Visa (V) (ARX) (VASC) (AMED) (UBSI) (AMD) Downgraded

Visa Inc. (V), Aeroflex Holding Corp. (NYSE: ARX), Vascular Solutions Inc (NASDAQ: VASC), Amedisys, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMED), United Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: UBSI) and Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) were downgraded by analysts.

Visa Inc. (V) was downgraded by FBR Capital from an “Outperform” rating to a “Market Perform” rating.

Aeroflex Holding Corp. (ARX) was downgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) from an “Overweight” rating to a “Neutral” rating. They have a price target of $12.00 on the company.

Vascular Solutions Inc. (VASC) was downgraded by Dougherty & Co. from a “Buy” rating to a “Neutral” rating. They have a price target of $11.50 on the company, down from $14.00.

Amedisys, Inc. (AMED) was downgraded by BB&T (NYSE:BBT) from a “Hold” rating to an “Underweight” rating.

United Bankshares, Inc. (UBSI) was downgraded by Stifel Nicolaus from a “Buy” rating to a “Hold” rating.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) was downgraded by Avian from a “Positive” rating to a “Neutral” rating.

AMD (AMD) (FNFG) (LFRGY) (ADSK) (CRH) (DGI) (KLIC) Upgraded

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD), First Niagara Financial Group Inc. (NASDAQ: FNFG), Lafarge S.A. (NASDAQ: LFRGY), Autodesk (NASDAQ: ADSK), CRH PLC (NYSE: CRH), DigitalGlobe Inc (NYSE: DGI) and Kulicke & Soffa (NASDAQ: KLIC) Upgraded.

Autodesk (ADSK) was upgraded by Jefferies (NYSE: JEF) from a

“Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $44.00 on the company, up from $40.00.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) was upgraded by Raymond James (NYSE: RJF) from an “Underperform” rating to an “Outperform” rating.

CRH (CRH) was upgraded by Nomura from a “Neutral” rating to a “Buy” rating.

DigitalGlobe Inc (DGI) was upgraded by The Benchmark Company from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $32.00 on the company.

First Niagara Financial Group Inc. (FNFG) was upgraded by Boenning & Scattergood from a “Neutral” rating to an “Outperform” rating. They have a price target of $16.50 on the company.

Kulicke & Soffa (KLIC) was upgraded by Jefferies from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating.

Lafarge S.A. (LFRGY) was upgraded by Nomura from a “Reduce” rating to a “Neutral” rating.

LM Ericsson (ERIC) (RELL) (URBN) (AMD) (ENTG) Upgraded

LM Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC), Richardson Electronics Ltd (NASDAQ: RELL), Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN), Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) and Entegris (NASDAQ: ENTG) upgraded by analysts.

WestLB upgraded LM Ericsson (ERIC) was to a “Neutral” rating.

Craig Hallum upgraded Richardson Electronics Ltd (RELL) from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating.

Wall Street Strategies upgraded Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN) was to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $36.00 on the company.

Canaccord Genuity upgraded Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $8.00 on the company.

Dougherty & Co. upgraded Entegris (ENTG) from a “Neutral” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $11.25 on the company, up from $10.50.

AMD (AMD) (EVEP) (SUN) (MSFT) (ESRX) Upgraded by Analysts

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD), EV Energy (NASDAQ: EVEP), Sunoco Incorporated (NYSE: SUN), Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Express Scripts, Inc. (NASDAQ: ESRX) upgraded by analysts.

EV Energy (EVEP) was upgraded by Wunderlich from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $71.00 on the company.

Sunoco Incorporated (SUN) was upgraded by CRT Capital to a “Sell” rating.

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) was upgraded by Davenport from a “Neutral” rating to a “Buy” rating.

Express Scripts, Inc. (ESRX) was upgraded by Maxim Group from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $69.00 on the company.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) was upgraded by Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC) from an “Underperform” rating to a “Market Perform” rating.

