Intel Corp (INTC) raised the quarterly cash dividend by 12.5%, totaling 63 cents a share in 2010. The dividend yield comes to 3.1%. The company has been paying a cash dividend for the last 17 years and has raised the dividend 14 times since it started. Intel has over $8 billion of net cash on its balance sheet, or around $1.58 a share. The $1.25 billion payment to Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) will take another 23 cents a share off the cash balance. The remaining cash ($1.35 a share) is sufficient to fund its growth plans, even after paying the higher rate of dividend. We also expect Intel to continue generating strong cash flows, based on its leading market position and product development strategies. Intel’s announcement comes as an indication of the technology turnaround. However, the company is not the first to recognize ...

Strong financial performance in the most recent quarter and continued growth in results despite a challenging economy have led Standard & Poor's (S&P) Rating Services to raise Red Hat Inc.’s  (RHT) corporate credit rating from BB to BB+.   Red Hat is a leader in open source software solutions and has been upgraded thrice in less than two years. The company believes that it is still in the early stages of growth and has tremendous growth opportunity beyond 2010.   We believe the company’s strong market position, focused execution, strong balance sheet, impressive cash flow, international expansion and proven value proposition will help grow its business in the near term and deliver strong revenue growth beyond fiscal 2010.   We remain positive on the company’s long-term growth given its robust performance, driven by the record bookings and billings, substantial recurring revenue stream and growth in deferred revenues.  ...

Intel Corp (INTC) has agreed to pay Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) $1.25 billion to settle long-standing disputes between the two chipmakers. This immediately takes care of the AMD lawsuit that was slated to come up for trial in roughly five months time.  Intel agreed to a set of business practices, including non-payment of financial incentives to companies that favored Intel chips over AMD and training of sales staff accordingly. We believe there are grey areas here, since Intel has in any case repeatedly denied such foul play.  The more significant outcome is the company’s release of AMD from the provisions of the x86 deal entered into in 1995. At that time, AMD had acquired the right to manufacture chips based on the x86 architecture. However, the Globalfoundries spinoff raised the issue of a fresh license, which Intel said was necessary and AMD said was not. ...

Maxim Integrated Products Inc.’s (MXIM) first quarter earnings beat consensus estimates by a penny. Revenue was over the high-end of management’s guidance range of $415-445 million, or a sequential increase of 5-13%. Revenue Revenue of $449.2 million was up 13.9% sequentially and down 10.4% year over year. The sequential strength in demand was reflective of the rebound in the semiconductor sector and follows stronger results reported by other chip companies, such as Linear Technology (LLTC), Intel Corp. (INTC), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Texas Instruments (TXN). Revenue by End Market The computing market generated 25% of revenue, up 13.9% sequentially and down 20% year over year. Revenue benefited from sequential strength in the server, financial terminals and notebook segments. The consumer market generated 33% of revenue, up 17.4% sequentially and 5.6% year over year. ...

With buyers back in action, US stocks rose to their fresh one-year highs and remained near their high points as optimism grew that an economic recovery, helped by solid third-quarter earnings reports and increased M&A activity, is on cards. 

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 96.28 points, or 0.96%, to close at 10,092.19.  The broader S&P 500 index jumped 10.23 points, or 0.94%, to 1,097.91 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 19.52 points, or 0.91%, to 2,176.32, its highest point since September 26, 2008.  Market breadth was positive, with advancing shares ahead of decliners by a margin of three-to-one.  Only five of the DJIA thirty declined in price.

After the close, iPhone maker Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN) reported better-than-estimated numbers, fuelling hopes for the technology industry.  Last week Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Intel Corp’s (NASDAQ:INTC) numbers had come in above expectations.

Although there were some jitters last

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 19, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: International Business Machine (IBM), Accenture (ACN), Intel Corp. (INTC), Google Inc. (GOOG) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Friday’s AnalystBlog:

IBM Exceeds & Raises Outlook

International Business Machine’s (IBM) third-quarter 2009 earnings exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate by one cent. As a result of expense management, net profit improved by 14% to $3.2 billion, while earnings per share rose 18% to $2.40 per share. This compares to

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International Business Machine’s (IBM) third-quarter 2009 earnings exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate by one cent. As a result of expense management, net profit improved by 14% to $3.2 billion, while earnings per share rose 18% to $2.40 per share. This compares to a profit of $2.8 billion or $2.04 per share in the year-ago period. Net margins increased 250 basis points to 13.6%. Profitability in the quarter was fueled by higher gross profit margin, which improved to 45.1% from 43.3% in the year-ago quarter led by improved margin in the Services and Software segments. IBM has benefited from the growing focus on these high margin businesses. This has allowed the company to expand its gross margins for 20 of the past 21 quarters. Moreover, the company benefited from lower interest expense, which fell 46.9% from the year-ago period. IBM remained focused on its cost-cutting initiatives, as ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 15, 2009 – Zacks Equity Research highlights Sangamo Biosciences, Inc. (SGMO) as the Bull of the Day and Conmed (CNMD) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Intel Corp. (INTC), JPMorgan Chase & Company (JPM) and CSX Corp. (CSX).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2676

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

Sangamo Biosciences, Inc. (SGMO) uses a proprietary ZFP gene regulation technology to discover and develop a new class of therapeutic candidates for diabetic neuropathy, cardiovascular disease, cancer and immune diseases.

We are optimistic about this novel technology. SB-509 has shown some positive results for the treatment of moderate to severe DN. We are also optimistic about other clinical programs. Further, we are impressed by the company's strategy

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Nokia Corp. (NOK) yesterday announced its sales and distribution plan for its first netbook called “Booklet 3G". The U.S. retailer Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY) will sell this netbook (mini laptop) for $299.99 together with AT&T’s (T) 3G data plan of $60 per month for a two-year contract. Also, a carrier-free unsubsidized option will be available for a price of $599. Booklet 3G will be available from mid-November. The pros and cons of Nokia’s new venture are as under:   Pros   (1)   Diversification outside the mobile phone market becomes essential for Nokia. In recent times, the company has lost some ground due to fierce competition. According to Gartner Inc, Nokia’s share has fallen to 45% in the second quarter from 47.5% in the year-ago quarter. Meanwhile, market share of Research In Motion (RIMM) increased to 18.7% from 17.3% in the year-ago quarter and that ...

Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) is expected to report its second quarter results later today. Last month, the company had upgraded its guidance for the quarter. It expects quarterly sales to be up approximately 10% sequentially due to the broad based strength across all end markets and geographical divisions. Xilinx expects to ship most of last quarter’s delinquencies in the September quarter. Management reiterated its gross margin guidance of 61%. Operating expenses are estimated to come around $175 million, including $5 million in restructuring charges. California-based Xilinx designs and manufactures a broad range of high-performance, high-density programmable logic devices (PLDs) for electronic equipment manufacture. Earlier, rival Altera Corp. (ALTR) reported its quarterly results that matched expectations. Sales of $286.6 million were down 20% from a year ago but up 3% sequentially. Management stated that business conditions improved steadily during the quarter and most markets performed better than

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