Within this slow but improving environment, the analysts believe investors should focus away from the already expensive high-quality, broad-based names that require a strong macro recovery to generate upside and move toward companies that offer specific growth drivers or those that can generate earnings leverage with minimal revenue upside. In a report released late yesterday, they highlighted their semiconductor stocks to buy.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) is the mega-cap name that tops the Deutsche Bank list. Now a virtual value stock, Intel wants a bigger piece of the mobile processor market. They recently released the Silvermont, a 22 nanometer system-on-chip that boasts three times the performance and five times less power consumption than current Atom core chips. The Thomson/First Call price target is $23. Shareholders are paid a solid 3.80% dividend.

Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) stays high on the Deutsche Bank list of stocks to buy. While Broadcom has more than 70% share in the combo connectivity segment, they only have about 10% of the 3G baseband market and are looking to grow that number. The consensus price objective for the stock is $40. Investors are paid a 1.20% dividend.

Avago Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: AVGO) engages in the design, development and supply of analog semiconductor devices. The consensus target for this stock is $42. Investors receive a 2.40% dividend.

Freescale Semiconductor Ltd. (NYSE: FSL) sells its ARM-based semiconductors to a number of companies in the automotive, industrial and consumer device markets. The consensus price objective is $16.

NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI) just completed a 144-A, $750 million debt placement to help finance continued growth and to pay off existing floating rate debt. The consensus target for the stock is $36.

ON Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: ONNN) is the top small cap name to buy at Deutsche Bank. Monday the company reported first-quarter 2013 earnings of $0.10 per share, topping estimates by 25%. The consensus price target for this top name is $10. Hitting the target would represent an almost 25% move from current trading levels.

Fairchild Semiconductor International Inc. (NYSE: FCS) is another company with chips for the automotive industry. The consensus estimate for the stock is at $17.

Monolithic Power Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: MPWR) rounds out the list of top semiconductor stocks to buy. MPS had an outstanding first quarter of the year, hitting record revenue while continuing to deliver solutions that meet or exceed industry standards. The consensus price objective for the stock is at $28.

Deutsche Bank points out in their research that from a risk perspective the semiconductor sector is inherently cyclical and therefore volatile as demand and inventory gyrations are always looming. With that caveat, picking the right names with growth potential for the future could add up to big portfolio gains.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) short interest fell 1% to 233.21 million shares. About 4.7% of Intel’s float is now short.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) saw short interest fall by 6% to 96.06 million shares, or 15.9% of the company’s total float.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) short interest rose by 3.4% to 14.29 million shares, which represents 0.8% of the company’s float.

ARM Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: ARMH) saw a 5.9% rise in short interest to 3.46 million shares, which represents about 0.7% of the firm’s float.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) showed a decline of 22.4%% in short interest, to 66.32 million shares, or about 6.5% of Micron’s float.

SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) saw short interest fall by 16.7% to 7.8 million shares, or 3.2% of the company’s float.

Short interest in Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) rose by 1.5% to 7.46 million shares. That is 1.5% of the total float.

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) posted a 2.4% increase in short interest, to 5.6 million shares, or about 1.4% of Marvell’s float.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) short interest rose by 1.8% to 26.52 million shares, about 4.5% of the company’s float.

Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: TXN) saw short interest decline by 5.9% to 26.5 million shares, or 2.4% of the float.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) short interest rose by 1.8% to 18.95 million shares, which is about 1.6% of the company’s float.

The Market Vectors Semiconductor ETF (NYSEMKT: SMH) showed a drop of 3.8% in short interest to 9.34 million shares.

Shorts in Texas Instruments got squeezed by the company’s better-than-expected quarterly earnings report and the faint-hearted dropped their positions and likely went looking for a better play.

During the prior two-week period, short sellers added more than 15% to their positions in SanDisk. In the most recent report, more than 16% dropped their short in their short position in the stock. Their timing looks good; SanDisk hit a two-month bottom on May 1 and has been on the rise ever since.

