Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD)

[rupert]

Intel BUY Business Week

Intel (INTC ): Maintains 5 STARS (buy)
Analyst: Thomas Smith, CFA


Intel guided June-quarter sales to $8 billion to $8.2 billion from the prior range of $7.6 billion to $8.2 billion; we maintain our model for $8.2 billion. The chipmaker also guided for better gross margin and taxes. We believe marketshare losses last year in flash memory are being recaptured. We are maintaining our EPS estimates of $1.27 for 2004 and $1.70 for 2005 and our S&P Core Earnings estimates of $1.07 and $1.50, respectively. Our 12-month target price is $42.

EDIT: I post this because it illustrates how Intel leads analysts around certain fixed ideas. We saw two analysts last week predict that Intel would report that it was recapturing market share in flash from AMD and one even mentioned large companies like Nokia. But the mid-quarter report never said any such thing. It said that it had improved revenues from flash and this was due in part to the expanding flash market. Blythly this analyst continues the myth. Either analysts just feed off each other, not checking, or Intel has phrased its private pre-report briefings in such a way to suggest to analysts that its improved revenues from flash are at the expense of other suppliers especially AMD.