Thursday, March 22, 2007

Calls of Note Part 4

Friedman, Billings, Ramsey's checks indicate significant price cuts on Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) server processors scheduled for July, coincident with the AMD Barcelona launch. Essentially, these cuts bring quad-core processors to dual-core price points, which will likely be negative for INTC server margins, but would allow it to gain further share. On desktop and server, firm does not believe INTC has matched recent AMD price cuts, and they believe the end markets are performing in a seasonally normal manner. Net for INTC, firm thinks these cuts likely delay margin improvement until later in 2H, when 45nm processors begin to ship. But they do not see a risk to INTC estimates, and are willing to be patient with the stock at the current price. These price cuts are, however, more significant for AMD and are likely to create further pressure for the remainder of the year.

Notablecalls: Nothing to comment here, all too clear.

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