The projection for wirelessly connected devices comes from U.K.-based ABI Research and are part of the firm’s Internet of Everything (IoE) research service. The firm’s practice director said:

The emergence of standardized ultra-low power wireless technologies is one of the main enablers of the IoE, with semiconductor vendors and standards bodies at the forefront of the market push, helping to bring the IoE into reality. … Today, Hub devices such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops are pivotal in enabling the IoE ecosystem and will continue to be an essential building block. Future growth, however, is driven by node or sensor type devices and by 2020 these will account for 60% of the total installed base of devices.

Node and sensor devices typically use low-cost, relatively simple chips capable of doing a single task, like opening your garage door or turning on the furnace as you leave work to return to a nice warm home. The Internet of Everything is really cloud-computing pushed down to the level of devices that are not often thought of as computing machinery.

One of the technologies that is likely to thrive in this brave new world is Bluetooth. Chipmakers like Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) and Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: TXN) that already make Bluetooth chipsets and are developing lower power version.

Another contending technology is known as Zigbee and is widely supported in electric utility circles as way to manage a demand-response electricity network. Silicon Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ: SLAB) uses a Cortex processor from ARM Holdings plc (NASDAQ: ARMH) in its Zigbee products. ARM’s experience with low-power designs will provide yet another edge for the company. Last year Silicon Labs bought Ember, the industry’s leading developer of Zigbee chipsets.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC), Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD), and Qualcomm Corp. (NASDAQ: QCOM) all make wireless LAN and WiFi chipsets, and while those will remain as the backbone of an IoE system, there will be a lot more IoE node devices than hub devices like laptops. Qualcomm may be furthest ahead in getting into supplying the low-end node processors.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) plans to upgrade Windows 8 to boost sales. (Reuters)

New York state will file charges against Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) over mortgage instrument abuses. (Reuters)

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) and Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) set a partnership for Star Wars games. (Reuters)

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) makes changes to its Atom chip in a bid for more mobile sales. (Reuters)

The Securities and Exchange Commission charges officials of Harrisburg with misrepresenting the city’s financial state. (WSJ)

Bank of America pays MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI) $1.7 billion to settle mortgage-related charges. (WSJ)

European Union officials issue a complaint against Google Inc.’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Motorola over its patent violations of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) intellectual property. (WSJ)

The three largest J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) investors fail to support the plan to allow Jamie Dimon to keep both his chief executive and chairman roles. (WSJ)

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera sues Monster Beverage Corp. (NASDAQ: MNST) over sales of its drinks to underage children. (WSJ)

The European Union will put tariffs on Chinese solar panels. (WSJ)

Some telecom companies adopt mobile OS products that compete with Apple’s iOS and Google Android. (WSJ)

To fight online sales of fake drugs, among other things, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) will sell Viagra online. (NYT)

Foxconn, a major Apple supplier, begins to manufacture its own TVs. (NYT)

Google’s YouTube will allow some providers of content to charge subscription fees. (NYT)

Slow increases in health care costs could be due to the recession and higher co-pay charges. (NYT)

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) will introduce video ads. (FT)

Swiss unemployment reaches a two-year high. (Bloomberg)

Cliff’s Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF) raised to Outperform from Market Perform at FBR Capital Markets.

Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch.

Hanesbrands Inc. (NYSE: HBI) was initiated with an Outperform rating at Wells Fargo.

Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) was raised to Overweight at J.P. Morgan.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets.

Knot Offshore Partners L.P. (NYSE: KNOP) saw its quiet period end. This was initiated as Buy at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, started as Overweight at Barclays and started as Outperform at Raymond James.

Privatebancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: PVTB) was named Bull of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.

Thoratec Corp. (NASDAQ: THOR) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) was raised to Overweight at J.P. Morgan.

YRC Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW) was raised to Hold from Underweight at BB&T Capital.

Read also: Oppenheimer’s Top Institutional List of Stocks to Buy and Deutsche Bank’s Top Quantitative Small Cap Stocks

We also have the top analyst downgrades and cautious calls for this Monday.

