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

To: Sam who wrote (52597)	6/27/2011 11:39:02 PM
From: Sam	2 Recommendations Respond to of 95574

ASML: Merrill Upgrades Jun. 27 2011 - 9:41 am By ERIC SAVITZ blogs.forbes.com Shares of the semiconductor equipment provider ASML Holding are trading higher Monday morning after Bank of America/Merrill Lynch analyst Jonathan Crossfield upped his rating on the stock to Buy from Neutral, setting a price target of $47. The stock closed Friday at $34.88. “Investing in ASML today is a balancing act between owning a structurally critical, market leading company at an attractive long term valuation and the direction of semiconductor capex in 2012 (we model flat, consensus says down),” he writes in a research note. “We favor the former and believe that the cyclical revenue risk is also mitigated by customers spending on EUV [extreme ultraviolet lithography] systems for future process development.” Crossfield concedes that “upgrading a semi cap stock at this stage of the cycle may seem incongruous, particularly following our downgrade of major customer TSMC last week to Underperform.” But he notes that since March Taiwan Semi is up 6%, while ASML is down 20%. ASML this morning is up 66 cents, or 1.9%, to $35.64.

To: Sam who wrote (52597)	6/29/2011 12:16:35 AM
From: Return to Sender	1 Recommendation Respond to of 95574

From Briefing.com: 4:30 pm : For the second straight session broad-based buying on light share volume took stocks sharply higher. Greece's vote on new austerity measures remains on the horizon, however. Word that Germany backs France's proposal to involve the private sector in Greece's efforts to restore its finances turned the tepid tone of premarket trade into something decidedly more optimistic. Participants' positive response was attributable to the appearance of a unified front in attacking the problems plaguing fiscally woeful Greece. In turn, traders were more dismissive of the uncertainty regarding Greece's vote on a set of austerity measures established by country officials, the EU, and the IMF. Once trade opened, stocks set out on a steady ascent that took the three major equity averages to gains in excess of 1%. A 2.7% aggregate gain made energy stocks the biggest drivers of the advance. However, Nike (NKE 89.90, +8.28) surged 10% to book one of the best percentage gains for an individual issue following its upside earnings surprise. Financials failed to find any meaningful support. The sector settled with a gain of just 0.4%. What's more, that modest move came after the sector had spent some time in negative territory. Participation was paltry once again. In turn, share volume dwindled, which made it easier for stocks to score outsized gains. Thin trading volume is expected to be an ongoing theme this week, given that many traders are taking vacation ahead of the holiday weekend. 4:17PM Dell gives update on growth goals ahead of tomorrow's Analyst Day; co has repurchased $1.6 bln in stock FYTD (DELL) 16.01 +0.07 : Brian Gladden, Dell CFO, outlined the key priorities underway to allow the co to deliver on its long-term value creation framework of 5-7% rev growth, GAAP operating income of more than 7 percent and cash flow from operations exceeding net income. Those priorities include accelerated enterprise growth, disciplined cost management and operational improvements, and continued profitable growth in laptop and desktop products. Over the past four quarters, Dell's revenue has exceeded the long-term growth goal, GAAP operating income has been 6.7% and cash flow has been $4.2 billion, which was 1.3 times net income. Mr. Gladden also reported that, fiscal year-to-date, Dell has repurchased $1.6 billion in stock and expects to repurchase more than $2 billion in stock during the current fiscal year. 11:04AM Micron selected to help Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) accelerate information sharing across global broadband networks (MU) 7.32 -0.02 : Cos announced that Alcatel-Lucent has chosen Micron's third-generation reduced latency DRAM to drive Alcatel-Lucent's next generation of network offerings. Alcatel-Lucent plans to rely on Micron's RLDRAM 3 memory to support the industry's first 400-gigabit capable chipset. 8:02AM Axcelis Tech selected the Integra ES plasma dry strip system to support high-volume device manufacturing facilities (ACLS) 1.70 : The systems have started shipping this month to multiple fabs worldwide. STMicroelectronics (STM) introduced a new memory with a fast recording feature for storing important data during unexpected events. 09:09 am JA Solar downgraded to Sell at Brean Murray; tgt $4: . Brean Murray downgrades JASO to Sell from Hold and sets target price at $4. Firm notes downgraded is based on material pricing pressure in conjunction with higher raw material costs associated with inventory write-downs from Q1 and limited benefit from lower costs across the value chain, particularly around polysilicon as it remains committed to long-term contracts to its major supplier. Firm highlights this suggests less of a prospect for the co to experience similar 2H/11 rebound in margins associated with the recent and dramatic decline in silicon prices that are helping to drive some margin expansion for its peers in the Q3/Q4 time frame. 09:08 am OmniVision upgraded to Buy at Canaccord Genuity; tgt raised to $38: . Canaccord Genuity upgrades OVTI to Buy from Hold and raises their tgt to $38 from $33 following positive supply chain checks that show a strong manufacturing ramp for image sensors in CQ3, and general health for Apple-weighted component suppliers. Firm says while initial yields for BSI-2 may constrain gross margin expansion in H2/11, they believe ramping smartphone demand for 8MP, weak feature phone trends, and strength for Entertainment should drive revenue and EPS upside at solid ASPs.