Merrill Lynch analyst Joe Osha is described by financial news wire AFX as "influential". So what effect will his revised intermediate outlook for AMD and Micron Technology have on their share price?

Osha has cut both stock to 'neutral' from a respective 'accumulate' and 'buy'. The decision is, he says, "based on belief that demand fromthe low end of the PC business may not be meeting previous expectations," AFX reports.

Recent strong performance may have more to do with inventory replenishment than with underlying strong demand, he reckons. "That's especially true for DRAM," he told AFX.

Rival analyst Dan Niles of Lehman Brothers, takes a different tack on AMD, but the result his still downwards. Niles believes in there's continuing upside for AMD on processors and for higher average selling prices. But good news on this front will not be enough to overcome weakness now afflicting the flash memory market, for so long a bedrock of AMD profits. So Nile is cutting earnings estimates for 2001 and 2002, AFX again reports.

Niles now forecasts net income in 2001 of $1.25 per share, down from his previous estimate of $1.90. And for 2002, he's pencilled estimates of net income of $1.45 per share, down from $2.15. ®