Ariad (ARIA) (RVBD) (TEVA) (TOL) (AGP) (AMD) Upgraded

Ariad Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ: ARIA), Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD), Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (NASDAQ: TEVA), Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE: TOL), AMERIGROUP Co. (NYSE: AGP) and Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) were upgraded by analysts.

Ariad Pharmaceutical (ARIA) was upgraded by Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) from a “Hold” rating to a “Neutral” rating.

Riverbed Technology, Inc. (RVBD) was upgraded by RBC Capital from a “Sector Perform” rating to an “Outperform” rating. They have a price target of $35.00 on the company, up from $28.00.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (TEVA) was upgraded by Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) from an “Equal Weight” rating to an “Overweight” rating. They have a price target of $47.00 on the company.

Toll Brothers, Inc. (TOL) was upgraded by Citigroup (NYSE:C) from a “Neutral” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $21.00 on the company, down from $35.00.

AMERIGROUP Co. (AGP) was upgraded by Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) from an “Underperform” rating to a “Neutral” rating. They have a price target of $59.00 on the company.

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

AMD (NYSE: AMD) (EBAY) (VAR) (KIM) (FFIC) (CEVA) Ratings Reiterated

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD), eBay, Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY), Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR), Kimco Realty Co. (NYSE: KIM), Flushing Financial Co. (NASDAQ: FFIC) and Ceva Inc (NASDAQ: CEVA) had their ratings reiterated by analysts.

Argus reiterated a “Hold” rating on Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

Argus reiterated a “Buy” rating on eBay, Inc. (EBAY). They have a price target of $40.00 on the company.

Duncan Williams reiterated a “Buy” rating on Varian Medical Systems ( VAR). They have a price target of $80.00 on the company.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) reiterated a "Neutral" rating on Kimco Realty Co. (KIM).

KBW reiterated its "Outperform” rating on Flushing Financial Co. (FFIC).

Wunderlich reiterated a “Hold” rating on Ceva Inc (CEVA). They have a price target of $32.00 on the company.

Amazon (AMZN) (MSI) (AMD) (F) (HSY) Get New Coverage

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Motorola Solutions (NYSE: MSI), Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD), Ford (NYSE: F) and Hershey (NYSE: HSY) get new analyst coverage.

Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) initiated coverage on Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). They placed a “hold” rating and a price target of $7.50 on the company.

Caris & Company launched coverage on Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN). They placed an “above average” rating and a price target of $249.00 on the company.

Ford (NYSE: F) is now covered by analysts at RBC Capital. The analysts set an “outperform” rating and a $19.00 price target on the company.

Ticonderoga Securities started covering Hershey (HSY). They placed a “neutral” rating on the company. They cited valuation as the catalyst behind the call.

MKM Partners initiated coverage on Motorola Solutions (MSI). They placed a “neutral” rating and a price target of $40.00 on the company.

Halliburton (HAL) (CI) (AMD) (AET) (AKAM) Price Targets Changed

Halliburton (NYSE: HAL), CIGNA Co. (NYSE: CI), Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD), Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) and Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ: AKAM) price targets adjusted.

Wedbush boosted its price target on Aetna Inc. (AET) to $45.00.

Collins Stewart cut its price target on Akamai Technologies (AKAM) from $45.00 to $39.00. They have a "Neutral" rating on the company.

UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) slashed its price target on Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) to $7.00. They have a "Neutral" rating on the company.

Wedbush increased its price target on CIGNA Co. (CI) to $52.00.

RBC Capital raised its price target on Halliburton (HAL) from $65.00 to $67.00. They have an "Outperform" rating on the company.

Halliburton closed Thursday at $51.83, falling $0.79, or 1.50 percent. Cigna ended the day at $52.06, gaining $0.94, or 1.84 percent. Advanced Micro Devices closed at $6.44, dropping $0.04, or 0.62 percent. Aetna closed at $43.44, rising $0.05, or 0.12 percent. Akamai Technologies closed at $29.62, down $1.33, or 4.30 percent.

Ratings on (ADI) (ALXN) (AMD) (ANF) (BEXP) Reiterated

Ratings on Analog Devices, Inc. (NYSE: ADI), Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXN), Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD), Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) and Brigham Exploration (NASDAQ: BEXP) were reiterated by analysts.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) reiterated an “overweight” rating on Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI).

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) reiterated a “buy” rating on Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ALXN). They have a price target of $112.00 on the company.

Sterne Agee reiterated a “buy” rating on Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). They have a price target of $15.00 on the company.

Piper Jaffray (NYSE:PJC) reiterated an “overweight” rating on Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF). They have a price target of $85.00 on the company.

Global Hunter Securities reiterated an “accumulate” rating on Brigham Exploration (BEXP).

Ratings on (AMD) (APAC) (CA) (CEG) (COOL) Reiterated

Ratings on shares of Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD), APAC Customer Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: APAC), CA, Inc. (NASDAQ: CA), Constellation Energy Group (NYSE: CEG) and Majesco Entertainment Co. (NASDAQ: COOL) were reiterated by analysts.

Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) reiterated a “hold” rating on Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). They have a price target of $8.00 on the company.

BGB Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on APAC Customer Services, Inc. (APAC). They have a price target of $7.00 on the company.

Deutsche Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on CA, Inc. (CA). They have a price target of $29.00 on the company.

Dahlman Rose reiterated a “hold” rating on Constellation Energy Group (CEG).

Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating on Majesco Entertainment Co. (COOL). They have a price target of $3.50 on the company, up from $2.80.

Ratings on (PCP) (QCOM) (MMM) (DVA) (AMD) Reiterated

Ratings on shares of Precision Castparts Corp. (NYSE:PCP), Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM), 3M Co. (NYSE:MMM), DaVita Inc (NYSE:DVA) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE:AMD) were reiterated by analysts.

Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) reiterated an “Outperform” rating on Precision Castparts Corp. (PCP). They have a price target of $173 on the company. Up from $163.

Deutsche (NYSE:DB) reiterated a “Buy” rating on Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM). They have a price target of $65 on the company.

FBR Capital Markets reiterated an “Outperform” rating on 3M Co. (NYSE:MMM). They have a price target of $105 on the company.

Deutsche Bank reiterated a “Buy” rating on DaVita Inc (DVA). They have a price target of $102 on the company. Up from $101.

Deutsche Bank reiterated a “Hold” rating on Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE:AMD). They have a price target of $8 on the company.

Techs (QCOM) (MU) (CSCO) (LRCX) (AMD) (ORCL) (BRCM) (NVDA) Getting Crushed Today

Shares of tech companies are taking a beating today on weakness in the semiconductor sector, as Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX), Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU), Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD), Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL), Broadcom (NASDAQ:BRCM), Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) and Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) were all trading down.

That has also driven down the Nasdaq Composite today, which was also hit by the plunge in share price of Sears Holdings (NASDAQ:SHLD), which has plummeted almost 10 percent after weak guidance.

As for the chip and tech sector, most of that is being driven by chatter about the probability of the chip industry being spotty going forward, which will slow down a lot of chip companies, and by extension, other tech companies.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and Microsoft managed to trade in positive territory among tech stocks today.

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.

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.

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.




Source

Is Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) Acquiring AMD (NYSE:AMD)?

A growing number of rumors are swirling on the possibility Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) may be interesting in acquiring Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD).

The question is, is there any substance to the rumors. At this time, there appears to be nothing to justify the rumor other than someone possibly wanting to see the price of AMD jump quickly, as it did in response to the speculation.

One reason some in the market even give the idea credence may by the fact there isn't really anyone running AMD at this time, i.e., “there is no management team there,” as Wedbush analyst Patrick Wang noted.

Even so, Wang added the idea that Dell is looking to acquire AMD is "a far-fetched possibility.”

AMD closed Monday at $8.63, gaining $0.35, or 4.23 percent. Dell closed at $14.09, up $0.12, or 0.86 percent.

SanDisk (Nasdaq:SNDK) Gets Another Boost, This Time from Sterne Agee

SanDisk (Nasdaq:SNDK) has been getting a lot of positive attention from analysts lately, with the more recent being Sterne Agee, which boosted its rating on the stock today.

Sterne Agee analyst Vijay Rakesh noted the overall flash industry seems to be strengthening and within that, SanDisk is improving on its NAND flash memory chips, which they are moving toward 24 nanometer dimensions.

"We believe NAND fab capacity and supply will be key metrics to watch, especially as Micron ramps its Singapore fab in March 2010. But we believe both the Samsung Line16 and Toshiba Fab5 are coming on only in 2H11 and will be key supply channels to monitor. While SNDK has become more prudent in watching its supply, key will be how Samsung behaves with its fab coming on line. We believe Hynix still remains under pressure in bringing on NAND supply given a big debt load," said Rakesh.

The good news is demand will probably remain solid for NAND flash, based on the increasing exposure they're getting from the tablet and smartphone sector. Prices also appear to be holding stronger than expected, looking to remain level, rather than drop 5 percent, which Rakesh had believed they would earlier.

Even with the positive comments, Rakesh still likes Micron (NASDAQ:MU) and Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD) over SanDisk at this time.

He boosted his estimates for SanDisk to $1.4 billion in revenue and $1.22 in EPS for Q2, from $1.3 billion and $1.03, and increased his full year estimate from $5.6 billion and $4.03 a share to $5.9 billion and $4.66 a share.

SanDisk was trading at $49.90, gaining $2.10, or 4.39 percent, as of 12:16 PM EST. Sterne has a price target of $65 on SanDisk.

Baidu.com (Nasdaq:BIDU), Parexel (Nasdaq:PRXL), Orexigen (Nasdaq:OREX), AMD (NYSE:AMD) Among Big Movers Today

While most people today know about Orexigen (Nasdaq:OREX), which has dropped over 70 percent on the news their diet pill had been rejected by the FDA, other big movers today include Baidu.com (Nasdaq:BIDU), Parexel International (Nasdaq:PRXL) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE:AMD).

