Kulicke & Soffa upgraded to Buy from Hold at Needham

Needham analyst Charles Shi upgraded Kulicke & Soffa to Buy from Hold with a $55 price target The firm thinks Kulicke & Soffa’s Advanced Solutions win at a leading foundry, likely TSMC, is the first major breakthrough for the company since winning Intel in 2021 and “may finally add a secular tailwind to this historically cyclical name.” Needham also believes Kulicke’s wire bonding business, following nearly three years of correction, may have finally reached the bottom and will start to turn positive in 2025. As such, it says the stock’s risk/reward has turned positive.