Chips Pushing Novellus (NVLS), (NETL) (ALTR), (AMSL), (ADI), (LRCX) toward New Highs

Altera (NASDAQ:ALTR), ASML (NASDAQ:AMSL), Analog Devices (NYSE:ADI), Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX), NetLogic (NASDAQ:NETL) and Novellus (NASDAQ:NVLS) are all being pushed towards new highs, as VCs pour money into social networks, mobile connectivity, the Cloud and energy efficiency, demand for chips old and new is back, leading the electronic components and capital equipment sectors to a strong growth path. They were already turning back to the plus column last fall as a mild inventory adjustment was quickly bracketed.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) just concluded its annual analyst meeting in New York ringing a bullish note for the next several years’ outlook for highly sophisticated, ultra complex machines sold to Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), Samsung, TSMC and other global chipmakers. Echoing ASML CEO Eric Meurice’s remarks three weeks ago, Applied’s head said rising chip complexity, raw unit demand and a decade of underinvestment meant an above trend outlook for his company this year and next. After years of underperforming, such public confidence suggests something big is on the way at the world’s largest semiconductor equipment supplier.

Long lagging Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) just reported a couple of pennies in profit in its typically seasonally weak second fiscal quarter, notable because it’s the first time since the company’s magnificent 1990s run that it hasn’t lost money in the trough of the highly volatile dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) pricing cycle and also because it is now positioned to cash in on booming NAND Flash demand. The opposite of Wall Street’s purported glut, Apple’s iPad (NASDAQ:AAPL) refresh is elevating this newly ubiquitous form factor to Olympian proportion, drawing millions of new users into its Smartphone and PC ecosystems at the same time AT&T upgrades its network through a wireless carrier megadeal. Memory chips are one of the key winners.




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