Tag Archives: amat

4 Stocks Trading Near Or In Buy Range Before Earnings

Loading the player… Alphabet ( GOOGL ), Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Starbucks ( SBUX ) were all near buy points ahead of their most recent quarterly reports, but have since dropped from those levels after issuing weak results. On the other hand, Facebook ( FB ) and Amazon ( AMZN ) had formed bases and were propelled higher by their strong earnings. Here’s a look at four stocks that are trading near or in buy range ahead of their quarterly reports later this week: Applied Materials ( AMAT ), Autodesk ( ADSK ), Eight By Eight ( EGHT ) and Campbell Soup ( CPB ). Campbell Soup You may not think of Campbell Soup when you think of top stocks, but the maker of packaged food has a high IBD Composite Rating of 92 out of 99. The company is expected to report Friday an earnings increase of 3%, a big slowdown from two quarters in a row of roughly 30% bottom-line growth. Revenue is expected to fall a fraction. Campbell breached support at the 50-day line Wednesday in above-average volume but was able to finish the session just above the line. Shares are now about 5% below their all-time high reached as the stock cleared a flat base buy point of 65.58. The stock is trading 3% below that pivot. Eight By Eight Eight By Eight is a telecom services firm with an 85 Composite Rating. Earnings are expected to drop 60% while revenue climbs 25% when it reports Thursday. Shares tried to break out of a cup-with-handle base with a 12.05 buy point Wednesday, but closed the session below that level. The stock is 13% below its January peak. Applied Materials Applied Materials is expected to see earnings grow 10% on a fractional sales decline. The chip equipment maker, which reports Thursday, has a Composite Rating of 66. Shares are trading in buy range from a cup base the stock initially cleared in March. The stock ran up as much as 11% in the following weeks, but has since pulled back about 8% from its high reached one month ago. Autodesk And computer software firm Autodesk is expected to swing to a loss of 14 cents a share on a 21% decline in revenue when it reports Thursday. The company has a 49 Composite Rating. Shares recently breached support at the 50-day line and are dipping back below buy range from a cup-with-handle base. The stock is now about 12% below its December peak.

Applied Materials’ 3D ‘Tide’ Won’t Help It Outpace Rivals Lam, KLA

Applied Materials ( AMAT ) could surf the “rising tide” of 3D Nand, but rival Lam Research ( LRCX ) will likely outgrow the No. 2 chip-gear-maker, a Needham analyst said Wednesday ahead of Applied Materials’ Q2 earnings report, due after the close Thursday. In afternoon trading on the stock market today , Applied Materials stock was up 2%, near 20, leading soon-to-merge rivals Lam and KLA-Tencor ( KLAC ), whose shares were up 1.8% and 1%, respectively. The three trail ASML ( ASML ) in terms of market value. ASML stock was up 1% Wednesday afternoon. For its fiscal Q2 ended in late April, Applied Materials is expected to report $2.43 billion in sales and 32 cents earnings per share minus items, flat and up 10%, respectively, on a year-over-year basis. That would come off 4% declines for both metrics in Q1. Three months ago, Applied Materials guided to a 5%-10% sequential jump in sales ($2.37 billion to $2.48 billion) and 30-34 cents EPS ex items. Needham analyst Y. Edwin Mok reiterated his buy rating and 22 price target on Applied Materials stock. Mok and Credit Suisse analyst Farhan Ahmad both expect Applied Materials to report an in-line Q2. But Mok sees potential upside to Applied Materials’ Q3 guidance on strength in 3D Nand flash memory demand. Lam recently guided to 9% quarter-over-quarter shipment growth for Q2. Mok expects Applied Materials to “grow similarly, although likely at a slower pace than Lam.” He sees Applied Materials guiding to 2%-7% sequential growth for Q3 vs. consensus of 22 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, which models 3% quarter-over-quarter sales growth. Ahmad, on the other hand, expects in-line Q3 guidance. For the second half of the year, display revenue could be guided up 10%-20% vs. last year’s flat quarter, but DRAM (dynamic random-access memory) guidance could disappoint. “DRAM second-half revenues could be ticked down to flat (vs. the prior period),” he wrote in a research report. “Expectations are relatively high. Most investors expect a beat than a miss,” but DRAM has been macroeconomically slogged for several years on slowing PC sales. He kept his outperform rating and 23 price target.

