BloggingStocks

Closing Bell: A Fifth Straight Win, but Sloppy (AA, BP, HEW, AON, SNDK, WMT, WY)

Jon Ogg — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Wal-Mart (WMT), Alcoa Inc (AA), BP p.l.c. ADS (BP), SanDisk Corp (SNDK)

Today was a strange day in the market, with EU markets mixed and an overall mixed bias being present all day ahead of earnings season. A Fed official noted that rates were appropriate on the same day that Ben Bernanke was out discussing the lack of credit available at small businesses. Despite today's win looking more like a tie or surrender, we have now been up 5 days in a row.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,216.27 +18.24 (0.18%)
S&P 500 1,078.75 +0.79 (0.07%)
Nasdaq 2,198.36 +1.91 (0.09%)

Continue reading Closing Bell: A Fifth Straight Win, but Sloppy (AA, BP, HEW, AON, SNDK, WMT, WY)

Closing Bell: A Fifth Straight Win, but Sloppy (AA, BP, HEW, AON, SNDK, WMT, WY) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 12 Jul 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SanDisk Benefits from UBS Upgrade

Mark Fightmaster — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:40:00 EST

Filed under: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, SanDisk Corp (SNDK)

Technology firm SanDisk (SNDK) is enjoying a nice morning thanks to favorable coverage from brokerage firm UBS.

The brokerage house upgraded SanDisk to buy from neutral and assigned a new target price of $55 per share, an elevation from $46 per share. UBS's analyst believes that strong second-half demand will outweigh any risks the stock may hold. The analyst predicts "better than expected ASP trends" continuing in the second half, combining with tight market supply to boost the shares.

Continue reading SanDisk Benefits from UBS Upgrade

SanDisk Benefits from UBS Upgrade originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple's iPads -- Just the Beginning for SanDisk

Wade Hansen — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Apple Inc (AAPL), SanDisk Corp (SNDK), Stocks to Buy

If you're looking for a stock that can ride Apple's (AAPL) coattails higher, look no further than SanDisk (SNDK).

SanDisk makes the flash memory that goes in every iPad Apple makes. And right now, that is a lot of iPads.

Of course, SanDisk is not wholly dependent on Apple. With the tablet wars taking off and smartphone and GPS sales increasing, demand for SanDisk's flash memory continues to grow from every angle.

Continue reading Apple's iPads -- Just the Beginning for SanDisk

Apple's iPads -- Just the Beginning for SanDisk originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 18 Jun 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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99 year old spud-and-chip king passes

Peter Cohan — Mon, 26 May 2008 08:15:00 EST

Filed under: McDonald's (MCD)

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.

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Earnings highlights: Deere, Freddie Mac, Applied Materials, Barclay's and others

Trey Thoelcke — Sat, 17 May 2008 16:10:00 EST

Filed under: Earnings Reports, Home Depot (HD), Penney (J.C.) (JCP), Applied Materials (AMAT), Amer Intl Group (AIG), Lowe's Cos (LOW), Kohl's Corp (KSS), Toll Brothers (TOL), Deere and Co (DE), Barclays plc ADS (BCS), MBIA Inc (MBI)

