More news..today and a little green pre-market. Always good on a Friday.
GLTA

add2it

More news..
more green...

Keep it up, I'm almost even.
GLTA

add2it

Good start today... love green.
May move slow on good news.
GLTA

add2it

Give it a little time to sink in. Hope to see a steady climb. GLTY

AMD Good news... you would think it would keep us green for today???

New ATI Radeon(TM) HD 5830 Graphics Card Brings Huge Performance, More Choice for DirectX(R) 11 Gaming
Newest Addition Brings All the Features of the ATI Radeon(TM) HD 5800 Series, Great Performance and Even Lower Price


http://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-ati-radeontm-hd-5830-graphics-card-brings-huge-performance-more-choice-for-directxr-11-gaming-2010-02-25

I am still well down but it's good to see green today. With AMD's news and new products out already plus new chips in the pipe, I hope to see 11-12 or so by summer. GLTA
add2it

Hello. I dont check in here to often myself but its good to have some company. I got in back in april when it was too good to pass up.

Thanks Sam, it's just good to know someone still checks this board besides me. It's been over two months since a post. Go AMD,they have had some good news latley.
add2it

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (Public, NYSE:AMD) rose 0.60% to $8.11. In the past 52-week the stock has jumped over 240%.

Advanced Micro upgraded to Outperform from Underperform at Bernstein

07:41 EDT AMD theflyonthewall.com: Advanced Micro upgraded to Outperform from Underperform at Bernstein

Bernstein upgraded Advanced Micro based on GlobalFoundries deconsolidation following the Intel settlement. Target to $12 from $5.50

AMD UP 300% SINCE MARCH=WOW

AMD misses, guidance guarded
By Zacks Equity Research
On Wednesday July 22, 2009, 8:44 am EDT

Companies:Advanced micro devices inc.Cray inc.Dell inc.
Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD - News) announced second quarter results on July 21, 2009. The top line beat the consensus by 6%, while the bottom line missed by $0.14. Revenue of $1.18 billion was flat sequentially and down 12.2% year over year, better than management’s expectations of a sequential decline

Computing Solutions generated $910 million, a 3% decline from the first quarter. Microprocessor units were flat sequentially, while the ASP declined. A stronger Asia was offset by a flattish North America and weak Europe. The lower ASP was attributable to continued customer shift in the notebook market toward lower-cost models, and sale of old stock at lower prices. Graphics revenue was $251 million, an increase of 13.1% sequentially. Units grew significantly, partially offset by a lower ASP. Foundry segment sales declined 10.6% to $253 million.

The pro forma gross margin was 28.3%, down 977 basis points (bps) from the previous quarter’s 38.1%. The company sold a higher mix of 65nm product at lower prices, the impact of which was compunded by significantly lower utlization rates. The changing nature of the notebook business also contributed to the lower gross margin.

Operating expenses of $655 million were down 8.8% sequentially. The operating loss margin declined 4.9 bps to -27.0%. This was entirely on account of higher COGS, and offset by lower R&D and SG&A expenses as a percentage of sales. The computing solutions, graphics and foundry margins were -7.9%, -4.8% and -39.9%, respectively.

On a pro forma basis, AMD had a net loss of $406 million, or a -34.3% net loss margin, compared to losses of $371 million (-31.5%) in the previous quarter and $378 million (-28.0%) in the prior-year quarter. Special items, including gain from inventory previously reserved, restructuring charges, stock compensation charges and amortization of intangibles had a $0.11 net positive impact on the EPS. Excluding these items, the income attributable to the Foundry Company and providing for payments on class B preference shares, the fully diluted GAAP loss per share (LPS) was -$0.49, compared to -$0.66 in the prior quarter and -$1.96 in the year-ago quarter.

Balance sheet metrics improved. Inventories were down -8.5% sequentially to $493 million, with annualized inventory turns increasing from 5.4x to 6.9x. Days sales outstanding (DSOs) decreased from 32 to 28 days. The company ended with a cash and short term investments balance of $2.5 billion, down $205 million from the March quarter. AMD has around $5.2 billion in long term debt and $798 million in long term liabilities, yielding a net debt balance of $3.53 billion.

Management is optimistic about the company’s performance going forward. In June, Dell (NasdaqGS: DELL - News) Hewlett Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ - News), International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM - News), Cray (NasdaqGM: CRAY - News) and Sun announced new servers based on its six-core Opteron processors. The company also showcased several products including drivers for Microsoft’s (NasdaqGS: MSFT - News)'>MSFT) DX11 technology included in Windows 7 to be released later this year. While significant revenue from the DX11 products is not expected until 2010, the new Opteron processors should ramp in the second half.

Revenue is expected to increase slightly next quarter. Gross margins will pick up as the utilization rate increases and the percentage of 45nm processors and 40nm GPUs grow in the mix. AMD lowered the capex guidance for the year. Spending for the product company is expected to be $100 million ($150 million previously guided), and spending for the foundry company is now expected to be $690 million, ($760 million previously guided). The diluted share count will go up to 705 million.

AMD shares up after deal to sell unit to Broadcom
Monday August 25, 5:57 pm ET
AMD shares rise after $192.8M deal to sell digital-TV chip unit to Broadcom

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. climbed Monday after the chip maker struck a deal to sell a money-losing unit that makes chips for digital TVs.

