INTC, AMD, KLIC, ASMI, AMAT, TTI, ALC, WMS, LXK Popular Stocks
U.S. stocks traded higher Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 1.90% to 10214, the S&P 500 up 2.01% to 1091 and the Nasdaq Composite gaining 1.72% to 2149.
The tech sector posted gains early Monday, powered by semiconductor shares Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC, $19.44, +$0.51, 2.69%) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE:AMD, $5.23, +$0.19, 3.77%), as the chip sector got some upbeat news, including an IDC report that personal-computer microprocessor shipments jumped 23% in the third quarter. Also, Wells Fargo cited “very positive data on semiconductors and electronic end-market fundamentals over the last few weeks,” in raising its 2010 chip-growth projections to 15% to 25%, from 10% to 20%. Kulicke & Soffa Industries Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC, $5.03, +$0.35, 7.48%), ASM International N.V. (NASDAQ:ASMI, $21.30, +$0.87, 4.26%) and Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT, $13.02, +$0.68, 5.51%) also rose.
Tetra Technologies Inc. (NYSE:TTI, $11.29, +$1.66, 17.24%) reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for its third quarter as the oil and gas services company surprised analysts’ with revenue growth in the quarter and said it would now expect to end the year with less debt than it had anticipated.
Assisted Living Concepts Inc.’s (NYSE:ALC, $22.62, +$2.08, 10.13%) increase in third-quarter average private pay occupancy is giving shares a lift, CJS Securities said. “ALC continues to transition to private pay from Medicaid and is adding residents at some of their higher-priced newer units,” the analysts said. Those steps are likely to help expand margins especially when the economy improves, they added.
WMS Industries Inc.’s (NYSE:WMS, $43.67, +$2.65, 6.46%) recent pullback has provided a compelling entry into a fundamentally strong company in an attractive industry, said Goldman Sachs in upgrading WMS to buy from neutral. The firm said it expects the gambling-replacement cycle to start back up again next year, and, as WMS has some of the most popular slot-machine games, it should particularly benefit from that, and improve its margins as well.
Goldman Sachs put Lexmark International Inc. (NYSE:LXK, $25.34, -$1.34, -5.02%) on its conviction-sell list, saying shares of the printer company are overvalued after a recent spike. While the third-quarter results were good, bullish hopes have put the company’s shares level with computer giants, which Goldman said is unsustainable.
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