Marathon Oil (MRO) announced the spin out of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC). Marathon intends to distribute one share of MPC for every two shares of Marathon. Overall option implied volatility of 26 is near its 26-week average of 28, according to Track Data, suggesting nondirectional price movement.

Cypress Semi (CY) closed up 4% as traders focused on February 22 and 23 calls, with total call volume of 15K contracts, compared to 7K puts. January and March option implied volatility of 38 is below its 26-week of 41, according to Track Data. Active call volume suggests traders positioning for price movement.

Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Options Update: Marathon Oil Volatility Flat into Spin Out originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 14 Jan 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Stocks That Could Benefit from the 2010 4G Revolution

Stocks That Could Benefit from the 2010 4G Revolution originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE: CY) joined the parade of companies reporting their latest quarterly results today. The firm swallowed a second-quarter loss of $45.3 million, or 32 cents per share. Excluding items, CY recorded a net loss of just 3 cents per share, besting analysts' consensus expectations for a loss of 9 cents per share. Revenue also came in better than expected, arriving at $155.8 million, compared to Wall Street's forecast of $152.0 million.

In the wake of this upside surprise, CY surged to a new multi-decade high of $9.83 early in today's session. It seems that bearish bettors were caught off-guard by the stronger-than-expected results; during the 10 days leading up to the report, option traders on the International Securities Exchange (ISE) bought to open 6.75 times more puts than calls on CY. Speculative investors on the ISE have purchased the stock's puts over calls at faster pace just 3% of the time.

Continue reading Cypress Semiconductor hits multi-year high after earnings

Cypress Semiconductor hits multi-year high after earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"If you are looking for maximum rebound potential, you have to go lower down on the quality spectrum; it is typically the lower quality and lower priced stocks that will have the largest gains when the market rebounds," says turnaround expert George Putnam.

In his industry-leading service focused on distressed companies, The Turnround Letter, he looks at a package of 10 stocks recently trading below $5 per share while also offering "bundles of cash."

Here's his review:

Continue reading Ten cash-rich, low-priced turnaround stocks

Ten cash-rich, low-priced turnaround stocks originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The shares of chipmaker Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE: CY) are getting hammered today after the company warned that it will swing to a fourth-quarter loss. In a statement, Cypress cited "declining order patterns and turns from all sales channels, all end markets, all geographies, and all of our product lines. In addition, backlog continues to be weak, and we are seeing cancellations and requests for push-outs that are somewhat higher than normal."

The firm now expects to record a quarterly loss of 3 cents to 12 cents per share on sales of $165 million to $180 million. As recently as mid-October, Cypress expected to book a profit of 4 cents to 7 cents per share in the fourth quarter, with sales totaling $194 million to $204 million.

Cypress is hardly the first chip firm to fall on hard times in the current macro environment. The market has already been hit this week with a similar warning from Dow component Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC), while National Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE: NSM) slashed its outlook and announced job cuts.

This afternoon, CY is down roughly 20%, and it's trading less than a point above its current annual low of $2.93. The chip company's warning sparked a rush in the options pits; so far, Cypress has seen more than 6 times its average daily put volume cross the tape. The bulk of these bearish bets have changed hands on the November 4 strike, which has seen volume of 2,113 contracts on open interest of 6,509.

Elizabeth Harrow is an analyst and financial writer in the research department at Schaeffer's Investment Research. She is featured in the video series Schaeffer's Daily Q&A on SchaeffersResearch.com.

Put volume spikes as Cypress Semiconductor slashes fourth-quarter outlook originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 14 Nov 2008 15:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Minyanville's Sean Udall dares to share the kind of keen insight and actionable information you won't find in any prospectus. Here he answers a reader's burning question about "green" stocks. For more original thought, visit www.minyanville.com.

Professor Udall,

Do you have any opinions on Zoltek Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZOLT)? My wife wants me to buy everything "green". Her last "green" company idea was General Electric (NYSE: GE). I know, right? I bought a little just to quiet the noise level. I'm into a little SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR) and Evergreen Solar (NASDAQ: ESLR). Does Zoltek have legs?

Thanks,

Minyan L.

Minyan L.,

First, that's hysterical. Second, a word of caution: Going all green, or all of any one thing, is something I'd never advocate. If you do, you do so at your own risk, as nothing in the market is ever as obvious as it seems, especially when it seems totally obvious.

Continue reading Mailbag: Using Green for Green Stocks

Mailbag: Using Green for Green Stocks originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Cypress Semiconductor argues everything good starts with pure silicon

Cypress Semiconductor argues everything good starts with pure silicon originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 25 Jan 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Cypress Semi (CY) lower on Sunpower downgrade originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 17 Jan 2008 13:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Last week we spoke about data storage giant EMC Corp. (NYSE:EMC) being way undervalued, based on its core business plus its holding in VMWare (NYSE:VMW). Today, I'd like to focus on another stock that appears to be trading at a big discount to actual value.

Cypress Semiconductor (NYSE:CY), a chip company, trades with a market cap of about $6.3 billion, and has shown decent revenue growth. It holds a 53% share in Sunpower Corp. (NASDAQ:SPWR), which makes solar panels and cells. Sunpower has been flying ever since its IPO, and currently trades at a market cap of $13.2 billion. This makes Cypress's share in Sunpower around $6.9 billion. I am aware that in situations like this the parent company will rarely trade based on the full value of its holdings, but this is a bit silly. It's not like Cypress's core business stinks.

"Assuming we do not encounter any major macroeconomic disruptions, we are well-positioned to sustain substantial revenue gains into 2008," Cypress CEO T. J. Rodgers said. This doesn't sound like a business that is being valued at negative $600 million (approx.).

