Technology Article

Intel Corp. Invests $8 Billion to Lead the Next Generation of the Semiconductor Industry

By Kerri Shannon, Associate Editor, Money Morning - October 20, 2010 • Print | Email

Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) announced Tuesday that it would invest up to $8 billion in U.S. manufacturing with the goal of keeping its position as a semiconductor industry trailblazer and beat rivals in creating the next generation of silicon chips.

The world's biggest chipmaker will build a new factory in Oregon and upgrade four existing plants in Arizona and Oregon. The move emphasizes Intel's position as the biggest manufacturer of microprocessors and its ability to keep up with the semiconductor world's rapid and expensive pace.

The upgraded Intel plants will produce the company's most technologically advanced chips and support its move to 22-nanometer production. This next generation of chip production reduces the line widths on circuits, which lowers costs and improves capability. Currently chips are made with a 32-nanometer process.

Read More…

Five Ways to Play a Rebound in Semiconductor Stocks

By Larry D. Spears, Contributing Writer, Money Morning - September 27, 2010 • Print | Email

What a difference a year makes – or, for that matter, even a mere quarter.

Back in September 2009, most analysts were anticipating a surge in 2010 semiconductor sales that would reflect the upcoming economic recovery. After all, semiconductors are used in virtually every device consumers deem essential these days – from smart phones and notebook computers to coffee makers and gaming consoles. Yet the industry had been mired in a three-year slump that saw global semiconductor sales plunge 9.6% in 2009 alone.

By April of this year, the numbers seemed to confirm those expectations. First-quarter worldwide sales had soared 58.3% to $69.2 billion from the prior year quarter's $43.7 billion, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), the sector's leading U.S. trade group.

Read More…

Hot Stocks: Adobe Systems Inc. Drives Investors Away With Weak Forecast and Disappointing Growth Outlook

By Kerri Shannon, Associate Editor, Money Morning - September 23, 2010 • Print | Email

Adobe Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: ADBE) stock yesterday (Wednesday) plunged the most in eight years after forecasting a disappointing fourth quarter, triggering a slew of analyst downgrades and recommendations for investors to move to Adobe's tech rivals.

The software maker fell as much as 21% Wednesday, at one point hitting a new 52-week low of $25.81. It closed at $26.67, a 19.03% drop.

The company on Tuesday announced that it's predicting a flatter fourth quarter than investors and analysts had hoped due to fewer than expected sales of its core Creative Suite 5 software. The CS5 package includes popular Photoshop, Illustrator and Dreamweaver programs. The stock had already slipped 10% so far this year before Wednesday's trading.

Read More…

Will Other Tech Companies Follow Cisco's Lead by Paying Out Dividends?

By Don Miller, Contributing Writer, Money Morning - September 22, 2010 • Print | Email

When Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) last week announced that it would institute the first dividend in company history, it raised hopes among investors that hi-tech companies would finally begin to loosen the strings on their hefty cash holdings.

But will other tech giants really follow suit and institute dividends of their own?

Cisco Chief Executive Officer John Chambers announced the payout last Tuesday, saying the networking giant would reward shareholders with a dividend likely to yield between 1% and 2%. The exact amount will be determined in the coming months while the company considers developments on the tax front and broader market conditions.

Read More…

Buy, Sell or Hold: Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) - It's Time to Sell This High-Tech Stalwart

By , Money Morning - September 20, 2010 • Print | Email

Now's not the time to own Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ). Long one of the bluest of blue chips in the U.S. high-tech sector, H-P has been in the spotlight and under the gun since its early August ouster of Chief Executive Officer Mark Hurd. And while Hurd's unceremonious resignation following an internal sexual harassment investigation […]

Read More…

Hot Stocks: Hewlett-Packard Continues its Business Makeover with ArcSight Acquisition

By Don Miller, Contributing Writer, Money Morning - September 14, 2010 • Print | Email

Hewlett-Packard Co. (Nasdaq: HPQ) yesterday (Monday) took another step toward becoming a more diverse software-based company by agreeing to buy ArcSight Inc. (Nasdaq: ARST) for about $1.5 billion in cash.

