Eye On Stocks For Thursday, Feb. 24

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Marvell Semiconductor (nasdaq: MRVL -  news  -  people ) will announce fourth-quarter earnings tomorrow after the closing bell. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call expect revenue of $337 million and earnings of 23 cents per share, or a 64% increase from the year-ago period. Earlier today, Credit Suisse First Boston said it expects in-line results, noting that seasonal weakness at Western Digital should be offset by strength in small form factor storage chips (like those used in iPods) and strength in consumer wireless LAN products. "While we estimate April quarter sequential revenue growth of 3.8% and First Call consensus is at 2.2% quarter-over-quarter revenue growth, we expect to see Marvell guide above published estimates. The growth drivers should remain similar: wireless LAN, consumer storage and power management. In addition, networking could see some improvement coming off inventory absorption. "We believe investors are looking to calendar 2006 and pricing in expectations for continued organic growth as well as for growth from new businesses. Thus, while estimates are likely to be raised post-earnings, we do not expect significant stock upside," CSFB said. "Longer-term, we expect upward estimate revisions to continue to support outperformance. However, we caution investors not to get too far ahead of the fundamentals, as limited visibility in the out-year will constrain estimates in the mid-term."

Apple Computer (nadsaq: AAPL - news - people ) will give a presentation at the Goldman Sachs Tech Investment Symposium tomorrow afternoon. Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer is scheduled to speak at 1:30 P.M. Earlier today, Piper Jaffray maintained an "outperform" rating for Apple after the company announced updates to its iPod product line. Apple introduced a new 6GB iPod mini and lowered the price of the 4GB to $199; the company also released a 30GB slim iPod Photo and lowered the price of the 60GB iPod photo to $449 from $599. "We believe some will view the changes in the iPod product line as negative," said Piper Jaffray. "Specifically, we expect to hear arguments that Apple is taking a hit to margins in reaction to competitive threats. We believe that Apple's changes to the product line are more offensive than defensive. Apple clearly holds the leadership position on this market and we believe these changes will widen the gap between Apple and potential competitors that are trying to chip away at iPod market share." The research firm has a $100 price target for Apple.

Viacom (nyse: VIA.B - news - people ) will report results for the fourth quarter tomorrow morning. Analysts expect the media giant to report quarterly earnings of 38 cents per share and revenue of $6.25 billion. Yesterday, CSFB said investors are likely anticipating low first-quarter guidance. "The stock has been weak of late because the company has been out of the market on the stock buyback," said CSFB. "The quarter report will not be the focus given how long ago it was, rather, the focus will be the long-awaited forward guidance, visibility on the CFO search and radio station divestitures. We believe that the market is braced for low guidance of perhaps even less than the 5% we have been expecting." The research firm maintained an "outperform" rating and $43 target price for Viacom. "We continue to rate Viacom 'outperform' based on our bullish call on the group, and our bull call on the advertising market gaining momentum as 2005 plays out. Viacom should do OK in that scenario, and has a continued big buyback backstopping it as well," it said. "If the growth rate picks up sequentially through the year, which hasn't happened in the last three years, then 2006 could be a pretty good time to own the stock."

Chiron (nasdaq: CHIR - news - people ) announced the appointment of a new president after today's close of trading. The beleaguered biotechnology firm named Jack Goldstein president and chief operating officer. Goldstein has served as COO on an interim basis since November. Chiron is one of Banc of America Securities "least favorite" picks in the sector with a target price of $30.

Google (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ) and Shopping.com (nasdaq: SHOP - news - people ) amended a services agreement for Epinions, a Shopping.com subsidiary, which eliminates the minimum amount Google is required to pay Shopping.com for displaying Google advertisers on the Epinions.com Web site, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, the amended agreement eliminates the minimum click-through requirements for Shopping.com. The company derives 42% of its revenue from agreements with Google, according SEC filings. Shopping.com shares were down 3% in after-hours trading.