shares of itron inc itri bounced 64 in afternoon trading friday after raymond james analyst pavel molchanov suggested it was time to back up the truck on the provider of products to measure energy and water molchanov raised his rating to strong buy from outperform after the stock plunged 264 on thursday  the biggest oneday selloff since july 2002  in the wake of a big profit miss and slashed fullyear outlook with the company citing supply chain challenges with the selloff molchanov believes the market is missing the forest for the trees he gave three fundamental reasons to buy the stock that the market is overlooking 1 none of the smart meter revenue is disappearing  it will come when supply is available after some sluggishness software revenue is finally showing strength and lowest leverage in 7 years opens the door to acquisitions in software and perhaps beyond itrons stock had dropped 203 year to date while the sp 500 spx has gained 181