Semiconductor packaging specialist AMKR reports Monday after a dramatic rally that lifted shares 55% in one month. Short interest has pulled back modestly while options traders price in continued volatility.
Short interest stands at 8.77 million shares as of April 23, representing 3.55% of the float. That's down 2.5% over the past week and off 0.7% from the prior day. Days to cover remains light at 2.98 sessions. Cost to borrow has eased to 0.33%, down 15% week-over-week, while utilization dropped to just 2.4% – far below the 52-week high of 22.64%. The data suggests bears have largely exited ahead of the print.
Put/call ratio spiked to 1.14 on April 24, well above the 20-day mean of 0.80. The z-score of 1.86 signals elevated hedging demand. PCR hit a 52-week high of 7.50 earlier in the cycle and bottomed at 0.09, leaving plenty of historical volatility range. Current levels reflect defensive positioning after the run.
Four firms raised price targets following the February earnings call. JP Morgan lifted its target to $65 from $32 on February 10, maintaining Overweight. Needham also went to $65 from $50, keeping a Buy rating. Morgan Stanley raised to $45 from $28 (Equal-Weight), while Goldman Sachs moved to $43 from $38 (Neutral). The consensus target of $57.25 now sits 27% below the current $78 price. UBS downgraded to Neutral from Buy in January despite raising its target to $55.
Benzinga's bull case notes gross margin estimates rose to 14.2% for CY26 with EPS climbing to $1.50, driven by Automotive and Industrial strength. The bear case warns of seasonally lower Q4 revenue guidance and concerns around automotive semiconductor weakness and potential share loss in premium smartphones.
P/E expanded to 38.4x, up sharply by 11.4 turns over the past month as the stock outpaced earnings revisions. EV/EBITDA sits at 12.7x, essentially flat month-over-month. Price-to-book climbed to 3.54x, up 1.03 points in 30 days. The company ranks in the 62nd percentile on forward EPS growth and the 84th percentile on earnings surprise quality. Analyst recommendation divergence ranks 91st percentile.
Insiders sold a net $4.2 million over the past 90 days. General Counsel Mark Rogers sold $297k worth on April 16 and $223k on March 16. CEO Kevin Engel sold $168k on March 31. The Kim family entities collectively control over 30% of shares. Vanguard added 46k shares in Q1 to reach 6.3%, while BlackRock increased by 138k shares to 5.2%.
The stock rallied 7% on February 10 following the last earnings release. Prior prints in late 2025 triggered mixed reactions. The company announced a new Arizona facility ramp, which analysts flagged as a capex headwind.
No active ORTEX Alpha signals ahead of the print.
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