Posts for Ticker ‘NSM’

Ten Women Who Should Be Big Company CEOs

jp-morganTwelve of the Fortune 500 CEOs are women. Just twelve. Over the next year, that number is likely to go up considerably because of a confluence of economic and financial factors that have not existed in years. The first of those is that because of the economy there will probably be higher turnover rates of chief executives at large companies. Next, there are a relatively large number of extremely talented women in the tier of senior management just below the CEO level.  Many of these women who are in the No.2 or No.3 spots at their firms are the same age or older than their current CEOs.  It is then very unlikely that they will become CEO at their current firm. Read More »

Posted on: May 6, 2009 – 8:46 pm in Airlines, Banking, Management Change, Retail, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Buyout for More Efficient Solar Panels from National Semi (NSM)

solar-panel-pic16National Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE: NSM) is making a push into solar via an acquisition.  The company has acquired Act Solar, Inc. to expand its portfolio of power optimization technologies along with the acquisition of new diagnostics and panel monitoring capabilities for solar arrays.
Read More »

Posted on: March 19, 2009 – 3:50 pm in Alternative Energy, Green Biz, Mergers and Buy Outs, Semiconductor,

When Lower Guidance Is Good (BRCM, TXN, NSM)

Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM) followed the path of other chip stocks and came out with lower guidance last night.  This was on the heels of atrocious guidance from Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) and National Semiconductor (NYSE: NSM).  Both companies also supply chips for mobile markets and for the communications sector.  What is interesting is that this is actually being deemed good news.

Read More »

Posted on: December 9, 2008 – 10:27 am in Earnings Warning, Semiconductor, Trading Alert, , ,

Media Digest 12/9/2008 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

NewspaperAccording to Reuters, The Tribune Company filed for Chapter 11.

Reuters reports that Congress and The White House are close to a bill that would give Detroit modest loans.

Reuters reports that Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) execs were warned years ago about the risks of some of their lending.

Read More »

Posted on: December 9, 2008 – 3:46 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

National Semi’s Severe Guidance Cut (NSM)

National Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE: NSM) reported disappointing second quarter sales and profit for the second quarter after the close.  The chipmaker said that net income fell to $33.9 million, or $0.14 per share.  This is down from $90.6 million, or $0.33 EPS, in the same period last year.  Its revenue fell to $421.6 million from $499 million in the year ago period.

Read More »

Posted on: December 8, 2008 – 4:39 pm in Earnings, Earnings Warning, Semiconductor,

Bracing For Data From 3 More Chip Stocks (TXN, NSM, ALTR)

Today may be a fairly important news day after the close for semiconductor stocks.  We have a mid-quarter update from Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN) and an earnings report from National Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE: NSM).  After the close we should also get a mid-quarter update from Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR). As you can imagine by the recent market and the slate of warnings from technology companies, the expectations have already been brought down. The question is how much softer data that traders are willing to accept.

Read More »

Posted on: December 8, 2008 – 1:50 pm in Earnings, Semiconductor, Technology Companies, , ,

Top Early Bird Analyst Calls (JBT, XPRT, PTRY, SNY, ERIC, LLTC, MXIM, NSM, NFC, RTP, SAI)

Money_stack_pic_2These are some of the top pre-market analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations we are seeing early this Monday morning with more than two hours until the open:

  • John Bean Technologies (JBT) Started as Buy at Janney Montgomery.
  • LECG Corp. (XPRT) Raised to Buy at UBS.
  • Pantry Inc. (PTRY) Raised to Outperform at FBR.
  • Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
  • Ericsson (ERIC) Cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.
  • Linear Tech (LLTC) Cut to Underperform at FBR.
  • Maxim Integrated (MXIM) Cut to underperform at FBR.
  • National Semiconductor (NSM) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
  • Nationwide Financial (NFC) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
  • Rio Tinto (RTP) Cut to Hold at Canaccord.
  • SAIC (SAI) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.

