Chip Stocks Shine on Surge in New Orders

"There are three or four big trends that are benefitting semis," said Abhi Talwalkar, the LSI CEO, during an interview with TheStreet. "It's smartphone and tablet growth -- the major refresh that will come with ultrabooks and Windows 8 will have a benefit," he said. Increasing demand for Internet wireless infrastructure also helps, according to Talwalkar, as does the expansion of cloud computing and data centers.

Ultrabooks have been championed by Intel, which says that the super-skinny laptops will breathe new life into the moribund PC market.

In particular, the new 22-nanometer Ivy Bridge chip will be a big growth catalyst, according to Stacy Smith, Intel's CFO. "What's exciting about Ivy Bridge is the design win pipeline that we see with our customers," he told TheStreet, during a recent interview. "For ultrabooks, there's over 100 design wins in the pipeline."

Ivy Bridge is already attracting attention for its power efficiency and graphics performance, which will be critical in Intel's battle with rival Nvidia(NVDA) .

"The new graphics capability inherent in Ivy Bridge will satisfy the demands of all but the most extreme users," noted Jack Gold, president and principal analyst at J. Gold Associates, in a note. "Integrated graphics have the ability to reduce cost, power and physical size of systems, especially important in the new age of ultrabooks and other portable devices."

A busy tech earnings season continues next week, with Broadcom reporting its fiscal first-quarter results after the market close Tuesday.

--Written by James Rogers in New York.

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