• Bank of America/Merrill (NYSE:BAC) downgraded a number of semiconductor companies, expecting a modest inventory correction, even as economies improve and demand for electronics rises.  Four shares were downgraded to neutral, including Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN), Marvel Technology Group (NASDAQ:MRVL) and LSI Corp (NYSE:LSI).  The form lowered Maxim Integrated Products (NASDAQ:MXIM), National Semiconductor (NYSE:NSM), Power Integrations (NASDAQ:POWI) and Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) to underperform

• Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD) rose 10.6% yesterday. The firm announced a private debt offering of $500 million of senior notes. This morning's news saw FBR Research raising its price target to $9 from $8, while maintaining a "market perform" opinion

• Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) reiterated its "buy" rating on CVS Caremark (NYSE:CVS), saying the shares are cheap at current levels.  The firm said at $30, CVS is selling at just 10.6 times 2010 estimates, below a two year, 14x average, with long-term growth of 13% anticipated

• Reports

...

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 ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 22, 2009 - Zacks Research Equity Strategist, Dirk Van Dijk says that S&P 500 earnings are continuing to show red ink. He tracks companies on the Zacks.com web site, naming names, while forecasting trends for the months ahead.

Key Points from Van Dijk's Latest Earnings Assessment Earnings Trends Key Points:

Earnings surprise ratio (#beat / #miss) at 5.56 Median Earnings Surprise 7.90% Year-over-year earnings growth ratio (# Positive Growth/# Negative Growth) at 0.74 Sales surprise ratio at 2.0 Sales growth ratio at just 0.35 Total net income for S&P 500 reported firms is 12.1%. This is above what those same 66 firms reported a year ago and 4.9% above what they earned in Q209 Total S&P 500 revenues reported down 4.7% ...

Key Points:

Growth Third quarter expected to be down 23.8% year-over-year Fourth quarter to more than double year ago, but it is all in the Financials 2009 total net income expected to fall 7.3%, but rise 23.8% in 2010 More than half expected to post positive growth in Q4

Levels Bottom up estimate for S&P 500 now $59.61 in 2009 S&P 500 now expected to earn $73.81 in 2010. Top down estimates $53.94 and $68.40, respectively

Scorecard & Surprise Early results strong with a median surprise of 5.32% A tiny sample with only 3.2% of reports in

Revisions Total estimate increases outnumber cuts almost 3:2 for 2009 Upward revisions outnumber cuts by more than 7:4 for 2010 Revisions ratios for both years slipped, but are still up big from earlier in the year Total revisions activity near seasonal lows For 2009, Discretionary and Materials lead; Utilities Telecom lag Discretionary and Tech strong for

...

Key Points:

Growth Third quarter expected to be down 23.8% year-over-year Fourth quarter to more than double year ago, but it is all in the Financials 2009 total net income expected to fall 7.3%, but rise 23.8% in 2010 More than half expected to post positive growth in Q4

Levels Bottom up estimate for S&P 500 now $59.61 in 2009 S&P 500 now expected to earn $73.81 in 2010. Top down estimates $53.94 and $68.40, respectively

Scorecard & Surprise Early results strong with a median surprise of 5.32% A tiny sample with only 3.2% of reports in

Revisions Total estimate increases outnumber cuts almost 3:2 for 2009 Upward revisions outnumber cuts by more than 7:4 for 2010 Revisions ratios for both years slipped, but are still up big from earlier in the year Total revisions activity near seasonal lows For 2009, Discretionary and Materials lead; Utilities Telecom lag Discretionary and Tech strong for

...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – September 17, 2009 - Zacks Research Equity Strategist, Dirk Van Dijk tracks earnings forecasts for S&P 500 companies on the Zacks.com web site, naming names those seeing upward and downward revisions, while forecasting trends for the months ahead.

Key Points:

Growth

 

Third quarter net income expected to be down 22.9% year-over-year Fourth-quarter net ince to more than double from a year ago, but it is all in the Financials Only 160, or 32% of all S&P 500 firms expected to see positive EPS growth in 3Q More than half expected to post positive growth in Q4

Levels

 

Bottom-up estimate for S&P 500 now $60.73 in 2009 S&P 500 now expected to earn $75.23 in 2010 Top down estimates $53.94 and $68.40, respectively...

Key Points:

Growth

Third quarter net income expected to be down 22.9% year-over-year Fourth-quarter net ince to more than double from a year ago, but it is all in the Financials Only 160, or 32% of all S&P 500 firms expected to see positive EPS growth in 3Q More than half expected to post positive growth in Q4

Levels

Bottom-up estimate for S&P 500 now $60.73 in 2009 S&P 500 now expected to earn $75.23 in 2010 Top down estimates $53.94 and $68.40, respectively

Revisions

Total estimate increases outnumber cuts by 7:4 for 2009 Upward revisions outnumber cuts by 2:1 for 2010 Revisions ratios for both years slip but still up big from earlier in the year Total revisions activity near seasonal lows For 2009, Tech and Staples lead; Utilities and Telecom lag Materials and Industrials coming on strong for 2010

Valuation

S&P 500 P/E at 17.6x based on 2009 earnings, an earnings uield of 5.69% P/E of 14.2x based on

...

• Merck (NYSE:MRK) announced its plans to abandon an experimental treatment for migraines and to review Phase III clinical data on another migraine drug

• Morgan Stanley's (NYSE:MS) CEO John Mack will be replaced before year-end by current co-president James Gorman

• Abbott Labs (NYSE:ABT) announced that it bought the 90% of Evalve that it does not already own for $410 million

• Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) cut its rating on Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS) to "neutral"

• Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) lowered its rating on AIG (NYSE:AIG) to "underperform" asserting the firm currently is trading "significantly" above book value

• National Semiconductor (NYSE:NSM) reported fiscal first quarter earnings of 13 cents a share, 6 cents above estimates on revenues of $314 million

Zacks Investment Research

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 29, 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: Intel (INTC), STMicroelectronics (STM), Texas Instruments (TXN), National Semiconductor (NSM) and Intersil Corp. (ISIL).

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 Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

Competition Peaks for Chip Makers

While the recession could certainly be blamed for much of the current softness, it does not adequately explain the state of semiconductor manufacturing today.

Since the bursting of the tech bubble in the late 1990s, semiconductor companies have improved inventory management, streamlined operations and transferred

...

While the recession could certainly be blamed for much of the current softness, it does not adequately explain the state of semiconductor manufacturing today.

Since the bursting of the tech bubble in the late 1990s, semiconductor companies have improved inventory management, streamlined operations and transferred manufacturing to cheaper locations. This enabled a stronger focus on research, helping differentiation and consequently profit margins.

Although companies like Intel (INTC), STMicroelectronics (STM), Texas Instruments (TXN) and National Semiconductor (NSM) continue to operate their own facilities, many smaller players, such as Intersil Corp. (ISIL) and Semtech Corp. (SMTC) decided to take the outsourcing route.

This was a boon for Asian manufacturers, especially Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSM) and United Microelectronics (UMC), which were the first to capitalize on the opportunity. Chartered Semiconductor (CHRT) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMI) joined later, but continued to

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