Jon C. Ogg 
November 24, 2008

Posted on: November 24, 2008 – 7:16 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , ,

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (ASMI, BWA, CCL, RCL, EMC, SSP, MWA, NSM, NST, SCG, WBMD)

These are ten of the analyst calls we are focusing on early this Wednesday morning in pre-market trading:

  • ASM Intl NV (NASDAQ: ASMI) raised to Buy at Jefferies.
  • BorgWarner (NYSE: BWA) Raised to Overweight from Equalweight at Lehman.
  • Carnival (NYSE: CCL) and Royal Caribbean (RCL) were both Downgraded to Hold from Buy at ABN AMRO.
  • EMC Corp (NYSE: EMC) cut to Neutral at Bernstein.
  • EW Scripps (NYSE: SSP) raised to Outperform at Bear Stearns.
  • Mueller Water Products (NYSE: MWA) Raised to Outperform from Neutral at Baird.
  • National Semi (NYSE: NSM) raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
  • NStar (NYSE: NST) Cut to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
  • Scana Corp. (NYSE: SCG) Cut to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
  • WebMD Health (NASDAQ: WBMD) Cut to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Jon C. Ogg
June 18, 2008

Posted on: June 18, 2008 – 6:37 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , ,

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (AAPL, MT, BLK, BRCM, CCL, RCL, DELL, LLTC, NSM, PSUN, JAVA)

These are ten of the analyst calls we are keying in on this Friday morning:

  • Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) added to CONVICTION BUY LIST at Goldman Sachs; stock up 2% pre-market.
  • ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT) raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
  • BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) Raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wachovia.
  • Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM) started as Neutral at Robert W. Baird.
  • Carnival (NYSE: CCL) and Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL) downgraded at Morgan Stanley.
  • Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley; stock up 2% pre-market.
  • Linear Tech (NASDAQ: LLTC) cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
  • National Semi (NYSE: NSM) raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
  • Pacific Sunwear (NASDAQ: PSUN) cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
  • Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: JAVA) Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley; stock indicated down 1% pre-market.

Jon C. Ogg
May 23, 2008

Posted on: May 23, 2008 – 6:51 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , ,

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (CEL, EVEP, GMT, ITRN, CEC, LDG, NSM, SLRY, ELOS, TIVO)

Analyst coverage is looking pretty thin on individual calls this morning, but here are ten of the analyst calls we are looking at this Thursday morning:

  • Cellcom Israel (NYSE: CEL) raised to Buy at Jefferies.
  • EV Energy (NASDAQ: EVEP) started as Buy at Citigroup.
  • GATX (NYSE: GMT) Raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Morgan Keegan.
  • Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ: ITRN) raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
  • CEC Entertainment (NYSE: CEC) cut to Hold at KeyBanc Capital Markets.
  • Longs Drug Stores (NYSE: LDG) Started as Buy at UBS.
  • National Semiconductor (NYSE: NSM) cut to Neutral at Merrill Lynch.
  • Salary.com Inc. (NASDAQ: SLRY) Cut to Market Perform from Outperform at Wachovia.
  • Syneron Medical (NASDAQ: ELOS) raised to Buy at Merriman Curhan Ford.
  • TiVo (NASDAQ: TIVO) Raised to Market Perform at FBR.

Jon C. Ogg
May 15, 2008

Posted on: May 15, 2008 – 6:43 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (GFIG, GU, HTZ, MBT, NSM, PM, SGP, TOC, TIBX, VOD)

These are not all of the calls we are seeing this morning, but these are the top analyst calls we see affecting shares in pre-market trading this Monday morning:

  • GFI Group (NASDAQ: GFIG) started as Market Perform at KBW.
  • Gushan Environmental Energy (NYSE: GU) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Piper Jaffray.
  • Hertz Global (NYSE: HTZ) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS.
  • Mobile Telesystems (NYSE: MBT) raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
  • National Semiconductor (NYSE: NSM) started as Market-weight at Thomas Weisel.
  • Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM) started as Overweight at Lehman.
  • Schering-Plough (NYSE: SGP) downgraded to Equal-weight from Overweight at Lehman Brothers.
  • Thomson (NYSE: TOC) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.
  • TIBCO Software (NASDAQ: TIBX) downgraded to Underperform from Hold at Jefferies.
  • VODAFONE (NYSE: VOD) downgraded to Underweight at Morgan Stanley.

