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. >>>

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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. >>>

Oracle and SaaS: Inevitable

After reporting a solid third quarter that beat estimates and declaring its first dividend, on Monday Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL) decided to go on a shopping spree. It started the quarter by acquiring Relsys International, which provides drug safety and risk management software. There are also speculations about Oracle acquiring Red Hat, but the enterprise software giant continues to avoid acquisitions in the SaaS space. Let’s explore why. >>>

Calling For a Palm-Dell Union

Yesterday, Palm reported a dismal Q3 as losses widened and revenue plunged 71% due to pricing concessions and weak sales of its aging portfolio. The much-awaited Palm Pre, which is expected to bring the company back to profitability, is on track to be launched on Sprint in the first half of the year. >>>

So, Does HP Buy Brocade Now?

On February 19, Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRCD), a leading supplier of data center networking solutions with annual revenue of $1.5 billion, reported first quarter results that beat earnings estimates. This was the first quarter report since the company completed the $3 billion acquisition of Foundry in December. With the Foundry acquisition, Brocade offers strong competition to Cisco in the niche area of end-to-end data center solutions. Cisco has been active in this area recently with the introduction of the unified computing system. And IBM apparently wants to stall Cisco’s data center plans with a $7 billion acquisition of Sun. >>>