Nvidia (NVDA) - Ouch

Nvidia (NVDA) is a name a few readers have nominated as we looked for some new names in the tech space - the stock was approaching a triple bottom in the $18s after starting the year in mid $30s (50% drop). However, last night after the bell we had some uninspiring news and the stock is down an additional 28% to near $13. And just like that someone can lose 2/3rds of their money in 7 months. But remember, "tech is safe" because it has no exposure to oil. This is a trecherous market - the indexes as bad as they are, are masking some of the carnage in individual names. [Jun 28: How are the Dow Components Doing This Year?]

• Two analysts on Thursday slashed their price targets for Nvidia Corp., saying they are concerned about the company's margins, after the graphics chip maker lowered its second-quarter revenue outlook.
• The Santa Clara, Calif., company now sees sales for the quarter ending July 27 of $875 million to $950 million, below the $1.1 billion in sales that analysts polled by Thomson Financial expect, on average. That represents a 17% to 23% sequential drop in sales.
• The company blamed the worse-than-expected results on weak global demand, and delays in ramping its new integrated graphics chip.
• Nvidia also disclosed Wednesday that certain of its graphics processors designed for notebook PCs were failing at higher-than-normal rates due to what it described as "weak die/packaging materials." As a result, Nvidia will take a charge between $150 million and $200 million to cover anticipated customer warranty, repair and replacement costs.
• Goldman Sachs analyst James Schneider... cut his fiscal second-quarter gross margin forecast to 40 percent from about 46 percent, citing near-term pricing pressure.

So again, "tech is safe" because it has no exposure to oil, yet it has exposure to producers and consumers which are slowing. But that's Wall Street logic for you.

No position

(note, chart does not show the carnage coming in about 15 minutes)