UPDATE: Piper Jaffray Initiates Edwards Group Limited with Overweight, $12 PT

Piper Jaffray initiates its coverage on Edwards Group Limited (NASDAQ: EVAC) with an Overweight rating and a price target of $12. Piper Jaffray notes, "We are initiating coverage on Edwards with an OW rating and $12 PT (60+% upside) as we believe the company, as a leader in vacuum and abatement systems, likely benefits from : a) Sustained '13 WFE spending (+3% yoy) and a rising vacuum intensity (5.6% of Wafer Fab Equipment spend) that will likely drive its '13 semi revenues by 10% yoy to £275m b) Diversified customer base (>20,000 customers) that enables revenues to be resilient through the cycle, and c) improving gross margins over the next 8 quarters (by 200bps) as the company likely reaps the benefits of its multi year restructuring." EVAC closed at $7.40 on Tuesday.