The stock added rose 12 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $5.93. The stock, which has been pummeled in recent months, has ranged from $4.05 to $14.73 over the past year.

AMD said it would sell the TV unit to Broadcom Corp. for $192.8 million in cash as part of a move to focus on its core operations.

AMD accounted for the TV unit and a cell phone chip unit as discontinued in the second quarter, and took an $876 million writedown to their value. Both units came along with AMD's purchase of graphics-chip maker ATI Technologies in 2006.

Deutsche Bank analysts led by Bob Gujavarty said the sale "may modestly improve AMD's prospects for profitability," but estimate that the business only recorded a small loss.

"AMD should be more focused company, but now is even more dependent on the fortunes of the PC market for revenue," the analysts wrote.

AMD is a distant second to Intel Corp. in the market for computer processors.

Looks like AMD may be making a recovery, at least back to 7s and 8s, CAL did a wonder bounce off of 6 and is steaming away, AMD may be picking up steam as well.

Nvidia Admits to Underestimating AMD

Nvidia (NVDA) had one ugly second quarter. It lost money. It took a charge for defective chips. And it’s stuck with low-margin inventory it has to burn off. Amazing how a little price competition from AMD’s ATI can magnify poor execution at Nvidia.

Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang said on the company’s conference call:

We underestimated the price performance of our competitor’s most recent GPU, which led us to mis-position our fall lineup. The first step of our response was to reset our price to reflect competitive realities. Our action put us again in a strong competitive position but we took hard hits with respect to our overall GPU ASPs and ultimately to our gross margins. The price action was particularly difficult since we are just ramping 55-nanometer and the weak market resulted in taking longer than expected to work through our 65-nanometer inventory.

That competitor would be AMD’s ATI and Nvidia has been forced to cut prices to keep share. The larger question is why Nvidia underestimated (AMD). Sure, AMD is struggling, but when a rival is backed into a corner it cuts prices. And when a weak economy aligns with AMD’s price-per-performance mantra Nvidia should have known it would have some trouble. Simply put, Nvidia got cocky and AMD popped the company in the mouth.

Huang put on a brave face, acknowledged that “we got tripped up in Q2,” but argued that “we’ve dusted ourselves off and we are now intensely focused on changes and improvements that will enhance our performance in the future.” Nvidia is putting some money to back up its rebound thesis with a share buyback, but the company is no sure bet–at least until it burns off its low margin inventory.

By the numbers, Nvidia reported second quarter revenue of $892.7 million, down 5 percent from a year ago. The company reported a loss of $120.9 million, or 22 cents a share. That figure includes a $196 million charge to cover warranty and repair costs from defective notebook graphics chips. Excluding that charge and other items, Nvidia reported earnings of 13 cents a share. To cushion the blow, Nvidia said it may back another $1 billion in shares. Nvidia said its third quarter revenue will be up slightly, which is below what analysts were expecting.

The message from Nvidia was that it will be putting its house in order and execute better. However, analysts weren’t buying it. Why? Nvidia is in the penalty box, has to burn off excess channel inventory, AMD isn’t going anywhere and Intel’s Larrabee platform is a threat a few years from now.

Analysts remain skeptical with Piper Jaffray analyst Gary Mobley delivering the consensus assessment:

Competitive concerns have recently taken center stage, as new products from AMD/ATI are turning up better than expected, and Intel continues to make noise about its upcoming Larrabee graphics chip…The competitive pricing issue stems from a better than expected price-performance product released by arch rival ATI (a division of AMD). While some may argue that a lot of negative news is currently priced into the stock, we feel significant challenges remain an overhang for the near-to-intermediate term.

It’s hard to argue with that take until Nvidia proves otherwise.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/90836-nvidia-admits-to-underestimating-amd?source=yahoo

AMD To Split In Two?

As reported on Monday by the news site tgdaily, the word is that Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) might be split into two entities — Asset Light and Asset Smart. One entity will be led by the new CEO Dirk Meyer, who will succeed Hector Ruiz as AMD’s chief executive, and the other one will focus on the development of chip technologies and a manufacturing arm that will take over AMD’s fabs. AMD currently has fabs in Dresden, Germany, and is planning another in Malta, NY.

At this time, there is no official confirmation from the computer processor manufacturing company, in terms of substantiating the news. However, based on indications received from tgdaily sources, there is a strong possibility that an official announcement could be made as early as next month.

Realistically speaking though, this latest development shouldn’t come as a surprise. Rumors concerning the possible spinoff of AMD’s manufacturing entities have been around for quite some time now. And for a good reason I might add. After all, competing against a giant company like Intel (INTC) is no easy task. Anything less than equal competition is almost self-destructive, and AMD’s financial difficulties are proof of this. Only last month AMD reported its seventh quarterly loss in a row - while strains on its balance sheet and considerable capital needs remain persistent.

Splitting the company in two different entities, would certainly help the co. with respect to its P&L and create a cash infusion — if AMD sells off its fabs, which could generate anywhere between $2 billion to $3 billion for each. That much needed capital will then help the company pay off its accumulated debt.

