- Believing PC sales are set to rebound as the holidays arrive and businesses buy Windows 10 systems, Northland's Gus Richard has upgraded Intel (INTC +2.3%) to Outperform, and set a $32 target.
- Richard also argues sales of integrated CPU/FPGA solutions made possible by the Altera acquisition will benefit from the growing concentration of computing power at network edges, and calls Intel and Micron's 3D XPoint memory a potential game-changer.
- Separately, Canaccord's Matt Ramsay argues Intel can still hit a 15% long-term revenue CAGR target for its server CPU division (DCG), following a Q2 in which DCG only posted 10% growth. He notes management reiterated confidence DCG can see 15% 2015 growth with the help of strong cloud and networking-related growth.
- Ramsay has slightly cut his 2015 DCG growth estimate to 14.2% from 15% on account of China-related concerns, and his 2015 and 2016 EPS estimates by a penny to $2.16 and $2.59. The 2016 estimate remains soundly above a $2.32 Thomson/First Call consensus.
- Intel is back above $29 on a day the Nasdaq is down slightly.