Semis (INTC) (NVDA) (LRCX) (AMAT) (AMD) (MU) (CRUS) Crunched on Rising Japan Fears

Fears a shortage of chips could dramatically have an negative effect on the semiconductor sector had shares of Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), Cirrus Logic (NASDAQ:CRUS), Nvidia (NASDAQ:INTC), Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX), Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT), Micron ((NASDAQ:MU) and AMD (NYSE:AMD) all end down on Monday, and they should remain under pressure for some time because of the uncertainty surrounding supply.

Research firm Gartner noted, “Clearly, there are some material supply challenges ahead of the industry in the aftermath of the tragic events in Japan.”

With the Semiconductor Industry Association reported a drop in worldwide chip sales in February compared with the January, there's a question as to whether or not Japan is the only reason for the slowdown, although February is a short month, which may be a contributing factor.

Intel closed Monday at $19.49, dropping $0.23, or 1.17 percent. Applied Materials closed at $15.40, falling $15.40, losing $0.13, or 0.84 percent. Micron closed at $11.19, down $0.11, or 0.97 percent. Applied Micro Devices ended the session at $15.40, losing 0.13, or 0.84 percent. Lam Research closed at $54.90, dropping $1.41, or 2.50 percent. Cirrus Logic fell to $19.65, down $0.69, or 3.39 percent. Nvidia closed down at $17.55, losing 0.65, or 3.57 percent.

AMD's (AMD) Llano, Bulldozer Will Ship on Time Says Sterne Agee

AMD's (NYSE:AMD) Llano and Bulldozer chips are expected to ship on time, according to Sterne Agee semiconductor analyst Vijay Rakesh, with the Llano expected to ship in April and Bulldozer should be ready in the third quarter.

Rumors had been the two chips wouldn't be ready on time and would have a negative impact on the company.

Rakesh said he believes AMD will get a nice boost to its gross profit margin when laptops using Llano are offered in the next quarter in the U.S.

He maintains a "Buy" rating on AMD, which was trading at $8.40, gaining $0.04, or 0.42 percent, as of 12:42 PM EDT.

AMD (AMD) Taps Hewlett's (HPQ) Wolfe for New CIO

Slowly building out its management team, AMD (NYSE:AMD) announced it has hired Hewlett-Packard's (NYSE:HPQ) Michael Wolfe as the new CIO of the company.

The five-year Hewlett veteran was the VP for Information Technology at Hewlett.

AMD’s interim CEO Thomas Seifert, said, “Mike has effectively led IT transformations constantly focusing on reducing operating costs and significantly improving business innovation. His considerable talent and experience will help AMD to continue strengthening our IT infrastructure and streamline our business based on our own products and platforms.”

AMD is still searching for a CEO to replace departed CEO Dirk Meyer, who shocked the market when he resigned suddenly in January.

Advanced Micro Devices closed Monday at $8.55, the same close as Friday.

Texas Instruments (TXN) Sees Lost Revenue from Earthquake

Shares of Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN) are down today as the company expects to lose revenue in the first half of its fiscal year because of the damage to its Miho, Japan, manufacturing plant from the earthquake.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and AMD (NYSE:AMD) were also under pressure on supply concerns today as well.

JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) chip analysts Chris Danely noted:

"We expect many semiconductor companies in our coverage universe to also be negatively impacted from both a demand as well as a manufacturing perspective. We believe ON, Maxim, Xilinx, and TI all rely on Japan for some part of manufacturing … from demand and shipment disruptions as well. We also expect a negative impact from demand and potentially shipment disruptions in Japan, which is one of the largest consumers of electronics. Companies in our universe with high exposure to Japan include [Altera] (18% of sales from Japan), [ON Semiconductor] (16%), [Analog Devices] (14%), and [Linear Technology] (14%)."

Texas Instruments was trading at $33.74, down $0.82, or 2.37 percent, as of 12:56 PM EDT.

Intel (INTC), AMD (AMD), NVIDIA (NVDA) Getting Crunched

Reports from Japan that they may shutdown production for polycrystalline silicon and silicon wafer makers in the country for one month, has shares of Intel (INTC) and AMD (AMD) under pressure, while NVIDIA (NVDA) was also getting hit hard.

