Intel Beats Expectations

Yesterday, Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) the world’s largest chip maker with annual revenue of $37.6 billion reported its first quarter results that beat estimates. Its CEO Paul Otellini said “We believe PC sales bottomed out during the first quarter and that the industry is returning to normal seasonal patterns. “ It however did not issue guidance for the second quarter. >>>

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Red Hat Could Also Roll-Up OpenSource

Last month IBM, when it showed interest in buying Sun, set off a flurry of speculation about the takeover of the open source giant, Red Hat, by Oracle. Let’s take a closer look. >>>

Optics Overview: JDSU, Finisar

Let’s take a look at what’s happening in the optical component sector. On February 5, JDS Uniphase (NASDAQ:JDSU) a leading optical component provider with annual revenue of $1.53 billion, reported its second quarter fiscal year 2009 results. Net revenue was down 10.5% to $357 million. Net loss was $705.3 million or $3.28 per share compared to net income of $21.2 million or $0.09 per share last year. Non-GAAP net income was $24.8 million or $0.11 per share. >>>

Micron, National Semi: Big Layoffs

In our Semiconductor Sector Overview, we saw how the tough memory market, driven by oversupply and weak demand, was leading to a decline in the chip sales. In this post, we will review the performance of Micron and National Semiconductor. >>>

Does RIM See The Gap in iPhone’s Defenses?

Yesterday, Research In Motion Limited (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM), a world leader in the mobile communications market reported a strong fourth quarter that beat estimates driven by the success of its BlackBerry Storm, which initially had some technical problems in its release in Q3. >>>

Paychex: SaaS Roll-Up, Please

On March 25, Paychex, Inc (NASDAQ:PAYX) reported third quarter results that met analyst estimates. However, the company cut its fiscal-year revenue forecast for a third time and said it expects the economy to continue to be difficult through 2009 and into fiscal 2010. I have been tracking the performance of this leading payroll and personnel services provider to get an insight into the health of the economy. Previous coverage is available here and here. >>>

3Com’s Turnaround Looks Promising

3Com, one of the key networking players with annual revenue of $1.3 billion, has been steadily improving. In its 3Q results for fiscal 2009 reported on March 19, 3Com Corporation (NASDAQ:COMS) reported a third consecutive quarter of profits that beat estimates. The company’s performance was driven by its cost control efforts and strength in China as well as in the TippingPoint (intrusion prevention systems, or IPS) business. >>>

Oracle’s SaaS Targets

In my recent piece on Oracle, I said, Oracle’s entry into SaaS is inevitable, and it will happen probably as early as this year. Let’s look at two companies that are potential acquisitions for Oracle this year. >>>

InterDigital Looks Good

On March 2, InterDigital reported a strong fourth quarter. As we saw in our most recent post on the company, InterDigital resolved its long-running 2G and 3G licensing disputes with Samsung. This resulted in their signing a 2G and 3G patent agreement with Samsung that will generate $400 million cash over 18 months. With this deal, InterDigital has about 50% of the 3G market. Let’s take a closer look at its performance. >>>

Samsung Balances In Two Major Markets

Weak demand and economic conditions in the semiconductor sector finally have taken a toll on Samsung Electronics, the world’s second-largest semiconductor producer. On January 23, Samsung reported its first ever quarterly loss in in the fourth quarter and in fact its first ever loss since 2000, when it started reporting quarterly results. However, the good news is that its handset sales posted a slight increase. Earlier coverage is available here and here. >>>