Market Currents

• Thursday, December 17, 2009

• 07:42 AM Beside the standard complaints that Intel (INTC) set up a system of "threats and rewards" with PC makers (DELL, HPQ, IBM), and designed compilers so that its own chips would perform better than its rivals', Wednesday's FTC suit also accuses Intel of trying to establish a monopoly in the market for graphics processors (GPUs), which sent shares of Nvidia (NVDA) soaring 8%. Also yesterday: INTC -2.1%. AMD +3.7%. 1 Comment

• Friday, December 11, 2009

• 12:43 PM Maybe it's the holiday spirit, but Michelle Leder finds an 8-K rarity: top executives agreeing to give up change-in-control payments, at Constellation Energy (CEG). In this case the execs gave up three years of compensation and benefits; how rare is it? By contrast, Ross Perot held onto $3.9M in payments on top of the $1B he got for stock once Dell (DELL) completed its deal to buy Perot Systems. Comment!

• Friday, December 4, 2009

• 16:56 PM Dell (DELL) adds some strength to its moves into mobile with a reorganization that creates a communications group. Ron Garriques, formerly of Motorola and currently leading Dell's consumer division, will take over the new unit. Comment!

• Wednesday, December 2, 2009

• 15:51 PM Dell (DELL -1.3%) sees a "moderately good" holiday ahead, but some upswings in demand on an "elongated cycle of refresh" in the coming year. "We are surprised at how good demand has been over the last few weeks," says CFO Brian Gladden. Comment!

• Friday, November 20, 2009

• 09:15 AM Premarket gainers: NLST +11%. INO +11%. STEM +5%. DDS +5%. SYAX +4%. SJM +4%.
  Losers: ADCT -17%. TYH -16%. EDC -15%. ERX -12%. NVAX -10%. WTSLA -9%. BCRX -7.5%. CHOP -9%. DELL -7%. DHI -7%. LOGM -7%. DRYS -6%. NGD -5%. XOMA -5%. AMSI -5%. ING -4%. PHM -4%. AAI -4%. BCS -4%. EGLE -4%. 1 Comment
• 09:15 AM Futures indicate a lower start after disappointing numbers from Dell (DELL -7.3% premarket) and a big dip that coincided with an odd spike in dollar index futures. Mass layoffs numbers are coming shortly on a light day for data. Benchmark S&P futures -0.1%. 1 Comment

• Thursday, November 19, 2009

• 16:05 PM Dell (DELL): Q3 EPS of $0.23 misses by $0.05. Revenue of $12.9B (-15%) vs. $13.2B. "We are seeing improvement in overall underlying IT demand that is continuing into the fourth quarter. The same is true with momentum in Dell's business, specifically in our Large Enterprise and SMB segments." Shares -7.6% AH. (PR) Comment!
• 00:10 AM Notable postmarket earnings: DELL, DBRN, FL, GPS, INTU, WTSLA Comment!

• Friday, November 13, 2009

• 07:05 AM Dell (DELL): "Our entry into the smart phone category is a logical extension of Dell’s consumer product evolution over the past two years. We are developing smaller and smarter mobile products that enable our customers to take their internet experience out of the home and do the things they want to do whenever and wherever they want." (PR) 1 Comment
• 07:04 AM Dell (DELL) confirms plans to enter the smartphone business, and announces partnerships with two of the world’s largest mobile operators - China Mobile (CHL) and Claro (AMX). The initial Mini 3 smartphones will be designed around the Android (GOOG) platform. Comment!

• Tuesday, October 20, 2009

• 14:29 PM Google (GOOG) is planning to launch its own Android phone, according to Northeast Securities analyst Ashok Kumar, who says he's talked to Google's design partners about the plan. A possible challenger for Apple (AAPL) and Research In Motion (RIMM), but also for other Android-committed vendors like Motorola (MOT) and Dell (DELL). Comment!

• Monday, October 19, 2009

• 16:54 PM Don't count on Windows 7 (MSFT), due out Thursday, to lift chip stocks - notwithstanding Michael Dell's (DELL) promise that "you will love your PC again." The PC sector's biggest problem, Eric Savitz says, is that vendors have taken on massive inventory in anticipation of a Win 7 bounce, so anything less than stellar sales could trigger a return to a supply glut. Comment!

• Wednesday, October 7, 2009

• 15:23 PM Some details added to Dell's (DELL -1.7%) U.S. Android phone news: The handset will be like the one Dell showed in China in August, but will feature key differences, and will run on AT&T's (T -2.2%) network as soon as early 2010, though Dell is discussing offering it on other carriers as well. Comment!
• 14:28 PM Dell (DELL -2%) will close a North Carolina desktop PC plant at the end of the year, affecting more than 900 employees. The plant opened in 2005. 2 Comments
• 10:39 AM CrunchGear says Dell's (DELL -0.9%) China-only Android (GOOG) phone, the Mini 3i, is coming to the U.S., likely with an upgrade. This will be Dell's first smartphone since the ill-fated Axim in 2007, and is something of an attack on the Windows Mobile (MSFT) architecture. Comment!

• Monday, September 21, 2009

• 13:59 PM Dell's (DELL) purchase of Perot (PER) is a good stepping stone to overcome Dell's historically high reliance on PCs, JPMorgan says, but $3.9B - a 68% premium - is expensive. Dell's paying 1.4x sales, where H-P (HPQ) paid just 0.6x EDS' sales last year. "Perot's gross and operating margin profiles are a little more attractive than standalone EDS, but the valuation gap is still wide." Comment!