Pall's (NYSE:PLL) First Quarter Looks Solid

Citing gross margin improvements in their overall product mix, Barclays (NYSE:BCS) maintains an "Equalweight" rating on Pall Corp (NYSE:PLL), and are looking for a good first quarter from them.

Barclays said, "We expect PLL to deliver a solid Q1 as end markets have stabilized for the most part, and order rates & backlogs across segments showed a healthy rebound as we exited Q4. EPS is likely to benefit from gross margin improvements holding up (despite a lower-margin product mix), as well as a significantly lower tax rate. However, margin expansion via SG&A leverage remains restrained by upfront investments in productivity initiatives, and we look towards an inflection point in late FY2011 as these investments begin to roll off."

Pall closed Friday at $47.60, up by $0.42, or 0.89 percent.