Federal Dig Snags Lam’s KLA Buy; Will China Cry Antitrust?

Chinese, Japanese and South Korean regulators could gum up Lam Research ‘s ( LRCX ) attempt to buy KLA-Tencor ( KLAC ) by following in the footsteps of the U.S. Department of Justice, which is asking for more information on the proposed merger, an analyst said Monday. Late Friday, the companies said the DOJ had sent a “second request,” digging deeper into Lam Research’s $10.6 billion plan to acquire KLA-Tencor. Only 2%-4% of merger proposals get a second request, Semiconductor Advisors president Robert Maire says. Of those, he says about a third go through as planned but the other two-thirds either get challenged by the DOJ or get a consent decree, which is approval with conditions. In the Lam-KLA deal, the likely concerns revolve around antitrust. Together, the companies would be close to matching the market cap of  Applied Materials ( AMAT ), which is No. 2 among makers of chip manufacturing equipment, behind ASML ( ASML ). Also, together they could pressure etch pricing for major players like Intel ( INTC ) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing ( TSM ), the latter an Apple ( AAPL ) supplier. Tokyo Electron and Hitachi ( HTHIY ), which compete against Lam in etch, might oppose having KLA continuing to inspect their tools and processes. “While not good news, a second request is certainly not a death sentence for the merger, but at the very least (it) means more time and money and scrutiny to get approval,” Maire wrote in a research note. The 30-day clock for DOJ approval has now been reset. ‘Kitchen Sink Of Information’ In midday trading on the stock market today , Lam Research and KLA-Tencor stocks were down nearly 2% and 1.4%, respectively, both near three-month lows. IBD’s 34-company Electronic Semiconductor-Equipment industry group was down a small fraction midday Monday. Maire says the DOJ could “ask for the kitchen sink of information.” “The (second request) is not just a simple test of overlapping product lines,” he wrote. “It looks at things like market concentration and anti-competitive issues. (Lam-KLA) would certainly have a large concentration of the overall market.” The chip industry is most concerned about KLA’s standing as an “impartial arbiter” of others’ tools, he says. “Will Lam dep and etch tools get an unfair advantage? An early look at results? A more complete look?” Maire asked. “(It’s) kind of a lot like insider trading.” Lam and KLA already have the go-ahead from Germany, Ireland, Israel and Taiwan, but they still needs a slew of other foreign approvals. This DOJ action can “snowball into a problem” if it becomes too costly, Maire says. Applied Materials and Tokyo Electron called off their merger in the face of strong regulator scrutiny. DRAM Slowdown Hits Lam The request further delays the merger’s close, Needham analyst Y. Edwin Mok noted in a research report, saying he expects the deal to close in Q4, as opposed to the companies’ target for Q3. Western Digital ( WDC ) closed its $19 billion SanDisk acquisition last week, a merger that was announced within hours of the Lam-KLA match-up. Neither Mok nor Cowen analyst Timothy Arcuri worry about the Lam-KLA deal getting approval, however. In his report, Arcuri called the second request “more procedural in nature.” “There is no overlap here, and certain big customers have been pushing these companies together for several years, especially around the issue of yield ramp in 3D,” he wrote. “We continue to see the deal closing in (the) August time frame.” Arcuri cut his price target on Lam stock to 85 from 93. Lam and rival ASML recently indicated minor timing delays for DRAM (dynamic random-access memory)-related shipments, he wrote. Lam has guided shipments up for the second half of the year, but Arcuri isn’t that confident. “Weakness for Lam seems focused on the memory side, with some signs of a less aggressive 3D Nand (flash) shipment cadence to Toshiba, seemingly due more to capital constraints at this customer rather than any fundamental change in the 3D Nand ramp itself,” he wrote. But Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron ( MU ) and Intel Dalian haven’t experienced any mirrored slowdown, he wrote.