Jon C. Ogg
March 31, 2008

Posted on: March 31, 2008 – 6:18 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Chip Stocks Brace For Marvell & National Semi Earnings (NSM, MRVL)

By now, we’ve seen most major tech earnings and we’ve already seen most major chip earnings.  If it was a movie, the last earnings and guidance would be called "The Poor and the Fair" or something of the like.  On Thursday afternoon we’ll get to see two more key semiconductor earnings.  Late this coming week, we’ll see earnings out of both Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) and National Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE: NSM).

On Thursday afternoon we’ll get to see earnings out of Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL). The estimates for the semiconductor company from First Call are $0.11 EPS on $782.36 million in revenues.  Next quarter estimates are $0.13 EPS on $764.99 million in revenues. Estimates for fiscal Jan-2009 are $0.69 EPS on $3.32 billion in revenues.  Analysts have an average price target north of $17.00, well down from the old highs.  One thing we would like to note was that over the last two weeks there had been some very unusual stock options activity.  One rumor pointed to earnings, and one to a possible buyout.  Until news is news rather than hearsay, we’ll treat it lightly until the facts are out.  Marvell Technology Group’s 52-week trading range is $9.77 to $20.84.  Marvell has some 32.8 million shares in the short interest, and at the lower rungs of the trading range this one has a potential of making a major move if it can ever show any good news.

Also, on Thursday afternoon we’ll get to see earnings out of National Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE: NSM). The estimates for the semiconductor company from First Call are $457.42 million in revenues.  Next quarter estimates are $472.45 million in revenues. Estimates for fiscal May-2008 are $1.9 billion in revenues.  We had some real discrepancies on the earnings numbers, so we’ll make an update before the Thursday information.  Analysts have an average price target north of $22.00, well down from the old highs.  National Semiconductor’s 52-week trading range is $16.73 to $29.69.  Traders still sometimes try to tie National Semi as a key chip stock that affects many others, although we think those days are close to a decade ago.

Jon C. Ogg
March 1, 2008

Posted on: March 1, 2008 – 7:55 am in Earnings, Semiconductor, ,

52-Week Low Club: Transport, Semiconductors & Financials (January 2, 2008)

Truckers led the drop after a fake $100 oil print and after a YRC Worldwide (NASDAQ: YRCW) acquisition write-down, pulling down Arkansas Best (NASDAQ: ABFS) and others.  With no surprise, airlines followed suit with Airtrain (AAI), AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR), Continental Airlines (NYSE:CAL), Delta (NYSE: DAL), FedEx (FDX), Jetblue (NASDAQ:JBLU), Mesa Air (NASDAQ: MESA), Northwest Air (NYSE: NWA), Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV), US Air (NYSE: LCC).

Chip and tech stocks on 52-week lows: AMAT, AMD, ADTN, ARRS, ATML, BBND, CHRT, FCS, FEIC, IDTI, IM, KLAC, KLIC, LRCX, LSCC, LSI, MCRL, MRVL, MU, NSM, STM, TER, XLNX

Financial Giants on 52-Week lows: BAC, BBT, BSC, CYN, DFG, EFX, FIC, FITB, FHN, MCO, NCC, PNSN, SNV, SBP, WFC, ZION.

We kept the REIT’s and the usual suspects in retail off the list that have been here day in and day out (although many hit new 52-week lows).  Here is the huge list of others 52-week lows:

  • Automatic Data (ADP), Cardinal Health (CAH), Career Education (CECO), Diebold (NYSE: DBD), EchoStar (DISH), Superior Offshore (DEEP), Dow Chemical (DOW), Eastman Kodak (EK), Emmis (EMMS), Ford (F), Fortune Brands (FO), General Motors (GM), Hasbro (HAS), Helen of Troy (HELE), Interpublic (IPG), Mattel (MAT), McClatchy (MNI), Media General (MEG), Nortel Networks (NT), Owens Corning (OC), Paychex (OPAYX), PHH Corp. (PHH), Playboy (PLA), Radio Shack (RSH), Rite Aid (RAD), Sherwin Williams (SHW), Sprint Nextel (S), Starbucks (SBUX), Starwood Hotels (HOT), Sun Microsystems (JAVA), Symantec (SYMC), Travelzoo (TZOO), VF Corp (VFC), Warner Music Group (WMG), Waste Management (WMI), Weight Watchers (WTW), Wendy’s (WEN)

Imagine how large this list would have been if retailers and REIT’s were included.
Jon C. Ogg
January 2, 2008

Posted on: January 2, 2008 – 4:23 pm in HI/LOW, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Mid-Day 52-Week Lows (SBUX)(AMD)(F)(AMR)(NCC)

It is unusual to see this many 52-week lows in big cap stocks, but many of these are credit or oil-price related.

