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| May 2012 |
| Archives |
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| Thursday, May 31, 2012, 4:13 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Facebook Rebounds |
After trading down to a new post-IPO low of $26.83, Facebook
(FB, $29.63) shares moved into positive territory late in the afternoon session
and closed with a gain of 5.1%.
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| Thursday, May 31, 2012, 1:44 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Apple Focus on Fiscal 2013 |
The fiscal 2013 (Sept.) consensus EPS estimate for Apple
(AAPL, $577.35) has reached $54, up from $53.93 at the end of April and $50.02
at the end of March.
With the iPhone 5 expected to launch in October, the focus is turning to fiscal
2013.
The consensus indicates expected EPS growth of 15%, while
the forward P/E is just 10.7. The high estimate for next year is all the way up
at $64.06.
For more on Apple’s next growth phase, check out the May
2012 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector. Read the latest issue on your Kindle or
Kindle for iPad/iPhone app by ordering it here.
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| Thursday, May 31, 2012, 10:57 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| LinkedIn Tests Support |
LinkedIn (LNKD, $92.83) shares have pulled back to test the
recent low of $92.33. If this level is taken out on a closing basis, traders
will be watching the 200-day moving average at $84.68 for support.
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| Thursday, May 31, 2012, 9:58 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Facebook Hits New Post-IPO Low |
Facebook (FB, $27.52) shares just hit a new post-IPO low of
$27.43. The stock, down more than 2% after the open, is not getting any help
from Topeka Capital’s ‘Buy’ recommendation with a $40 price target.
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| Wednesday, May 30, 2012, 3:26 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Cloud Kings |
After all of the recent M&A activity in the
cloud-software sector, here are the remaining key players (ranked by market
cap):
Salesforce.com (CRM, $140.91)--$19.45 billion
Concur Technologies (CNQR, $61.33)--$3.35 billion
NetSuite (N, $46.48)--$3.26 billion
Ultimate Software (ULTI, $80.54)--$2.14 billion
ExactTarget (ET, $20)--$1.32 billion
Jive Software (JIVE, $17.30)--$1.07 billion
Cornerstone OnDemand (CSOD, $19.75)--$983 million
LivePerson (LPSN, $17.20)--$937 million
Kenexa (KNXA, $29.59)--$807 million
Constant Contact (CTCT, $20.09)--$611 million
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| Wednesday, May 30, 2012, 12:34 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Read Tech-Stock Prospector on Kindle |
Read the latest issue of Tech-Stock Prospector on your
Amazon Kindle or Kindle for iPad/iPhone app.
See the May 2012 Table of Contents and order the issue here.
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| Wednesday, May 30, 2012, 12:31 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Valuation Duel: Facebook v. LinkedIn |
LinkedIn (LNKD, $97) currently trades at 11.1x the 2012
consensus revenue estimate. For Facebook (FB, $28.80) to trade at similar
valuation, the stock would need to fall to around $20.17.
Facebook is expected to show 2012 revenue growth of 33.8%,
while LinkedIn’s consensus revenue estimate indicates expected growth of 74%
(from a much lower revenue base). For 2013, analysts expect LinkedIn to come in
with revenue growth of 48.8%.
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| Wednesday, May 30, 2012, 11:03 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Juniper Approaches October Low |
Juniper Networks (JNPR, $16.97) shares are approaching the
October low of $16.67. The market cap is down to $9 billion. The RSI is at
33.2, just above oversold territory.
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| Wednesday, May 30, 2012, 9:27 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Citi Likes LinkedIn |
Citi upgrades LinkedIn (LNKD, $99.94) to ‘Buy’ with a price
target of $125 following the recent pullback in the shares. The firm says
LinkedIn continues to show strong execution as indicated by solid top-line
growth over the past several quarters.
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| Tuesday, May 29, 2012, 4:20 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Read Tech-Stock Prospector on Kindle |
Read the latest issue of Tech-Stock Prospector on your
Amazon Kindle or Kindle for iPad/iPhone app.
See the May 2012 Table of Contents and order the issue here.
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| Tuesday, May 29, 2012, 1:12 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Facebook Below $30; How Low Can it Go? |
Facebook (FB,
$29.35) shares have dipped below the $30 level, hitting a post-IPO low of
$29.23. The stock is now off 22.7% from its IPO price of $38.
With the market cap down to $80.1 billion, Facebook trades
at 16.1 times the 2012 consensus revenue estimate of $4.96 billion. On the 2013
consensus estimate of $6.45 billion, the price-to-sales (P/S) ratio is 12.4.
How low can Facebook shares go? A pullback to 10x estimated
forward revenue would mean the stock slumps to around $18.25. That seems
unlikely. But this stock is proving anything is possible.
At 13x forward revenue, Facebook shares would be around
$23.70. At a forward P/S ratio of 15x, there’s downside risk to $27.30.
