Littelfuse upgraded to Buy from Hold at Stifel

Stifel analyst Matthew Sheerin upgraded Littelfuse to Buy from Hold with a price target of $280, up from $270. The company’s sales and margins remain depressed at three-year lows, but the component cycle has “firmly bottomed”, with book-to-bill ratios modestly improving and customer inventories down significantly, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Stifel adds that it sees a return to sales growth in Q4 and into FY25 as orders across broader industrial and transportation markets normalize following their own inventory work-downs.