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) Q2 profits declined on a glut of flash memory chips.
Bally Technologies Inc. (NYSE: BYI) beat Q3 expectations and offered full-year guidance.
Barclay's (NYSE: BCS) reported a big Q1 loss on credit-related write-downs.
Constant Contact Inc. (NASDAQ: CTCT) saw big increases in Q1 revenues and in its customer base.
Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) Q2 profits rose on international demand, but results just missed estimates.
Fluor Corp.'s (NYSE: FLR) strong Q1 results are a signal for the energy sector, says Jim Cramer.
Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) Q1 loss widened on the housing slump, but not as much as forecast.
IndyMac Bancorp Inc. (NYSE: IMB) narrowed its loss but predicted it wouldn't see a profit in 2008.
LDK Solar Co. Ltd. (NYSE: LDK) Q1 earnings topped forecasts and it raised its outlook.
MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI) reported a larger-than-expected Q1 loss due to write-downs.
Mindray Medical International Ltd. (NYSE: MR) beat Q1 expectations and raised its full-year guidance.
Nuance Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) Q2 earnings were in line with analysts' expectations.
ON Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: ONNN) beat Q1 expectations and raised its Q2 revenue forecast.
RealNetworks Inc. (NASDAQ: RNWK) beat Q1 estimates and announced share buybacks and a spin off.
Salary.com Inc. (NASDAQ: SLRY) missed Q1 forecasts, leading to analysts' downgrades.
Sykes Enterprises Inc. (NASDAQ: SYKE) beat Q1 estimates and raised its Q2 and full-year forecast.
Syniverse Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SVR) beat Q1 expectations on strength in "messaging and mobil data."
Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) warned of lower Q2 profits and more "challenging times" ahead.
Website Pros Inc. (NASDAQ: WSPI) reported flat earnings despite soaring revenues and operating income.

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Deere, Freddie Mac, Applied Materials, Barclay's and others

Earnings highlights: Deere, Freddie Mac, Applied Materials, Barclay's and others originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 17 May 2008 16:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel margin warning hits flash memory stocks

Jon Ogg — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:41:00 EST

Filed under: Intel (INTC), SanDisk Corp (SNDK)

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) came out Monday night and warned of lower margins, and while the stock was down in after-hours trading, one might actually make the argument that this might not be such bad news for its core operations. It's just hard to be too much like Dr. Pangloss in what looks, feels, and even smells more and more like a bear market each week. The culprit is listed as "lower than expected NAND flash memory chip prices." So Intel said it is now looking for 54% margins, plus or minus 1%. Its previous guidance was 56%, plus or minus 1%. What is at least a bit of relief here is that Intel said that all other expectations are consistent with the prior guidance given with its last outlook.

I would note that Intel had recently been downgraded at Goldman Sachs and at AmTech. Arguably, this is the second warning if you count last quarter. Its 2% drop is fairly appropriate as that is basically how much the stock is down on the news. Intel closed up 0.2% Monday at $20.01, but it was now seeing shares trade down 2.5% at $19.51 in after-hours evening trades.

If you take this at face value, Intel at least has a robust processor business, or at least it has the best processors in the industry. This news is taking a toll on other semiconductor stocks as well, but as the news bit is specific to NAND flash memory chips, it is hitting those flash memory stocks the worst of the others.

Micron Tech (NYSE: MU) is one that won't be liking this as its turnaround seems to be in jeopardy . This may at least make the company pursue more active issues like divesting some assets. SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) is perhaps the pure-play for flash memory stocks, and its shares were actually down almost 3.5% at $22.25 in after-hours trading. That was after already hitting a new 52-week low at the close of $23.05 as its trading range over the last year was $23.40 to $59.75. Spansion Inc. (NASDAQ: SPSN) is another go-to stock in flash memory. Its shares were down almost 3% in after-hours trading at $2.82 after having an almost 6% gain today. Unfortunately, it has had a poor year with its 52-week trading being $2.69 to $12.83.

Intel margin warning hits flash memory stocks originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SanDisk CEO not worried about potential U.S. recession

Brian White — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 11:07:00 EST

Filed under: Competitive Strategy, Economic Data, SanDisk Corp (SNDK)

SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) has made its name in the consumer electronics arena mostly through flash memory products (like that card inside your digital camera). It is also the second-largest maker of digital media players, behind only Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and its ubiquitous iPod.

But, as talk of a 2008 U.S. consumer spending slowdown make the rounds in the media (with some betting against it until later this year), SanDisk CEO Eli Harari believes his computer memory company will mostly be insulated from any slowdown effects in the U.S. He has a great reason too -- for years, SanDisk has ensured that it grows international sales to diversify itself against a slowdown in any particular market.

