5:04PM Intel acquires laser technology from NUFO for $50 mln (INTC) 29.39 -0.20: -- Update -- Company announces it has purchased the network tunable laser business and technology from New Focus (NUFO) in a cash transaction valued at approximately $50 million. As part of the agreement, approximately 40 employees from New Focus have joined Intel.
4:55PM Sun Microsystems says linearity a bit behind (SUNW) 7.41 +0.07: -- Update -- The one slight negative on the call that is weighing on the stock was a comment that linearity was a bit behind that of the Mar qtr, indicating that while business is good enough for Sun to stand by its guidance, there's still some work to be done to make the quarter. SUNW at 7.09 after hours.
4:39PM McDATA reaffirms Q2 guidance, names new CFO (MCDT) 8.08 +0.39: Reaffirms Q2 guidance issued on April 18 of revs around $64.5 mln and pro forma EPS of ($0.06)-($0.08); co also announces the appointment of Ernest J. Sampias as CFO, effective June 1, 2002.
4:36PM Sun Microsystems reiterates fourth quarter outlook (SUNW) 7.41 +0.07: -- Update -- Company reiterates guidance provided in April that company will be profitable in the fourth quarter; expects gross margins to expand in Q4.
4:13PM Marvell beats by a penny (MRVL) 38.72 +1.07: Reports Q1 (Apr) earnings of $0.08 per share, $0.01 better than the Multex consensus of $0.07; revenues rose 53.9% year/year to $98.8 mln vs the $90.4 mln consensus.
1:24PM Piper Jaffray cautious on semi equipment, Novellus : We are hearing that USB Piper Jaffray is out with a cautious call on the semi equipment sector; supplier contacts saying that Dec qtr shipments are tracking flat with Sept for deposition and edge equipment, yet the Street expects growth of 10-15%; says AMAT will be impacted, but is most cautious on NVLS, which firm believes is expensive and losing share to AMAT (NVLS gives mid-qtr update next Tues).
12:39PM Cisco Systems may see higher operating margins (CSCO) 16.51 -0.05: -- Update -- We are hearing that Goldman Sachs is saying after meeting with CSCO mgmt that the co has expectations of a 20% operating margin, higher than the firm's est of 19.3%; firm believes that if CSCO can reach 20% that would add a couple of pennies to their CY03 est of $0.60.
11:54AM Genesis Microchip trades down on Dell, Taiwan production rumors (GNSS) 24.93 -2.01: Stock has been trading down for most of the session, due we're told to a rumor that DELL has cancelled some flat panel display orders as well as chatter that a co in Taiwan may have cut production forecasts for GNSS.
11:02AM Cisco Systems defended by Merrill on switch problems (CSCO) 16.20 -0.36: Merrill Lynch is defending CSCO against speculation that the co is having limited reliability problems with their Catalyst 6500 switches; while firm has heard about isolated incidents of failure, they don't believe these are CSCO-related and checks have reported no abnormal problems with the 6500s; says direct financial impact of the failures will most likely be immaterial, and cautions investors against drawing conclusions from a limited set of data points.
10:20AM NVIDIA Intraday (NVDA) 36 -2.05: -- Update -- -- Technical -- Stock breaks below support near 36.7/36.5 (chart/20 day ema) on relatively strong volume. Failure to work back through this area leaves the stock vulnerable on a short term basis. Initial support is at 35.35 (top of May 14 gap) followed by 34.40/34.25 (chart/62% of rally off April low).
10:00AM NVIDIA estimates raised, price target cut at CSFB (NVDA) 36.04 -2.01: -- Update -- CSFB in a pre-open note reiterated their Buy rating and raised FY03 rev/EPS ests to $2.40 bln/$1.76 from $2.36 bln/$1.71 after the co reported a better than expected qtr; believes MSFT may not be reducing its forecasts to NVDA due to long lead times for GPUs, and believes over the next few weeks product intros by PC OEMs with 845G models will likely cause fluctuations in NVDA shares; cuts price target to $52 from $75.
2:54PM Nvidia (NVDA) 35.72 -2.33: Today's 6% decline in Nvidia shares is completely understandable when you consider that all the company managed to do in Q103 was grow yoy revenues and earnings by a paltry 142% and 123%, respectively... Come on fellas, let's get your act together! This triple-digit growth stuff is no good because it means that future growth has to slow... Sure enough, slower growth is exactly what the street is projecting for this leading maker of graphics and multimedia processing technology... For the full fiscal year, sales are seen growing at a sluggish 72% rate, while earnings growth is projected at a pedestrian 59%... And to think management had the audacity to be "extremely pleased with our results." With such a pollyanna attitude is it any wonder that management also failed miserably in playing Wall Street's expectations game, in which companies low ball forward estimates in order to post better-than-expected results... Apparently, Huang & Co. just don't get it - as company guided Q2 estimates slightly higher... Guiding future estimates higher, beating current quarter consensus estimates, posting triple-digit revenue/earnings growth, stealing market share -- why in the heck would anybody want to invest in a company that boasted such modest accomplishments... Suppose we're just contrarians, but despite these horrible developments we kind of like the stock... Paying 20x estimated earnings for a company expected to post average annual growth of 25% over the next several years might seem reckless, but every now and then we like to live life on the edge... Who knows, maybe the weak dollar combined with the fact that NVDA derives roughly 80% of their sales from overseas, will enable the company to post better-than-expected results in future quarters as well... And maybe at some point in time the market will once again look upon growth as a good thing... Damn, if Huang's optimism didn't get to us. -- Robert Walberg, Briefing.com
9:27AM Dell Computer may enter printer biz-- Bear Stearns (DELL) 27.00: Bear Stearns says that a recent meeting with Michael Dell leads them to believe DELL may enter the printer biz in some way over the next 6-18 months; co wants to capture the recurring rev from ink cartridges in some fashion, and firm gets the sense that DELL is trying to raise the competitive heat among printer vendors, which could have a negative impact on HPQ; outlook for LXK is more mixed in that it could get acquired, get incremental rev at lower margins, or a competitor could get the business.
