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Technology Stocks : Semi Equipment Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gottfried who wrote (11032)	8/18/2003 9:05:31 AM
From: Return to Sender	Respond to of 95938

From Briefing.com: 8:58AM Audi to implement co's Sillkworm fabric switches (BRCD) 5.53: The Co announced Audi has chosen to deploy BRCD's SilkWorm fabric switches to provide the foundation for Audi's data administration and archive system. The Brocade SAN infrastructure provides a cost effective solution and helps ensure the co's engineers have access to technical data and information concerning Audi car bodies and engines. 8:57AM Research In Motion upped to Buy at TD Newcrest (RIMM) 25.97: D Newcrest upgrading to Buy from Hold and increasing price tgt to $30 from $21. The firm is also raising their revenue forecast to $492 million (prior $472 million) in F2004 and $633 million (prior $572 million) in F2005, and also increasing earnings estimates to $0.14 (prior $0.06) in F2004 and $0.65 (prior $0.45) in F2005. They also note that the NTP litigation news flow seems to be priced in the stock. 8:50AM LSI Logic upped to In-Line at Smith Barney (LSI) 9.59: The upgrade from Underperform is based upon 1) relatively attractive valuation, 2) co's opportunities in enterprise storage and digital consumer products. Firm's price target goes to $11 from $6.50. Firm continues to underweight the semiconductor industry. 8:27AM Vishay upped to Buy at UBS (VSH) 13.16: UBS is upgrading VSH to Buy from Neutral and reiterates its 12-month price target of $16. The firm sees an attractive valuation that offers 22% in potential upside, particularly since the stock recently sold off on the back of Vishay's new $450 mln convertible offering. Also, its balanced product portfolio and end-market exposure offers a more diversified play on the components sector. 8:08AM Pericom Semi upped to Mkt Outperform from Mkt Perform at JMP Sec (PSEM) 8.95: While the stock is expensive on a P/E basis at148x calendar 2004 earnings of of $0.06, small cap tech investors looking out 18 months may find the stock attractive on a price/book value basis (1.5x book value) and EV/CY04 multiple of 1.0x with a cash cushion of almost $6 per share in net cash and no debt. Pericom is an emerging growth analog/mixed signal company focused on high-speed interface logic, clock timing, interconnect, and switching chips for PCs/servers, telecom/networking, and storage systems. Customers include Cisco, IBM, Dell, IBM and China's Huawei. Price tgt $12. 8:05AM Corning started with a Buy at Fulcrum (GLW) 7.99: Fulcrum initiating coverage with Buy rating and a 12-18 month tgt of $11.40. According to the firm, GLW's continuing businesses have begun to show marked improvement in the most recent quarter led by strong demand from the Display Technologies business as well as its Environmental Technologies business. While global demand for fiber continues to be pressured, the rate of decline that it has experienced in recent qtrs has significantly abated and the business is currently generating free cash flow. 8:01AM Gateway started with a Neutral at SoundView (GTW) 4.94: SoundView initiating coverage with Neutral rating and $6 tgt. According to the firm, Gateway is undergoing a dynamic metamorphosis from a marginal PC company into a "branded integrator" of consumer electronics and computing solutions. Shares have run 44% YTD on improving operating margins and the co's turnaround story. Currently the $5 resistance level will prove to be a strong barrier until mgmt is able to show solid progress in its retail strategy and consumer electronics penetration in the 2nd-half of this year. Until then, the analyst notes, Gateway's history of sustained losses and negative return on invested capital will keep shares trading at a steep discount to its PC peers. 8:01AM Tektronix upped to Outperform at Thomas Weisel (TEK) 20.79: The upgrade from Peer Perform is based on improved visibility. Firm establishes a 12-month target of $24 (22x firm's FY04 est, plus about $7/share cash). TWP also raising its rating on the Test & Measurement sector to Overweight from Mkt Weight. 7:51AM AMD's stock could be poised for upside given in light of Sept launch of new processors -- Barron's (AMD) 7.80: According to Barron's, the tech maven Fred Hickey has been a buyer of AMD shares despite concerns over its balance sheet, the co losing money and cash burn. The article points to the co's dedication to its R&D spending during challenging operating times as a catalyst for the current "buzz" over its offerings. AMD is receiving major support from chip sets and motherboard co's along with behemoth's MSFT and IBM as well. Hickey cited the "groundwell of support" for Opteron as the reasons for adding his stake to AMD in recent weeks. He even hints to longtime supporter of Intel's chips, Dell Computer as "looking at" its slated to be released on Sept. 23 Athlon64 processors. 7:18AM Computer Sciences mentioned favorably in Barron's (CSC) 40.45: Barron's highlights CSC given its federal government revenue exposure through its DynCorp acquisition. In its recent earnings announcement, the co announced govt revs rose 87% to $1.48 bln up from $791 mln year/year. While the article suggests in the short term the good news is priced into the stock, the continued growth of privatized military contractors possibly being a multi-year trend could suggest the stock is undervalued. The Co trades at a discount to pure play federal information tech co's at 16x expected 2004 earnings vs. the sector average of 22x expected 2004 earnings. However, a Janney Montgomery analyst believes investors are building in "rosy" expectations for IT-services co's, which could see their profit margins erode. finance.yahoo.com