(A copy from Briefing.com)
MICRON TECHNOLOGY (MU) 29 13/16 -1 3/4. All of a sudden, Micron shares have become the hot topic on Wall Street. Over the past 10 days, at least five analysts have made comments on this DRAM chipmaker. 1/06: Jensen Securities starts with a "neutral" rating; 1/07: Lehman downgrades from an "outperform" to "underperform" rating; 1/09: Goldman Sachs strategist Abbey Josheph Cohen makes bullish comments on "Wall Street Week;" 1/13: stock upgraded from "hold" to "buy" at NB Montgomery Securities. While the individual comments of the varying analyst helped nudge the stock a few ticks in either direction, it takes names to really move MU shares. Only a few on Wall Street have that ability, Ms. Cohen is one of them. Another is Merrill Lynch's Tom Kurlak. Today, the highly-influential analyst put the whammy on Micron, sending the shares to an intraday low of $28.50, after he essentially told the world to short the stock. Of course, a Merrill Lynch analyst doesn't just come out and say to sell borrowed shares. Instead he simply issued a downside price target of $20 on the stock. Much of the recent rise in MU can be attributed to Ms. Cohen's comment that South Korean DRAM makers have cut back production, thus reducing supply and reversing the downward spiral in prices. However, Mr. Kurlak believes the recent jump in price has simply been a fools rally. In his opinion, DRAM prices likely remain too low to drive a recovery in MU's earnings, noting that the South Koreans continue to flood the market with chips. With so much analyst chatter, whom is one to believe. Well, in spite of all the heckling Mr. Kurlak receives for his swift shifts in opinion, I would continue to put my money with him. Simply put, the guy makes his clients money (although many of his calls are, no doubt, self-fulfilling). |