AMD executives have expressed confidence that AMD will achieve an operating profit in the second half of ‘08.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/90816-amd-to-split-in-two?source=yahoo

AMD shares fall after CEO steps down, weak 2Q
Friday July 18, 9:38 am ET
By Jordan Robertson and Rachel Metz, AP Business Writers
AMD shares fall premarket after CEO Ruiz steps down, weak 2nd-quarter report

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. fell at the market open Friday, a day after the chip maker reported the departure of Chief Executive Hector Ruiz and reported a wider second-quarter loss than analysts expected.

The shares lost 40 cents, or 7.8 percent, to $4.90 shortly after the opening bell. The stock has ranged from $4.53 to $16.19 over the past year.

Under Ruiz's leadership, AMD rose to challenge larger rival Intel Corp. as never before in AMD's nearly 40-year history.

Yet after six years as AMD's CEO, the embattled Ruiz stepped down Thursday as pressure mounts on the Sunnyvale-based company to dig itself out of a deep financial hole and recover from a devastating product stumble that wound up benefiting Intel in a big way.

Ruiz, 62, the only person to head AMD other than founder and longtime chief executive Jerry Sanders, will remain on the board of directors. One of the few Hispanic CEOs of a major U.S. corporation, Ruiz had also been AMD chairman but now takes on the title of executive chairman, a distinction that lets him retain some day-to-day responsibilities.

One of his biggest jobs will be to help craft AMD's strategy for slashing its manufacturing expenses, a major concern for any semiconductor company but one of particular importance for AMD as it burns through cash and struggles in a fierce battle with Intel.

He's being replaced as CEO by AMD's current president and chief operating officer, Dirk Meyer, 46, an engineer and chip designer who has been helping Ruiz run the company since 2006. That means he knows AMD's operations intimately but also that he shares some of the responsibility for the company's financial distress.

"I'm not a man of many regrets," Ruiz said in an interview with The Associated Press. "We have a tremendous, talented group of people at this company, and we've gotten AMD to be a true contender. But being a contender and actually winning, we're not there yet. ... This is the perfect time to pass the baton to someone like Dirk."

Meyer had previously led AMD's microprocessor division, the company's primary business unit. Microprocessors act as the brains of personal computers.

Nearly all the world's personal computers and many of the servers inside corporate data centers run on chips made by AMD or its much larger Silicon Valley rival, Intel Corp. Intel commands 80 percent of the global market for microprocessors. AMD has roughly the other 20 percent.

Meyer was involved in the design of AMD's Opteron server chip, which marked the company's 2003 foray into a lucrative segment of the server market where Intel had a stranglehold. The success of that chip -- and Ruiz's sales savvy in lining up new customers -- helped AMD transform itself from a perennial second-fiddle to Intel into a serious rival across all computing platforms.

But the semiconductor industry is notoriously volatile, prone to boom-and-bust cycles. AMD has crashed hard over the past two years, racking up billions in losses and struggling to regain the competitive edge it squandered against Intel.

The management changeover will be welcome news to AMD investors who have questioned Ruiz's leadership as the company has faltered. But it's unclear if Meyer's appointment will be enough to woo Wall Street back to a company that hasn't yet provided a clear picture about how it intends to mend its battered balance sheet.

The executive changeover came as AMD reported that it lost $1.19 billion in the second quarter, worse than the $600 million it lost in the same period a year ago. Taking one-time events into account, AMD's adjusted loss totaled 60 cents per share, below the 52 cents expected by analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

AMD's revenue rose to $1.35 billion from $1.31 billion, but it was short of the $1.45 billion in revenue expected on Wall Street.

The biggest damage to AMD's finances came from the divisions that make chips for cell phones and digital television sets. The businesses were absorbed as part of AMD's 2006 acquisition of graphics chip maker ATI Technologies, and they were both underperforming, forcing AMD to write down their value by $876 million, or $1.44 per share.

AMD said it plans to sell the businesses and have classified them as discontinued operations in its financial results.

Ruiz's tenure will be marked by the way AMD became a much more dangerous rival to Intel than it had ever been in AMD's nearly 40-year history. He also was an effective advocate for pushing AMD's antitrust claims against Intel to regulatory authorities around the world. On Thursday, in fact, European regulators broadened their antitrust case against Intel, claiming that it has deliberately squeezed AMD.

Yet Ruiz ultimately takes the blame for a series of management miscues and technical problems.

One notable fumble happened in the aftermath of the original Opteron chip's success. A technical glitch delayed the launch of the Opteron's successor by eight months, forcing AMD to slash the price of its existing chips to stay competitive.

AMD also continues to be hurt by the heavy debt it took on to finance its $5.6 billion acquisition of ATI. AMD says ATI is now worth just over half the price it paid.

The deal was done to improve the graphics abilities of AMD's chips -- increasingly important with more Internet video and high-definition movies being watched on computers. But it has forced AMD to sell off parts of itself and tap the market for urgent cash infusions to stay afloat.

In November, the company sold an 8.1 percent stake to the Abu Dhabi government's investment arm.

Ruiz defended the ATI acquisition but said the Opteron delays seriously hurt the company.

"The expectations were met, but we were late," Ruiz said. "It made it very difficult to execute in other places as a result. But that's behind us now."

Rachel Metz reported from New York

SIA: Semiconductor sales up 7.5 percent in May
Monday June 30, 12:17 pm ET
Industry group says global chip sales up 7.5 percent in May

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Worldwide chip sales rose 7.5 percent in May to $21.8 billion compared with the same period a year earlier, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association.