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| Tuesday, May 29, 2012, 12:03 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| RBC Capital: Apple Attractive on Pullback |
RBC Capital says the recent pullback in Apple (AAPL, $567.50)
shares creates an attractive entry point. The firm expects Apple to benefit
from multiple positive catalysts over the coming months. RBC has a $700 price
target on Apple.
For more on Apple’s next growth phase, check out the May
2012 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector. Read the latest issue on your Kindle or
Kindle for iPad/iPhone app by ordering it here.
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| Tuesday, May 29, 2012, 10:03 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Facebook Hits New Post-IPO Low |
Facebook (FB, $30.27) shares hit a new post-IPO low of
$30.10 on concerns that the company might get into the handset business or
spend $1 billion+ to purchase Opera Software for its mobile browser.
Facebook’s market cap is down to $82.5 billion. Will the
stock be able to hold $30?
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| Tuesday, May 29, 2012, 9:17 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| OpCo Positive on Cisco |
OpCo remains positive on Cisco Systems (CSCO, $16.33),
saying the company gained market share in the latest quarter and should
continue to do so in the current quarter. OpCo has a Cisco price target of $22.
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| Friday, May 25, 2012, 4:21 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Weekend Reading: Tech-Stock Prospector on Kindle |
Read the latest issue of Tech-Stock Prospector on your
Amazon Kindle or Kindle for iPad/iPhone reading app.
See the May 2012 Table of Contents and order the issue here.
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| Friday, May 25, 2012, 1:17 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Piper Jaffray Remains Big Apple Bull |
Piper Jaffray still sees Apple (AAPL, $559.44) shares
eventually making it up to $1,000. In a new report, the firm reviews its list
of bullish reasons, including a strong product roadmap (iPhone 5, Apple TV),
continued international expansion and a huge opportunity to hold share in the
fast-growing tablet sector.
For more on Apple’s next growth phase, check out the May
2012 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector. Read the latest issue on your Kindle or
Kindle for iPad/iPhone reading app by ordering it here.
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| Friday, May 25, 2012, 9:29 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| OpCo Sees Salesforce at $180 |
OpCo upgrades Salesforce.com (CRM, $146.21) to ‘Outperform’
with a price target of $180 based on the continued shift to SaaS in the
enterprise. The firm points out that customers are able to deploy SaaS
solutions faster and with a lower up-front financial commitment, leading to a
quick ROI.
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| Thursday, May 24, 2012, 2:05 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Read Tech-Stock Prospector on Kindle |
Read the latest issue of Tech-Stock Prospector on your
Amazon Kindle or Kindle for iPad/iPhone reading app.
See the May 2012 Table of Contents and order the issue here.
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| Thursday, May 24, 2012, 1:50 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Has Facebook Bottomed? |
Facebook (FB, $32.43) shares are working to put in a short-term bottom. The
stock is showing relative strength today after finishing in the green
yesterday. Also, yesterday’s low of $31.36 held Tuesday’s post-IPO low of
$30.94.
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| Thursday, May 24, 2012, 10:41 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Pandora Jumps 18% |
Pandora Media (P, $12.19) shares are up 18% this morning on
heavy volume after the company reported better-than-expected results for fiscal
Q1 and offered above-consensus guidance for fiscal Q2.
The standout in the latest quarter: Advertising revenue of
$70.6 million (87% of total revenue) rose 62%. Usage metrics continue to rise
as well, with the number of registered users topping 150 million and listener
hours up 92% year over year. In the trailing 30 days ended April 30, 51.9
million registered users were active on Pandora, up 53% year over year.
JMP Securities ups its Pandora price target to $16 from $14,
saying the company is executing well when it comes to improving mobile
monetization.
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| Thursday, May 24, 2012, 9:27 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Needham Cuts NetApp Price Target |
Needham cuts its NetApp (NTAP, $28.06 pre market) price
target to $38 from $49 to reflect the company weak guidance for the July
quarter. The firm remains confident in NetApp’s positioning in the storage
segment, but says macro headwinds are a near-term concern.
On the earnings call last night, NetApp management said the
EMEA region was experiencing longer sales cycles and smaller deal sizes, while
demand from the financial services vertical in the U.S. deteriorated over the
past 90 days.
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| Wednesday, May 23, 2012, 5:03 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Read Tech-Stock Prospector on Kindle |
Read the latest issue of Tech-Stock Prospector on your
Amazon Kindle or Kindle for iPad/iPhone reading app.
See the May 2012 Table of Contents and order the issue here.
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| Wednesday, May 23, 2012, 5:02 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Hewlett-Packard to Cut 27,000 Jobs |
Hewlett-Packard (HPQ, $21.08) announces a restructuring
program that is expected to generate annualized savings in the range of $3
billion to $3.5 billion by the time it exits fiscal 2014 (October).
As part of the restructuring, the company expects to cut its
workforce by 8%, eliminating about 27,000 jobs.
