Jim Cramer's Mad Money Review

It was supposed to be Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s day Monday with the launch of its highly touted new server chip, but Intel Corp. swooped in and stole some of the headlines from its smaller rival with a boosted financial forecast.
Still, financially struggling AMD managed to have a good day on Wall Street after announcing the newest version of its Opteron server chip -- while Intel's news elicited a ho-hum reaction from investors.
Intel surprised Wall Street with a mid-quarter financial update -- a practice the company discontinued last year.
Intel added $200 million to the top of its financial outlook, saying it now expects sales of $9.4 billion to $9.8 billion in the current quarter. That compares with the previous forecast of $9.0 billion to $9.6 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had expected revenue of $9.4 billion. Analysts said the announcement is good news for the microprocessor market, as it indicates higher demand -- which also likely is benefiting AMD.
Still, analysts said Intel's release also had the appearance of trying to slow some of the momentum surrounding the launch of AMD's newest chip. Intel shares slipped 12 cents on the news, to $25.35.
Source: Jordan Robertson, AP Technology Writer

Labels: AMD, Chip Makers, INTC, Microprocessors, Technology

Tech Data Corp. (TECD.O: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's No. 2 computer products distributor, reported a lower quarterly profit on Tuesday on higher costs, but its shares rose 5.5 percent as it issued a sales forecast above Wall Street expectations. Net income fell to $9.6 million, or 18 cents per share, for the third quarter ended October 31, from $23 million, or 40 cents per share, a year earlier. Net sales rose to $5.43 billion from $5.07 billion and beat the $5.18 billion average expectation of analysts polled by Reuters Estimates. Third-quarter gross margin was 4.56 percent of net sales, compared to 4.95 percent a year earlier. In a statement, the company blamed "a more challenging market environment and the related competitive margin conditions" for the drop in profitability. Tech Data said its third-quarter results included $6.1 million in restructuring charges and $2.8 million in consulting costs related to an overseas restructuring program. Excluding those items, the company said it would have had profit of $18 million, or 33 cents. For the fourth quarter ending January 31, 2007, the company said it expects to report net sales of $5.75 billion to $5.90 billion. Analysts were expecting $5.40 billion, according to Reuters Estimates. The company didn't provide forecasts for net income.
Its shares rose 2.20 to $42.20 in heavy morning trade on Nasdaq. Clearwater, Florida-based Tech Data is the second-largest distributor of computers and other information technology products after Ingram Micro Inc. (IM.N: Quote, Profile, Research).
Source: Reuters.com

Labels: IM, Ingram Micro Inc., TECD, Tech Data Corp., Technology