9:21AM Oracle upgraded at RBC (ORCL) 8.80: RBC Capital upgrades to OUTPERFORM from Sector Perform; despite an extremely tough demand environment, firm is encouraged by factors such as wholesale product upgrades, improving go-to-mkt strategy, continuing strong operating results, and favorable valuation; believes investors have been hypersensitive to near-term expectations and are ignoring the franchise value of the co. Cuts Q4 est to $0.12 from $0.13 and FY03 to $0.42 from $0.45; price target is $15.
9:16AM Intel may dominate WLAN sector with new chip spec-- Digitimes (INTC) 29.59: -- Update -- Digitimes.com says that INTC is attempting to set up a new RF module specification in the WLAN sector, which could lower module costs and set a barrier for other co's such as ISIL, AGR.A, and Atheros Communications.
8:30AM Qualcomm price target lowered on reduced visibility at Soundview (QCOM) 31.37: We are hearing from sources that Soundview is lowering their price target to $38 from $48 due to reduced visibility into future WCDMA and CDMA2000 royalty streams; firm questions the co's calculation of the amount of 1X chip inventory that appears to be continuing to build worldwide, and thinks the excess chip units will be hard to work through and will be a drag on numbers until US operators begin to deploy 1X aggressively. Without immediate catalysts, believes the shares are more attractive in the mid-$20s.
3:39PM Opticals vs. Semis : Based on Bernstein's analysis of the historical trading multiples, firm favors optical networking and components cos over semi cos; believes that JDSU, GLW, and AGR.S are trading at below their long term trading multiple with ALTR and XLNX trading at a "much higher price than it is warranted." Current P/S (relative to S&P500) of JDSU, GLW, AGRa are below their projected long term levels, Bernstein expects as they emerge from current trough levels, P/S should overshoot their projected P/S levels.
2:35PM Micron (MU) 24.16 +0.61: Soundview issues a word of caution to MU zealots: firm stresses the buy-side is ahead of the sell-side in having more conservative expectations following a preliminary read of contract prices entering June; data suggest a further reduction from current levels (while mid-May contracts were centered in the mid-$3 range, June contracts look to be moving towards the $3.25-3.40 range). Firm cuts Q3 ests reflecting both slightly lower ASP assumptions and slightly lower bit shipment assumptions. Soundview sees little downside risk although they believe investors will need to see stabilization in DRAM contract prices before the stock can make significant headway.
1:43PM Juniper Networks (JNPR) 10.15 +0.10: Co's analyst meeting yesterday did little to sway analyst's cautious near-term opinions of the stock: Merrill Lynch maintains their near-term Neutral rating noting that capital spending by its customers continues to decline ("until that cycle stops, we don't believe JNPR can show meaningful revenue or EPS growth"). JP Morgan turns more positive on JNPR in the long-term but believes the June qtr is likely to be rough, as the co faces integration risks with Unisphere, and the ILECs are unlikely to spend significantly on routers over the next couple of qtrs.
12:48PM Novellus (NVLS) 46.48 -1.89: In company's mid-quarter update on May 28, Prudential believes NVLS could reiterate order guidance of $250 mln or better (up 43% qtr/qtr). Firm's checks suggest that customer breadth is improving, as opposed to primarily focused to the two major foundries and 2-3 DRAM manufacturers. Pru says its checks suggest visibility could have improved as manufacturing slots are full through Sept/Oct given the surge in orders, and also indicate NVLS has received new wins, such as at STMicroelectronics 300mm facility. Overall, firm thinks call will be constructive and is reiterating Buy rating and $67 price target... NVLS currently down 3.9%.
12:31PM Credence (CMOS) 19.55 -0.54: After close yesterday, company topped Q2 earning and revenue expectations. However, CMOS is trading down 2.7% today, along with the tech sector, despite upbeat analyst comments. Robertson Stephens reiterated Buy rating and price target of $27. Firm believes CMOS' July introduction of the Octet next generation mixed signal tester should drive accelerating bookings and revenue in Q4. Also, thinks CMOS is well positioned in the current cycle with a broader product portfolio. Also, Fulcrum reiterated Buy rating and price target of $35 based on Q2 results. April quarter results, near and long-term outlook and the management discussion during the conference call have confirmed the major points of firm's investment thesis for CMOS.
finance.yahoo.com^SOXX+^IXIC+^VIX&d=t
At this point I am planning to sell into any rallies until September at least.
Thanks, RtS |
