Key Points
- Insider selling: SVP Jamie Palfrey sold 8,691 shares on May 5 at an average $79.72 for about $692,847, cutting her stake by 34.6%; another insider, Christopher S. Cook, sold 11,478 shares on May 4, moves the report flags as potentially negative.
- Earnings and guidance: Ultra Clean topped Q1 estimates with $0.31 EPS and $533.7M revenue, issued Q2 2026 EPS guidance of $0.44–0.60, and has drawn bullish analyst attention (UBS initiated at a $130 target; consensus target ~$104.40).
- Institutional positioning: Roughly 96% of shares are held by hedge funds and institutions, and major firms (Invesco, Vanguard, Millennium, SG Americas) recently increased stakes, meaning institutional flows could amplify price moves.
Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCTT - Get Free Report) SVP Jamie Palfrey sold 8,691 shares of Ultra Clean stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.72, for a total transaction of $692,846.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 16,446 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,311,075.12. The trade was a 34.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.
Ultra Clean Stock Down 4.3%
UCTT stock opened at $79.90 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.62, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 3.07. Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $18.93 and a one year high of $87.68. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $66.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.83.
Ultra Clean (NASDAQ:UCTT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $533.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $525.28 million. Ultra Clean had a negative net margin of 9.38% and a positive return on equity of 4.28%. Ultra Clean's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. Ultra Clean has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.440-0.600 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.
Key Headlines Impacting Ultra Clean
Here are the key news stories impacting Ultra Clean this week:
- Positive Sentiment: UBS initiated coverage with a "buy"/strong‑buy and a $130 price target, a major visibility and demand catalyst that can attract institutional flows. Read More.
- Positive Sentiment: Several analysts have raised price targets and reiterated buy/outperform ratings (Needham, Oppenheimer, Craig Hallum, Wall Street Zen), supporting upside expectations and consensus price target expansion. Read More.
- Positive Sentiment: Company announced participation in upcoming investor conferences — offers management a platform to reinforce guidance and sustain multiple expansion if messaging is strong. Read More.
- Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary is mixed — some outlets highlight structural positives in wafer fab equipment exposures but recommend waiting for pullbacks; this creates divergent near‑term sentiment despite bullish fundamentals. Read More.
- Neutral Sentiment: Small adjustments in institutional positions noted (various funds adding or trimming minor stakes); overall institutional ownership remains high, so flows may amplify moves but individual changes are modest. Read More.
- Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Christopher S. Cook sold 11,478 shares (~$848.9k) at ~$73.96 on May 4, and SVP Jamie Palfrey sold 8,691 shares (~$692.8k) at ~$79.72 on May 5 — these sizable, recent insider sales can be perceived negatively even if routine or preplanned. Read More.
- Negative Sentiment: Reported CFO retirement could introduce near‑term uncertainty around financial execution and transition planning until a successor is announced. Read More.
Institutional Trading of Ultra Clean
Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UCTT. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Ultra Clean by 63.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,399,834 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $86,118,000 after buying an additional 1,315,407 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Ultra Clean by 944.8% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 559,955 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $14,184,000 after purchasing an additional 506,363 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Ultra Clean by 348.7% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 565,569 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $35,167,000 after purchasing an additional 439,526 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Ultra Clean by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,990,724 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $126,415,000 after purchasing an additional 293,048 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Ultra Clean by 90.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 589,055 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $16,052,000 after purchasing an additional 279,953 shares during the period. 96.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Ultra Clean from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Ultra Clean from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Craig Hallum reissued a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Ultra Clean in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Ultra Clean from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Ultra Clean from $70.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $104.40.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on UCTT
About Ultra Clean
(
Get Free Report)
Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc is a global supplier of critical consumables and process tools for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. The company specializes in precision parts cleaning, chemical–mechanical planarization (CMP) slurries, surface conditioning pads, and specialty components used in wafer fabrication and advanced packaging. Ultra Clean also provides assembly and test hardware, tooling, and automated modules designed to support complex front-end and back-end processes in semiconductor fabs.
Ultra Clean's product portfolio encompasses a range of cleaning systems and consumables aimed at particle and film removal, as well as CMP slurries and pads that are engineered for uniform material removal and planarization.
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