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| Wednesday, May 23, 2012, 4:26 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| NetApp Goes Splat; Off 24% After Hours |
NetApp (NTAP, $24.90 after hours shares are getting killed in
after-hours trading, off more than 24%. The problem is weak fiscal Q1 (July)
guidance.
After the close, the storage vendor reported fiscal Q4
(April) EPS of 66 cents, three cents above the consensus estimate, on revenue
of $1.7 billion, vs. the consensus of $1.68 billion.
For fiscal Q1, NetApp sees EPS of 34 cents to 39 cents, well
below the consensus of 59 cents, on revenue of $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion
(down 4% to up 3% year over year), below the consensus of $1.61 billion.
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| Wednesday, May 23, 2012, 11:54 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Read TSP on NOOK |
Read Tech-Stock Prospector on your Barnes & Noble NOOK.
Order the May 2012 issue here.
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| Wednesday, May 23, 2012, 10:08 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| LinkedIn One Year Later |
LinkedIn (LNKD, $101.14) went public on May 19, 2011,
opening for trading at $83 after being priced at $45. The stock finished its
first session at $94.25. While the stock traded down to $55.98 in November, it
never broke its IPO price.
LinkedIn has maintained its premium valuation. The current
market cap of $10.4 billion is 11.5 times the 2012 consensus revenue estimate
of $906.4 million. |
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| Wednesday, May 23, 2012, 9:29 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Facebook: The Revenue Estimate Cuts |
According to Reuters, here are the reduced Facebook (FB, $31)
2012 revenue estimates from the four major underwriters:
*Morgan Stanley cut estimate to $4.854 billion from $5.036
billion
*Goldman cut estimate to $4.852 billion from $5.169 billion
*JP Morgan cut estimate to $4.839 billion from $5.044
billion
*BofA/Merrill cut estimate to $4.815 billion from $5.04
billion
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| Tuesday, May 22, 2012, 3:17 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| SAP to Acquire Ariba |
SAP announces it will acquire Ariba (ARBA, $44.95, +19.4%)
for $45 a share in a deal worth $4.3 billion. The acquisition is expected to
close in Q3 and be additive to SAP’s earnings in 2013.
We covered Ariba in the May 2012 issue of Tech-Stock
Prospector. Order the latest issue here for your Amazon Kindle or Kindle for iPad/iPhone
reading app.
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| Tuesday, May 22, 2012, 12:50 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| NetApp Fiscal Q4 Earnings Preview |
Storage vendor NetApp (NTAP, $33.55) tomorrow reports fiscal
Q4 (April) results. The consensus estimates: EPS of 63 cents (estimates range
from 60 cents to 66 cents) on revenue of $1.68 billion. Guidance: EPS of 60
cents to 65 cents on revenue of $1.645 billion to $1.725 billion.
Investors will want to know:
*If E-series revenue topped the full-year target of $600
million
*If Europe continued to put up strong numbers
*How the 2000-series refresh is doing
*The 6000-series vs. VMAX
*If customer additions continued at a strong pace
*Was there a rebound in major accounts and U.S. public
sector business
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| Tuesday, May 22, 2012, 11:32 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Qualcomm: Is The Selling Over? |
Qualcomm (QCOM, $57.84) shares dipped below the 200-day
moving average at $57.03 and the RSI went into oversold territory. But the
stock is recovering today and the RSI is back to 33.9.
Qualcomm shares have come down from the March high of $68.87
on concerns about chip shortages. Management expects the supply/demand
imbalance to begin to improve by the end of the year.
For more on Qualcomm, see TechStock Radar—May 16, 2012.
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| Tuesday, May 22, 2012, 9:45 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Day 2: Apple vs. Facebook |
It’s Day 2 of Apple vs. Facebook, and Apple is winning
again:
Apple (AAPL, $571.22) +1.7%
Facebook (FB, $32.05) -5.8%
Facebook traded down to $30.97 just after the open.
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| Monday, May 21, 2012, 1:47 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Barclays Sees Splunk at $40 |
Barclays starts coverage of Splunk (SPLK, $29.77) at ‘Overweight’
with a price target of $40, calling the company an important new vendor in Big
Data. The firm thinks the long-term addressable market for machine data
analytics could be a lot larger than currently expected.
Splunk went public in April at $17 a share and opened for
trading at $32. The stock hit a post-IPO high on April 24 at $37.34.
For more on Splunk’s growth potential, check out the May
2012 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector. Order the latest issue here for your Amazon Kindle or
Kindle for iPad/iPhone reading app.
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| Monday, May 21, 2012, 11:32 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Apple Surges on Facebook Flop |
Investors are flocking back into Apple (AAPL, $546.52) on
the Facebook Flop, sending the stock up 3% this morning. Valuation does matter
I guess. But Apple shares have a lot of work to do to make it back to the
50-day moving average at $589.60.
