Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) led a booming semiconductor sector Wednesday after a Taiwanese chip supplier saw its orders increase, per DigiTimes. The chipmaker is seeing an uptick in CPU and GPU shipments for notebooks, motherboards and servers, a source from PC makers told DigiTimes, which is expected to boost sales. The Santa Clara California company plans to launch its third-generation Ryzen series CPU in May. On Tuesday, Nomura initiated coverage of the stock with a Buy rating and a price target of $33, a 23% premium over Tuesday’s close.
The stock surged 8.5% to close at $29.02.
Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) shares fell after Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy and cut its 12-month price target to $128 from $152, CNBC reported. That’s a decrease of more than 10% for the construction-equipment manufacturer from Tuesday’s closing price. Analyst Chad Dillard wrote that “Synchronized global growth has collapsed, the China Land Cycle is rolling over … and the US is oversaturated with construction equipment.”
The stock lost ground, finishing down 0.6% at $139.29.
PG&E Corporation (NASDAQ:PCG) rallied amidst a ruling from a US District Court Judge that the company is prohibited from re-issuing dividends. Instead, the energy company must use its money to remove trees and trim branches that risk hitting power lines. The San Francisco company facing $30 billion in wildfire liabilities is tasked with removing 375,000 dead, dying or hazardous trees in 2019. The ruling is a result of a 2010 felony conviction for a natural gas pipeline blast that killed eight and injured 58 people. Meanwhile, the company is likely to name Bill Johnson its new CEO as soon as Wednesday, Reuters reported. John has served as CEO of the Tennessee Valley Authority since 2013.
Investors were energetic about the change, powering the stock 4.5% to end the day at $18.45.
Blackbaud Inc (NASDAQ:BLKB) dropped after a downgrade from Stephens to Equal-Weight with a price target of $86. That’s a nearly 5% premium over Tuesday’s close. The firm attributed the shift to the software company's recent outperformance.
Shares closed down 0.5% to $82.57.
Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com
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