SIA said Monday total chip sales, excluding memory products, were up 12.3 percent. Year-to-date sales were up 5.3 percent to $103.4 billion.

"Global sales of semiconductors grew at a healthy rate in May reflecting continued strong sales of consumer electronic products," said SIA President George Scalise in a statement. He added that despite reports of weak consumer confidence in the U.S., both disposable income and consumer spending rose in May.

"It is likely that the distribution of tax rebate checks to millions of Americans was a factor in increased consumer spending," Scalise added.

Growing sales of consumer products in emerging markets such as China, India and Latin America are also becoming a major factor in driving chip sales. The U.S. now accounts for about 21 percent of global PC sales, down from 31 percent recently, Scalise added.

Legal Win Lifts AMD Shares

http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/newsanalysis/techsemis/10419985.html?cm_ven=YAHOO&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA

UPDATE 1-Friedman reinitiates Intel and AMD with market perform

June 5 (Reuters) - Friedman Billings Ramsey reinitiated coverage of chipmakers Intel Corp (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD.N: Quote, Profile, Research) with a "market perform" rating, and a set a price target of $27 on Intel and $8 on AMD.

"We think Intel will appreciate over the next year but less than most peers, given its slower growth prospects, limited additional cost-reduction opportunities, and a stock price still near its prior-cycle high," the brokerage said in a note to clients.

The law of large numbers suggests Intel will find it increasingly difficult to continue to grow revenues at a rate meaningfully above inflation, the brokerage said.

"For AMD, new product and process launches are encouraging, but we remain concerned about the firm's cash position and burn rate, its current competitive position, and its still-premium valuation relative to other money-losing chip firms," the brokerage said.

Friedman Billings Ramsey also raised concerns about AMD's future capital needs and its three-quarter lag behind Intel in ramping the latest technology.

AMD and Intel dominate the PC microprocessor market. Intel's revenue was six times that of AMD in 2007 and its market capitalization is more than 30 times AMD's.

"Business trends are improving, global demand is better than feared, inventories remain normal, investor expectations remain somewhat muted, and chip stock valuation multiples remain attractive," the brokerage said, commenting on the overall semiconductor sector.

Shares of Intel were trading up more than 1 percent at $23.79 Thursday afternoon on Nasdaq.

AMD's stock was trading up almost 7 percent at $7.69 on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Eric Yep in Bangalore; Editing by Pratish Narayanan)


http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINBNG24216520080605?rpc=44



surf's up......crikey

Surf - you might try posting to this board. Someone occasionally reads it.

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.asp?board_id=430

Global chip sales rose 3.8 percent in 1Q, SIA says
Thursday May 1, 8:24 am ET
1st-quarter chip sales rose 3.8 percent globally, 2.3 percent in US, industry group says

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Global chip sales rose 3.8 percent in the first quarter of 2008, aided by rising consumer purchases of electronics like computers and cell phones outside the U.S., the Semiconductor Industry Association said Thursday.

The industry group said sales rose to $63.4 billion during the period, compared with $61.1 billion in the first quarter of 2007.

By month, SIA said that March chip sales rose to $21.1 billion from $20.5 billion in February.

SIA said consumer purchases of electronics in non-U.S. markets more than offset weakness in the U.S. economy during the quarter.

U.S. chip sales climbed less than global sales, rising 2.3 percent year-over-year.

Excluding memory products, total global chip sales rose 11 percent year-over-year in the first quarter.

"Weakness in memory revenue as a result of rapid price erosion masks the overall strength of semiconductor sales," SIA President George Scalise said in a statement.

SIA said that first-quarter sales of DRAM chips -- or dynamic random access memory, which is the most common type of memory chip used in personal computers -- fell 37.4 percent even as unit shipments rose 30.6 percent. Average selling prices for DRAM chips fell 52 percent when not considering product mix.

Meanwhile, sales of NAND flash memory -- which is widely used in consumer electronics -- rose 45.9 percent as shipments rose 46 percent year over year. Citing information from Micron Technology Inc., SIA said average selling prices for 8 gigabyte NAND chips fell 70 percent from March 2007.

Global first-quarter chip sales declined 5.1 percent when compared with fourth-quarter sales of $66.8 billion. SIA said the change represented a normal seasonal decline after what is traditionally a strong quarter.

AMD Senior Vice President of Manufacturing, Doug Grose, Highlights Operations' Efficiency in Keynote Address
Monday May 5, 9:00 am ET
Initiatives Reduce AMD Cycle Time by 23 percent, Gets Products to Customers Faster

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In a keynote speech at the Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Conference, Doug Grose, AMD (NYSE:AMD - News) senior vice president for Manufacturing, Technology Development & Supply Chain Management, outlined a number of steps the company has taken to improve its manufacturing efficiency and customer-responsiveness.

As part of a company-wide initiative, AMD has applied Lean techniques, used successfully by Toyota, Porsche and others, to reduce waste and drive efficiencies across its operations. Combining these practices with proprietary tools like its Automated Precision Manufacturing (APM) factory floor control system, AMD has significantly increased the speed, accuracy and agility of its chip fabrication, assembly and test.