Palo Alto, California-based H-P will pay ArcSight investors $43.50 a share, a 24% premium over the stock's closing price on Sept. 10. ArcSight makes security software to help companies identify suspicious activity on their corporate networks.

The deal is the latest in a string of acquisitions designed by H-P to lower its reliance on lower-margin computers and servers.

"HP wants to expand from their traditional hardware offerings — printers and computers and servers — and they've gone into more services and software," Dave Novosel, an analyst at corporate-bond research firm Gimme Credit in Chicago, told Bloomberg News. "This is something that's a little bit different for H-P. This is not where they've had a strength in the past."

H-P in April kicked off the spending spree by buying 3COM for $2.7 billion and smartphone-maker Palm Inc. for $1.2 billion. H-P also acquired Fortify Software Inc., another security firm, and Stratavia Inc., a database and application automation company based in Denver. Terms for those purchases weren't disclosed.

Read More…

Nokia Needs More Than New CEO Stephen Elop to Reverse Its Steep Market Decline

By Kerri Shannon, Associate Editor, Money Morning - September 13, 2010 • Print | Email

Nokia Corp. (NYSE ADR: NOK) on Friday announced it was replacing its chief executive with Microsoft Corp.'s (Nasdaq: MSFT) Stephen Elop, in an effort to reverse its steep decline in the U.S. smartphone market.

The world's largest mobile phone maker said Chief Executive Officer Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo will step down and Elop, head of Microsoft's business software unit, will take the reins Sept. 21. The move represents a drastic shift for Nokia, which until Canadian Elop had never hired a non-Finnish executive for the top spot. But the company needs a strategy and management overhaul to compete in the profitable future of smartphones.

The move should appease Nokia's frustrated investors who have watched its market value slip 70% in the past three years as Apple Inc.'s (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone, Research in Motion Ltd.'s (Nasdaq: RIMM) BlackBerry, and phones using Google Inc.'s (Nasdaq: GOOG) Android platform stole the smartphone spotlight.

Read More…

Buy, Sell or Hold: Despite Challenges, Innovation Will Provide Long-Term Boost to Software Leader Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT)

By Sid Riggs, Chief Research Analyst, Money Morning - September 7, 2010 • Print | Email

Thanks to some shrewd maneuvering with its first major software contract in the early 1980s, Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) built itself into a tech giant and software powerhouse. But the global financial crisis and increasing competition are eroding that longstanding dominance.

There's no doubt the company has made successful strategic decisions for decades.

Founder and Chairman William H. Gates III established Microsoft in 1975 and made it the worldwide leader in software products and services, including operating systems for servers, personal computers and intelligent devices, server applications, business solutions applications, software development tools and video games. It offers product support and consulting services on its impressive array of products, including its widely used Windows operating systems and Microsoft Office software suite.

Read More…

Buy, Sell or Hold: AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) Offers a Stable Dividend With Room to Grow

By Horacio R. Marquez, Contributing Editor, Money Morning - August 30, 2010 • Print | Email

Last week we recommended BCE Inc. (NYSE: BCE) as a way to stabilize your portfolio amid market volatility. We chose a superb company that's a leader in Canada's telecommunications field and has a consistent history of generating ample cashflow. This cashflow allows the company to keep increasing its safe, high dividends and to repurchase shares.

Now, don't get me wrong – I'm not pushing you into a defensive investment cocoon. I still love the opportunity to make huge profits from the advent of new technologies that are revolutionizing both computing and communications in a way not thought possible only a few years ago. Assuming you have measured your risk appetite and incorporated many high-potential return opportunities in your portfolio, adding low-Beta, dividend-rich winners such as last week's and today's (Monday) will improve your portfolio diversification, reduce volatility and add some serious income.

Today's stable dividend winner is in the skyrocketing world of mobile computing. Powerful smartphones are giving us brand new capabilities, which greatly improve productivity. And the growing variety and availability of cloud computing services are already impressive. From mobile e-mail to mobile web-browsing and even mobile video and geo-location-based services, there's a myriad of applications now available to consumers. These services are only possible thanks to large technological improvements and investments in wireless networks.

Read More…

First Prev

Next Last