The reason for the possible shutdown is the Japanese government is putting into play a power brownout policy which could affect the manufacturers of polycrystalline silicon and silicon wafers.

That would result in companies in the semiconductor industry running out of poly-Si supply very quickly.

Intel was trading at $20.14, down $0.70, or 3.38 percent, as of 12:02 PM EDT. AMD was trading at $8.32, falling $0.11, or 1.30 percent. Both companies have rebounded from earlier in the session. NVIDIA was trading at $17.88, down $0.32, or 1.76 percent. They also have pushed up some as the day goes on.

AMD (AMD) Top Stock in Nomura Analyst's Universe

Saying he believes AMD (AMD) will benefit from the notebook industry looking for chips that are good enough, and will migrate away from the premium Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) asks for, Nomura chip analyst Romit Shah says he still considers Advanced Micro Devices to be the best stock in his universe of coverage.

Shah said, “Investor sentiment remains set against AMD and our positive view has often been the source of some amusement. Furthermore, our marketing activities have revealed very few holders and should the company perform as we believe it will, we expect many investors to return to the shares.”

Shah also said the balance sheet must be considered, as it is much stronger since AMD spun off its manufacturing arm as Global Foundries. He sees the stock as still having up to 32 percent more upside.

He also shrugged off the concerns surrounding the time it is taking to replace departed CEO Dirk Meyer. Shah noted, “We believe that the company has a good selection of candidates lined up and that an announcement will be made relatively soon.”

AMD closed Monday at $8.43, dropping $0.22, or 2.54 percent.

IBM (IBM), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Dell (DELL) Lead Server Market

Dell (Nasdaq:DELL), IBM (NYSE:IBM) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) are the top dogs in the server market, accounting for over 78 percent of global server revenue of $48 billion in 2010. That's a 3 percent increase over the 75 percent server share the big three held in 2009.

What's as important, is the add-ons to servers like software, storage systems and services are all high-margin, making the segment even more profitable.

HP has the largest share of the three with 39 percent of overall revenue. Dell is second, with a 21 percent share. IBM is in third place with 19 percent.

Standard x86 servers for the industry had revenue grow by 29 percent in 2010, which help boost Intel (Nasdaq:INTC) or Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD), who provide standard microprocessors for the servers.

Dell closed Friday at $15.28, up $0.04, or 0.26 percent. IBM closed at $162.43, up $0.41, or 0.25 percent. Hewlett-Packard ended the session at $41.73, up $0.25, or 0.60 percent.

AMD (AMD): Take Me To Your Leader

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD) is starting to make some shareholders a little nervous, as after the company quickly got rid of CEO Dirk Meyer in January, there has been nothing to indicate there is a serious search going on, especially with the vulnerability of competitors Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) and NVIDIA (Nasdaq: NVDA), which strong leadership could have been able to exploit.

"You'd think it was in AMD's best interest to plug this glaring hole in its leadership structure, and I mean pronto. But it's almost two months later, and we haven't heard a peep about CEO candidates yet. In the meantime, several of Meyer's most trusted lieutenants have either left AMD outright or at least announced their intentions to move on," said Motley Fool.

"To put that delay into perspective, Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) was leaderless for about six weeks after the Mark Hurd debacle before bringing aboard Leo Apotheker from his cushy CEO post at SAP (NYSE:SAP), a global giant in enterprise software. AMD's search is about to roll into week number nine, making it slower than what the arguably more bureaucratic HP processes could muster.

"Sure, AMD has less clout than giant HP and will probably not be able to pry a reigning CEO away from a rival. That makes for a slower search. I'd also hate for AMD to rush into a bad decision for obvious reasons - the medicine has to be better than the disease."

AMD closed Wednesday at $8.67, down $0.32, or 3.56 percent.




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Broadcom (BRCM), Micron (MU), Nvidia (NVDA), Ciena (CIEN) Dragged Down on Weak Semi Day

Broadcom (BRCM), Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU), Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Ciena (NASDAQ:CIEN) were all dragged down with the overall sector, as Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) downgraded the overall semiconductor sector from "Overweight" to "Market Weight."

