From Briefing.com: 12:53PM NVIDIA estimates, price target cut at Pru (NVDA) 25.59 -2.69: -- Update -- Prudential cuts FY03-04 ests and price target due to the current weak PC environment and the belief that the co's core revs will be flat sequentially in the Oct qtr, rather than the previous est of +8%; cuts FY03 est to $1.75 from $1.82 and FY04 to $1.90 from $2.08 (both below consensus), and cuts price target to $48 from $62.
12:53PM Rambus responds to FTC complaint (RMBS) 4.55 -1.88: -- Update -- Rambus says the FTC's complaint stems from the same facts and the same core allegations as are currently being litigated in multiple private lawsuits, including the Infineon case, tried last year in Virginia. "Given that the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is currently scrutinizing this matter, we are somewhat surprised to see this complaint by the FTC."
11:43AM Rambus: FTC hits company with antitrust suit (RMBS) 5.43 -1.00: Reuters reports that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has filed an antitrust suit against Rambus, charging the company with improperly patenting a key computer chip technology. The FTC's five commissioners voted 5-0 to file the lawsuit against Rambus.
10:35AM Nasdaq Composite Intraday : -- Technical -- Index is comfortably off its worst levels of the session though it remains solidly in negative ground. From current levels, look for initial resistance at 1533 followed by additional overhead at 1543 and 1555. To the downside, watch for initial support at 1527 followed by a secondary floor at 1520.
9:46AM Jabil Circuit report seen lifting CSCO (JBL) 20.57 +1.42: -- Update -- In pre-market note, SoundView Technology said it expects JBL shares to rebound on co's earnings report and likely take CSCO (-0.8%) --25% of sales-- up with it.
9:35AM Solectron rev ests may be too high-- JP Morgan (SLR) 5.80 unch: JP Morgan in a pre-open note says they believe that SLR's Q3 revs will be 5-8% short of the firm's $3 bln est, which falls at the lower-end of the co's guidance of $2.7-$3.1 bln; also, firm believes current rev forecasts through FY03 appears about 10% too high; major issues for SLR remain as follows: 1) liquidating excess inventory and accounts receivable, 2) completing massive downsizing of capacity, and 3) completing the implementation of harmonized information systems.
9:31AM TriQuint Semi estimates cut by CSFB (TQNT) 6.95 -0.49: CSFB lowering estimates after TQNT guided to the low-end of its range. Firm's 2002 est goes to ($0.08) from ($0.02); 2003 est cut to $0.16 from $0.24.
9:26AM Juniper Networks estimates lowered by CIBC (JNPR) 7.53: CIBC World Mkts lowers estimates on concern that new Qwest (Q) CEO will cut capex. Q2 goes to $116 mln from $122 mln and EPS to ($0.01) from $0.00. FY02 goes to $476 mln from $502 mln; FY03 to $595 mln from $628 mln. Q is about a 10% customer.
9:22AM Ciena estimates lowered by Solly (CIEN) 4.40: -- Update -- Salomon Smith Barney cuts Q3 est to ($0.24) from ($0.18) and revs to $63.8 mln (CIEN/ONIS combined) from $80.1 mln (stand-alone). Cuts FY02 est to ($1.01) from ($0.68).
9:11AM Jabil Circuit added to JP Morgan's Focus List (JBL) 19.15: -- Update -- JP Morgan adds JBL to their Focus List due to higher confidence in current ests, best in class nature of the franchise, and the belief that the co's popularity with customers will continue to drive sequential growth. Price target is $32.
9:04AM Vishay reaffirms Q2 outlook (VSH) 22.88:
8:09AM Oak Tech warns for Q4 (OAKT) 9.90: Reduces Q4 outlook to a loss of $0.05-$0.09 on revs of $34-$36 mln. The Multex consensus called for a profit of $0.04 on revs of $43.12 mln. Cites a slower-than-anticipated global PC environment, particularly in Europe.
7:39AM Advanced Micro downgraded at Solly (AMD) 10.30: Salomon Smith Barney downgrades to NEUTRAL from Outperform and cuts price target to $10 from $17, citing issues such as mkt share losses to INTC and pricing pressure.
7:11AM Micron subpoenaed in DRAM market investigation (MU) 23.60: Confirms that the Antitrust Division of the Dept of Justice has undertaken an industry-wide investigation into alleged anticompetitive practices among DRAM manufacturers. Micron received a grand jury subpoena yesterday from the U.S District Court for the Northern District of California seeking information relating to the investigation.
7:08AM Ciena warns that Q3 revenues could fall sharply (CIEN) 4.40: Shareholders of Ciena and ONI Systems approve merger. CIEN cautions that Q3 revenues, including revs derived from ONI, could be down meaningfully from CIENA's stand-alone Q2 revs. Last qtr, CIEN posted revs of $87.1 mln and was expected to log revs of $80.72 mln this qtr. ONIS' revs had been projected, according to Multex, at $19.05 mln this qtr.
