The following wireless companies’ ratings were changed by financial services companies this week.
- Standard & Poor’s Ratings Service raised its corporate credit and senior unsecured debt ratings on Agilent Technologies Inc. from BB to BB+, citing sustained improvements in the company’s profitability and cash-flow generation.
- Foundry Networks was downgraded by Pacific Growth Equities from over weight to equal weight. The firm cited a slowdown in federal business that could persist and weakness in the company’s North American enterprise business. Merrill Lynch also downgraded Foundry.
- Piper Jaffray upgraded Advanced Micro Devices from market perform to outperform, saying the company has shown excellent performance in its microprocessor business and that the spinoff of its flash business will remove a capital intensive burden. AMD also was upgraded by Prudential this week from neutral to overweight.
- Merrill Lynch upgraded its rating on Cisco Systems from neutral to buy based on Cisco’s valuation, cash flow and market leadership.
- STMicroelectronics was upgraded from neutral to outperform by Robert W. Baird, which cited a strong reception for the company’s 90nm technology, leading to multiple design wins.
