Do we give Mark Edelstone two thumbs up for acknowledging the bold below?
Intel, Other Chipmakers Rise on Optimism About 1999 Sales
Bloomberg News
December 8, 1998, 9:51 a.m. PT
Santa Clara, California, Dec. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Intel Corp.
and other semiconductor stocks rose amid growing optimism that
strong sales of personal computers and networking equipment will
sustain the recent boom in chip sales into 1999.
Intel, the world's biggest chipmaker, rose 3 9/16 to 122 1/2
in early afternoon trading of 11.5 million, making it the second-
most active stock in U.S. markets. Earlier, it reached a record
122 7/8. Texas Instruments Inc., Micron Technology Inc., and
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. also rose.
Chip stocks have been gaining in recent weeks amid signs
that holiday sales of personal computers are booming. Now, more
analysts and investors are speculating that sales could remain
strong after the traditionally robust fourth quarter.
''We are in the beginning stages of a multiyear cyclical
advance for the industry,'' said Mark Edelstone, an analyst at
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. in San Francisco.
Edelstone, who rates Santa Clara, California-based Intel
''strong buy,'' lifted his price target for the stock to $150
from $130 this morning. He expects Intel to earn $3.45 a share
this year and $4.40 in 1999.
Chip stocks foundered for much of this year amid concern
that an economic crisis in Asia and slowing growth around the
world would hurt demand for computers and networking equipment,
two big end-markets for semiconductors. Now, the world economy
looks more resilient to many analysts and investors.
With computer sales booming, the chip industry is coming out
of its own recession that started in 1995, when overcapacity of
memory chips and other devices led to big price declines. Now,
demand for memory chips is catching up with supply.
The shares of memory-chip maker Micron Technology rose
2 13/16 to 54 1/16 today, their highest level since August 1997.
They've doubled in the past three months alone.
AMD shares rose 7/8 to 32 3/8. Texas Instruments rose 1 3/8
to 87 1/16. Xilinx Inc. rose 1 to 62 3/4. Altera Inc. rose 1 7/16
to 58 1/16, while Motorola Inc. rose 15/16 to 62 13/16.
|