Gee, what a novel idea. Harari recently said, "Two-thirds of our revenue in the third quarter came from overseas and this is not by accident . . . we are absolutely driving market share outside of the United States. If there is to be a recession, we are very well positioned."

As long as international and U.S. consumer see a need to feed themselves more digital storage (phones, cameras, computers, you name it), SanDisk will be there to supply the demand and provide more product for less price over time. Unfortunately, SNDK investors aren't recognizing this, as the company's shares are trading at two-year lows on fears of an oversupply in the flash memory market, combined with fears of consumers curbing their digital memory purchases. Hey, everyone -- stop using all those gadgets and prove the market right, okay? Yeah, right.

SanDisk CEO not worried about potential U.S. recession originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 Jan 2008 11:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Option update: Research in Motion (RIMM) volatility collapses as shares rally

Paul Foster — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 12:50:00 EST

Filed under: Major Movement, Research in Motion (RIMM), Options, SanDisk Corp (SNDK)

Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) is recently up $9.14 to $109.64.

Morgan Keegan says: "Trends still very strong; raising fiscal 2009E EPS to $2.98."
RIMM is expected to report EPS after the close tonight.
RIMM total option volume is heavy on 191,243 contracts trading. RIMM October option implied volatility of 49 is below a level of 87 from last night prior to EPS. RIMM average option implied volatility over the last 26-weeks is 44 according to Track Data.

SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) a supplier of flash data storage card products, is recently down $0.76 to $52.43.

SNDK is expected to report EPS on 10/18.
Smith Barney-SBSH has a $71 price target on SNDK. SBSH said on 10/4 "contract pricing a negative, new products a partial offset."
SNDK October option implied volatility is at 64, November is at 52, above its 26-week average of 44 according to Track Data, suggesting larger near term price risks.

Daily options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Option update: Research in Motion (RIMM) volatility collapses as shares rally originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 05 Oct 2007 12:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Invested in tellurium yet? Check this out

Gary Sattler — Tue, 29 May 2007 12:35:00 EST

Filed under: Good news, Industry, Competitive Strategy, Intel (INTC), Next Big Thing, Commodities

Constantly on the lookout for those things that subtly show potential, my keen eye has spied a possible giant upcoming in the kingdom of the minerals. Enter the humble player tellurium, a mineral byproduct of copper production. This relatively unknown mineral currently is not mined in any commercial sense. It's primarily derived through a recovery process applied to the sludge from copper refining. What is the interest in tellurium and why should you care about it? Well, here's what the State Geologist of Arizona has revealed to me.

According to Jack Lifton at Resource Investor, this fall Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) and Samsung "will introduce flash memory replacements ... that can be used, erased, and used again indefinitely, but, rather than being crystalline silicon technology based, are made from tellurium based glasses composed of germanium, antimony, and tellurium." What could this possibly mean to a sharp-minded investor? It means that there quite possibly resides an untapped multi-mega fortune in copper refining sludge. In 2000, tellurium marketed for just under $4.00 a pound. Last year, the mineral had reached $96 and is currently around $100 a pound.

Additionally, First Solar Inc., (NASDAQ: FSLR) of Phoenix, which went public last fall, is using cadmium tellurium in the production of photovoltaic cells. Its public statement regarding the use of the material is as follows: "Cadmium tellurium ... has the potential to deliver competitive conversion efficiencies with approximately 1% of the semiconductor material used by traditional crystalline silicon solar modules." That's one percent of the current weight and one percent of the current volume. Imagine the solar conversion capacity currently available reduced in size by 10%. Yeah baby, now that's potential!

Some stick-in-the-mud people may still want to turn their noses up at the realities of solar conversion and its future. That's fine with me. I'll just watch someone else get rich while I'm sitting in the sunshine.

Invested in tellurium yet? Check this out originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 29 May 2007 12:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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