From Briefing.com: ENTG Entegris defended by Needham (12.35 -2.57) -- Update -- Needham maintains their Buy rating and $18 target following last night's Q4 warning (see archive); firm believes that much of the costs incurred in Q4 will generally lead to a lower cost structure in the future, and thus do not believe that the co's long-term earnings power has been negatively impacted; co indicated it would give more thorough earnings guidance with its Q4 EPS release on Oct 2, and although firm thinks it is possible that earnings ests could come down further at that time, they believe that the semi equipment industry is on the verge of an upturn and would not be deterred by a few bumps along the way.
8:46AM Bell Micro upped to Buy from Hold at Needham (BELM) 6.82: Firm believes that BELM can move higher on what appears to be a gradually improving outlook for enterprise storage as well as the HDD industry. In addition, these sectors are entering a seasonally strong period, which should benefit BELM. Firm does not believe BELM shares fully reflect an apparently improving environment, a seasonally stronger 4Q period, an enhanced balance sheet following its recent equity offering and potential operating leverage associated with stronger demand trends and expense control initiatives. Tgt $9.
8:37AM Agilent target raised to $30 at Thomas Weisel (A) 24.56: Thomas Weisel reiterates their Outperform rating and raises their target to $30 from $27, saying TEK's stronger than expected results increases visibility for A's Oct qtr; firm estimates that over 50% of A's overall biz is driven by wireless and semis, both of which seem to be improving based on TEK's results and channel checks; also, checks indicate that deep discounting in T&M is becoming less prevalent, reflecting a stabilizing pricing environment.
8:30AM Smith Barney raises estimates for lodging stocks : Smith Barney raises their 2H03 and FY04 EPS ests generally above consensus for FCH, HLT, HMT, HOT, MAR, and MHX to reflect a continuation of somewhat stronger than expected REVPAR trends.
8:04AM Exar Corp guides Q2 in line with consensus, to take impairment charge (EXAR) 16.43: Company guides Q2, sees EPS of $0.03-0.04, excluding impairment charges, vs the Reuters Research consensus of $0.03, and revenues of approx $16 mln vs an estimate of $16 mln. Following review of its strategic investments, Exar intends to recognize an impairment charge of approx. $6 mln.
7:27AM ATI Tech upgraded at UBS (ATYT) 15.29: UBS upgrades to Buy from Neutral and raises their target to $19.50 from $15.60; firm believes the prospect of Intel licensing the co's graphics intellectual property and of continued product leadership over NVDA in the next 12-24 months will lead to continued valuation expansion; also, visibility into 2005-06 has improved due to the Xbox 2 win and recent consumer wins.
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