For more on what will drive Apple’s next growth phase, check
out the May 2012 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector. Order it here for your Amazon
Kindle or Kindle for iPad/iPhone reading app.
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| Monday, May 21, 2012, 10:09 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Yelp Slammed By Facebook Flop |
Yelp (YELP, $16.24) shares are being slammed for the second
day in a row, a victim of the Facebook Flop. After falling more than 12% on Friday, the stock is off
another 12% this morning. Yelp’s market cap has fallen below $1 billion.
Yelp priced its IPO in March at $15 a share. It opened for
trading at $22 and surged to a post-IPO high of $31.96.
In the April 2012 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector, I said
Yelp shares had a high degree of downside risk when the stock was trading
around $24.
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| Monday, May 21, 2012, 9:41 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Read Tech-Stock Prospector on Kindle |
Read the latest issue of Tech-Stock Prospector on your
Amazon Kindle or Kindle for iPad/iPhone reading app.
See the May 2012 Table of Contents and order the issue here.
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| Monday, May 21, 2012, 9:37 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Facebook Tumbles 8% |
Facebook (FB, $35.01) shares are off more than 8% just after
the open. Traders had all weekend to think about the company’s
valuation and many decided they didn’t like it after all.
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| Friday, May 18, 2012, 4:03 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Facebook Holds $38, For Now |
It was a fight to the finish for the Facebook (FB, $38.23)
underwriters to keep the stock above its IPO price of $38. After opening at $42.05 and quickly trading up to a high of $45, Facebook shares started heading lower, twice testing the $38 level, first in the morning and then during
the final half hour. After all the hype, it would have been quite embarrassing
if Facebook turned into a Busted IPO (trading below its initial offer price) in its first session. Of course,
there’s always Monday.
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| Friday, May 18, 2012, 11:37 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Facebook IPO Opens at $42.05 |
Facebook (FB, $40.05) opened for trading at $42.05, just 10.6%
above the IPO price of $38. The current market cap is $109.8 billion.
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| Friday, May 18, 2012, 10:16 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Read Tech-Stock Prospector on Kindle |
Read the latest issue of Tech-Stock Prospector on your
Amazon Kindle or Kindle for iPad/iPhone reading app.
See the May 2012 Table of Contents and order the issue here.
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| Friday, May 18, 2012, 9:25 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Baird Ups Salesforce Target to $175 |
RW Baird raises its Salesforce.com (CRM, $142.60 pre market)
price target to $175 from $155 following last night’s strong fiscal Q1 showing.
Per-share earnings of 37 cents beat the consensus estimate
by three cents on revenue of $695 million (+38% year over year), above the
consensus of $678.2 million. Cash
flow from operations jumped 52% year over year (the strongest FQ1 cash flow
growth ever) to $213 million.
For fiscal 2013 (Jan.), Salesforce.com now sees revenue of
$2.97 billion to $3 billion, up from previous guidance of $2.92 billion to
$2.95 billion.
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| Thursday, May 17, 2012, 4:34 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Facebook IPO Priced at $38 |
Facebook (FB) prices its IPO at $38 a share (at the high end
of the upwardly revised range of $34 to $38), meaning the initial market cap
will be $104 billion. Trading begins tomorrow.
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| Thursday, May 17, 2012, 3:35 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Apple Tumbles |
The 17.5% pullback in Apple (AAPL, $531.25) shares from the
recent high of $644 has brought the company’s market cap back below $500
billion. On continued weakness, traders will be watching the March low of $516.22.
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| Thursday, May 17, 2012, 11:38 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Tech-Stock Prospector Available on Kindle |
Read the latest issue of Tech-Stock Prospector on your
Amazon Kindle or Kindle for iPad/iPhone reading app.
See the May 2012 Table of Contents and order the issue here.
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| Thursday, May 17, 2012, 10:42 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Big Q1 Buy: Jennison Adds to LinkedIn |
In Q1, Jennison Associates ($77 billion in long equity
assets/24% tech weighting) nearly doubled its holdings in LinkedIn (LNKD,
$108.91) with the purchase of 3.49 million shares. The money manager now holds
7.13 million shares and is the #2 LinkedIn investor behind T. Rowe Price, which
owns 7.67 million shares. Jennison was the biggest buyer of LinkedIn shares in
the March quarter.
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| Thursday, May 17, 2012, 9:40 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Stephens Sees Citrix at $96 |
Stephens starts coverage of Citrix Systems (CTXS, $77.61) at
‘Overweight’ with a price target of $96 based on the company’s growth prospects
in desktop virtualization and ramping demand for the NetScaler ADC product
line.
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| Wednesday, May 16, 2012, 12:44 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Tech-Stock Prospector Available on Kindle |
Read the latest issue of Tech-Stock Prospector on your
Amazon Kindle or Kindle for iPad/iPhone reading app.
See the May 2012 Table of Contents and order the issue here.
