From Briefing.com: 6:16PM Intel (INTC) 15.11 -1.00: All in all, it was about as expected. Intel did not really guide down, but narrowed the revenue by lowering the upside number. The company now sees Q3 revenue in the range of $6.3-$6.7 bln vs its prior view of $6.3-$6.9 bln. Specifically, management says that microprocessor unit sales are trending toward the lower end of the normal seasonal pattern, but its flash business is in line with expectations. Demand for other communications products remains soft. All other expectations are unchanged. The important part here is that Intel maintains its cap-ex guidance of $5.0-$5.2 bln. This is good news for the semi equipment sector as some had feared a decline in guidance, yet the group is doing little vs the 4pm close: AMAT -0.10, KLAC -0.40, NVLS -0.91... INTC, which is rebounding to 15.78 in after-hours trading, made a new 6-year low today as demand for PCs has slowed as the back-to-school season has been sluggish. Despite the fall from grace, there is potential for more downside in the stock as it trades at a p/e of 27x and a forward p/e of 19x. -- Robert J. Reid, Briefing.com
5:44PM Intel (INTC) 15.11 -1.00: -- Update -- On its call, company pretty much sticks to press release and is hesitant to get into too much detail as it's only a mid-quarter update. Asia and Japan is slightly softer than expected. US and Europe are about as expected... As for pricing, company declines to get specific but the mix of Pentium4 to Celeron is as expected... stock at 15.67.
5:40PM Intel maintains cap-ex guidance (INTC) 15.11 -1.00: -- Update -- On its mid-qtr call, Intel maintains 2003 cap-ex guidance of $5.0 - $5.2 bln. This is good news for the semi equipment sector as some had feared a decline in guidance... stock at 15.51.
4:22PM Intel bids up after guiding modestly lower (INTC) 15.11 -1.00: -- Update -- INTC +0.51 vs the 4 pm ET close to 15.62
4:14PM Intel revises outlook (INTC) 15.11 -1.00: -- Update -- Now sees Q3 rev range $6.3-$6.7 bln -- prior view had been Q3 revs of $6.3-$6.9 bln. Says microprocessor unit sales are trending toward the lower end of the normal seasonal pattern. The company's flash business is in line with expectations, while demand for other communications products remains soft. All other expectations are unchanged.
5:33PM Thursday After Hours price changes vs 4pm ET levels: Intel's (INTC 15.53 +0.42) mid-quarter update was the main point of interest after hours. As expected by many, the chip giant tempered its Q3 revenue guidance, saying it sees revenues slightly below the midpoint of its prior range of $6.3-$6.9 bln, and within a narrower range of $6.3-6.7 bln. All other expectations were left unchanged. The latter is good news for chip equipment companies like AMAT, NVLS, and KLAC, which have been pressured of late by concerns INTC might cut back on its capital spending plans... Separately, chip equipment company, Asyst Technologies (00C0 8.19), reaffirmed its prior guidance for fiscal Q2 (Sep), which calls for net sales from continuing operations of approximately $70 million (Multex consensus $69.6 mln) and pro forma operating income from continuing operations at or near breakeven (consensus -$0.02); related competitors include PRIA, ENTG and NEWP
4:47PM Asyst affirms Q2 outlook (ASYT) 8.19 -0.43: Company "affirms its prior guidance for its second fiscal quarter" which calls for net sales from continuing operations of approximately $70 million -- current consensus estimate is for revs of $69.6 mln.
6:16PM CDW Computer raises Q3 guidance (CDWC) 41.30 -1.77: Company issues upside preannouncement for Q3 (Sep), expecting EPS of $0.58-$0.61 vs Multex consensus of $0.52; sees revenues of $1.125-$1.145 bln (Multex consensus $1.107 bln); says sales of Microsoft products were particularly strong in July due to changes in their licensing programs.
3:53PM Hearing that SLAB comfortable with high-end of rev range 19.23 -0.64: Company is presenting this afternoon at the SG Cowen Tech conference.
3:58PM United Micro (UMC) 4.14 -0.26: Soundview believes the Street is too optimistic for a strong Q4 from the foundries and cuts 2002 and 2003 EPS and revenue ests on UMC. Firm notes that wireless has carried the torch for growth in the near term, but believes sell-through may disappoint in Q4 ... maintains their Outperform rating as on their view the trend towards outsourced semi manufacturing will take off but sees few clear, near-term catalysts for share appreciation.
