by Amol Sharma and Ben Worthen, Reporters, The Wall Street Journal
Indian technology-outsourcing companies no longer just want to serve their clients’ computing departments–they want to be them.
For years, India’s big tech firms positioned themselves as a cheap alternative to U.S. and European competitors for tasks such as software maintenance and database upgrades. They were content to take whatever work companies like Citigroup Inc. and BT Group PLC parceled out to offshore specialists.
A provocative story from Reuters Monday ruminated on which companies are likely to replace Citigroup and General Motors in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Its conclusion: Google and Cisco are the most likely contenders, with Apple and Visa having a less likely chance.
by Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron's, Tech Trader Daily
For the solar industry, there is good news and bad news about the demand picture.
In 2009, Citigroup’s Timothy Arcuri observes in a research note today, global demand is likely to sink. But driven by a growing pipeline of utility-scale projects and aided by government stimulus programs, he thinks it will jump significantly in 2010 and 2011.
by Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron's, Tech Trader Daily
Have THQ shares gotten too cheap?
That’s the underlying question in a research note this morning from Citigroup’s Brent Thill. On the surface, he hardly sounds positive. The company’s upcoming UFC 2009 Undisputed has been generating a good amount of buzz in the gaming community around its spring release, and its game, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II, is selling well, but Thill still maintains a hold rating on the company’s stock.
by Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist,Barron's, Tech Trader Daily
The bears on Palm continue to cave after a furious rally in the stock following the company’s announcement of its “new newness,” the Palm Web OS and the Palm Pre handset.
Yesterday, the stock was upgraded by former Palm bears at Citigroup and Deutsche Bank. This morning, UBS analyst Maynard Um made a similar move. “The Palm Pre generated significant buzz at CES, surprised us to the upside and breathed new life into Palm’s stagnant portfolio,” he wrote in a research note. “Though the company still has challenges ahead, it’s clear the winds now appear to have shifted in its favor.”
by Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron's, Tech Trader Daily
Numbers aren’t really working out that well for Dell. One of Its rivals scored points today with impressive preliminary results, but–of more significance–there are ominous sounds coming from Intel’s direction regarding the rest of this year and the whole of next year. Cautionary pre-earnings notes took their toll this morning as well, and drove the numbers down.
by Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron's, Tech Trader Daily
Despite the fact that its stock has exploded as much as 36 percent, Citigroup’s Mark Mahaney downgraded his rating of the company, noting widespread evidence of an overall consumer spending decrease. Mahaney loves the Kindle, and believes it’s at least partially responsible for the surge, but cautions that it won’t immediately affect Amazon’s financial results.
by Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron's, Tech Trader Daily
In a welcome instance of positivity, Glen Yeung of Citigroup advised this morning that now is the right time to invest in the chip and semiconductor sectors, asserting that now is the right time for it to jump in for the next upturn. He specifically called out Integrated Device Technology, Nvidia and STMicro as investment targets.
by Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron's, Tech Trader Daily
Cadence Design Systems stock has plummeted just a day after the company went public with some serious revenue recognition issues, and just a week after most of senior management was fired by the board. Among the analysts, the feedback ranges from “Cadence faces an uphill battle” to “[the management exodus was] deeper and potentially more disruptive than we expected.” Not to mention “we are cautious on the timing of a turnaround.”
by Tiernan Ray, Blogger, Barron's, Tech Trader Daily
The “binary” outcome of RIM’s dilemma, according to research done by Citigroup’s Jim Sava, rests largely on whether or not Bold and Storm, the company’s widely anticipated new products, hit the market in time for the holidays. From there, in either case, the flowchart of scenarios and corresponding percentages–do consumers like the product? do profits go up?–become overwhelming. And of course, the company has recently changed its strategy and business model–it’s now a consumer company. Given that, it still boils down to Suva’s coin toss. Heads: earnings up; tails: earnings down.
by Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron's, Tech Trader Daily
When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping.
Or at least that’s why they do in the technology business.
In what seems like a fairly optimistic note in these gloomy times, some companies are taking advantage of reduced valuations to pick up strategic assets at prices that undoubtedly are a lot lower than they would have been even a few months earlier.
by Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barrron's, Tech Trader Daily
Citigroup’s Brent Thill today chopped estimates and/or target prices on 11 of the 22 software companies he covers to reflect–you guessed it–the softening macro economy. Thill writes in a research note this morning that he expects negative Street revisions across the group over the next few quarters.
by Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron's, Tech Trader Daily
In the latest in a string of analysts getting spooked about slowing consumer spending, Citigroup (C) analyst Richard Gardner this morning cut his estimates for Apple (AAPL) for this year, 2009, and 2010, and lowered his target price to $170 from $287. The reasons are familiar: an expected decline in disposable consumer income growth will pressure computer and consumer electronics sales.
by Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron's, Tech Trader Daily
Solar stocks are off to a rousing start this morning after the U.S. Senate last night voted 93-2 to back a tax extender package that includes an 8 year extension of solar investment tax credits. The measure now moves to the House.
by Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron's, Tech Trader Daily
It’s been a rough day for highly leveraged semiconductor stocks.
In a research note this morning, Citigroup’s Glen Yeung provided a review of the credit liabilities of the chip companies Citi has under coverage. He notes that Advance Micro Devices (AMD), Spansion (SPSN), Infineon (IFX) and Qimonda (QI) all have debt coming due in the next 15 months.
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