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Clouds of Question Form Over Xilinx (XLNX, ALTR, AVT, LSCC, MSCC)

Administrator — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 22:05:12 +0000

Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) is making its shareholders fell as though they bought Cry-Linx rather than Xilinx this evening. Investors need to know that there may be much more to the story than what the company has so far communicated.

Xilinx just gave some updated guidance to its December quarter and by the sound of this all you probably figured out that it was lower. The company said that the quarterly sales are now expected to be down in a range of 7% to 9% sequentially, even worse than the prior guidance for a decline of “flat to down 4% sequentially.” It did maintain gross margin guidance of roughly 65%.

The reasoning behind this is also going to drive away many supporters because of the comments, and some may question the credibility of the claims. Xilinx noted, “The decreased sales guidance is primarily related to weaker than anticipated sales to a few large communications customers, specifically in the wireless segment.”

Isn’t the wireless segment supposed to be the growth segment right now? There is a chance that this is a blip, but a cynic would say that wireless customers are going elsewhere other than Xilinx. The claim from Xilinx is that it “expects sales growth to return to the communications segment in the March quarter based on current backlog and forecasts from its large customers.” This is a story that may be a story alright.

Xilinx shares closed up 1% at $28.39, but shares are down about 5.4% at $28.39 in the after-hours trading session. Its 52-week trading range is $22.75 to $29.40.

Altera Corp. (NASDAQ: ALTR) is often considered “the other Xilinx” by investors although Altera’s market cap is $11.2 billion versus $7.36 billion for Xilinx. Altera closed down 0.5% at $35.81 versus a 52-week range of $20.89 to $38.14 and its shares are down 3.3% at $34.64 in the after-hours.

We took a look through the Xilinx 10-K and the company had noted, “We expect increased competition from our primary PLD competitors, Altera Corporation, Lattice Semiconductor, and Actel Corporation from the ASIC market.

Investors should also know the following from its 10-K: “Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT) distributes the substantial majority of our products worldwide. No end customer accounted for more than 10% of our net revenues in fiscal 2010, 2009 or 2008. As of April 3, 2010 and March 28, 2009, Avnet accounted for 83% and 81% of the Company’s total accounts receivable, respectively. Resale of product through Avnet accounted for 49%, 55% and 61% of the Company’s worldwide net revenues in fiscal 2010, 2009 and 2008, respectively.”

We are not going to jump the gun here on deciding exactly which component of the wireless customers are pushing orders back because Xilinx is involved in many aspects of communication. Carriers are always trying to push out cap-ex spending when they can and sometimes even when they should not. Still, either this is a sign of broader problems or the company is losing business and not communicating that properly. Either scenario is bad for investors.

Interestingly enough, Lattice Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: LSCC) closed up 3% at $5.93 and its last seen print was up 1% at $5.99. Actel was recently acquired by Microsemi Corporation (NASDAQ: MSCC). Microsemi closed up 1.8% at $23.75 and is indicated as unchanged in the after-hours session.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Consumer Electronics, Earnings Warning, Semiconductor, Technology Companies, Telecom, WiMAX, Wireless Tagged: ALTR, AVT, LSCC, MSCC, XLNX

Top Analyst Upgrades (AMD, AXP, ACI, ASH, STD, BRCD, COF, DFS, HIBB, MSCC, RCL, ZMH)

247wallst — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:58:51 +0000

There were quite a few analyst upgrades and positive research calls this Monday morning. These are the calls we have seen from Wall Street firms early this morning with about two hours until the market opens:

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
American Express (AXP) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
Arch Coal (ACI) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Ashland (ASH) Raised to Buy at KeyBanc.
Banco Santander (STD) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Brocade (BRCD) Raised to Buy at Argus.
Capital One (COF) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
Discover Financial (DFS) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
Hibbett Sports (HIBB) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Microsemi (MSCC) Raised to Overweight at Thomas Weisel.
Royal Caribbean (RCL) Raised to Buy at Argus.
Zimmer Holdings (ZMH) Raised to Overweight at Thomas Weisel.

If you wish to be reminded of daily upgrades and downgrades as well as other key market issues like mergers and top stories, you can join our open email distribution list to receive updates several times per week.

JON C. OGG

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: ACI, AMD, ASH, AXP, BRCD, COF, DFS, HIBB, MSCC, RCL, STD, ZMH

52-Week Low Club (AXP, COF, NILE, CLX, RDEN, FDX, HOG, ISRG, KF, MSCC, PII, RAX, RNWK, STX)

247wallst — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:14:27 +0000

Today’s market looked more like an advanced yo-yo session rather than a regular stock market trading day. Since stocks gapped down so much, there were many new names on the list of 52-week lows. What is interesting is that many other stocks hit 52-week lows but bounced back to being positive on the day.

