"Results from Intel, the world's largest chip maker, will be "the next key indication of where we are in the recovery," added Fitzpatrick, who anticipates a positive quarterly report from the company.
Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel is expected to report quarterly earnings of 30 cents a share on revenue of $10.2 billion, according to a consensus survey by Thomson Reuters.
If the expectations pan out, the results would be a marked improvement from the year-earlier period, when chip makers were taking a beating in the market downturn and Intel posted earnings of 4 cents a share on revenue of $8.2 billion. Read more about Intel's tough year.
"Everybody will be looking for top-line growth -- not so much year over year, since last year we were at the bottom," Nolte added.
But analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a note early Wednesday that they expect Intel's sales to disappoint, citing a disconnect between expectations and actual growth in Asia's PC market. ...
"Analysts have very diverse opinions as to the 2009 performance of tech and, specifically, the semiconductor industry," said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald.
Several brokerage firms "are getting nervous about the run in the sector," he commented, pointing to a Deutsche Bank report on Monday that said its analysts had grown "increasingly selective" about semiconductor stocks, while J.P. Morgan analysts on Tuesday predicted an "inventory glut" in the sector." (Marketwatch)
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