Also plunging were shares of Parexel International Corp., which fell after the pharmaceutical research contractor lowered its guidance for fiscal 2011, citing slow progress in signing new contracts with drugmakers.

Shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. continued to rise on Intel's (NASDAQ:INTC) chip problems and fallout from the unexpected firing of their CEO which brought the shares down.

Baidu.com continues to soar as they tripled their profit in the last quarter, beating analysts' estimates and looking good going forward.

Parexel International Corp. was trading at $20.99, dropping $2.22, or 9.56 percent, as of 3:32 PM EST. Orexion was at $2.60, plummeting $6.49, or 71.40 percent. AMD was up to $8.22, gaining $0.39, or 4.98 percent. Baidu.com was trading at $119.17, gaining $10.54, or 9.70 percent.

Microsoft's (Nasdaq:MSFT) Moving to ARM (Nasdaq:ARMH) a Disaster for Intel (Nasdaq:INTC)?

To say the move by Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) to run Windows with ARM (Nasdaq:ARMH) chips could hurt Intel (Nasdaq:INTC) is an understatement. There's no doubt this is a huge blow to the company with extraordinary implications, or at least, potential implications.

Canaccord Genuity noted, "Microsoft confirmed that its next release of Windows will run on chips from ARM Holdings. At the Consumer Electronics Show, Mr. Softie demonstrated a 'technology preview' by running Windows on an ARM-based device. The full windows system currently only works on Intel-based chips (including chips from Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD)). Shares of ARM rose to a ten-year high on the back of this news. The Microsoft/Intel partnership, often referred to as a 'duopoly,' is being eroded by the rapid growth of mobile devices, including smartphone and tablet computers. Both tech giants are lagging in the mobile computing market, and are working to capture the leadership they share in the non-mobile market. One analyst commented that the significance of Microsoft’s move away from Intel is 'hard to overstate.' This shift could allow ARM to get its chips into high-end tablets and low-end notebook computers, further chipping away at Intel’s dominance. ARM’s business model is different from Intel’s, as ARM sells its CPU designs and blueprints for others to build. Apple’s (Nasdaq:AAPL) iPad and iPhone use chips with core design technology from ARM."

Microsoft was trading at $28.35, down $0.47, or 1.61 percent, as of 11:40 AM EST. Arm Holdings was trading at $21.76, down $0.02, or 0.09 percent. Intel was at $20.45, down $0.32, or 1.54 percent.

New AMD (NYSE:AMD) Chips Generating Buzz

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE:AMD) got a boost Tuesday on the introduction of their new line of power-efficient chips at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The new chip line are named Fusion.

Included with the unveiling of Fusion was the additional platform introduced by AMD named Brazos, which may extend battery life to 10 hours and more.

It appears the early look at products using Brazos are what are generating the most buzz at the show for AMD.

Expectations are the new offerings will compete strongly in the netbook and low-end notebook segment, which AMD could gains share in.

Much of the positive is probably already priced into AMD shares, which has gained 25 percent over the last several months.

Concerning competing with Intel (Nasdaq:INTC) in other areas, AMD is probably not going to be able to make much headway in higher end notebooks or mainstream ones as well.

AMD closed Tuesday at $8.82, gaining $0.35, or 4.13 percent.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) Gets Bold with AMD (NYSE:AMD), Raises Far Above Consensus

Citigroup (NYSE:C) boosted their EPS estimate for 2011 on Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD), increasing it far above consensus.

Citi also added them to their Top Picks Live list, and raised their price target on them as well.

The change comes from Citi's outlook for the MPU market, which they see AMD gaining market share in. The Street sees the opposite, providing for some interesting theater in 2011.

For revenue, Citi sees AMD's growth rate coming in at $7.1 percent, far beyond the minuscule 0.58 the consensus embraces. EPS estimate for 2011 was raised to $0.91, over double the consensus of $0.44.

AMD was trading at $8.44, up $0.26, or 3.18 percent, as of 12:18 PM EST. Citi has a price target of $12.50 on them, increasing it from the prior $9.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Using Intel's (Nasdaq:INTC) Sandy Bridge in MacBooks

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has reportedly made the decision to use Intel's (Nasdaq:INTC) Sandy Bridge processor for its line of MacBook computers.

The loser in the deal will be NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA), which can't compete at this time with the enhanced graphic capabilities of Sandy Bridge processors, losing a big piece of business.

Sandy Bridge chips will be used solely in MacBooks with a screen size of 13" and under, while models larger than that will have chips in them from Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE:AMD).

Intel closed Thursday at $21.81, down $0.01, or 0.05 percent. Apple ended the trading day at $319.76, down $1.25, or 0.39 percent. NVIDIA closed at $14.86, down $0.25, or 1.64 percent. AMD ended the session at $7.95, losing $0.22, or 2.69 percent.