“Our industry is simultaneously facing new demands and constraints. Consumers want new products faster with a greater variety of functions, while chip manufacturers bear the cost to develop and produce the underlying technology,” Dr. Grose explained. “Efficiency has become more important than ever in meeting customer demands and staying competitive.”

The traditional industry approach to improve manufacturing efficiency has been to introduce new technologies, such as smaller circuit sizes or larger wafers, to increase throughput. In addition to pursuing these improvements, AMD has increased its focus on improving the process of manufacturing itself. For example, preliminary studies at the company’s Dresden facility show that significant reductions in manufacturing cycle time can be realized by reducing the size of the wafer lots that move through the line.

Lower cycle time means that ideas move from design to product to market faster, allowing companies to realize revenue more quickly and react to market demand more effectively. It also allows chip producers to be more flexible between high and low volume orders, which has become critical as different chip products have proliferated.

“AMD has put a number of the long-held assumptions about how to gain efficiency to question, and we’ve found some very interesting ways to approach the problem,” said Dr. Grose. “AMD is looking for ways to cut waste and drive value to our customers–it’s an approach based on Lean fundamentals.”

The application of Lean principles has improved AMD manufacturing operations across the board. In its Singapore assembly & test operations, this has resulted in chip output increasing by 75,000 units per line annually, lowering cycle time by 25 percent and cutting production time nearly in half across all product segments. Further, reductions of 94 percent in material transport and 95 percent in lead time have also been realized by linking together previously unassociated processes. Similarly, a 20 percent increase in productivity was obtained in AMD’s Penang plant, along with a 60 percent reduction in lead time with a 17 percent increase in productivity at the company’s Suzhou plant.

Earnings Preview: AMD looks back at a rough 1st quarter
Tuesday April 15, 4:37 pm ET
AMD expected to announce poor 1st-quarter sales amid processor problems and soft economy

NEW YORK (AP) -- Advanced Micro Devices Inc. reports earnings for the fiscal first quarter on Thursday. The following is a summary of key developments and analyst opinion related to the period.

OVERVIEW: AMD ended its fourth quarter with a narrower loss than analysts expected and showed signs of driving down costs. Its shares jumped more than 10 percent when the results were released, but investors were soon selling.

Fitch Ratings downgraded its AMD issuer default rating in January because of the company's operating performance and limited financial flexibility.

AMD banked on its new Barcelona processor chip, announcing that it had shipped more than 100,000 units in December.

The numbers were nowhere near enough to give Wall Street lasting confidence, especially as economic conditions tightened.

In early February, Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Steven Park noted slowdowns in key AMD consumer markets such as notebook computers, while Dell announced it would stop selling most AMD-based machines on its web site.

Wall Street remained pessimistic, and downgrades and negative comment continued throughout the quarter as the company struggled with glitches and delays.

Shortly after the quarter closed, AMD announced it will jettison 10 percent of its work force and warned investors that first-quarter sales would be lower than it initially expected.

BY THE NUMBERS: Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected AMD to ring up $1.61 billion in sales; the company said in April that sales for the quarter ended March 29 were closer to $1.5 billion, a 15 percent drop from the year-ago period.

Analysts have since dropped their estimates in line with AMD's comments.

ANALYST TAKE: UBS analyst Uche Orje said in an interview that he had a largely negative view of the stock and said it was being hit by a "double whammy" of market share loss to Intel Corp. and economic weakness. "It is 100% a consumer company so the economy is a big problem," he said.

Orji said that although the company's Barcelona chip could help, too much has gone wrong for positive results this quarter. "It will take a lot to turn things around," he said, noting that AMD will most likely report in line with the sales warning it issued.

WHAT'S AHEAD: The company's performance over the next two quarters could be overshadowed by its drastic cost-cutting measures. AMD said it will cut 10 percent of its work force (1,600 to 1,700 workers) by the end of its third quarter.

Analysts will also be looking for the mass release of the long-awaiting Barcelona processor chip, which so far has only been released for select markets.

STOCK PERFORMANCE: AMD shares fell 21 percent in the quarter to finish out at $5.91.

AMD's Miss: Collateral Damage Limited
Posted Apr 08, 2008 12:10pm EDT by Aaron Task in Investing, Semiconductors, Recession
Related: AMD, INTC, NVLS, HPQ

Advanced Micro Devices dropped another (stink) bomb Monday night, forecasting first-quarter revenues below expectations and announcing plans to cut 10% of its workforce.

AMD said it had "lower than expected sales across all business segments," and some are understandably concerned the chipmaker's warning has broader implications for tech. A subsequent profit warning from Novellus Systems this morning is only furthering such concerns.

But AMD has a long history of shooting itself in the foot. The company has always been able to create cutting-edge technologies, but hasn't been able to sustain an advantage over Intel, be it because of internal production problems or its larger rival's ability to adapt and reclaim market share.

The number of tech stocks insulated from the macroeconomic slowdown may be shrinking, but AMD was never one of them, nor does its latest shortfall portend bad things for anyone -- other than AMD shareholders and employees.

Closing Glance: Semiconductors Climb
Monday March 24, 4:09 pm ET
Semiconductor Stocks Gain As Broader Market Climbs on Raised JPMorgan Offer for Bear Stearns

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of most semiconductor makers jumped Monday as Wall Street saw broad gains following news that JPMorgan is increasing its buyout offer for Bear Stearns.

