Shares of Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) rose as much as 2% after the company announced that its board of directors has approved a 16 percent increase in the quarterly cash dividend to 21 cents per share (84 cents per share on an annual basis), beginning with the dividend that will be declared in the third quarter of 2011.
Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) rallied more than 2% after Nomura initiated coverage on the company with a Buy rating and a price target of $53.
Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT) on Wednesday jumped 7% announced that it has been selected by HBO to be a provider of content delivery network services supporting the new HBO GO mobile app delivery initiative. The application, which launched on May 2, gives HBO subscribers access to HBO programming on their Apple iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch as well as select Android devices.
Allos Therapeutics (NASDAQ: ALTH) slumped more thn 10% after Needham & Co downgraded its rating on the company to Hold from Buy.
Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited (NYSE: YGE) on Wednesday announced certain business updates. Based upon preliminary data for the first quarter of 2011, Yingli Green Energy expects to report that shipment in the first quarter decreased by a low teen percentage from the fourth quarter 2010, and gross margin will be in the estimated range of 27% to 27.5%. This compares to the Company's previously provided guidance for the first quarter of 2011 that shipment would increase by mid-single digit percentage quarter over quarter and gross margin would be in the range of 30% to 31%. For the first quarter of 2011, the company expects a lower shipment compared to the previous quarter primarily due to the policy change in Italy. In early March of 2011, the Italian government announced that it was planning to reduce feed-in tariffs for solar power systems in an effort to impede overheating of its solar market. As the Italian government did not announce the finalized new policy until early May, the uncertainties relating to the proposed policy change led to delays in solar power projects in Italy. In addition, the severe weather conditions in Germany this past winter also had a negative effect on the market demand for solar products in the first quarter of 2011. The Company expects to deliver certain of the delayed orders in the second quarter of 2011 and estimates that shipments in the second quarter of 2011 will increase by more than 30% over the first quarter of 2011. For the first quarter of 2011, the Company expects its overall gross margin to be in the estimated range of 27% to 27.5%, and gross margin relating to the Company's in-house module production to be approximately 30%, compared to 32.9% in the fourth quarter of 2010.
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