Tech Winners & Losers: Intel
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.