Investors were also upbeat about a better-than-expected housing report.

Here is how some key semiconductor stocks performed Monday:

Intel Corp., up 38 cents to $22.13

Advanced Micro Devices Inc., up 10 cents to $6.21

Texas Instruments Inc., up 79 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $29.07

National Semiconductor Corp., up 73 cents, or 4 percent, to $18.97

AMD Down As Analyst Backs Market Leaders
Monday March 17, 11:22 am ET
AMD Falls As Analyst Says Investors Should Focus on Market Leaders

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares in Advanced Micro Devices Inc. are trading lower than the wider chip market as an analyst urged investors to focus on leading companies with long-term advantages.

Jefferies & Co. analyst John Lau made the recommendation on the sector Monday.

AMD has suffered from glitches and delays in the past year and has been struggling to keep up with its larger competitor, Intel Corp.

AMD fell 15 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $6.24 in morning trading Monday, while the chip sector's Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell just 0.28 percent.

AMD's share price has fallen 52.2 percent in the past 12 months.

Goldman Sachs downgrades or remove INTC from list.

The market/industry's wants pale into insignificance compared to AMD's appalling execution.

What do you mean? I think they're executing themselves very nicely!

There are several advantages to doing this:
By then you know which mobo's are best for your application
you get the price break
and for office computers and small networks
you can set up some nice systems that keep clients happy
but still improves their performance without breaking their checkbooks.

AMD processors have served me well in this capacity
There's obviously a lot of investors that still believe in AMD
considering the volume and sp today

The question is, with which product, manufactured on which process. It takes three things to align for AMD to make money; solid manufacturing process, capacity, and a good CPU design. If we take these one at a time:
Manufacturing capacity: I think AMD is OK here with the 300mm fab 36, and the old fab 30 being converted into a new fab 38... they have plenty of capacity.
Manufacturing process: Intel is currently shipping 45nm with an advanced gate dielectric that appears to be both improving performance and reducing power compared to conventional methods. OTOH, AMD's highest performing product is still on 90nm, while 65nm is lower cost, lower power, and lower performing. The current schedule has AMD releasing their 45nm process in Q4 2008, and by all appearances it will be lower performing than the process Intel released in Q4 2007. AMD is behind, and by all appearances falling further behind.
CPU Design: The new 65nm AMD Barcelona design is not competitive with the old Intel 65nm clovertown design. Intel has updated this to the new yorkfield, which improves performance by perhaps another few percent over clovertown. Intel then releases Nehalem in Q4 which is rumored to have significant upside to the current product line. In Q4, AMD releases the 45nm shrink of the Barcelona. From all appearances, AMD is behind, and getting further behind here as well.
Unless there is a rabbit in a hat somewhere, I don't see it.
Note that potential rabbits include a large lawsuit settlement with Intel, or a buyout of AMD by IBM/Samsung/etc...
--Alan

I still one of there voodoo cards laying around somewhere! Again, as I said these are the comments at the bottom of a cycle, I'll make money with AMD, you can stick with INTC, they will both do well with a market turn.

This company will have another winning run and large amounts of money will be made on the long side again!

I once thought the same way about a company called 3dfx
and lost a bunch of money. Ever heard of them?

Stick your hand in a pail of water. Now pull it out. See the
hole left in the water where your hand was?

That is how irreplaceable and important AMD is to the tech
industry. It will simply be yet another name of a has been
semi company to add to the hundreds that have come and
gone over the past forty years.

Those are the same stories you here every time the industry and AMD bottoms, that is how they are formed. This company will have another winning run and large amounts of money will be made on the long side again!

On the stock side of AMD, I would tend to agree that it has another up cycle coming. The market/industry does not want to have INTC as the only CPU supplier.

The market/industry's wants pale into insignificance compared to AMD's appalling execution.

I have always bought last year's "hot" CPU after they drop the price by 50-70% as the roll-out of newer products force price drops. I am also staying with the XP OS for now, Vista will be buggy for another year or two and why go with it at all, seems to add very little. On the stock side of AMD, I would tend to agree that it has another up cycle coming. The market/industry does not want to have INTC as the only CPU supplier.

RE: My opinion is just that, my opinion,
so make no investment decisions based on my opinion

That's the best advise you offered in that post IMHO.

The last time AMD had a snafu where the processor
they developed was still behind intel, they came back
with a roar. I believe they will again.

Imo, we haven't see the bottom yet. I believe politics have
a pretty big influence on tech advances and the up coming
election in Nov will have a profound effect.

Between now and then, I'll be watching AMD like a hawk.

I'm no tech by any means, though I have built a few systems
and the AMD systems lasted the best. My K-6 III 450 systems
with Tyan boards finally were retired last year and upgraded.

My clients loved how dependable they were and didn't want to give them up.
Of course they loved how fast the new upgraded systems were though once they used them.

during the last quick one day crash, we saw a pretty steep drop
in a lot of companies including AMD.
When the next phase of the mortgage crisis hits around March
that's when I'm looking at a serious re-entry into AMD.
and I'll watch for accummulation points until the election...

If the Dems change the capital gains taxes, I'd like to be positioned to get some serious profit and get out before I lose too much of it to taxes.

