Analysts emphasize positive outlook for Airspan
Shares of Airspan Networks gain after two analysts issue bullish reports on the supplier of wireless systems.
Analyst Samuel May at U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray reiterated his "buy" rating on Cambridge, England-based Airspan. May also reiterated his 12-month price target of $40 per share.
Analyst Timothy Luke at Lehman Brothers also maintained his "buy" rating and a 12-month price target of $27 per share.
Airspan stock traded this morning at $11.50 per share, up 4.6 percent from Friday's closing price. The stock hit its high of $49.01 when it went public in January, and it has recently been trading at or near its low of $10 per share. In midday trading, the shares gained $1.19, or about 10 percent, to $12.19.
Lehman's analyst said the recent stock slump signals a good buying opportunity in the hot wireless market.
"Despite recent price weakness, we are reiterating our 'buy' rating," Luke wrote in his research report. "We have had several recent, positive conversations with Airspan's management team, including (chairman) Matt Desch and (chief financial officer) Joe Caffarelli."
Luke said Airspan is on track to exceed Lehman's third-quarter revenue estimate of $7.3 million, based on a healthy backlog of orders and the company's growing partnerships with Ericsson and Siemens.
The positive reports from Lehman and US Bancorp follow another from analyst Brian Modoff at Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown. Modoff reiterated his "strong buy" rating last week and maintained his 12-month target price of $25 per share.