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Technology Stocks : Rambus (RMBS) - Eagle or Penguin -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KM who wrote (16360)	2/22/1999 3:13:00 PM
From: REH	Respond to of 93625

Rambus stock rises on upgrade, Intel reaffirmation NEW YORK, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Rambus Inc. (Nasdaq:RMBS - news) shares surged another $7 on Monday after BancBoston Roberston Stephens upgraded the stock to buy from long-term attractive and amid several customer endorsments for its memory chip technology. BancBoston analyst Daniel Niles raised his rating on Rambus and said chip giant Intel Corp. (Nasdaq:INTC - news) would announce this week firm dates for using Rambus technology in new Intel chipsets. Rambus shares were hurt recently by speculation that Intel would delay introduction of its ''Camino'' 820 chipset using Rambus technology to the third quarter from its earlier scheduled second quarter ship-date. Rambus shares touched a recent low of $60 last Thursday but then turned higher. This morning they were up $7 at $78 and later moved to $81.625. Rambus is the developer of a high-speed memory technology that it has licensed to many of the major manufacturers of computer memory chips worldwide for use in their products. ''We are upgrading Rambus to 'buy' from 'long-term attractive' after a period of caution on the company due to the continual slip in the Camino chipset schedule from Intel,'' Niles said in a statement. ''We now believe the new schedule will be introduced at tomorrow's Intel Developers Forum,'' he said. ''With a firm schedule, we feel confident that the stock can appreciate consistently going forward.'' The analyst set a $90 price target on Rambus shares. Ahead of the conference, Softbank Corp.'s Kingston Technology Co., a leading supplier of computer memory modules, said Monday it would provide support for Intel-based personal computers systems using Rambus memory technology. Also on Monday, Hyundai Electronics announced a series of Rambus-based memory chips. The company introduced Rambus-based 64-megabit Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) computer memory chips and said that later this year it would offer 128-megabit and 144-megabit ECC versions of these chips to PC makers. ''Following requests by major DRAM vendors, Kingston is significantly increasing its global module manufacturing and testing capacity to better support PC OEM requirements,'' Kingston official Richard Kanadjian said in a statement. PC OEM is industry jargon for makers of personal computer systems hardware. ''As a result, we will be investing in additional manufacturing and high-speed test equipment during 1999,'' Kanadjian, a Kingston marketing executive, said. The recovery in the Rambus stock price was fueled Friday when Morgan Stanley analyst Mark Edelstone told his brokerage's sales force that Intel would reiterate its commitment to Rambus technology at its developers' conference this week. ''We expect Intel to give Rambus strong support, and we believe that recent weakness in Rambus has created an excellent buying opportunity,'' Edelstone said Friday morning. In an intraday comment Friday afternoon, Edelstone said he believed Sony Corp. was preparing to use Rambus memory technology in the next generation of its Sony PlayStation II, due out next year, a move he sees as a psychological positive after the recent concerns about delays in Intel's products. Edelstone cut his rating on Rambus in early January when the stock hit $110, then reinstated a buy rating when it dropped to $74 in early February. He maintains a $110 price target on the stock.