Monday, April 10, 2006

Pre-Market

Semiconductor related news courtesy of Briefing.com:

UBS downgrades AMAT, KLAC, LRCX, VSEA to Neutral from Buy on valuation. Firm favors WFR.

Stifel & Co. believes almost all cos in its coverage universe will at least meet and likely exceed the firm's Q1 forecasts as near-term industry fundamentals continue to improve. Firm expects the most upside from cos like Lam Research (LRCX), Cymer (CYMI), and FormFactor (FORM). Memory has been the main driver for cap-ex in Q1. In terms of outlooks, firm expects most front-end cos to forecast additional sequential gains for JunQ in the range of +10%-15%. Overall, firm maintains a Neutral industry stance as there have not been signs that there will be a significant uptick in 2H06 capex spending . Firm would particularly avoid back-end cos, as these names have already reached a peak.

Jury finds that Axiom Microdevices misappropriated Silicon Laboratories' trade secrets (SLAB) 57.59 : Co announces that a jury in the Federal District Court in Austin, TX found that Axiom Microdevices misappropriated Silicon Laboratories' trade secrets and that the misappropriation was done with malice, fraud or gross negligence. The Court has not yet entered a judgment and will hold additional hearings to determine the appropriate remedies. Silicon Laboratories' trade secrets are related to proprietary technology for its Si4300 CMOS power amplifier for cell phones.

Digitimes reports Billy Wang, vice president for Asia Pacific and China at ATI Technologies (ATYT), stated yesterday that the company's new SB600 southbridge chip will be introduced in May. Wang was responding to recent speculation that ULi Electronics may no longer provide southbridges for ATI-based motherboard platforms, following its acquisition by ATI-rival Nvidia (NVDA). According to Wang, ATI aims to boost 2006 revenues with new products, while lowering its capital expenditure (capex) and better controlling its production costs to boost profits, after failing to meet profit expectations last year. ATI has completed its new product roadmap for this year, including the upcoming SB600 to be manufactured at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM).

Digitimes reports market rumors suggest that Intel (INTC) may very likely lower prices of its core processors by 20-40% at the beginning of May, two weeks earlier than formerly expected, according to the Chinese-language Apple Daily.

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Early pre-market weakness in semis is noted in particular LRCX, CREE, AMAT, and ATYT

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