Notable Calls

Bright Side of News reports: The next CEO of AMD comes from IBM

Quote: While we are not in the liberty of disclosing the name of the new CEO (if the person in question signs that contract), the negotiations did not took a long time and are being finalized as I write these lines.

If the contract gets signed this or next week, expect to see the announcement coming before AMD posts its second quarter results - expected to take place on July 21, 2011 at 2PM Pacific/5PM Eastern.

Here's what the analysts have been saying past month or so:

Bernstein, June 7: This is one more potential 2H catalyst that could positively impact AMD's shares, coming on top of the launch of Llano and Bulldozer, and (hopefully) the arrival of a new CEO.

UBS, June 10: New AMD CEO has significant opportunity and challenges We believe a new CEO appointment could occur within the next 2 months, which could be a catalyst for the stock, especially given attractive valuation, as it removes a major source of ongoing uncertainty. To sustain any near-term rise, we believe the new CEO needs to tackle 7 strategic issues with servers as the most important in our opinion, followed by disciplined execution on the APU strategy. We remain Neutral given execution risks and at least until the new CEO articulates his vision.

FBR, June 16: We still have concerns about AMD’s lack of strategy (tablets and mobile) and leadership, though a new CEO hire could drive shares higher, depending upon the person. We are raising our rating on AMD from MP to OP and our target from $10 to $12, based on a higher 15x target P/ E multiple (including stock compensation, excluding net debt and interest expense).


Notablecalls: AMD stock is down 25% in the past month or so underperforming even its larger peer INTC. And now we have news out saying their new CEO is coming from IBM.

I think one couldn't ask for a better hire. IBM grooms the best of breed technology execs that can adapt to any business environment. This is what AMD needs. This is what the analysts have dreamed of.

I expect AMD to trade up markedly today, once the news gets out. AMD up 5-7%+ today? Am I too optimistic?