Continue reading U.S. Stock Futures Up as Investors Await Jobless Claims

U.S. Stock Futures Up as Investors Await Jobless Claims originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 24 Mar 2011 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: Mixed Fanfare on Valentine's Day (GMCR, SBUX, EGPT, MU, NYX, CME, FLWS)

Closing Bell: Mixed Fanfare on Valentine's Day (GMCR, SBUX, EGPT, MU, NYX, CME, FLWS) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"The growth in hand held devices such as the iPhone and iPad has led to a surge in flash NAND demand," suggests Ian Wyatt.

The editor of Top Stock Insights explains, "As a result, there is a lot to like about component supplier Micron Technology (MU). Last year, the company gained market share and became the world's third-largest NAND supplier.

"Micron had a terrific first quarter financial report. Revenue increased by 28% to $2.2 billion from $1.7 billion in 2010. Operating income also increased by a wide margin, surging to $390 million from $201 million last year.

Continue reading Micron Technology (MU): Flash!

Micron Technology (MU): Flash! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 31 Jan 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Sprint Nextel Corporation (S) January 5 and February 5 calls are active with total option volume of 240K contracts. December option implied volatility is at 41, January is at 48, February at 53, according to Track Data. Large call volume suggests larger price movement..

Micron Technology, Inc. (MU) January 10 calls are active with total call option volume of 160K contracts (47K puts). December and January option implied volatility is at 54, January is at 49, according to Track Data. Large call volume suggests traders positioning for upside.

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

Options Update: Sprint Shares Rally 6% originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 06 Dec 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I was scanning through stocks that made substantial pre-market moves to bring to your attention and I found just that in Micron Technology (MU).

The tech firm was more than 3% lower before the bell thanks to a downgrade from Goldman Sachs. The brokerage cut MU to neutral from buy. Goldman noted that it "underestimated the impact tablets would have on the PC supply chain, with tablets cannibalizing notebooks faster and to a greater degree than we [the brokerage] had expected." Goldman Sachs also stated that MU was negatively impacted by Inotera's delay of its 50mm transition.

Continue reading Goldman Sachs Downgrades Micron Technology

Goldman Sachs Downgrades Micron Technology originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 15 Sep 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: Sneaking in a Win (AAPL, BP, GOOG, GLD, MU, GENZ)

Closing Bell: Sneaking in a Win (AAPL, BP, GOOG, GLD, MU, GENZ) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 06 Jul 2010 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Micron Technology Rises On March Chip Sales Report

Micron Technology Rises On March Chip Sales Report originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 03 May 2010 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Micron Technology Reports a Profit, Shares Rise

Micron Technology Reports a Profit, Shares Rise originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 01 Apr 2010 09:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: Another Wishy-Washy Day of Trading (MCO, MHP, CVX, ITMN, AIG, C, MU)

Closing Bell: Another Wishy-Washy Day of Trading (MCO, MHP, CVX, ITMN, AIG, C, MU) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: Stock Market Snow Day! (ADBE, BIDU, HMC, S, MU, DF)

Closing Bell: Stock Market Snow Day! (ADBE, BIDU, HMC, S, MU, DF) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Even in a holiday shortened week so close to the end of the calendar year, there are still some earnings reports dribbling in. Question is, will any of the companies reporting quarterly results this week offer up a gift for investors?

Apropos of the season, analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters have high expectations for American Greetings Corp.'s (AM) fiscal third quarter 2010 earnings. The nation's second largest provider of greeting cards announced record second quarter results and declared a quarterly dividend during the three months that ended in November. American Greetings is expected to report that earnings rose 43.9% from a year ago to $0.66 per share. Revenue for the quarter is expected to total $445.4 million, or 1.9% lower than a year ago. So far, the full-year forecast is for its profit to more than double to $2.00 per share while revenue falls 5.6% from a year ago to $1.6 billion. This Cleveland-based company creamed earnings estimates in the past two quarters.

Continue reading The Week in Preview: Pre-holiday Earnings from Walgreen, American Greetings ...

The Week in Preview: Pre-holiday Earnings from Walgreen, American Greetings ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 20 Dec 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It was just a couple of weeks ago that BusinessWeek reported on Micron Technology Inc.'s (NASDAQ: MU) effort to diversify with an acquisition of DisplayTech, a producer of display screens such as those used as viewfinders for digital cameras. Micron, one of the largest memory chip makers in the semiconductor industry, has been reporting losses over the past two years due to steep declines in the price of computer memory.

DisplayTech has been developing a new technology called "pico projection," which can produce crisp images from small devices. This innovation could make it possible to deliver a business presentation from a BlackBerry without having to lug along a laptop and full-sized projector.

Continue reading Micron Technology shakes up its imaging business

Micron Technology shakes up its imaging business originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This key component of the personal computer became a commodity after the dot-com boom, and its seemingly unlimited supply and availability resulted in falling prices.

There has been no hedge fund craziness with this commodity to drive up prices. Nope, this poor little semiconductor chip could not attract any sort of interest on the buy side. As a result, companies that make the DRAM chip have been struggling to survive.

