Here are some things going on this morning in your world of tech:
Speculation swirls around what will become of Nokia (NOK) following the company’s warning yesterday its loss will be deeper than expected this quarter and that it will cut 10,000 jobs by next year.
The sense from the analysts was already rather dire yesterday, but more gloom is being poured on the situation this morning. Bloomberg’s Olga Kharif and Diana ben-Aaron write that the company’s fall of 18% yesterday is making Nokia a takeover target. The stock now trades at a 38% discount to its net assets, the lowest level ever according to Bloomberg data. The authors cite one�Michael Mohoney of Falcon Point in San Francisco, who tells them the stock is “cheap enough to lure buyout firms.”
The stock got another downgrade today, from Credit Suisse’s Kulbinder Garcha, who cut the stock to Neutral from Outperform.
However, it also got two upgrades, from Citigroup and Oppenheimer.
Nokia shares this morning are up 9 cents, or almost 4%, at $2.44.
Speculation is swirling about Microsoft’s (MSFT) plan to hold a “major” event in Los Angeles on Monday. Although initial speculation was that the company would simply talk about the “Windows RT” software that will run on processors based on ARM Holdings (ARMH) technology, AllThingsD’s Kara Swisher wrote late yesterday that Microsoft is actually going to unveil its own branded tablet that will compete with its own Windows partners’ hardware.
In other Microsoft news, speculation continues to swirl that Microsoft will buy social networking outfit�Yammer, with the deal price pegged at a billion dollars in a Reuters report late yesterday by�Jochelle Mendonca.
Microsoft shares are up 57 cents, almost 2%, at $29.91.
Talk of Facebook‘s�(FB) problematic�IPO�takes a swerve this morning toward the legal realm, as�The New York Times’s DealBook’s Evelyn Rusli�late yesterday wrote that Facebook (FB) is getting ready to file a motion to consolidate shareholder lawsuits over offering on May 18th, citing a single unnamed source. The motion is expected to be joined by the underwriters, including Morgan Stanley.
But a Wall Street Journal article this morning by Jacob Bunge details how Nasdaq OMX believes it is protected from lawsuits by contracts it has with its members, and “by its unusual legal status, which is rooted in its dual role as a regulatory body as well as a business that makes money running markets.”
Facebook shares are up 57 cents, or 2%, at $28.88.
Apparently, this was upgrade Friday. Shares of chip maker LSI (LSI) were raised to Underperform from Sell by CLSA’s Srini Pajjuri, who writes that the recent sell-off in the shares now fully reflects the risk of weakness in the disk-drive market the company serves. LSI stock is up 9 cents, or 1.5%, at $6.28.
Shares of Oracle (ORCL) received an upgrade this morning by Yun Kim of ThinkEquity, who raised the stock to Buy from Hold, arguing for a favorable risk/reward balance at the current price against a backdrop of “steady sales.” Oracle shares are up 59 cents, or 2.2%, at $27.50.
Shares of speech recognition firm Nuance Communications (NUAN) were raised to Buy from Hold by Craig-Hallum’s Jeff Van Rhee, citing favorable valuation.
Williams Financial Group’s Cody Acree raised his rating on shares of ST Microelectronics (STM) to Hold from Sell, without specifying a price target, writing that the current quarter is tracking in line with the company’s forecast.
And the Street continued to come to the side of Qualcomm (QCOM), with Sterne Agee’s Vijay Rakesh pounding the table on the stock. That follows yesterday’s defense by Wedge Partners.
Qualcomm shares are down 82 cents, or 1.4%, at $55.97.
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