Chip Stocks Offer Mixed Reaction to Analysts' Attention Today
Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan's testimony before Congress didn't seem to matter as much as the other voices weighing in on semiconductor stocks today.
The
Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index
rose during
Greenspan's speech , then settled down and stayed close to flat. The SOX, which has lost 12.4% during the month, had lately turned down slightly.
Chip stocks' attention was primarily directed elsewhere, including the inventory concerns from
Cisco's
(CSCO) - Get Cisco Systems Inc. Report
earnings report last week and a handful of analysts' actions.
Applied Micro Circuits
(AMCC)
was up $1.50, or 3.2%, to $44.69. Applied was a top pick of
UBS Warburg
analyst David Wong, who said this morning that the chipmaker was on track to meet quarter-to-quarter growth estimates of the high teens to 20%. Wong also said
Vitesse Semiconductor
(VTSS)
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looked as if it will also hit its growth estimates for the March quarter. In recent trading, Vitesse was down 75 cents, or 1.2%, to $60.12.
Analog Devices
(ADI) - Get Analog Devices Inc. Report
, which makes integrated circuits that translate sounds into digital signals and back again and are widely used in telecommunications, was downgraded by
Merrill Lynch
. Analyst Joe Osha said that Analog likely will see a decline in revenue for the April quarter rather than the flat growth it estimated. Osha cut the rating to hold from accumulate. Analog was trading down 3 cents, or 0.06%, to $48.07.
Texas Instruments
(TXN) - Get Texas Instruments Incorporated Report
, another chipmaker with strong telecom business, was downgraded by
Credit Suisse First Boston
analyst
Charlie Glavin.
Glavin cut his rating on TI to hold from accumulate on concerns that the company had spent to increase chipmaking capacity, without any certainty that revenues would increase. Still, TI was up 8 cents, or 0.3%, to $37.78.
Broadcom
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also was downgraded by Glavin to hold from accumulate. Glavin wrote that he was concerned about continuing high inventories in the cable-modem chips. Furthermore, Broadcom's inclusion in Internet appliances is offset by uncertainty over their popularity with consumers. In recent trading, Broadcom was down $3.06, or 3.8%, to $77.38.
Intel
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, also downgraded to hold by Glavin, sank in recent trading, down 88 cents, or 2.5%, to $33.69. Glavin mentioned that the chip giant's' margins would be hurt by the relatively expensive-to-produce Pentium 4, a continuing price war with
Advanced Micro Devices
(AMD) - Get Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Report
, its unexpectedly high capital expenditure plans for the year and murky PC demand.