Continue reading Is Micron worth the risk?

Is Micron worth the risk? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

There's not a whole lot on the economic calendar this coming week, as Thursday is Christmas day. But things are not entirely silent either.

As this is Christmas card season, it's somehow appropriate that American Greetings Corp. (NYSE: AM) is scheduled to report fiscal third-quarter results. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect the nation's number two producer of greeting cards to report earnings of $0.52 per share, essentially the same as a year ago. Estimated revenue for the quarter is $474.5 million, down 2.3% from a year ago. American Greetings missed analysts' estimates in three of the past four quarters -- by 55.4% in the first quarter. After falling to a multiyear low of $7.85 per share in late November, the price closed Friday at $9.92. But the share price is 53.8% lower than a year ago.

Drugstore chain Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG), where one may find American Greetings cards, is expected to also report earnings the same as a year ago, or $0.46 per share, on revenue of $15.1 billion (+7.5%). Walgreen reported a modest increase in sales in October and again in November. The company only missed profit estimates in one of the past four quarters, and that by only a penny. The consensus recommendation remains to buy WAG, which has a long-term EPS growth rate forecast of 12.5%, better than the S&P 500 but less than that of rival CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE: CVS). Walgreen's share price has been creeping upward since reaching a multiyear low of $21.28 in October and closed Friday at $26.08. (For more on Walgreen, see Steven Mallas's earnings preview.)

Continue reading The week in preview: Pre-holiday reports

The week in preview: Pre-holiday reports originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 21 Dec 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Associated Press reports that 99 year old billionaire J. R. Simplot died of natural causes after a life shunning cigarettes and alcohol. Although much of his $3.2 billion estimated net worth came from a deal he struck with McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) to supply potatoes for its french fries, he also made some money in semiconductors -- providing $1 million in capital for a 40% stake in Micron Technologies (NYSE: MU).

That Micron stake connects me -- however distantly -- to Simplot. That's because on June 22, 2006, Micron acquired Lexar Media, a maker of flash memory chips, for $850 million. I was an advisory board member of Lexar and received cash for my stake. Micron, which generates most of its revenues from Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) chips, thought that Lexar's flash memory would help boost its margins by expanding Micron's then-developing memory card business. Unfortunately, Micron's stock has lost 22% of its value since the deal.

But Micron was not the biggest part of Simplot's fortune. He left home in 1923 with $20 worth of gold coins from his mother and traded up. His businesses, still family owned, manufacture agriculture, horticulture and turf fertilizers; animal feed and seeds; food products such as fruits, potatoes and other vegetables; and industrial chemicals and irrigation products. He all but invented the first commercially viable frozen french fries in the world.

Continue reading 99 year old spud-and-chip king passes

99 year old spud-and-chip king passes originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 26 May 2008 08:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Shares in chip-maker Micron Technology, Inc. (NYSE: MU) are trading higher on rumors that Samsung Electronics may buy part of their business. The South Korean Electronics giant is denying the report. Micron Technology of the U.S. is the world's leading producer of CMOS image-sensing chips. Micron three years ago invested heavily in image-sensor chips as a hedge against fluctuations in demand and prices of memory chips. Business has been very week as prices for these chips have plummeted. That being said, chip-makers have started cutting production to create better pricing.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) analyst Atif Malik said he understood why investors are getting excited about a potential price rebound for Micron shares as chip makers are starting to cut production in some less-profitable types of chips.

While Samsung denies the rumors, I wouldn't be surprised if a deal gets done. Why? Because in October Samsung bought Israeli non-memory chip developer TransChip Inc. to help strengthen its research and development capability in the CMOS chip business.

With Micron shares down more than 35% from their 52 week high, Samsung would be able to establish a real foothold in this business for cheap.

Aaron Katsman is the lead Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. and Senior Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com. Disclosure: Writer has no position in any stock mentioned as of 12/6/07.

Will Samsung save Micron? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 06 Dec 2007 17:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Impact of Microsoft's Vista is about to be seen originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 11 Jun 2007 12:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX)

This week's rumor round-up: Will Amazon overpay for Netflix? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 08 Jun 2007 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Bear Stearns upgraded shares of Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ:RIMM) to Outperform from Peer Perform, telling clients it sees further upside from new handset launches and continued expansion.
• First Albany upgraded shares of Micron Technology Inc. (NYSE:MU) to Buy from Neutral following the company's first-quarter report; the firm told clients that a weak first-half of 2007 has already priced into the shares but a strong second-half of 2007 has not.

• RBC Capital upgraded shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE:CMG) to Outperform from Underperform, citing continued strong fundamentals and expectations that the company can meet or slightly beat first-quarter comp-store sales estimates.
• Red Hat Inc. (NYSE:RHT) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at First Albany; the firm told clients that the company's Q3 report validates its thesis that the impact from Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ:ORCL) will be minimal, continued growth in RHEL deployments is likely, and pricing power is sustainable. Red hat was also upgraded by Citigroup to Hold from Sell and raised the target to $21 from $13.50.

Analyst upgrades 12-22-06: RIM, RedHat upgraded originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 22 Dec 2006 11:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.