Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: Donald Wennerstrom who wrote (15425)	5/26/2004 9:05:58 PM
From: Return to Sender	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95617

From Briefing.com: 5:53PM Wednesday After Hours prices levels vs. 4 pm ET: The extended session sports a slightly positive tone as traders have been encouraged by a number of better than expected earnings reports. Presently, the S&P futures, at 1117, are 3 points above fair value, and the Nasdaq 100 futures, at 1457, are 2 points above fair value. The below table lists the night's most significant news items, as well as the stocks' reactions: After Hours Mover % Change Move Reason for Move Dollar Tree (DLTR) +5% Discount retailer delivers Q1 (Apr) EPS of $0.31, $0.02 ahead of the Reuters Research consensus estimate, on revenues that rose 15% to $710.3 mln (consensus of $710.3 mln); Gross margins (35.4%) were flat with last year; Company goes on to reaffirm its Q2 (July) and FY04 (Jan) sales guidance; Stock has sold off 24% from its Feb highs Michaels Stores (MIK) +3% After raising its outlook on Apr 8, arts and crafts retailer turns in a 29% increase in Q1 (Apr) EPS to $0.42 (consensus of $0.37) and an 11% rise in revenues to $725.9 mln (consensus of $731.7 mln); Management gives better than expected EPS guidance for Q2 (July) and in-line guidance for FY04 (Jan); Also says same store sales for the next 3 quarters and for the year should rise 3-5% Starbucks (00C0) +1% Coffee giant reports May same store sales of +11%, for a monthly revenue increase of 27%; May marks the 4th straight month the company's overall sales have grown in excess of 25% and its comparable store sales have jumped more than 10%; SBUX has been trading along its 52-week highs for the past 2 months despite the broader market's pullback; Briefing.com has been positive on the stock for over a year in Story Stocks Tech Data (TECD) +6% Number two computer products distributor tops the Q1 (Apr) consensus bottom-line estimate by $0.10 and exceeds the consensus top-line estimate by 6%; Company puts Q2 (July) EPS at $0.47-0.52 and revenues at $4.4-4.5 bln, as compared to the Reuters Research estimates of $0.50 and $4.48 bln, respectively; TECD has underperformed the Nasdaq over the past 3 months, dipping 15% Veritas DGC (VTS) +12% Small-cap oil well services & equipment name delivers a blow-out Q3 (Apr) report replete with a 46% increase in sales; Free cash flow jumped to $29.2 mln from $15.8 mln; Briefing.com reiterated its Overweight rating on the Energy Sector in the Sector View today Tomorrow, the market will again encounter few earnings reports of significance, and a handful of economic reports (weekly initial claims and the Q1 chain deflator). After the close, however, Novellus (NVLS) will give its mid-quarter update - be sure to watch Briefing.com's In-Play page (A Platinum product) for updates. For more detail on these, and other developments, be sure to visit our Stock Market Updateand Daily Sector Wrap. -- Heather Smith, Briefing.com 5:58PM Swing Trader : Stocks put in a relatively modest day after yesterday's rally, thus making it tough to say if today's action confirmed the chance for further gains. The breadth was there (Advancers outpacing Decliners 1.5 to 1), but the underlying enthusiasm seemed to be missing. As one trader put it, "at least we didn't sell off!" which I guess translates into constructive action. Personally, I would like to see more participation by the Semiconductor and Broker/Dealer groups...but they aren't doing much under their 200-day simple moving averages. If indeed the market does continue to rally, many stocks... (continued) Close Dow -7.73 at 10109.89, S&P +1.90 at 1114.95, Nasdaq +11.50 at 1976.15: The closing values don't denote much in the way of trading activity, but the indices' ability to hold near the unchanged mark - handily surpassing it in the case of the Nasdaq - was an encouraging sign for a market that posted a 1.6-2.2% gain yesterday... The Dow and Nasdaq finished above their 200-day simple moving averages for a second day in a row, despite a press conference by Attorney General Ashcroft that announced 'credible intelligence from multiple sources' that al Qaeda is planning to launch an attack, as well as a slew of less than encouraging economic data... April Durable Goods dropped 2.9% (consensus of -0.8%) - although it is important to note that the March gain was revised to a stronger +5.7% - and April New Home sales declined 12% for their largest drop in 10 years, to 1.093 mln (consensus of 1.20 mln)... The weak housing data point weighed heavily on the homebuilders, which were among the weakest groups of the day despite a better than expected Q2 (Apr) report from Toll Brothers (TOL 40.45 -0.95)... The energy group also suffered large losses following a $0.34 drop in the price of crude oil to $40.80/bbl... An Energy Department report showed US oil inventories unchanged last week... Other than that, most groups possessed a positive bias, with notable standouts being semiconductor, biotech, and auto... As for the bond market, the 10-year note closed at 3-week highs (yields of 4.67%) in response to Ashcroft's press conference... SOX +0.6, NYSE Adv/Dec 2070/1236, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1844/1283 12:46PM Prudential gives update on Micron, Vishay conference presentations : Prudential gives an update from presentations given by MU (14.74 +0.42) and VSH (18.38 +0.45) at the European Technology Conference in London. Regarding MU, firm says the co believes a key driver of 2004 DRAM capacity tightness will be non-PC DRAM production, which is expected to increase from 5% in 2003 to 20-25% by year-end 2004; co also expects DRAM bit growth of 40%, and demand growth of 50%, which should be positive for avg selling prices. Regarding VSH, firm says that based on the recent strong performance of active components and the beginning of a recovery in passive components, the co estimates that we are about halfway through the current semi cycle; co also reaffirmed its June qtr guidance of $670-$675 mln for revs and EPS growth of 15% QoQ. finance.yahoo.com