Other tech stocks falling were AMD (NYSE:AMD) and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC).

The worst performer was Ciena, which in addition to the overall sector weakness, gave disappointing guidance. The company closed at $25.98, down $2.83, or 9.82 percent.

Good news in the sector was a unique event in which Western Digital (NYSE:WDC) announced they were acquiring Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (AMEX:GST) for 4.3 billion. Western Digital closed at $34.68, gaining $4.67, or 15.56 percent.

Cisco (CSCO), Applied Materials (AMAT), Intel (INTC), AMD (AMD) Crunched on Tough Tech Day

Shares of major tech companies like Cisco (Nasdaq:CSCO), Applied Materials (Nasdaq:AMAT), Intel (Nasdaq:INTC), AMD (NYSE:AMD) took a beating Monday after the overall industry was downgraded and uncertainty continues to cloud the future of the sector.

Of the companies listed, Cisco Systems was able to rebound the most after dropping to a 52-week low of $18.03. Cisco closed Monday at $18.20, falling $0.20, or 1.09 percent.

Applied Materials closed the day at $15.96, down $0.77, or 4.60 percent. They dropped as low as $15.74 on the day.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. closed at $8.84, down $0.39, or 4.17 percent. They traded down to $8.74 before a slight rebound.

Intel Corp. dropped as far as $21.08 before ending the trading session at $21.21, falling $0.35, or 1.62 percent.

Lawsuits for Intel (INTC), AMD (AMD), eBay (EBAY), IBM (IBM), Xilinx (XLNX), Polycom (PLCN), Spansion (NASDAQ:SPSN)?

With the trial of Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam about to start this week, companies which allegedly supplied insider information to Galleon executives, such as Spansion Inc. (NASDAQ:SPSN), Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC), Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE:AMD), eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY), International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM), Xilinx Inc. (NASDAQ:XLNX) and Polycom Inc. (NASDAQ:PLCN), could find themselves being the recipient of lawsuits, according to a Bloomberg report.

"If a company made a decision for whatever reason that it wanted to make information available to select individuals, that in my opinion would be unlawful," Bloomberg cited Mark Rifkin, of Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP, as saying. "We’re paying close attention to the entire insider trading case as it unfolds because you never know what’s going to happen."

The trial of Galleon Group LLC co-founder Raj Rajaratnam, 52, starts on Tuesday after months of legal battles about whether wiretaps and other information gathered during a long investigation will be admitted as evidence. Rajaratnam faces a possible 10 years in prison if convicted.




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Wells (WFC) Top Semi Picks are Intel (INTC), Qualcomm (QCOM), Linear Technology (LLTC), Analog Devices (ADI), Xilinx (XLNX), Altera (ALTR)

Even though Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) chip analyst David Wong downgraded his outlook on semiconductor stocks from "Overweight," he still likes Intel (INTC), Qualcomm (QCOM), Linear Technology (LLTC), Analog Devices (ADI), Xilinx (XLNX) and Altera (ALTR) in the sector.

Wong said, “We continue to expect solid semiconductor industry growth in 2011, of 10-15%, with many chip companies maintaining the high levels of profitability demonstrated in 2010.”

“The trend for worldwide semiconductor sales continues to track roughly in line with to somewhat above our expectations,” added Wong, who also said inventory levels are "appropriate" at this time.

Wong considers less desirable Broadcom (BRCM), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Microsemi (MSCC) and Micron Technology (MU), citing high valuations, low profit and company-specific risk.

Wong maintains Market Perform ratings on Maxim (MXIM), Texas Instruments (TXN) and National Semiconductor (NSM).

Advanced Micro Devices' (AMD) Battle Against Intel (INTC), Nvidia (NVDA)

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD) competes with Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) in the PC microprocessor and graphics businesses.

Our price estimate for AMD stands at $9.30, which is roughly in line with market price. The company recently launched a marketing campaign to better promote its products against competitors. Intel, for one, has continuously overshadowed AMD.