American Express (NYSE: AXP) and Capital One (NYSE: COF) both graced the list of lows as GE’s consumer losses only added fuel to the fire.
Blue Nile Inc. (NASDAQ: NILE) tankola, again. Forget Valentine’s Day this year.
Clorox Co. (NYSE: CLX) burns investors’ eyes as bad as it burns its client’s eyes.
Elizabeth Arden (NASDAQ: RDEN) keeps falling after the bad news from it and its peers over the last week and a half. Brittney Spears can’t help.
FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) keeps dropping.
Harley Davidson (NYSE: HOG) caught another case of HAGS and is believed to be in trouble all year after earnings.
Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG) keeps getting pounded. Down close to 70% from highs now. Leonardo DaVinci would now sue over the use of his name.
The Korea Fund (NYSE: KF) was down almost 7%. We don’t like to put country funds or ETF’s today, but that Kim Chee from last night just didn’t sit well today.
Microsemi (NASDAQ: MSCC) on earnings warning.
Polaris Industries (NYSE: PII)… weak HOG sales from Harley, weak motorcycle and snowmobile relative? Works every time.
Rackspace Hosting (NYSE: RAX)… Racking the Rackers, in the server room….
RealNetworks (NASDAQ: RNWK), a surprise but think of peers. And when was the last time you bought anything from them?
Seagate Technology (NYSE: STX) again… with the earnings it put up this week, you can call it Floodgate.

Jon C. Ogg
January 23, 2009

Posted in HI/LOW, Trading Alert Tagged: AXP, CLX, COF, FDX, HOG, ISRG, KF, MSCC, NILE, PII, RAX, RDEN, RNWK, STX

Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (ABH, AMFI, CME, LPX, MA, MSCC, NOK, V)

247wallst — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 07:52:51 +0000

These are some of the top downgrades and negative research calls we have seen from Wall Street analysts this Friday morning:

AbitibiBowater (ABH) Cut to Underperform at Raymond James.
Amcore Financial (AMFI) Cut to Market Perform at KBW.
CME Group (CME) Cut to Market Perform at Bernstein.
Louisiana-Pacific (LPX) Cut to Sector Perform at CIBC.
Mastercard (MA) Started as Sell at Citigroup.
Microsemi (MSCC) Cut to Market Weight at Thomas Weisel.
Nokia (NOK) Cut to Neutral at Nomura.
Visa (V) Started as Hold at Citigroup.

Jon C. Ogg
January 23, 2009

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: ABH, AMFI, CME, LPX, MA, MSCC, NOK, V

The 52-Week Low Club (CHK)(WFT)(RIG)(MSCC)(ISIL)

247wallst — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:59:12 +0000

Chesapeake Energy (CHK) National gas supply levels fall. Drops to $11.54 from 52-week high of $74.

Weatherford International (WFT) Oil prices hurting drilling equipment firms. Plunges to $8.32 from 52-week high of $49.98.

Transocean (RIG) Another drilling service firm. Sells down to $46.06 from 52-week high of $163.

Microsemi Corporation (MSCC) Did CEO lie about his degree. Dips to $11.27 from 52-week $28.50.

Intersil (ISIL) Cuts outlook. Moves off to $7.53 from $29.84.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted in HI/LOW Tagged: CHK, ISIL, MSCC, RIG, WFT

The 52-Week Low Club (IFX)(RTP)(POT)(MSCC)

247wallst — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:58:12 +0000

Infineon Technologies (IFX) Misses numbers by a mile. Drops to $1.16 from 52-week high of $13.06.

Rio Tinto (RTP) Falling commodities prices and ongoing disappointment about failed takeover by BHP. Down to $64.35 from 52-week high of $558.65.

Potash Corporation (POT) Fertilizer companies under pressure from falling ag prices. Down to $51.70 from 52-week high of $241.62.

Microsemi (MSCC) CEO accused of lying about degree. Drops to $15.30 from 52-week high of $28.50.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted in HI/LOW Tagged: IFX, MSCC, POT, RTP

Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (ACN, ARO, ASCA, CTSH, ROCK, INFY, ISLE, MSCC, STN, TRIN)

247wallst — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 06:41:36 +0000

These are some of the downgrades and negative analyst calls we have seen affecting shares this Friday morning:

Accenture (ACN) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
Aeropostale (ARO) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Ameristar Casinos (ASCA) Started as Sell at Goldman Sachs.
Cognizant Tech Solutions (CTSH) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
Gibraltar Industries (ROCK) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
Infosys (INFY) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
Isle of Capri (ISLE) Started as Sell at Goldman Sachs.
Microsemi (MSCC) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
Stantec (STN) Cut to Outperform at Raymond James.
Thomson-Reuters (TRIN) Cut To Sell at Deutsche Bank.

Jon C. Ogg
September 19, 2008

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: ACN, ARO, ASCA, CTSH, INFY, ISLE, MSCC, ROCK, STN, TRIN