Pre-Market - Friday December 15th (Options Exp.)

Citrix Systems initiated with a Buy at ThinkEquity- tgt $40 (28.61 )
ThinkEquity initiates CTXS with a Buy and a $40 tgt saying Citrix has excelled in expanding into growth areas through strategic acquisitions.

Advanced Micro: Color on Analyst Day (22.71 )
Several analysts are commenting on yesterday's AMD Analyst Day: CIBC comments on AMD's Analyst Day, saying the co provided upbeat guidance reflecting a bigger, more energized company following the acquisition of ATYT. Mgmt said that cost synergies were ahead of schedule and that the deal would now be accretive by 2H07. Shares responded positively to the update. Firm believes the cost synergy upside was primarily due to overlapping COGS and R&D activities. They say the unexpected rise in the estimated tax rate to 26% (vs. their expectations for 15%), however, offset much of the upside. Firm notes that at 23x their CY07E EPS of $1.00, shares trade at a premium to peers 20x. With pricing headwinds in MPU unabated, a more competitive product lineup from INTC, and a less than stellar execution history at both AMD and ATYT, the firm does not believe the risk/reward profile warrants a premium at this time... Susquehanna says that contrary to their expectations, AMD management set what they consider to be very aggressive growth and cost targets for the combined AMD/ATYT business model, and conveyed a very bullish view of not just longer term product synergies from the ATYT acquisition, but also accretive potential for CY07. While bulls will take heart, the firm still views AMD as a high-risk story. They maintain their Negative rating, but would be less aggressive on the short side until they have a better sense of how adjusted consensus estimates shake out - inflated expectations coming out of the meeting, particularly off unclear comps, could lead some to see more near-term upside than is justified... Friedman Billings says that they are beginning to warm up to AMD's stock, given the pullback and due to AMD's ramp of more cost effective 65nm products in 1H07. They believe that 2007 guidance, however, presents a new concern, as it assumes continued share gain in notebook and enterprise, a rebound of ATYT's graphics business, as well as A.S.P. stability. Firm notes that such gains are far from assured, given the omnipresent competitive threat from INTC (and from NVDA in graphics), coupled with INTC's 45nm ramp in 2H07. They state that AMD could benefit from a Vista-inspired positive PC environment in 1H07, but AMD's aggressive 2007 guidance presents an unnecessary risk. Maintains Mkt Perform and $23 price tgt.

Invasion of the Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) stock sellers - Barron's Online
Barron's Online reports with Nvidia shares trading near an all-time high, several insiders at the graphics-chip maker have seen fit to take profits. Six execs and directors at the co, including CEO Jen-Hsun Huang and CFO Marvin Burkett, have sold a total of $70.2 mln in Nvidia's shares since Dec. 5. About $42.1 mln of the stock sold since Dec. 5 by Nvidia insiders was from exercised options, while $28.1 mln of the sales were of stock that had been held. Michael Painchaud, managing director of research at Market Profile Theorems, notes that directors Coxe and Gaither have been accurate buyers of Nvidia shares in the past. Both men picked up Nvidia shares in August and September of 2004 when the stock was trading at about $6. Ben Silverman, director of research at InsiderScore.com, calls the selling by Nvidia insiders a "passive sell signal" because while the amount of shares sold is large, profit-taking by insiders after a stock hits a high is normal. Silverman adds, however, that investors should take a look at their Nvidia holdings.

F5 Networks (NASDAQ:FFIV) tgt upped to $90 at ThinkEquity (76.94 )
ThinkEquity raises their tgt on FFIV to $90 from $75 saying they believe that F5 has the most near-term upside potential. The firm believes that there is little threat to F5's dominant market position for application switching in the near term, as F5 has a solid offer and the most-focused distribution.

Courtesy of Briefing.com

Trading Lite for me due to options expiration.