From Briefing.com Semiconductor related: 10:59AM FCS: Checks indicate strong order momentum, but valuation still a concern -- Deutsche 23.84 +0.27: Deutsche says its checks indicate that order momentum at Fairchild Semi in October and November has been stronger than expected. Leads firm to raise Q4 est to $0.10 from $0.09 and 2004 est to $0.70 from $0.63 (Reuters Research consensus estimates are $0.09 and $0.62). However, firm is maintaining its cautious stance on the name due to valuation.
10:39AM ZRAN spikes intraday 16.53 +0.87: Early surge in price being attributed to rumor of possible takeover by Sandisk.
10:18AM Amtech positive on AMD 17.38 +0.76: American Technology Research is out with a call suggesting Advanced Micro Devices is unable to meet customer demand and lead times have stretched into the March qtr. The firm believes the March qtr will likely be flat to up vs. normal seasonality of flat to down. Am Tech views both its ests and Street ests to be conservative, and believes AMD's Opteron will not face competition from INTC's Itanium 2 for several years. The firm believes both Intel and Advanced Micro can materially exceed street projections.
10:15AM NOK: N-Gage slow start suggests potential EPS risk -- Amtech 17.57 +0.49: American Technology Research still likes Nokia shares, but believes slow N-Gage sales may have negative EPS implications; firm believes impact could be anywhere from $0.01-$0.14 of EPS impact depending on how big a subsidy is required; believes there is $0.03 EPS risk in 2004 on N-Gage.
9:45AM Intersil started with a Buy at A.G. Edwards; tgt $39 (ISIL) 26.70 +0.28: A.G. Edwards initiates coverage of ISIL with a Buy rating and 12-month price objective of $39. Based on Intersil's prospects for substantial growth within the recordable DVD market, coupled with the firm's ongoing success within power management, firm believes Intersil can generate growth above the overall analog semiconductor industry over the next two years. Firm believes its price objective P/E multiple is appropriate given the co's projected EPS growth over the next two years, and is also in line with both historic and current analog peer group average multiples.
9:31AM NVLS: BofA raises estimate, but valuation rich 43.79 +0.49: Banc of America raises their 2004 EPS est well above consensus (to $0.90 from $0.63, vs consensus of $0.71), as they think mgmt will raise guidance on the mid-qtr update at the end of Nov; however, even with the sharp increase in their forecast, firm thinks the stock is expensive since 2004 EPS would need to be about $1.72 to support the current stock price of $43, assuming a fair valuation of 25x their 2004 est; and while firm thinks that the news flow will remain strong for the next several quarters, thus "feeding the momentum junkies", they say it would take a 1990's type of technology boom to bail the stock out of its rich valuation, which is not likely.
9:07AM Asyst plans 6 mln share public offering (ASYT) 16.64:
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