A low-end version of the Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) Lumia may be Microsoft Corp.’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) best opportunity to get share in the mobile sector. (Reuters)

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CPFB) will investigate car lending companies over certain questionable practices. (Reuters)

Its property and casualty business pushes American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) results higher. (Reuters)

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) picks it chief operating officer to lead the company and disappoints investors who want change to move the firm beyond PCs. (Reuters)

CEO Ivan Glasenberg of the newly merged Glencore Xstrata says layoffs are critical to his plans. (WSJ)

Verizon Communication Inc.’s (NYSE: VZ) chief executive officer says Verizon Wireless may not pay its annual dividend to Verizon or Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ: VOD) in the hope Vodafone will sell its shares. (WSJ)

The Reserve Bank of India cuts its rate to 7.25%. (WSJ)

Barnes & Noble Inc.’s (NYSE: BKS) Nook will start to run Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) apps. (WSJ)

Shares of LinkedIn Corp. (NYSE: LNKD) fall on a weak outlook. (WSJ)

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi says the bank may decide to ease more after it cut its key rate to 0.5%. (WSJ)

The average home price in 100 of China’s largest cities moved up by the higher rate in a year-and-a-half. (WSJ)

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) discussions with Lenovo about selling its server division fail. (WSJ)

Market share improvement in North America, Asia and Europe push General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) shares higher. (WSJ)

A slew of regulatory issues badly damage J.P. Morgan & Co.’s (NYSE: JPM) role as the premier bank in the United States. (NYT)

Michael Bloomberg’s positive comments about the Financial Times cause more speculation he might buy it. (NYT)

Commercial mortgage trading by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac comes under scrutiny. (FT)

Siemens A.G. (NYSE: SI) cuts its forecast, which may pressure its CEO to leave. (Bloomberg)

Shoe company Adidas posts record profits. (Bloomberg)

Krzanich has been Intel’s chief operating officer since January 2012, but he first joined Intel back in 1982. He will assume the new CEO role at the Intel annual stockholders’ meeting on May 16.

Mr. Krzanich is 52 years old. Here is the biggest takeaway being toward the shift into smartphones and tablets where the company has been absent:

I look forward to working with our leadership team and employees worldwide to continue our proud legacy, while moving even faster into ultra-mobility, to lead Intel into the next era.

As COO, Krzanich led an organization of more than 50,000 employees over the Technology and Manufacturing Group, Intel Custom Foundry, NAND Solutions group, Human Resources, Information Technology and Intel’s China strategy.

Renée James, 48, was promoted to be president of Intel, and she also will assume her new role on May 16. She was chairman of Intel’s software subsidiaries Havok, McAfee and Wind River, and she currently serves on the board of directors of Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ: VOD) and VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) and was chief of staff for former Intel CEO Andy Grove.

Glencore continues to push to buy Xstrata. (Reuters)

Facebook Inc.’s (NASDAQ: FB) mobile business shoots up in the first quarter. (Reuters)

Industrial giant Siemens A.G. (NYSE: SI) lowers forecasts based on a weakening economy. (Reuters)

Royal Dutch Shell PLC (NYSE: RDS-A) CEO Peter Voser to retire next year. (WSJ)

The Federal Reserve will continue its $85 billion a month bond buying, encouraged in part by low global inflation. (WSJ)

Federal regulators want banks to hold higher levels of capital to guard against unexpected, negative events. (WSJ)

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) says it will increase production of its flagship F-150. (WSJ)

Talks about Lenovo buying the International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) server group end. (WSJ)

The home price increase trend in China picks up. (WSJ)

Management of Google Inc.’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) YouTube say audience has increased to one billion unique users who watch six billion hours of video a month. (WSJ)

The Defense Department will give security approvals to some Samsung devices and the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone and iPad. (WSJ)

CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) profits are helped by Super Bowl advertising. (WSJ)

