Tag Archives: intc

Apple Won’t ‘Risk’ Intel iPhone 7 Chip; PC Woes Expected To Hurt Q1

Wall Street split Friday on Intel ‘s ( INTC ) shrouded PC future. At least one analyst hedged on Intel getting an Apple ( AAPL ) iPhone 7 chip win, as the No. 1 chipmaker prepares to unveil Q1 earnings after the close Tuesday. Intel stock was down a fraction in afternoon trading on the stock market today , near 32. Shares tanked 18% in January and early February on reports of more PC weakness , hitting a year-low 28.22 on Feb. 11. Since then, Intel stock has recovered 13%. For Q1, Intel is expected to report $13.86 billion in sales and 48 cents earnings per share, up a respective 8.5% and 17% from Q1 2015, per the consensus of 45 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. Three months ago, Intel guided to $14 billion in sales, plus or minus $500 million. Pacific Crest analyst Michael McConnell and S&P Global Market Intelligence analyst Angelo Zino expect Intel to miss the midpoint of its guidance. And McConnell sees Intel cutting its full-year guidance. In January, Intel guided to mid- to high-single-digit sales growth over its $55.36 billion in 2015 sales. Zino notes, “The PC landscape appears to be softer than originally anticipated.” MKM analyst Ian Ing acknowledged Intel’s strong data center sales (about 30% of revenue) but expects Intel’s PC weakness “(to) more than offset strength in cloud computing.” He expects a flat Q2 for PC sales following a subseasonal Q1. But Zino sees Intel’s year-over-year PC losses becoming less pronounced exiting 2016, despite a likely challenging first half. Industry trackers IDC and Gartner predicted 11.5% and 9.6% PC shipment declines in Q1. “We see an aging PC landscape (over 600 million devices more than five years old), market share gains and new innovative devices supporting CCG (client computing group) revenue as the year progress,” Zino wrote in a research report. He reiterated his 39 price target on Intel stock. McConnell has a 35 price target and overweight rating on Intel stock. Ing maintained his buy rating but cut his price target to 38 from 40 on Intel stock. Intel has striven to get its chips inside the iPhone, and rumors recently circulated that Apple might tap the No. 1 chipmaker to source some of its iPhone 7 modems . Qualcomm ( QCOM ) has supplied the iPhone modem in the past four flagship smartphones. But Ing doubts that Apple would risk implementing an Intel chip. Teardowns show that Intel last supplied an iPhone chip in the 2008 iPhone 3G. “We retain some skepticism that Apple would add risk to their global launches,” he wrote in a report.

Europe About To Formally Open A New Front In Its War On Google

The European Union raced ahead with its antitrust probe against Google’s Android mobile-phone operating system, a sign that it’s poised to send out a formal complaint within days. EU regulators have given Google’s critics deadlines as short as 24 hours to remove business secrets from evidence that could be used in the case — a step seen as a sure sign that a statement of objections is on its way, according to two people, who asked not to be named because the process is private. Alphabet, Microsoft Join Amazon As Market Leaders; Breakout Soon? Alphabet ( GOOGL ) unit Google is one of the most high-profile targets for EU Antitrust Commissioner Margrethe Vestager. The EU’s speeding up of the Android probe follows the same pattern as last year’s escalation of a separate case targeting the company’s comparison shopping-search service. Google received antitrust objections just weeks after rivals got similar EU requests to declassify documents. Google’s advertising business and tax arrangements are also being reviewed by the EU. “In some markets Android has become very very big and we have had people coming to us with concerns,” Vestager told CNBC last week. The probe is “a high priority because these are fast-moving markets.” Two Google spokespeople didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. The European Commission declined to comment because the investigation is ongoing. EU officials still need to meet with Google for so-called state of play talks — where companies are usually informed of regulators’ concerns before formal objections are sent. More than five years after the EU opened the search probe, it’s still weighing whether to fine Google or order it to change its business practices. In previous antitrust cases, the EU has forced Microsoft ( MSFT )  and Intel ( INTC ) to pay billions of euros in fines. The Android software for mobile phones has been in the EU’s sights since 2013 after it got a complaint from an industry group backed by Microsoft and Nokia ( NOK ). The EU opened a formal probe last year, examining Google’s agreements with smartphone and tablet manufacturers that make devices sold with Google apps already installed. The EU has been concerned in the past by Google’s bundling of apps such as Maps, YouTube and Chrome software with Android, questioning whether the practice harms independent developers of competing apps. The EU is also looking at whether Mountain View, California-based Google has stopped manufacturers developing and marketing their own versions of Android.  

Nvidia Targets ‘Deep Learning’ As ‘Big Deal,’ Says CEO At GPU Event

SAN JOSE, Calif. — As  Nvidia ( NVDA ) CEO Jen-Hsun Huang stood gazing at the Martian surface — a virtual reality simulation, of course — he talked about a future for the company that investors should look forward to. Or so he says. At the company’s annual GPU Technology Conference, which started here Tuesday, Huang in the opening keynote address told attendees that Nvidia’s focus will be even more centered around its core GPU (graphics processing unit) technology. GPUs provide graphics on computers, in video games and in various other applications. Nvidia competes mostly with Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) in this field, but No. 1 chipmaker Intel ( INTC ) is among other rivals. Huang said the company’s key markets will be virtual reality, autonomous cars and artificial intelligence, including chips for drones and deep learning. “Deep learning is no longer just an app, not just a field,” Huang said.”We think this is so important, we think this is going to utterly change computing. We think it’s a big deal.” He described such applications as algorithms plus massive amounts of data and computing power. Nvidia stock was up a fraction, near 36, in afternoon trading on the stock market today . The company has the highest possible IBD Composite Rating of 99, meaning it’s performing among the top 1% of all stocks in such metrics as sales and earnings growth, and stock performance. Nvidia stock broke out of a cup-with-handle base at 33.16 on March 16 and is now up 8.5%, so it’s a bit extended.