7:02AM ATI Tech posts in-line EPS; guides Q4 lower (ATYT) 9.88: Posts Q3 net of $0.08 a share, in line with consensus. Revenues rose fractionally to $266.2 mln (consensus $275.97 mln). For Q4, co sees EPS of $0.05-$0.07 (consensus $0.09). "Although we expect some market softness in our fiscal fourth quarter, we continue to expect a strong beginning to fiscal 2003 due to new product revenue..."
10:58AM Oracle (ORCL) 9.08 +0.10: Oracle beat estimates last night, but guided lower for the current quarter. The stock gapped up at the open to trade as high as $9.52 before trading back down. Apparently, a warning had been priced into the shares before the report. It's still a tough software environment as management expects at least a 6 month wait before IT spending patterns improve. However, traders are reacting positively as the outlook was not a material further deterioration. There are some flickering of lights at the end of the tunnel. Oracle expects a stronger upgrade cycle this fiscal year which just started in June. Comparisons get easy beginning in Q2 (Nov) Management said it has no plans to downsize the company which is good news for employees, but also for investors as a restructuring would be time consuming and costly. While being vague on fiscal 2003 (May 03), the company says it still expects positive sales growth this year, especially in the second half of the fiscal year. The balance sheet remains strong with $5.8 bln in cash/inv with minimal long term debt. Finally, ORCL is trying to improve linearity in the business and June looks a bit ahead, though there is obviously still a long way to go. Taken altogether, this report was a bit more optimistic than expected as expectations were so low after the company was quite bearish in its last few conference calls. CEO Larry Ellison took a lot of time to dispute recent concerns that IBM had overtaken Oracle in database market share. He says the methodology used to compute the share was questionable... So it all boils down to whether ORCL is worth bottom fishing for? ORCL still has a a $50 bln market cap, trades at a p/e of 21x and price/sales of 5x. It's not exactly a bargain given that visibility remains so limited. Without a near term catalyst, we would not expect the stock to outperform the market in the near term. -- Robert J. Reid, Briefing.com
10:18AM Technical Levels : When we last reviewed the Nasdaq, we were looking for a near-term bounce in the index. What actually occurred in reality was a good news/bad news scenario. The good news was that the Nasdaq did indeed follow through with a tradeable bounce. Yet unfortunately, the move came swiftly and in the form of a one-day 3.3% advance. The Nasdaq topped out with Monday's close just over 1553 which matched up relatively well with our target resistance in the area of 1555 to 1559. Tuesday's session was less encouraging for market bulls as the index closed in negative ground and at its worst levels of the session. Against this moderately bearish backdrop, today's catalysts weigh in as less than favorable. We have earnings warnings from Apple Computer (AAPL) and Advanced Micro Devices (00C) and an antitrust investigation involving Micron Technology (MU). The positive counter balance is that software names have responded relatively well to Oracle's (ORCL) better-than-expected quarterly results. All in all, today's activity should serve as a decent read on exactly how oversold the markets are at current levels. Keep in mind that the indices reversed on IBM's big warning in early April as well as Intel's warning earlier this month. To the downside, look for initial support at Nasdaq 1520. That's followed by more important support at 1497 which served as the closing low on the recent leg lower. If the index should manage a move higher, continue to look for notable resistance in the area of 1555 to 1559 followed by another significant level around 1600. -- Mike Ashbaugh, Briefing.com
12:54PM Advanced Micro (AMD) 9.05 -1.25: Last night, company said Q2 revenues would be significantly below expectations, and AMD has dropped 12% on news. UBS Warburg downgraded to HOLD from Buy and lowered price target to $10 from $21, as firm sees no medium-term positive catalysts for stock to move substantially higher given expectation that next potential growth opportunity with have to come from Hammer products, which will ship in 4Q02. Salomon Smth Brny downgraded to NEUTRAL from Outperform and lowered price target to $10 from $17. On positive side, Needham & Co reiterated Strong Buy and lowered price target to $18 from $20, believing upside potential significantly exceeds downside risk at current price levels.
10:53AM Apple Computer (AAPL) 17.23 -2.92: Stock taking a hit (-15%) after company warned Q3 earnings would be below expectations. Also weighing, Merrill Lynch downgraded to long-term NEUTRAL from long-term Buy due to lack of long-term visibility, and AG Edwards downgraded to HOLD from Strong Buy, citing faltering consumer demand in seasonally dependent month of June, as well as weak professional market. On positive note, Needham & Co reiterated Buy rating and price target of $30, based on longer term prospects
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