Eastman Kodak files to leave bankruptcy. (WSJ)

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) hopes to get approval of the 777 for longer range service. (NYT)

Research firm IDC reports tablet sales surged in the first quarter, while PC sales dropped, and the market share of Apple’s iPad fell. (FT)

BMW’s results beat expectations. (Bloomberg)

This is the 18th year in a row that IBM has increased its quarterly cash dividend, and the 10th year in a row of double-digit percentage increases. IBM has increased its dividend by more than 600 percent since the beginning of 2000. IBM has now paid consecutive quarterly dividends every year since 1916. The dividend is payable June 10, 2013, to stockholders of record May 10, 2013.

IBM’s new share buyback plan is for $5 billion in additional funds, which is actually in addition to approximately $6.2 billion remaining at the end of March from a prior authorization. IBM will have approximately $11.2 billion for its stock repurchase program. You can expect more share buybacks yet again down the road. The company said, “IBM expects to request additional share repurchase authorization at the October 2013 board meeting. IBM has reduced its share count by a third since the beginning of 2000.”

Our problem is not the share buybacks. Big Blue has to keep buying back stock to help it get to that earnings of at least $20.00 per share by 2015. IBM has now returned over $150 billion to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases.

Our take was that we wanted to see at least $1.00 per share. Realistically, we wanted even more. The issue is that IBM is a Dow Jones Industrial Average component and it underyields compared to peers. The dividend from IBM with a $199 stock price will now be 1.90% at the new higher rate. This lags Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) at 2.9%, lags Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) at 3.8%, and even lags the troubled Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) at 2.6%.

IBM even underyields Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) with its 2.9% yield and Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) with its 3.3% yield. Both Apple and Cisco are very new to the dividend game.

With the Thomson Reuters consensus earnings estimates at $16.67 EPS for 2013 and $18.35 EPS for 2014, we are just underwhelmed. The dividend return is a better reward than a share buyback because the dividend is a commitment to years and years of steady predictable earnings. This represents only a 23% payout ratio for 2013 and only about a 21% payout ratio against 2013 earnings. IBM also has close to $141 billion or so in services backlogs for its future orders.

IBM shares are now up 0.4% at $199.90 after the news. Imagine if IBM really went for a peer-driven dividend yield rather than lagging so much. Big Blue just might bring in many more Warren Buffett chasers into the stock.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) short interest fell 1.4% to 235.47 million shares. About 4.8% of Intel’s float is now short.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) saw short interest rise by 10.6% to 102.23 million shares, or 16.9% of the company’s total float.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) short interest rose by 1.2% to 13.82 million shares, which represents 0.8% of the company’s float.

ARM Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: ARMH) saw an 8% decline in short interest to 3.27 million shares, which represents about 0.7% of the firm’s float.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) showed a rise of 9.9% in short interest, to 85.42 million shares, or about 8.4% of Micron’s float.

SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) saw short interest rise by 15.5% to 9.36 million shares, or 3.9% of the company’s float.

Short interest in Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) rose by 6.2% to 7.35 million shares. That is 1.4% of the total float.

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) posted a 7.7% drop in short interest, to 5.26 million shares, or about 1.2% of Marvell’s float.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) short interest rose by 1.8% to 26.52 million shares, about 4.5% of the company’s float.

Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: TXN) saw short interest increase by 23.2% to 28.17 million shares, or 2.6% of the float.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) short interest rose by 25.9% to 18.95 million shares, which is about 1.6% of the company’s float.

The Market Vectors Semiconductor ETF (NYSEMKT: SMH) showed a rise of 6.9% in short interest to 9.71 million shares.

Shorts piled back into Texas Instruments during this period, likely not expecting the stock to post a new high following its earnings report earlier this week.

A better short bet was Applied Materials. The maker of equipment used in chipmaking took a dive last week before recovering most of the loss this week. SanDisk’s swing was even larger in the past two weeks. Short interest in both these stocks should drop in the current two-week period.