Tech Winners & Losers: Intel

A chip delay sends the stock lower.
By Ivy Lessner ,

SAN FRANCISCO -- Two tech sectors were on the move in opposite directions Wednesday, while the broader Nasdaq index was off slightly. It was a down day for most semiconductor stocks, but solar technology generated some early summer heat.

A first-quarter loss at Chinese chipmaker

Semiconductor Manufacturing International

(SMI)

Tuesday helped to drag down semiconductors. SMI fell 24 cents, or 6.5%, to $3.48 Wednesday after climbing 10.7% the day before. The company took a loss of $119 million, vs. a profit of $8.8 million for the same quarter of 2007. It said it will exit the market for dynamic RAM chips.

The

Philadelphia Semiconductor Sector Index

was down 0.5% to $405.6 in afternoon trading.

Intel

(INTC) - Get Report

lost 34 cents, or 1.4%, to $23.26 on news that the chipmaker would delay the introduction of some of its latest Centrino notebook chips to August.

And Intel competitor

Advanced Micro Devices

(AMD) - Get Report

was also off 9 cents, or 1.3%, to $6.83.

But

Nvidia

(NVDA) - Get Report

was up 17 cents, or 0.7%, to $23.53 after an upgrade Wednesday. JMP Securities raised the graphics chipmaker to market outperform.

Alternative energy stocks gained after Kaufman Brothers initiated coverage with buy ratings on several names Wednesday.

American Superconductor

(AMSC) - Get Report

rose $2.26, or 7.2%, to $33.80 after Kaufman gave it a one-year price target of $37, according to Briefing.com.

Cree

(CREE) - Get Report

was up 44 cents, or 1.8%, to $24.75 on Kaufman's initiation of a buy rating and a $36 price target.

Evergreen Solar

( ESLR) rose 29 cents, or 2.7%, to $10.89 with an initiated buy rating and $18 target.

MEMC Electronic Materials

(WFR)

gained 84 cents, or 1.2%, to trade at $68.73 on a price target of $80. And

First Solar

(FSLR) - Get Report

was up $4.15, or 1.6%, to $269.31 on a hold rating and a target of $260.

Micro-cap

Akeena Solar

( AKNS) was the real winner, up 90 cents, or 15.3%, to $6.79 on a target of $12. But

Sunpower

(SPWR) - Get Report

was up just 20 cents, or 0.2%, to $82.72 despite Kaufman's buy rating and $120 target.

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