US Air (LLC) down to $13.50. Northwest Air (NWA) down to $13.80. American (AMR) down to $13.40. Delta (DAL) down to $13.73. JetBlue (JBLU) down to $5.58.

AMD (AMD) down to $7.04. LSI Logic (LSI) down to $4.90. National Semiconductor (NSM) down to $21.18.

National City Corp (NCC) down to $15.57.

Starbucks (SBUX) down to $19.37.

Ford (F) down to $6.53.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: January 2, 2008 – 1:44 pm in HI/LOW, , , , , , , , , , ,

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (AMD, LSI, NSM, AMZN, BHI, BDX, HUM, IACI, INTC, TXN, PCLN, SBUX, UNH)

These are not at all the only impact analyst calls kicking off the new year, but these are the calls we are focusing on this morning at 247WallSt.com:

  • Advanced Micro Systems (AMD), LSI (LSI), and National Semiconductor (NSM) all downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Banc of America.
  • Amazon.com (AMZN) raised to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.
  • Baker Hughes (BHI) cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Becton Dickinson (BDX) raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
  • Humana (HUM) raised to Outperform at CIBC.
  • IAC/Interactive (IACI) cut to Hold from Buy at Citigroup.
  • Intel (INTC) & Texas Instruments (TXN) cut to Neutral from Buy at Banc of America.
  • Priceline.com (PCLN) raised to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Starbucks (SBUX) downgraded to Peer Perform from Outperform at Bear Stearns.
  • United Health (UNH) downgraded to Sector Perform from Peer Perform at CIBC.

Jon C. Ogg
January 2, 2008

Posted on: January 2, 2008 – 7:36 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Texas Instruments (TXN) Bets On TV And Cell Phones

Texas Instruments (TXN) believe that sales of handsets and digital TV will drive its profits over the next decade. Because of sales of these products, the demand for analog chips could skyrocket.

Speaking about analog chips, one of TI’s core product lines, the company told Reuters "total global sales should double to about $74 billion within seven years from $37 billion last year."

The trouble with the projection may be that a lot of evidence shows that handset sales growth is slowing. Some markets, including the US, Japan, and much of Europe, already have very high product penetration.

And, there are other companies competing for that business, included National Semiconductor (NSM).

But, it is always nice to dream

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: December 20, 2007 – 6:29 am in Technology Companies, ,

National Semi, Some Ammo For Bulls & Bears Alike (NSM)

National Semiconductor (NYSE: NSM) posted revenue of $499 million versus consensus $498.4 million and reported $0.33 EPS versus consensus of $0.31.  The problem is that the February quarter end was guided down to -1% to -5% sequentially, and Wall Street was only bracing for almost a 1% drop.  This will also hit margins.

We’ve seen at least one analyst call that is staying positive after earnings.  American Technology Research’s Doug Freedman has maintained his Buy rating and $31.00 price target this morning: "We do not view a dramatic downturn for NSM as likely from here and are therefore maintaining our Buy rating given the low valuation. Our $31 price target is based on 18.5x our forward 12-month EPS (CY09) of $1.66. Our CY08 revenue (up 8.8%) estimate continues to call for a stronger than seasonal summer off of two lower than seasonal quarters to start the year."  Freedman also noted the pronounced seasonality is due to inventory control.

Last week, Goldman Sachs lowered its estimates on National Semi along with its detailed chip and major stock sector call where it lowered earnings estimates and cut price targets on so many stocks and sectors in its coverage universe.  Last month, UBS downgraded National Semi to a Neutral rating from its prior Buy rating.

It appears that JMP Securities raised its rating to an Outperform today, although we haven’t reviewed the full note.

We’ve already seen forecasts out of enough downstream buyers by now that this drop shouldn’t be a huge surprise to anyone.  Handset makers like Nokia (NYSE: NOK), and Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) have already shown caution ahead, and no one is expecting anything great out of Motorola (NYSE: MOT) at this point.