I'm looking to build a new system this year and I'm stuck on AMD.
For the small increases in performance noted in Maximum PC
the latest processors seem a bit pricey and I'd like to
wait for better motherboards to come along.

I'm actually hoping Vista will get cleaned up or we'll see
yet another new version of a Microsoft OS that will be
worth leaving XP behind.

my old system is an AMD 64 3800+
I'd like to build a system with multiple processors with an
insane amount of ram just for the fun of it

Just built a new gaming/performance box with an AMD [AMD Athlon 64 X2 5400+ 2.8GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Processor] and again AMD worked perfectly. 75 million shares short and nearly $4 cash/share, the stock is near its bottom.

STMicroelectronics' New Nomadik(R) Application Processor Integrates Innovative Graphics Technology for Mobile Multimedia
Monday February 11, 11:44 am ET
State-of-the-art 3D demo from AMD on display at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Feb 11-14 2008

GENEVA, Feb. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM - News) today announced first results of its collaboration with AMD (NYSE: AMD - News) on next-generation graphics for mobile multimedia. ST's newest mobile application processor, the Nomadik® STn8820, integrates AMD's innovative graphics technology to enable visually rich 2D and 3D applications on mobile handsets. Live demonstrations of ST's Nomadik graphic capabilities will be presented at the Mobile World Congress 2008 in Barcelona.

ST and AMD announced their strategic licensing agreement in February 2007, and engineers from both companies have worked closely together to integrate AMD's 2D, 3D and vector graphics technology into ST's Nomadik devices.

The combination of Nomadik and AMD graphics technology considerably improves image quality while delivering industry-leading battery life. The platform opens new possibilities for mobile devices with game console-quality graphics. Content developers get powerful tools and optimized middleware for the development of 3D games, realistic maps and other graphics-intensive mobile applications.

ST's Nomadik leading-edge graphics capabilities will be showcased in a stunning demo at the Mobile World Congress 2008. The AMD Pinball demo is a playable pinball game showcasing the capabilities of high-end OpenGL ES 2.0 hardware, which is being publicly demonstrated on real hardware for the first time. The Pinball demo was developed by AMD using its content development tools and software development kit (SDK), which makes up a key element of the OpenGL ES 2.0 content ecosystem. The demo showcases advanced per pixel shader effects such as cube map reflections and 'phong specular' highlights.

"The powerful combination of AMD and ST technologies ushers in a new era of photorealism in mobile graphics, unlimited by the processing capacity of the handheld device," said Teppo Hemia, Multimedia Chipset Business Unit Director within ST's Wireless Multimedia Division. "Advanced graphic capabilities of ST's newest Nomadik application processor will allow users to enjoy life-like scenes and action never seen on a mobile before."

"AMD is committed to enabling the kind of immersive mobile entertainment that is driving demand throughout the handheld market," said Adrian Hartog, senior vice president and general manager of AMD's Consumer Electronics Group. "Our collaboration with ST demonstrates how far we have progressed in building the ecosystem needed to deliver the Ultimate Visual Experience across a full spectrum of devices and platforms."

ST's new Nomadik STn8820 application processor combines distributed high-performance multi-core processing with ultra-low power consumption. The device integrates programmable smart accelerators for high-definition video, multi-channel audio, DSC-class (Digital Still Camera) imaging and 2D/3D graphics together with a powerful general-purpose ARM11 core.

ST's Nomadik mobile multimedia processors can be used in smart phones, mobile Internet devices, mobile computers, portable multimedia and navigation devices, and in-car entertainment systems.

AP
Dell Drops AMD Chips From Many Machines
Friday February 8, 6:49 pm ET
By David Koenig, AP Business Writer
Dell to Stop Selling Most AMD-Based Machines on Web Site

DALLAS (AP) -- Dell Inc. has stopped selling many computers with processors from Advanced Micro Devices Inc. on its Web site, although it will continue selling some through retailers.

The news was a setback for AMD, which wooed Dell for years before breaking the computer maker's exclusive supplier relationship with Intel Corp. in 2006.

Intel still made the processors used in most computers sold on Dell.com, but AMD raised its profile in the chip field by being inside some Dell machines.

Shares of Dell rose 2 cents, to $19.45, while AMD shares fell 25 cents, or 3.8 percent, to close at $6.34 Friday.

Dell's move caused a stir online that the company tried to tamp down. A spokesman, David Frink, called the development -- which Dell disclosed to consumers on the company's Web site -- "not even all that interesting."

"We regularly adjust our product offerings and how customers can purchase those products," he said. "The majority of our consumer AMD-based systems are available through our retail partners and telephone sales."

Frink said Dell is "committed to the AMD product line as a long-term partner to provide flexibility and maximum choice for our customers."

Dell.com will continue to offer desktop and notebook computers and servers with AMD processors for business customers, and a single consumer-oriented desktop model with an AMD processor.

About 80 percent of Dell's sales are made to business, government and education customers, and about 20 percent to consumers. The company is trying to bolster its consumer business by breaking from its strict reliance on Internet and phone orders to offer machines through a growing list of retailers.

Dell machines with AMD processors can still be had at retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Best Buy Co. Round Rock, Texas-based Dell declined to say what percentage of the machines it sells directly or through retailers use AMD processors.

