Semiconductors . . . PMC-Sierra and Applied Micro Circuits were downgraded by Smith Barney overnight to "underperform" from "in line," given that the stocks' valuations are "high by historical standards and by comparison with other chip stocks." Clark Westmont reiterated his $9.50 price target on PMC-Sierra shares, and cut his target on Applied Micro shares to $5.50 from $6.70. "In our view, both companies need to make further substantial cuts to operating expenses in order to generate meaningful earnings by the year 2005 -- the anticipated peak of the current cycle," Westmont said in a note to clients. Meanwhile, Westmont upgraded Cypress Semiconductor and Fairchild Semiconductor to "outperform" from "in line." He raised his price targets to $23 from $21 for Cypress, and to $23 from $15 for Fairchild.
TriQuint Semi upped to Equal Weight and target raised to $8 at ThinkEquity. ThinkEquity is encouraged by the recent strength in TQNT's business. TQNT is seeing greater strength today than the co has seen in some time, with visibility improving. While firm believes much of this has to do with increasing strength in the wireless sector overall, they believe that TQNT will have an opportunity to perform well in the short-term.
Intersil and IBM Microelectronics enter foundry services pact. The companies plan to install Intersil semiconductor process technology in IBM's Burlington, Vt., chip manufacturing facility. IBM will serve as a second source manufacturer for Intersil's Endura power management integrated circuits.
TriQuint Semi upped to Buy from Neutral at DA Davidson. Price target goes to $7.50 from $6. D.A. Davidson says strong order patterns have set the stage for continued revenue growth in 4th quarter. The company has booked 70% of its current guidance, with 40%-50% being more typical at this point in time. The firm is encouraged by forecasts of sustained handset demand beyond 3rd quarter, capacity utilization improvements, and the future payoff potential of the resized optoelectronics business.
The Wall Street Journal reports Samsung has apparently closed the gap in revenues from Flash memory with Intel. According to the article, the market-research firm iSuppli Corp estimated that Intel accounted for 19.2% of all flash-memory revenue during the second qtr, down from 25.5% in the fourth qtr of 2002. Over the same period, Samsung's share rose from 16.9% to 17.1%, just a couple of percentage points behind INTC.
UBS starts Analog Devices, Linear Tech, and Maxim Integrated with Buy ratings. UBS initiates coverage of ADI with a Buy rating and $50 target; firm believes that the co will have the ability to improve margins over the next several quarters, enabling earnings growth of roughly 50% on revenue growth of roughly 20%. Firm initiates coverage of LLTC with a Buy rating and $52 target, saying they expect the co to show the fastest rev growth of the high performance analog group. And firm initiates coverage of MXIM with a Buy rating and $51 target, saying they expect the co to continue to drive growth with a wide range of new products.
RobBlack.com MarketWrap
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Don and all, I'm very sorry that I wasted so much valuable time of those who read this thread. Regardless of market bias everyone has a right to their opinion. I need to develop a better sense of humor or a thicker skin.
Lets get back on topic!
RtS |
