BloggingStocks

Infineon (IFX) delays could be good for Texas Instruments (TXN)

Brent Archer — Thu, 29 May 2008 14:30:00 EST

Filed under: Good news, Industry, Nokia Corp. (NOK), Texas Instruments (TXN), Options, Technical Analysis

Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) shares are trading higher after Nokia (NYSE: NOK) reported that its single-chip plan is still on track despite Infineon (NYSE: IFX), a supplier for NOK, announcing yesterday that it is seeing some delays. TXN is supplying NOK with GSM single chips for its mobile handsets and may be called upon to pick up the slack during this delay. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on TXN.

After hitting a one-year high of $39.63 in July, the stock hit a one-year low of $27.51 in March. TXN opened this morning at $32.36. So far today the stock has hit a low of $32.32 and a high of $33.00. As of 1:17, TXN is trading at $32.73, up 0.24 (0.7%). The chart for TXN looks bullish and steady, while S&P gives the stock a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold rating.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider an October bull-put credit spread below the $27.50 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make a 13.6% return in just five months as long as TXN is above $27.50 at October expiration. TXN would have to fall by more than 16% before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade here.

TXN hasn't been below $27.50 at all in the past year and has shown support around $32 recently. This trade could be risky if the company's earnings (due out in mid-July) disappoint, but even if that happens, this position could be protected by the support the stock might find around $28, where it found support over the past two months.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer.

DISCLOSURE: Mr. Archer owns and/or controls diversified portfolios of long and short stock and option positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in TXN, NOK, or IFX.

Infineon (IFX) delays could be good for Texas Instruments (TXN) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 29 May 2008 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Before the bell: BX, BRCM, NOK, AAPL, MAT

Barry Summerlin — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Before the Bell, Microsoft (MSFT), Apple Inc (AAPL), Nokia Corp. (NOK), Mattel, Inc (MAT), QUALCOMM Inc (QCOM), Texas Instruments (TXN), Broadcom Corp'A' (BRCM), Blackstone Group L.P (BX)

Main market news here: Before the bell: Cisco (CSCO) earnings boost futures.

The Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) announced Wednesday morning that it has closed its latest fund, Blackstone Capital Partners V. The $21.7 billion fund is the largest buyout fund ever.

Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) has added insult to injury in its rivalry with Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM), following up a legal victory with news of a deal to supply chips to cell phone maker Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK), which is currently squabbling with Qualcomm.

In addition to the Broadcom deal and its continuing contract with Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN), Nokia has also announced two new chip suppliers: Infineon Technologies (NYSE: IFX) and STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM).

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) unveiled its new iMac on Tuesday, which features a slimmer, aluminum casing and a suite of software targeted at winning over users of Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT)'s Windows.

Mattel Inc. (NYSE: MAT) has named the Chinese manufacturer of almost 1 million Fisher-Price toys that it had to recall last week for possible lead paint.

Before the bell: BX, BRCM, NOK, AAPL, MAT originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 08 Aug 2007 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Analyst upgrades 6-07-07: Semiconductor sector, DGX and FNM

Eric Buscemi — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 10:47:00 EST

Filed under: Analyst Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MOST NOTEWORTHY: The semiconductor sector, Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) and Federal National Mortgage Association (NYSE: FNM) were today's noteworthy upgrades:

Bernstein upgraded the semiconductor sector to Overweight form Market Weight on expectations that utilization will rise starting in Q2. The firm upgraded ASML Holding NV (NASDAQ: ASML) to Outperform from Market Perform and Infineon Technologies (NYSE: IFX) to Market Perform from Underperform.
UBS upgraded Quest Diagnostics to Buy from Neutral, citing Laboratory Corporation Of America Holdings' (NYSE: LH) contract renewal with Cigna HealthCare, which should ease concerns regarding deteriorating pricing.
Fannie Mae was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Friedman Billings, citing improving fundamentals, better business mix and the possibility the company reports current financials in the next 12-18 months.

OTHER UPGRADES:

Mediacom Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: MCCC) was upgraded to Neutral at Pali Capital, as the firm does not see a major catalyst to drive down shares.
Soleil upgraded shares of ICU Medical Inc (NASDAQ: ICUI) to Buy from Hold.
DynCorp International Inc (NYSE: DCP) was upgraded to Outperformer from Sector Performer at CIBC World Markets.
CIBC also upgraded shares of Radware Limited (NASDAQ: RDWR) to Outperformer from Sector Performer.

Analyst upgrades 6-07-07: Semiconductor sector, DGX and FNM originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 07 Jun 2007 10:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments