Boston, MA 04/02/2014 (wallstreetpr) – GT Advanced Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:GTAT) is best known as a maker of crystal growth solutions, mainly serving the solar, LED and electronic industry. It is true that the company was little-known among public-market investors before the disclosure about the sapphire deal with Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL). In fact, the company’s fortunes and future are expected to undergo significant change due to its association with Apple Inc, but more about that in just a short while.
GT Advanced recently announced a technology that will enable solar companies increase the efficiency of their panels besides lowering the manufacturing and installation costs involved in the product of the solar panels.
Deal with Apple Inc
GT Advanced Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:GTAT) and Apple Inc are collaborating for manufacture of sapphire glass to be used in the latter’s next generation devices. Owing to the promise in sapphire manufacturing business, the company may eventually take up sapphire glass production as its main business. Sapphire glass is used in strengthening of display screens to avoid the effect of scratch development when a device drops on a hard surface. Apple Inc is pursuing use of sapphire in its devices to ensure that its smartphones and tablets stand out from the crowd.
The two companies have signed multi-year contracts which should benefit GT Advanced Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:GTAT) immensely given the high number of devices that Apple Inc sells in a year. Moreover, the company is already benefiting from advance funds issued by Apple for repayment over five years.
Analysts getting bullish
If the deal with Apple Inc isn’t enough to justify the promising future in GT Advanced, a look at the recent analyst sentiments can help. The stock has witnessed increasing positive review among analysts. The analysts at Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) for instance, rate the stock as a buy and have price target of $20 in share of the stock. Analysts at Credit Suisse have also grown very optimistic with stock, doubling their price target from $9 to $18 in their latest note to investors.
Strong earnings expectations
The company guided that it expects to suffer loss of between 21 and 25 cents on revenue of between $20 and $30 million. Both earnings and revenue are in-line with consensus given that analysts on average estimate earnings of 21 cents and revenue of $27.6 million.
Bottom Line
Although GT Advanced Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:GTAT) is already looking attractive, with shares having jumped about 92 percent since about three months ago, but the future is even more promising and the current prices look discounted for uptake of the stock.
