To: REH who wrote (14987 ) 2/2/1999 4:36:00 PM From: REH Respond to of 93625
Rambus Shares Jump After Morgan Stanley Analyst Upgrades Rating Dow Jones Online News, Tuesday, February 02, 1999 at 16:24 By Nicole Ridgway, Staff Reporter NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Rambus Inc.'s shares rose Tuesday after Morgan Stanley Dean Witter analyst Mark Edelstone quickly reversed course and upgraded his rating on the shares. Edelstone raised his opinion on the memory chip developer's shares to "outperform" from "neutral", citing recent weakness in its stock and the company's long-term potential. Just three weeks ago, on January 12, he cut his rating to "neutral" from "outperform" because he thought the shares were overvalued. Two days later, the company cautioned investors that earnings during the next two or three quarters would be flat with the fiscal first quarter ended Dec. 31, when it earned eight cents a share. The downgrade and profit warning spurred a sell-off in the company's shares, which had closed at $109.50 on Jan. 11 but ended Monday's session at $74.875. Shares of Rambus (RMBS) closed Tuesday up $6.25, or 8%, at $81.125 on Nasdaq volume of 1.74 million shares, higher than the daily average of 867,200. In a research note, Morgan Stanley's Edelstone said additional selling pressure in Rambus' shares stemmed from "a slip in Intel's 820 chipset schedule and concerns that the schedule has slipped again." The analyst said the weakness in Rambus' stock price has "largely discounted" Intel Corp.'s (INTC) schedule delays, and shares will find "solid support in the mid 60s to low 70s." Intel encountered normal engineering problems while preparing the 820 chipset for production, Edelstone said, and the chip maker is "on track" to unveil a chipset that will support the 600 megahertz versions of Direct Rambus DRAMs at the end of the second quarter, which ends March 31. Technical hurdles, however, may cause Intel to delay delivery of an 820 chipset that supports the Direct Rambus DRAM spec of 800 megahertz by three months or so, he noted. Looking forward, Edelstone said Intel "is highly motivated to solve any technical issues and ramp the Rambus memory architecture into the mainstream PC market in the second half of 1999." He currently has a 12-month price target of $110 on Rambus shares, which he said could have a "meaningful upside" once shipments of Direct Rambus DRAMs are shipping in high volumes.