Shares of Apple gained 4% Monday after Citigroup took a shine to the stock, but AMD
fell 7% on fears of a price war with rival Intel
.
Citigroup analyst Richard Gardner upgraded Apple to buy from hold, saying the stock has fallen far enough. Apple shares are down 24% from their all-time high set in January, sparked by the company’s disappointing earnings and sales guidance for the March quarter.
Gardner said he expects the company to launch new products next month, including a new video iPod, and extend its use of Intel chips to laptops.
AMD, meanwhile, lost ground after ThinkEquity Partners analyst Eric Ross said Intel has been cutting prices in recent days to fend off its rival’s market share gains.
Ross said AMD is in a “no-win situation,” and will either have to follow with price cuts of its own or lose market share.
The broader market ended mixed Monday, as an early rally on merger news came under pressure from higher oil prices.
The Nasdaq gained 5 to 2267, the S&P 500 added 2 to 1284, and the Dow lost a fraction to 11,076. Volume declined to 2.05 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.73 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led 18-13 on the NYSE, and 15-14 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 61% on the NYSE, and 59% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 159-45 on the NYSE, and 143-45 on the Nasdaq.
Mamma.com fell 16% on its results.
