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27 Mar 15. Intel in talks to buy Altera, shares of firms jump: WSJ report. Intel Corp (INTC.O) is in talks to buy fellow chipmaker Altera Corp (ALTR.O) in a deal likely to top $10bn, making it Intel’s biggest purchase and the latest merger in the quickly consolidating semiconductor sector, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. An acquisition of Altera, which makes programmable chips widely used in cellphone towers, the military and other industrial applications, would underscore Intel Chief Executive Officer Brian Krzanich’s determination to expand into new markets as the personal computer industry loses steam. Though dominant in the market for chips used in PCs, Intel has been slower than its rivals to adjust in recent years to the growing popularity of smartphones. Earlier this month, Intel slashed nearly $1bn from its first-quarter revenue forecast to $12.8bn, plus or minus $300m, as small businesses put off upgrading their personal computers. Shares of Altera shot up about 28 percent after at the report to $44.39 per share on the Nasdaq on Friday. Intel shares also gained on the news, rising some 6.4 percent to $32. Terms of the potential deal for Altera and its timing were not known, the Journal reported. (on.wsj.com/195hofq) Intel declined to comment on the report. An Altera spokesman also declined to comment. Any deal for Altera, valued at $10.4bn at Thursday’s close, would likely surpass Intel’s previous biggest deal, its $7.7bn purchase of security software maker McAfee in 2011. Big deals in the chip sector have been expected after NXP Semiconductors’ (NXPI.O) $12bn purchase of Freescale Semiconductor (FSL.N) was announced earlier this month. Worldwide semiconductor M&A reached $31bn last year, the most since 2011, Thomson Reuters data show. In the 12 months through March 2, 472 chip M&A deals were made worldwide, up from 383 in the previous year. Unlike typical semiconductors, programmable chips made by Altera can be customized after they are manufactured to suit different purposes. Intel, the world’s largest chipmaker, based in Santa Clara, California and Altera have already been forming a close relationship. In 2013, Intel agreed to manufacture chips on behalf of Altera, a major change for the world’s top chipmaker, which traditionally has been unwilling to share its cutting-edge technology. Since then the two companies have also expanded their cooperation to include other kinds of chip development. (Source: Reuters)
27 Mar 15. BlackBerry posts fourth-quarter profit; seeks to end revenue slide. BlackBerry Ltd (BB.TO)(BBRY.O) posted a surprise quarterly profit on Friday and said it is pushing to end a slide in its revenue in this fiscal year, sending the stock up as much as 5.1 percent.
“Our financial viability is no longer in question. We’re now turning our attention to revenue stabilization,” BlackBerry Chief Executive John Chen said on a conference call.
Chen plans to grow BlackBerry’s small but high-margin software division by moving more customers onto its products, including a system that allows companies and government agencies to manage multiple employee devices. The stock rose as high as $9.77, before easing to $9.59, up 3.1 percent on the Nasdaq, despite a much bigger-than-expected decline in fiscal fourth quarter revenue. BlackBerry investors cheered the unexpected quarterly profit and solid growth in revenue from software products, which includes the QNX operating system, used in everything from cars to reactors. Chen said while the average analyst estimate of a small per-share loss in the current quarter looks reasonable “we do intend to do better.”
“Chen and his team are one of the better management teams out there,” said BGC Partne