The S&P 500 extended to the upside on Wednesday, pushing towards the 2,900 level for the first time since early October to put an end to six months of unpleasantness. Even bitcoin and the rest of the cryptocurrency space was on the move again, a sign of excess bubbling up, now that the Federal Reserve has abandoned any pretense of normalizing monetary policy after December’s market scare.
A breakout to new highs looks inevitable now, with President Trump in no hurry to pressure China with more trade sanctions as he instead focuses on border security (possible border shutdown?) and the small chance he can convince the Democrats to work with him on an infrastructure spending package.
With the bulls on the hunt for buying opportunities, semiconductors, in particular, are showing strength. The Market Vectors Semiconductor (NYSEARCA:SMH) jumped nearly 3% higher yesterday, pushing to new highs. With the sector on the move, here are four semiconductor stocks on the rise:
Intel (INTC)
Intel (NYSE:INTC) shares are on the verge of breaking out to new highs, threatening to rise up and over prior resistance near the $57-a-share level to mark a 30% rise off of the late December lows. The prior high from last May is within cents of being eclipsed, ending a three-year-long consolidation range for INTC stock.
The company will next report results on April 24 after the close. Analysts are looking for earnings of 87 cents per share on revenues of $16 billion. When the company last reported on Jan. 24, earnings of $1.28 per share beat estimates by 6 cents on a 9.4% rise in revenues.
Texas Instruments (TXN)
Shares of Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN) are challenging the upper end of a two-year consolidation range battling resistance near the $116-a-share level. Already up 31% from its December lows, TXN stock is shrugging off a recent downgrade from analysts at Bernstein — with investors taking heart after the most recent quarterly numbers beat expectations.
The company will next report results on April 23 after the close. Analysts are looking for earnings of $1.13 per share on revenues of $3.5 billion. When the company last reported on Jan. 23, earnings of $1.27 beat estimates by 3 cents on a 0.9% decline in revenues.
Nvidia (NVDA)
After the bitcoin bust last year undermined demand in GPU-powered mining rigs, Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) shares suffered an epic 50%+ decline from its early October high. After months of consolidation, the bulls are returning, pushing NVDA stock up nearly 50% from the lows set in December, putting the 200-day moving average in sight.
The company will next report results on May 16 after the close. Analysts are looking for earnings of 60 cents per share on revenues of $2.2 billion. When the company last reported on Feb. 14, earnings of 80 cents beat estimates by 5 cents on a 24.3% drop in revenues.
Micron (MU)
Micron (NASDAQ:MU) shares are pushing up and over their 200-day moving average for the first time since last August, setting up a further retracement of a decline from the highs hit last summer that resulted in a 50%+ loss of value. CLSA analyst Sanjeev Rana recently cited falling inventory levels as a reason to expect a strong demand recovery.
The company will next report results on June 19 after the close. Analysts are looking for earnings of 81 cents per share on revenues of $5.48 billion. When the company last reported on March 20, earnings of $1.71 beat estimates by 5 cents on a 20.6% drop in revenues.
As of this writing, William Roth did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
