Is Motorola planning to hold a fire sale?
Oppenheimer analyst Ittai Kidron observes in a research note that the company continues to plan the spin-off of its crumbling handset business sometime next year. But he says checks suggest the company is in the middle of strategic planning process that could lead to other asset sales as well over the next 12 months.
Is Motorola going to dust off its plan to spin off its handset business as a separate public company?
Oppenheimer analyst Ittai Kidron thinks so.
Analysts don’t quite know what will be the impact on iPod, Mac and iPhone sales in light of new challenges facing Apple: the economic downturn, the explosion of the smartphone sector, the impact of netbooks on PC sales and the entrance into the market of new competition. In light of these circumstances, though, many analysts continue to recommend the stock–which is up four percent this morning, to $85.85.
While it was another down day for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Nasdaq Composite actually broke a string of seven down days and posted a modest gain: The index rose 4.39, or 0.3 percent, to 1,649.51. The index nonetheless finished the horrific week with a loss of nearly 298 points, or 15.3 percent. At one point today the index touched as low as 1542.45, stretching the loss for the week to just over 400 points, or nearly 21 percent. Astonishing.
What we have here is a failure to communicate. Or maybe, too many ways to communicate, but not enough communicating.
Oppenheimer’s Timothy Horan this morning asserted in a research note that “we are in the midst of a cyclical slowdown in consumer communications that reflects the convergence of increased supply with slowing consumer demand.”
Oppenheimer’s Yair Reiner has changed his mind on Synaptics (SYNA).
Last month, Reiner cut his rating on the maker of touchscreens used in mobile phones and other devices–on the theory that the aggressive $199 price tag on the new Apple (AAPL) iPhone 3G “will limit the market opportunity for Synaptics’ stable of potential customers.”
Pacific Crest’s Andy Hargreaves this morning raised his price target on Apple (AAPL) to $235 from $225, and upped his EPS estimate for the September 2009 fiscal year to $6.55 from $6.20. The moves reflect his bullish views on the prospects for the iPhone.
Skyworks Solutions (SWKS) shares are sharply higher following a bullish presentation by the company yesterday at an Oppenheimer investment conference. The company repeated its previous forecast for the fiscal third quarter ending this month of $210 million in revenue and EPS of 17 cents.
CEO David Aldrich said the company, which makes chips for the wireless handset business, can outgrow the overall wireless industry; he also said the company believes it can expand both gross margins and operating margins. At the gross margin level, the target is 42%, up from 40% in the latest quarter.
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