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| Wednesday, May 16, 2012, 12:28 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Big Q1 Buy: Fidelity Adds to Qualcomm |
In Q1, Fidelity added 11.73 million shares of Qualcomm
(QCOM, $60.63), bringing its total position up to 81.91 million shares.
Fidelity was the biggest buyer of Qualcomm shares in the March quarter and is
the #1 investor in the company.
The largest new position in Qualcomm was initiated by
Appaloosa Management, which picked up 1.51 million shares.
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| Wednesday, May 16, 2012, 10:04 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Goldman Bullish on NetSuite |
Goldman this week added NetSuite (N, $42.91) to its ‘Conviction
Buy’ list with a price target of $55, saying the recent sell-off in the stock
has created a buying opportunity for this SaaS leader. NetSuite shares are down
from the recent 52-week high of $51.78.
For more on NetSuite, see the May 2012 issue of Tech-Stock
Prospector. Read the latest issue on your Kindle or Kindle for iPad/iPhone
reading app by ordering it here.
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| Wednesday, May 16, 2012, 9:38 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Big Q1 Buy: Turner Opens Juniper Position |
Juniper Networks (JNPR, $17.67) was among the largest new
investments made in Q1 by Turner Investment Partners, a tech-focused shop (31%
weighting) with more than $10 billion in long equity assets. Turner added 2.74
million shares of Juniper in the March quarter.
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| Wednesday, May 16, 2012, 8:38 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| iPhone 5 To Get Larger Screen |
Production is set to begin next month for 4-inch screens
designed for the upcoming Apple (AAPL, $553.17) iPhone 5, according to The WSJ.
Smartphones are moving to larger screens (the Samsung Galaxy S III will feature
a 4..8-inch screen when it debuts this month in Europe), so Apple is looking to
increase the size of the iPhone screen from 3.5 inches.
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| Tuesday, May 15, 2012, 8:50 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Zynga Rebounds 7% |
Zynga (ZNGA, $8.56) shares jumped 7.6% today on heavy volume
of 34.1 million shares, 94% above average daily volume. This is the highest
volume since May 1, when 41 million shares changed hands. After hitting a high
of $15.91 on March 2, the stock traded down to a low of $7.34. Some traders are
playing Zynga for a rebound into the Facebook (FB) IPO.
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| Tuesday, May 15, 2012, 10:16 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Apple's Next Growth Phase |
Apple (AAPL, $559.06) shares have given up all of the gains
achieved following the March quarter earnings report.
Investors are concerned about a lull in iPhone sales ahead
of the launch of the new handset later this year. Indeed, Sterne Agee this
morning trimmed its iPhone forecast for the June quarter to 27 million units from
28 million units to reflect reduced production ahead of the refresh likely in
the September to October period.
For more on Apple’s next growth phase, check out the May
2012 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector. Read the latest issue on your Kindle or
Kindle for iPad/iPhone reading app by ordering it here.
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| Tuesday, May 15, 2012, 9:36 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Facebook Boosts IPO Price Range |
Facebook (FB) raises its IPO price range to $34 to $38 from
the previous range of $28 to $35. At the high end of the new range, the company
would be valued at $104 billion out of the gate.
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| Tuesday, May 15, 2012, 9:05 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| BofA/Merrill Upgrades Juniper Networks |
BofA/Merrill upgrades Juniper Networks (JNPR, $17.57) to ‘Buy’
with a price target of $25 based on valuation, new product launches and
potential improvements in carrier spending.
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| Monday, May 14, 2012, 4:18 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Facebook Raising its IPO Price Range? |
According to a report from CNN Money, Facebook (FB) may raise its
expected IPO price range to $35-$40 from $28-$35 because of strong initial
demand.
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| Monday, May 14, 2012, 12:06 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Tech-Stock Prospector Available on Kindle |
Read the latest issue of Tech-Stock Prospector on your
Amazon Kindle or Kindle for iPad/iPhone reading app.
See the May 2012 Table of Contents and order the issue here.
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| Monday, May 14, 2012, 10:02 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Goldman Sees Ultimate Software at $100 |
Goldman upgrades Ultimate Software (ULTI, $79.39), a
provider of cloud-based talent management software, to ‘Buy’ with a price
target of $100, saying sector spending trends are positive and the company is
winning some big deals.
For more on Ultimate, see
the May 2012 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector.
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| Monday, May 14, 2012, 9:17 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Jefferies Bullish on Salesforce |
Jefferies says its latest round of fiscal Q1 channel checks
for Salesforce.com (CRM, $137.78) came back positive. The firm thinks Salesforce
continues to benefit from the broad move to SaaS in the enterprise. Jefferies
has a $170 price target on CRM. Earnings are out on Thursday.
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| Friday, May 11, 2012, 6:16 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Read TSP on Kindle & Kindle for iPad/iPhone App |
Read the latest issue of Tech-Stock Prospector on your
Amazon Kindle or Kindle for iPad/iPhone reading app.
