Needham & Company analyst, Sean Hannan. reiterated his Buy rating on shares of Itron (NASDAQ: ITRI) and raised his price target to $84 after the company posted a strong 2Q17 beat. ITRI posted $503M in revs. and non-GAAP EPS of $0.71, above prior Street estimates of $492M and $0.68.

Electric revs of $250M (50% of revs) +7.5% y/y were aided by NA & APAC smart projects.. Gas revs of $139M (28% of revs) were down -7.7% y/y.

The analyst stated backlog looked strong at $1.6B, +21% y/y (or, $1.5B, +13% y/y ex. Comverge) while 12mo backlog of $860M +25% y/y (excl. ~$325M in won biz not officially booked, similar to 1Q). Additionally, bookings of $416M were up +19% y/y looking very healthy.

The PT of $84 is up from $74.

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Itron click here. For more ratings news on Itron click here.

Shares of Itron closed at $73.05 yesterday.