival Qorvo (QRVO -0.4%) has simultaneously been upgraded to Neutral, after "discussions in Asia indicate improved execution on integration/share gains and higher proliferation of carrier aggregation design wins." Malik adds Qorvo gained content share with the Galaxy S7 and iPhone SE. "Fundamentally, we view carrier aggregation as a key theme for RF stocks with QRVO better positioned to expand its $ growth opportunity based on its comprehensive suite of products including BAW filters."