3:53PM Agilent (A) 13.63 +0.13: Morgan Stanley maintains their cautious near-term opinion of stock following mute channel checks; firm believes that Agilent (0) has achieved platform stability in SPG and should complete the remaining 20% of its rollout over next 6 months, but has not yet achieved stability on the T&M platform. Morgan expects a more gradual remaining rollout than initially planned and notes co is using 'manual workarounds' in order to avoid financial impact in Q4. Firm does not foresee near-term catalysts given uncertainty around ERP implementation and general end-mkt demand.
3:03PM New 52-Week Lows : Additions to the new 52-Week low list include NVLS, ADVS, CY, CMVT, MYGN, IRF... Advent Software (ADVS 15.11 -0.85) is making its first appearance on the list since July 2. The others are hitting new lows for at least the second time this month.
2:50PM LSI Logic (LSI) 7.38 -0.32: Co's reaffirmation of Q3 guidance (expects a loss of approx. $0.02 on about 10% seq growth) yesterday did little to reinvigorate investors or analysts; stock falls off over 4% and analysts advise investors to remain on the sidelines pending a semi recovery. CSFB remains concerned about LSI's prospects for its core ASIC technology and products and reiterates their Hold rating and $10 price target ... Morgan Stanley takes an alternative view on their est LSI is on track for 10% q/q rev growth in Q3; firm believes the technology offers compelling cost and time to mkt advantages.
1:33PM IBM (IBM) 72.59 -1.14: Soundview sees increased business activity out of co's services unit and reiterates their Outperform rating and $100 price target; checks indicate IBM may have the lead (over EDS) on the approx $6 bln JPM services contract ... Soundview continues to believe the Technology Group will be profitable by Q4, with a good shot at breakeven by the end of the current qtr; divestures of non-core businesses are proceeding as planned. Firm remains positive on the PwC Consulting acquisition and ests that recent speculation of 4,000 lay-offs (if true) could boost PwC's operating margins by about 12%.
10:55AM Cypress Semi (CY) 9.55 -0.73: Despite shares trading at depressed levels (60% down YTD) and analysts' more positive view on semi industry, shares are taking a hit this morning following Wachovia Securities' downgrade to HOLD from Buy (see In-Play for details). Separately, after channel checks, Morgan Stanley resumes coverage with Equal-weight rating and price target of $20; believes earnings risk has increased in short-term due to CY's exposure to PCs; thinks co. is likely to continue facing risk of unforeseen demand shortfall, sharper ASP decline, and above-average pricing pressures in Y02, but does expect revs and earnings quality to improve with time. Shares are 7.1% down in today's session.
10:04AM ISM a bit weak; orders in-line : The ISM services index was a bit shy of expectations at 50.9% in August, though the limited track record of this index makes it of limited analytical value - nevertheless, investors are looking for bad news at present and will therefore sell first and analyze the data later. Factory Orders were right in line with expectations at +4.7%, which reflects the huge durable orders gain in July.
10:18AM Technical Levels: In our last review of the Nasdaq, we were looking for areas that might serve as a near-term support points. In fact, we were looking for what traders might consider 'good candidates' for near-term support. As the term 'candidate' suggests, technical analysis isn't exactly a precise science -- in fact, many would contend it's more art than science. With that thought in mind, most of you can probably guess what's coming next. As it turns out, the index did indeed find near-term support -- as we were suggesting -- just not exactly at one of our near-term candidates for support. We favored the 1,277 level as the best chance for a near-term bounce, and the market went with an approximation of the August 14th low at 1,264. Like we said -- part art, part science. Nonetheless, the price action over the prior two sessions has resulted in somewhat more clarity as far as the near-term technical picture. On yesterday's rally, the Nasdaq finished the session with a close at 1,292. This is interesting because you'll remember that on the powerful July 24th reversal, which many analysts have called the market bottom, the index closed at 1,290. So that 1,290 to 1,292 range is shaping up as something to contend with in terms of near-term resistance. That area is followed by significant resistance in the area of 1,332 to 1,343 which brackets the index' 50-day simple moving average as well as its 20-day exponential moving average. So what about support? To the downside, we now know to look for initial support on a closing basis in the range of 1,261 to 1,264 which approximates the August 14th low. If 1,261 should fail on the close, the 1,240 to 1,247 range continues to look like the next 'good candidate' for subsequent support -- note that 1,245 represents a 76% retracement of the prior leg higher. That's followed by a much more important floor at 1,206 which represents the index' August 5th closing low. -- Mike Ashbaugh, Briefing.com
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