AMD spokesman John Taylor said AMD could benefit from Dell's push into retail sales, and the shift at Dell.com "is not a near-term significant financial impact on AMD."

"We feel very good about the relationship with Dell and the growth ramp we've experienced," he said.

AMD recently reported that it lost $3.38 billion last year due to heavy charges for writing down the value of a graphics chip maker that it bought in 2006. AMD predicts it will return to profitability in the second half of this year.

The company, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., has also been plagued by flaws in a new line of server chips.

Roger Kay, a technology analyst with Endpoint Technologies Associates, said the harm to AMD could be minimal if Dell sticks with AMD processors for machines sold through retailers. But, he said, AMD might be pressured into cutting prices on those chips.

AMD "may be very aggressive about pricing to protect volume," Kay said. "That would help Dell, because retail is more price-sensitive." He said lower-priced processors could help Dell compete on store shelves against machines from Acer and Hewlett-Packard Co. that also use AMD chips.

Dean McCarron, an analyst with Mercury Research, said Dell's decision was surprising but perhaps not a disaster for AMD as Dell expands its presence in retail stores.

"The impact will probably be relatively neutral," he said. Dell "didn't drop AMD completely. They put AMD in the segment they expect to grow."

Intel declined to comment.

"Technical analysis" is, always has been, and always will be, a great way to make a totally random decision with unflappable resolve."

:))

Let's review.

On 5/20/2007, a bullish call was made on AMD, bolstered by the claim that technicals were better than fundamentals, in the short term.

According to this chart, (5/18 is the closest the software will allow me to get to 5/20), 5/20 was a day or two past the peak before a month-long, nearly monotonic slide of about 12%.

http://finance.google.com/finance?chdnp=1&chdd=1&chds=1&chdv=1&chvs=maximized&chdeh=0&chfdeh=0&chdet=1196461487000&chddm=52256&q=NYSE:AMD

That said, it's a good thing that was only a short-term call, as since that peak, the stock has lost over 35% of its value.

I think there was a flaw in the reasoning used to make the bullish call: "Technical analysis" is, always has been, and always will be, a great way to make a totally random decision with unflappable resolve. The price movement of a stock is random with respect to its internal stochastics. It is non-random when the state of the company, its performance, and the sentiment and knowledge of the human beings trading in it are taken into consideration. Watching only the price and ignoring the very visible forces behind its motions will give you no information that you can use to trade. You will be throwing dice, and thinking that every right decision was a certainty while every wrong decision was anomalous or "normal variance".

AMD's fundamentals in May were horrible. It was being held up by pure hype and hope, and then hanging only from a thread. They have, if anything, worsened, because of the failure of the Barcelona launch that was being hyped then. Until significant changes are made in AMD's structure, product plans, execution, and finances, this stock will continue to fall.

The technical picture for AMD is rather bullish right now. Chart shows a pennant formation and there are two big gaps north that
can act like magnets.

I'm short AMD at the moment but will decide Monday morning if I will continue to hold it. Technicals generally beat fundamentals short-term.

Keep hanging on, my puts will need a place to cash in.

Smooth

The 90 nm is a mature process and the 65 nm is not so there will be further improvements.

Spaarky, thanks. I think Intel's recovery and effective way they competed with AMD just goes to show how efficient and competent Intel is as a semiconductor company. I've known that for a long time, and have structured my investment accordingly. It was pretty painful as Intel had to work its way through the Prescott design, but with that behind them, it's clear that the driving force behind the company still remains. I think that Intel has the ability to distance themselves from AMD, and that AMD will have to redefine their business model if they want to survive as a company.

I agree. On some level I think even AMD agrees... they have started to capitulate, though there is still a lot of denial.

-=spaark=-

Elmer wrote:
>Thanks for your kind words but it was actually pretty
> obvious. The real question is why didn't the analysts see
> it as well?
>
> They saw AMD slip every schedule multiple times, just
> like we did. They saw the paper launches. They saw the
> lame taskmanager demo in January then nothing since. Yet:
>
> They still believe Barcelona will be out mid year and ramp.
>
> They still believe Barcelona will be 40% faster than Intel's
> then available Quad core.
>
> They still believe AMD will have 45nm production in 1H'08.

mmoy responded:
The reason was that AMD had executed quite well for a few years and it can be hard to believe that a company doing well for what seems like eternity (3 years probably is to some of these guys) earns a reputation.

IMO, AMD's execution wasn't all that great. I think WBMW has documented some of the misses they had over those years. In the grand scheme they were remaining on top quite easily. But there would have to have been a royal screw up for them to be uncompetitive with the Prescott family. Soft launches, slow ramps, etc. didn't cause high-visibility problems. Now that they're behind, even small missteps are being scrutinized. So being on top and gaining share made it appear as if they were executing quite well, and it was good enough for them to make great strides, but 65nm is an example of poor execution which overlaps the 'golden age' of K8 (process development is a multi-year endeavor).

-=spaark=-

Re: Probably not too much credit - QC is highly likely to be shipping in Q4 of this year for Opterons (feel free to bookmark this!) not sure at what frequency though but 2.66 no longer fits - I reckon 2.4GHz.

>> Just cruising some of my old, bookmarked posts. Got a chuckle out of this one.

Brilliant!