Order the May
2012 issue here.
Here are some of the topics covered in the new issue:
*The next growth phase for Apple
*Cloud-software earnings shine
*NetSuite gains enterprise traction
*Ultimate Software partners with Yammer
*Accelerating growth at Concur Technologies
*A top growth play in networking security
*Ariba arrives again
*Competition heats up between Qlik & Tibco
*Zynga proves tough to value
*F5 Networks builds momentum in wireless
*4 positive catalysts for Intel
*Acme Packet hopes for a second-half recovery
*Fusion-IO speeds up the datacenter
*There’s value in the desktop at Citrix Systems
*Splunk knows its
way around machine data
*TSP Deal Report: Constant Contact
|
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| Friday, May 11, 2012, 3:02 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| LinkedIn Trading Update |
LinkedIn (LNKD, $107.20) shares could be vulnerable after
the lack of follow-through on the recent rally. Traders will be watching
Tuesday’s low of $101.53 and the 200-day moving average at $100.56 for support.
For now, the May 4 high at $120.63 looks like a pivot. There is downside risk
to the $96 level. |
| |
| Friday, May 11, 2012, 9:47 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Pacific Crest Bullish on Salesforce |
Pacific Crest thinks the pullback in Salesforce.com (CRM,
$136.15) shares is overdone, saying its industry checks suggest fiscal Q1 (April)
showed good upside and that the company should benefit from revenue recognition
associated with the mega insurance deal announced last quarter.
The stock is down from its May 3 high of $163.50, falling 9%
yesterday following Cisco’s cautious comments on enterprise spending.
|
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| Thursday, May 10, 2012, 11:22 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Read Tech-Stock Prospector on Kindle |
Read the latest issue of Tech-Stock Prospector on your
Amazon Kindle or Kindle for iPad/iPhone reading app.
Check out the May 2012 Table of Contents and order the issue
here:
|
| |
| Thursday, May 10, 2012, 11:19 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Juniper Dives |
Juniper Networks (JNPR, $17.96) shares are off more than 5%
today following last night’s cautious comments regarding the tech-spending
environment made by John Chambers on the Cisco Systems (CSCO, $17.09) earnings
call. The stock took out the December low of $18.05.
|
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| Thursday, May 10, 2012, 9:39 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Datacenter is One Bright Spot for Cisco |
Chambers had one positive thing to say on last night’s Cisco
Systems (CSCO, $17.19) fiscal Q3 earnings call:
The acceleration of the datacenter and specifically the UCS
business, years ahead of our competition, is just one example where we grew Q3
revenue over 50% -- 57% year-over-year for the UCS business, while each of our
top 2 data center competitors had flat or negative growth in their service
business in the most recent quarter.
Our results from the datacenter over the last year are an example
of our history of seeing market trends early and having the ability to react
quickly, both technologically as well as operationally. We have done what we
said we would do and position the company for long-term growth and shareholder
value, and we continue to do the work internally to position the company going
forward.
|
| |
| Wednesday, May 09, 2012, 5:30 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Read Tech-Stock Prospector on NOOK |
Read Tech-Stock Prospector on your Barnes & Noble NOOK.
Order the May 2012 issue here.
|
| |
| Wednesday, May 09, 2012, 3:29 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| LinkedIn Holds Up |
LinkedIn (LNKD, $112.96) shares dipped to a low of $101.53
during yesterday’s sell-off, then came roaring back to close in the green. The
stock is showing relative strength again today, recovering from a drop to $108.
|
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| Wednesday, May 09, 2012, 9:03 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Needham Bullish on Cornerstone |
Needham starts coverage of Cornerstone OnDemand (CSOD,
$18.68), a provider of talent management solutions, at ‘Buy’ with a price
target of $25 based on the company’s strong competitive position in a
fast-growing market.
The firm points out that institutional investors should
begin looking at this name after the recent high-profile acquisitions of
competitors Taleo and SuccessFactors.
|
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| Tuesday, May 08, 2012, 11:29 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Tech-Stock Prospector May Issue Now Available |
The May 2012 PDF of Tech-Stock Prospector has been posted to
the website (subscription required).
Here are some of the topics covered in the latest issue:
*The next growth phase for Apple
*Cloud-software earnings shine
*NetSuite gains
enterprise traction
*Ultimate Software
partners with Yammer
*Accelerating growth at Concur
Technologies
*A top growth play in networking security
*Ariba arrives
again
*Competition heats up between Qlik & Tibco
*Zynga proves
tough to value
*F5 Networks
builds momentum in wireless
*4 positive catalysts for Intel
*Acme Packet
hopes for a second-half recovery
*Fusion-IO speeds
up the datacenter
*There’s value in the desktop at Citrix Systems
*Splunk knows its
way around machine data
*TSP Deal Report: Constant
Contact
Contact TSP Customer Support at 800-392-0998 for more
information or to sign up for a subscription.
|
| |
| Tuesday, May 08, 2012, 10:13 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| BMO Capital Ups MicroStrategy Target |
BMO Capital raises its MicroStrategy (MSTR, $146.26) price
target to $180 from $160, saying the latest earnings report showed improved
expense management, which bodes well for 2012 profitability.
