Freescale Rallies After Naming Texas Instruments Exec As CEO

Freescale Semiconductor shares are trading sharply higher after the company this morning named Greg Lowe as CEO effective immediately. He comes to the company from Texas Instruments, where he was senior VP of the analog business. The company also named J. Daniel McCranie as non-executive chairman.

Former CEO Rich Beyer who remain on the Freescale board.

Lowe joined TI in 1984. He has a BS in electrical engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Clearly, the Street thinks this was a smart hire.

"We view this as positive – Gregg has led TI's Analog business to a good deal of success in recent years, is well-regarded in the investment community, and is (to our mind) a very capable leader," Bernstein Research analyst Stacy Rasgon writes in a research note. "There has been a bit of recent controversy concerning whether or not the company would be able to attract top talent to the leadership slot (which we believe  to be likely one of the more difficult jobs in semiconductors right now). We are pleased with the  choice of Mr. Lowe, whom we view as a very capable leader, well regarded, and who has led TI's Analog business to a good deal of success in recent years."

FSL is up 66 cents, or 7.6%, to $9.40.