Does AMD's stock value stand to gain from these initiatives? Here we assess the outlook for a few key metrics.

Intel and AMD have competed against each other in the PC
microprocessor space for decades, with Intel consistently holding by far the majority market share. AMD holds a decent position in the desktop market with about 28% market share, but the stagnation of the desktop market remains a major concern. What hurts AMD is that it is losing a foothold in the markets that are growing: servers and notebooks.





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AMD (NYSE:AMD) Squanders Opp with Intel's (INTC) Sandy Bridge Troubles

Slip-ups by a competitor are usually good for business, but Intel's (NASDAQ:INTC)recent problems with its Sandy Bridge chips won't help Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD) to steal market share from its bigger rival, according to IDC.

The delay of an upcoming AMD chip code-named "Llano," which was designed to compete with Sandy Bridge, has shut down AMD's window of opportunity to gain market share from Intel, said Shane Rau, a research director at IDC. The Llano chips, which were due early this year, have been delayed due to manufacturing issues and will not launch before the middle of this year.

Intel announced new Core i5 and i7 processors based on the Sandy Bridge architecture for high-end PCs in early January. But shipments hit a snag later that month when Intel found a design flaw in the 6-series chipset, code-named Cougar Point, that's used in PCs with Sandy Bridge processors. It halted shipments of the chipset, which prompted PC makers to delay systems and issue refunds. Intel fixed the issue and started shipping replacement chipsets on Feb. 14.

Looking to take advantage of Intel's chipset woes, AMD said Feb. 18 it would launch a new marketing campaign titled "Ready. Willing. And Stable." to promote its CPUs and graphics processors.






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AMD (NYSE:AMD) Down, Intel (INTC) Up In Global Microprocessor Shipments

Global microprocessor shipments for AMD (NYSE:AMD) are down while Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) is enjoying growth internationally.

Sales of x86 processors running desktops, laptops, and servers rose 26.7% in 2010 from the previous year to $36.3 billion, while shipments grew 17.1% and prices were up 8%, according to IDC.

The average selling price for computer microprocessors rose last year, as the industry saw buying trends shift from low-priced Atom processors for netbooks to chips for mainstream and high-performance laptops, a research firm reported Thursday.

Worldwide revenue in 2010 for x86 processors running desktops, laptops, and servers rose 26.7% from the previous year to $36.3 billion, while shipments grew 17.1%, IDC said. The industry average selling price for microprocessors rose 8%, approaching levels last seen in 2008.

The last quarter of 2010 did not follow the typical seasonal pattern for shipments, which normally increases from the third to the fourth quarter. Instead, quarter-to-quarter shipments dipped 0.04%. Year to year, shipments were off 0.21% in the quarter. "The fourth quarter was weak and out of synch with normal seasonal patterns in terms of unit shipments," IDC analyst Shane Rau said in a statement.





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Microsoft (MSFT), Nvidia (NVDA) Drop Out of PC Gaming Alliance

In a major blow to the PC Gaming Alliance, Microsoft (MSFT) and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) have dropped out of the organization, leaving the major tech companies remaining as Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Dell (DELL), Intel Corp. (INTC) and Logitech (LOGI).

Microsoft Corp. and Nvidia Corp., two founding members of the PC Gaming Alliance (PCGA), an industrial organization supporting the industry of video games for PCs, have decided to quit the organization. The reasons are not completely clear, but what is clear is that without two powerful members the alliance will lose a lot of its strength.

The web-site of PCGA no longer lists Microsoft and Nvidia either as promoters or as contributors. Matt Ployhar, the recently appointed president of the PC Gaming Alliance, confirmed (to) Big Download web-site the departure of two important members, but expressed (his) opinion that the organization would not be affected seriously and would thus continue to exist.

The head of PCGA also informed that he was moving the alliance away from just being a group that does research and issues reports on the industry to a group that will be more active in trying to assist game developers, publishers and hardware companies make better PC games.





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