Caris & Co. semiconductor analyst Craig Ellis today offers his observations from meeting with a handful of companies at the Consumer Electronics Show, noting that the inventory correction that had people worried in the second half of 2010 appears to be abating, as the tone among chip makers was “upbeat.” [...]
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Reversing a trend of recent bearish Street commentary on the stock, Oppenheimer analyst Yair Reiner this morning raised his rating on Corning (GLW) to Outperform from Perform, setting a $20 price target. Yesterday, GLW closed at $15.72.
“Our upgrade doesn’t mean that we think the inventory correction rattling through the LCD [...]
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STEC (STEC) this afternoon reported Q1 revenue of $38.8 million and a loss on a non-GAAP basis of 8 cents a share, beating the Street at $33.7 million and a loss of 13 cents.
The solid-state drive company said that it has “received indications that the inventory situation” which has hampered [...]
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Microchip Technology (MCHP) this afternoon raised its guidance for the fiscal fourth quarter ended March 31. The chip company now sees sales up 8% sequentially; previously, MCHP had forecast growth of 3%-7%. Microchip now expects profits for the quarter of 37 cents GAAP and 42 cents non-GAAP; old guidance was for 34-36 cents GAAP, and 39-41 cents non-GAAP.
MCHP said gross margin should be at the high end of previous guidance, with 59.35% GAAP, and 60.25% non-GAAP.
Microchip said in a statement that “demand for our products continues to be very robust,” with record bookings in the quarter.
“The primary challenge continues to be the tight supply of components for our customers to complete their bill of materials,” the company said. “While Microchip continues to have among the best lead-times in the industry, despite our focus on growing capacity our inventory will be flat to down for the current quarter because of our stronger than expected growth. Therefore we are continuing to add equipment and personnel in our factories to support the further customer demand we are expecting.”
In late trading, MCHP is up 28 cents, or 1%, to $28.12.
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Oppenheimer analyst Gary Hsueh this morning downgraded his ratings on both KLA-Tencor (KLAC) and Lam Reserarch (LRCX), citing signs of weakness observed on a recent trip through Asia.
On KLAC, he goes to Underperform from Perform; on LRCX he goes to Perform from Outperform.
“Right off the bat on our quarterly trip to Asia, things weren’t smelling right for semi cap equipment,” he writes in a research note. “decent sell-through in China during the Lunar New Year week in February, and better-than-expected February retail sales in the U.S. appear to justify slightly the inventory creep for semis in Q2, and DRAM remains tight. Yet, for semi cap equipment, there is no getting around the issue of customer concentration.” And he says checks find front-end semi equipment companies are facing a 15-20% Q2 drop in orders as Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) cuts purchasing to zero in Q2 and Q3. So while he still likes the group long-term, he adds that “we have to face reality.”
For LRCX, he also cuts his June 2011 EPS forecast to $2.82, from $4.25, and chops his price target to $35, from $55.
For KLAC, his June 0211 estimate drops to $2.02, from $2.80. His target is now $25, down from $37.
He also trims estimates for Applied Materials (AMAT): for the October 2010 year, he goes to 83 cents, from $1, while for FY 2011 he now sees $1.29, down from $1.50. His target price drops to $17, from $20.
In today’s trading:
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