The firm notes that growth in North America and EMEA was
solid in the March quarter and that big-deal metrics picked up nicely.
For more on MicroStrategy, see TechStock Radar—May 3, 2012.
|
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| Tuesday, May 08, 2012, 9:09 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| CommVault Reports Strong FQ4 Results |
Shares of storage-software vendor CommVault Systems (CVLT,
$54 pre market) are up 6% in pre-market trading after the company reports
fiscal Q4 (March) EPS of 29 cents, three cents above the consensus estimate, on
revenue of $114 million (+27% year over year), vs. the consensus of $106.1
million.
Software revenue increased 34% on a record number of
enterprise software deals (transactions greater than $100K) and strong demand
across all geographies.
For fiscal 2012, revenue rose 29% to $406.6 million.
|
| |
| Monday, May 07, 2012, 12:55 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Read TSP on Kindle & Kindle for iPad/iPhone App |
Read the latest issue of Tech-Stock Prospector on your
Amazon Kindle or your Kindle for iPad/iPhone reading app.
Order the April 2012 issue here.
|
| |
| Monday, May 07, 2012, 10:31 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Intel Boosts Dividend By 7% |
Intel (INTC, $27.76) raises its quarterly dividend by 7% to
22.5 cents. With the annual dividend up to 90 cents, the stock now yields 3.2%.
|
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| Monday, May 07, 2012, 8:50 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Wedbush Sets Facebook Price Target |
Facebook (FB) has not even gone public yet, but Wedbush
Securities has started coverage at ’Outperform’ with a price target of $44,
saying it sees an increased user base driving an increased advertising revenue
share. The firm emphasizes that mobile advertising will be a key growth driver.
Facebook is expected to price its IPO at $28 to $35 on May 17.
|
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| Friday, May 04, 2012, 5:09 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| 12 Tech Stocks Showing Relative Strength |
Today was a nasty day. With the Nasdaq Composite sinking 2.2%, here
is a sampling of some tech stocks that did not do so poorly (some even rose!):
*LinkedIn (LNKD, $117.30) +7.2%
*Yelp (YELP, $21.30) +3.2%
*Cavium (CAVM, $25.94) +2.1%
*Brightcove (BCOV, $19.31) +1.6%
*Imperva (IMPV, $35.33) +0.4%
*Ultimate Software (ULTI, $76.43) unch
*NetApp (NTAP, $38.42) -0.16%
*SolarWinds (SWI, $47.11) -0.17%
*Jive Software (JIVE, $22.98) -0.3%
*Equinix (EQIX, $158.94) -0.6%
*Zillow (Z, $40.11) -0.7%
*Concur Technologies (CNQR, $63.36) -0.8%
|
| |
| Friday, May 04, 2012, 2:16 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Read TSP on Kindle & Kindle for iPad/iPhone App |
Read the latest issue of Tech-Stock Prospector on your
Amazon Kindle or your Kindle for iPad/iPhone reading app.
Order the April 2012 issue here.
|
| |
| Friday, May 04, 2012, 1:57 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| TSP Deal Report Target List Addition |
I have added a new name to the TSP Deal Report Target List.
Subscribers should check their inbox for the weekly email.
TSP Deal Report is a premium weekly email service covering
tech M&A and IPOs. Each report includes an updated Target List of likely tech
takeover candidates.
Contact TSP Customer Service at 800-392-0998 for pricing
information and more details.
|
| |
| Friday, May 04, 2012, 9:10 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Stifel Nicolaus Sees Citrix at $100 |
Stifel Nicolaus resumes coverage of Citrix Systems (CTXS,
$85.43) at ‘Buy’ with a price target of $100 based on reinvigorated growth in
the desktop division and accelerated demand for the company’s networking
products thanks to pull-in sales from VDI installations.
|
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| Thursday, May 03, 2012, 4:49 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| LinkedIn Q1 Revenue +101%; Shares +8% After Hours |
LinkedIn (LNKD, $118.33 after hours) turns in a stellar Q1
and raises 2012 guidance, sending the shares up more than 8% in after-hours
trading.
Revenue rose 100.7% year over year to $188.5 million, above
the consensus estimate of $178.6 million, and EPS of 15 cents topped the consensus
by six cents. The company now has 161 million members, up from 145 million at
the end of 2011.
The Hiring Solutions unit (54% of total revenue) saw 121%
revenue growth, while Marketing Solutions revenue (26% of total) rose 73%.
Premium Subscriptions (20% of total) revenue growth accelerated to 91% from 87%
in Q4.