National Semi’s shares closed yesterday at $23.51 and its 52-week trading range is $21.54 to $29.69.  Shares are down almost 2% pre-market at $23.06.   We generally have the bar set fairly low for companies trading in the lower third of their 52-week trading bands. 

Jon C. Ogg
December 7, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: December 7, 2007 – 9:14 am in Earnings, Semiconductor, , , ,

Media Digest 9/7/2007 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Barron’s

According to Reuters, Lehman Brothers (LEH) and National City are cutting 2,150 mortgage jobs.

Reuters writes that more PC game players are beginning to use notebooks as their processing power increase.

Retuers writes that Domoco (DCM) is losing subscribers to  smaller rival Softbank as a cell carrier price was goes on.

The Wall Street Journal writes that Congress is beginning a probe into Matterl’s (MAT) policy for reporting problems with its toys to federal regulators.

The Wall Street Journal also writes that regulators are investigating whether credit rating firms like Moody’s (MCO) are independent of Wall St.

The Wall Street Journal writes that CBS (CBS) has bought a company that will allow it to show programming in places like grocery stock check outs.

The New York Times writes that Starbuck’s has opened its first store in Russia.

The New York Times writes that UAW negotiations with the Big Three may go past their deadline.

The FT writes that the head of GM is calling for a Fed rate cut.

The FT writes that the Justice Department has come out against "net neutrality".

Barrons writes that National Semi (NSM) reported strong earnings.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: September 7, 2007 – 3:11 am in Press Digest, , , , , , ,

National Semiconductor, Good But Maybe Not Enough (NSM, SMH)

National Semiconductor (NYSE:NSM) posted $0.30 EPS on revenues of $471.5 million versus analyst targets of $0.25 EPS on revenues of $467.4 million (on items).  The company is guiding sales up 4% to 7% or an implied range of $490.36 to $504.5 Million, which compares to analyst estimates of just under $496 million. 

National Semi said its sales growth in the first quarter was on increased demand for new analog products, primarily in the wireless handset and portable device markets. Bookings rose by 6% sequentially and gross margin increased to 63.0% and it trimmed inventories by about $10 million.  Gross margin is expected to improve while operating expenses are also projected to increase.

As part of the cumulative $2.4 Billion share repurchase program, the company executed $1.5 billion of the approved buy back through a leveraged accelerated share repurchase program, financed through a combination of unsecured bonds and bank facilities. National Semi’s weighted average shares was 283.9 million shares, down from 327.5 million shares in the preceding quarter. As of the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2008, National had approximately $880 million still available under approved programs for future stock repurchases.

Shares were halted for the news, but after re-opening shares are down over 2% at just under $26.00.  Shares closed up $0.08 at $26.58 in normal trading and the 52-week range is $21.65 to $29.69.  Unless there are some major surpises in the conference call that "non-directional chart" is likely to continue.

The Semiconductor HOLDRs (AMEX:SMH) are down 0.8% now that National Semi has resumed trading.

Jon C. Ogg
September 6, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: September 6, 2007 – 3:43 pm in Earnings, Semiconductor, ,

Earnings Preview: National Semiconductor (NSM)

National Semiconductor (NYSE:NSM) reports earnings after the close today.  Analysts are looking for $0.25 EPS on revenues of $467.4 million, according to First Call.  As far as what to expect next quarter, estimates are $0.31 EPS and just under $496 million.  The company has handily beat estimates in each of the last two quarters.

Analysts have an average target of roughly $30.50, and a fresh recent analyst call from RBC Capital Markets was merely given a "Sector Perform" rating.  Its stock chart is also non-directional.  Options were a bit off in using as a bogey, but it appears that traders are expecting less than a 2% move based on a static snapshot from this morning.

As a reminder, National Semiconductor is one that Wall Street often tries to use as a bogey for tech and chip stocks.  But the tie is not truly an accurate one with only a $7 Billion market cap and not even quite $2 Billion expected in Fiscal May-2008 expected revenues.

Jon C. Ogg
September 6, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: September 6, 2007 – 1:09 pm in Earnings, Semiconductor,