Yesterday, Credit Suisse analyst John Pitzer noted that Cypress alone is worth somewhere around $2 billion. In a perfect world that should give Cypress a market cap near $9 billion. Again, I understand that we don't live in a perfect world, but at a 40% discount, Cypress looks like a nice, cheap play.

Disclosure: Writer holds stock in EMC. Writer has clients who own CY, but does not own it personally. He holds no position in any other stock mentioned as of 11/8/07.

Aaron Katsman is the lead Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. and Senior Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com.

Cypress Semiconductor: Ridiculously undervalued originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 08 Nov 2007 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

There's a bold flag flying above the solar energy camp, and I like the dialog coming from at least one of the men raising that flag. T. J. Rodgers, CEO of Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE: CY), laid it on the line recently when he stated his opinion regarding CEOs like General Electric's (NYSE: GE) Jeff Immelt, Wal-Mart's (NYSE: WMT) Lee Scott, and Peter Darbee of PG&E. Rodgers was quoted by CNN Money as saying, "Every one of the names you just mentioned would flunk his ass in the most rudimentary test about global warming."

It's not necessarily that I agree with what Rodgers said, but any man who has stuck with a viable manufacturing concept for as long as Rodgers has stuck with the truth of solar electrical generation, and then has the gumption to call into question the motives of his peers in pursuing a similar path, gets a nod of respect from me. It's not about what he said, it's about why he said it.

Continue reading T. J. Rodgers calls GE, Wal-Mart CEOs just plain dumb

T. J. Rodgers calls GE, Wal-Mart CEOs just plain dumb originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 14 Oct 2007 18:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In July, Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE: CY) posted record 2Q 2007 revenue. At $372.8 million for the quarter, up 8.7% from 1Q 2007, 2Q revenue surpassed the previous record revenue set in 4Q 2000 at the height of the dot-com boom. (Ah, those were the days.) Diluted EPS were $2.29 as compared with 1Q 2007 diluted EPS of a loss of $0.01. But let's examine that EPS figure. During 2Q, Cypress sold 7.5 million shares of its wholly owned subsidiary Sun Power. Cypress still has a $3 billion stake in Sun Power. Excluding the proceeds from this stock sale, diluted EPS is $0.16, much less but still much better than a loss. CEO T. J. Rodgers bragged on these results, noting that Cypress Semiconductor has survived when 47 of its competitors since 1982 have not.

Rodgers stated that demand for semiconductor products increased for the seventh quarter in a row, and he sees no slow down. Cypress is expanding its line of proprietary products, including PSoC (programmable solution on chip) models that offer touch-screen capabilities for cell phones, video gaming, and point-of-sale registers. Touch-screen capability is the wave of the future, as is HB-LED (high brightness light emitting diode) for all types of HD TVs, cell phones, and lighting products. Cypress forecasts HB-LED to be a $10 billion market annually within the next three years, much of which will rely on Cypress products. Cypress is also in the forefront of mobile communication devices, offering a peripheral handset controller that downloads music to cell phones ten times faster than previously. Cypress is also developing next generation high-speed holographic (3D) data storage systems.

Continue reading Cypress Semiconductor Corp (CY) shines

Cypress Semiconductor Corp (CY) shines originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 26 Aug 2007 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Some analysts worry about the future for Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE:CY), but I think this is going to be one of the big surprises in 2007.

The concerns about the company range from the commodity costs it faces to the declining market for its static random-access memory (SRAM) technology, which accounts for a third of CY's revenues. Of course, there are also those high R&D costs and the cyclical nature of the semiconductor business to worry about.

But there are two parts of CY that I think will make up for all of these concerns and pave the way for serious growth and maybe even a "takeover" in 2007. The first is its PSoC division -- this stands for "programmable systems on a chip." This technology has become extremely popular and its $50 million in revenue has helped drive CY's overall revenues in 2005. The company believes this technology is only going to become more popular as it develops further in coming years and it should make up for any flagging results in other divisions.

The other reason I believe in this company is its 77% ownership in SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ:SPWR), a solar power company. While SPWR hasn't been too profitable in recent years, many believe strong results are just around the corner with the growing interest in green technology. And it has certainly been a good source of revenues.

CY sold a part of its shares in SPWR this year, for a nice profit, but it seems committed to the technology, which I think will pay off in the near future. There are definitely some reasons to be leery of CY -- its net margins aren't all that impressive, and this is a very competitive industry. But there are also some compelling strengths that I think are about to turn into serious profits. The company is also a terrific target for acquisition.

Type of stock: An undervalued chip and semiconductor company that has two very appealing technologies.

Price target: I think the next four months will be great for CY. I see the stock price going as high as $25. I'd buy at its current price, just above $17. Other analysts are saying otherwise, but I believe this company is poised for growth.

Hilary Kramer is a financial editor and money coach for AOL and an authority on investing. Visit her at www.hilarykramer.com

Cypress Semiconductor: A Winner for 2007 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 11 Dec 2006 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Cypress Semiconductor's (NYSE: CY) stock price has been hot over the past couple weeks - going from $16 to $19.65 per share.

Well, the rumor is that Cypress is a possible buyout candidate. After all, private equity money has been rushing into the tech sector, as seen with deals like Freescale and Philips Semiconductors.

In fact, last week, Cypress announced it is looking at "strategic options" for its crown jewel; that is, the investment in SunPower (SPWR), which develops solar cells. The company has been growing at a torrid rate.

Cypress owns roughly 69% of SunPower, which has a market value of $1.8 billion. That translates into a value of $1.2 billion. As for Cypress, it has a market value of $2.7 billion.

In other words, Cypress may present an attractive "break-up" play for private equity investors.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and operates InvestorOffering.com.

Cypress Semiconductor in play? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 09 Oct 2006 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.