For Q2, LinkedIn sees revenue of $210 million to $215 million,
above the consensus of $207.9 million.
The new 2012 revenue guidance range: $880 million to $900
million, vs. previous guidance of $840 million to $860 million and the
consensus of $876.8 million.
|
| |
| Thursday, May 03, 2012, 10:32 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Tech-Stock Prospector on Kindle & Kindle for iPad/iPhone App |
Read the latest issue of Tech-Stock Prospector on your
Amazon Kindle or your Kindle for iPad/iPhone reading app.
Order the April 2012 issue here.
|
| |
| Thursday, May 03, 2012, 10:30 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| MicroStrategy Jumps 10% |
Shares of MicroStrategy (MSTR, $157.05) are up more than 10%
this morning after the BI software vendor reported revenue for the March
quarter of $145.1 million, above the consensus estimate of $140.5 million.
Product license revenue advanced 37% to $37.5 million.
In the latest quarter, the company released the newest
version of MicroStrategy Mobile for iPad and iPhone, delivering enhanced
integration with Apple’s AirPlay feature and improved collaboration
capabilities.
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| Thursday, May 03, 2012, 9:57 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Credit Suisse Bullish on Salesforce |
Credit Suisse upgrades Salesforce.com (CRM, $162.99) to ‘Outperform’
with a price target of $185 based on the company’s growth potential as
organizations expand and upgrade their CRM applications.
|
| |
| Wednesday, May 02, 2012, 12:05 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Tech-Stock Prospector on NOOK |
Read Tech-Stock Prospector on your Barnes & Noble NOOK.
Order the April 2012 issue here.
|
| |
| Wednesday, May 02, 2012, 11:58 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Imperva Dips Ahead of Q1 Results |
Shares of Imperva (IMPV, $34), a provider of datacenter
security solutions, have come down hard from the April 18 high of $42.41 ahead
of Q1 results tomorrow.
The consensus estimates for the March quarter: a loss of 13
cents a share on revenue of $20.7 million. Revenue guidance for Q1: $20.5
million to $21 million. In Q4, the company reported revenue of $23.3 million
(+37.7% year over year), above the consensus of $21.8 million.
Imperva is a recent IPO from November. The stock opened for
trading at $23 from an IPO price of $18.
For more on Imperva, see TechStock Radar—November 9, 2011.
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| Wednesday, May 02, 2012, 9:50 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Facebook IPO Watch |
The Facebook IPO roadshow is expected to kick off on May 7
and the stock could begin trading as early as May 18, according to Reuters.
Some traders are looking at Zynga (ZNGA, $8.71) as a play
into the Facebook IPO. Zynga shares have come down from the March 2 high of
$15.91 in part on concerns about the recent OMGPOP acquisition.
|
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| Tuesday, May 01, 2012, 5:54 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Broadcom Q1 No Big Surprises |
Broadcom (BRCM, $36.71) reports Q1 EPS of 65 cents, 10 cents
above the consensus estimate, on revenue of $1.83 billion (including $33
million from the NetLogic acquisition), vs. the consensus of $1.78 billion.
Revenue from the company’s broadband communications unit
fell 3% sequentially (better than normal seasonality), while revenue from the
mobile/wireless unit was flat sequentially. Infrastructure & networking
revenue was down 3% sequentially excluding NetLogic.
In the wireless segment, revenue from 3G basebands exceeded
2G baseband revenue one quarter ahead of expectations; management is “feeling
significantly better about the 3G business” and expects sequential growth in
Q2.
On the networking side, management looks for improved
carrier spending into the end of the year. This business unit should see a
sequential revenue improvement for the June quarter.
For Q2, Broadcom guided revenue to a range of $1.9 billion
to $2 billion, vs. the consensus of $1.97 billion.
|
| |
| Tuesday, May 01, 2012, 11:35 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Read TSP on Kindle & Kindle for iPad/iPhone App |
Read the latest issue of Tech-Stock Prospector on your
Amazon Kindle or your Kindle for iPad/iPhone reading app.
Order the April 2012 issue here.
|
| |
| Tuesday, May 01, 2012, 10:49 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Sourcefire Surges 12% |
Sourcefire (FIRE, $57.17) shares are surging more than 12%
following last night’s Q1 earnings report, hitting a new high at $57.95.
Management lifted 2012 revenue growth guidance to 25% from 20% because of
strong demand for Sourcefire’s core IPS solutions and an improved outlook for
the U.S. federal business. Growth from the new next-generation firewall should
begin to really kick in next year. Stifel Nicolaus raises its Sourcefire price
target to $64 from $46.
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| Tuesday, May 01, 2012, 10:21 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Intel New 52-Week High |
Intel (INTC, $28.85) shares this morning hit a new 52-week
high at $28.86. The stock is up nearly 19% so far this year. The RSI is rising
from 63.5.
|