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Here are highlights from Friday's Analyst Blog:

Bookham (NASDAQ: BKHM) announced its fiscal Q4 results recently. Although there was nothing encouraging in the release per se, the bigger news was the prospective combination of it and Avanex (NASDAQ: AVNX).

Note that Avanex attempted a merger with Oplink (NASDAQ: OPLK, Hold) back in 2002, which didn't go through because the Boards of the companies couldn't come to terms. This time around, the Boards of Directors of both BKHM and AVNX have agreed to a merger.

Although the fundamentals continue to be challenging for the companies and sector as a whole, the proposed merger appears to be a sensible alternative to continue isolated in an already overcrowded component space. The proposed merged entity is expected to be an all-stock merger with Bookham shareholders owning 53% of the new entity. The current CEO of Bookham is also expected to be at the helm of the new company.

Ford Doesn't Need Help -- Really?

Today, Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) reported 4th quarter results for 2008. On an after-tax basis, Ford lost $3.3 billion in the fourth quarter or $1.37 per share, compared with a loss of $487 million, or 23 cents per share, a year ago. Ford's 4th quarter revenue was $29.2 billion, down from $45.5 billion a year ago.

The decline is primarily explained by lower volume, the sale of Jaguar Land Rover and exchange translation. For the 4th quarter, Ford North America reported a pre-tax loss of $1.9 billion, compared with a loss of $1.5 billion a year ago. The decline was more than explained by lower industry volume and lower dealer stocks, partly offset by cost reductions. Fourth quarter revenue was $11.3 billion, down from $17.3 billion a year ago.

Plexus Retains a Buy Rating

Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ: PLXS) has posted several quarters of strong results, with significantly higher-than-expected revenue and bookings.

However, macro-economic headwinds are expected to result in a reduced top-line growth in 2009. As such, we are reducing our estimates for 2009 and 2010.

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