Tag - Tsem

Shares of Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (Nasdaq: TSEM) are rallying in pre-market trading after the manufacturer of semiconductor integrated circuits on silicon wafers reported that it won a multi-million dollar per month manufacturing deal for its Fab2 at the 0.13-micron technology generation from a U.S. integrated device manufacturer.

Under the terms of the deal, the Israeli company said it expects to manufacture between 5,000 and 8,000 wafers per month, using new tools it is purchasing from companies such as AMD and Intel, as the company previously announced.

Production shipments are expected to begin toward the end of 2008. Tower said it expects that the U.S. device manufacturer could become one of its top three customers.

Shares of Tower (TSEM) rose $0.18, or 12%, to $1.68 in pre-market trading.

Tower Semiconductor Ltd., (Nasdaq: TSEM), an independent wafer foundry focused on manufacturing semiconductors, said this morning that it would implement a system to more efficiently manage its inventory of spare parts for its manufacturing tools.

Tower said that implementing the system should save the company $15 million over three years and that no layoffs would result from the move.

Shares of Tower were halted ahead of the opening bell.

The Russell 2000 joined the other major U.S. indices posting strong gains on news of encouraging retail sales and economic data. The Russell 2000 moved up 10.82 points, or 1.32%, to finish at 832.54. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 187.34 points, or 1.41%, to 13,482.35.

Stocks gained right out of the gate on news that U.S. retail sales rose 1.4% in May, according to a report by the U.S. Commerce Department. That’s more than twice the expected increase of 0.6% and a sign the economy is picking up speed.

Shares of Magal Security Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: MAGS) are lower despite news this morning that the Israeli maker of computerized security systems has partnered with a Brazilian company to provide consultants. The stock is down $0.13, or 1%, to $10.31.

Eden Prairie, Minn.-based Stratasys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSYS), which manufactures rapid prototyping systems and devices has been included in Standard & Poor’s SmallCap 600 index after the close on June 14, according to changes announced after Tuesday’s close.