eBay Revs May Top Deutsche Banc Views
Edited by Thomas Granahan
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
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12:28 (Dow Jones) Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown analyst Jeetil Patel says online
auctioneer eBay Inc. (EBAY) may outperform his 1Q revenue estimate of $150M
by 3% or more when it reports. The Thomson Financial/First Call consensus is
for $148.9M. Patel attributes his optimism to the increased use of eBay's
BuyIt Now feature, which allows buyers to bypass the auction process to
purchase what they want. The feature also increases the frequency of
transactions on eBay. Patel is reiterating his buy rating on eBay shares,
which were recently up 12% at $34.00. (RS)
12:18 (Dow Jones) Stocks holding impressive gains at midday. DJIA up 241 at
9756, Nasdaq jumps 92, or 5.6%, to 1731. SOX up 9%, as Intel leader on DJIA.
(TG)
12:03 (Dow Jones) Fed's Meyer says U.S. slowdown has been deeper than
expected. Remark slightly at odds with more upbeat assessment from other
officials who have noted that economic numbers have actually come in better
than expected lately. (BB)
11:57 (Dow Jones) Bouncing back from a 52-week low Wednesday, shares of ITC
Deltacom (ITCD) regained close to 51% of their value Thursday. Analysts
attributed the comeback to overall strength in the telecom sector and the
Nasdaq. "The whole industry, and competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs)
particularly, have taken a big hit," said Steve Shook, telecom analyst at
Wachovia Securities. (EGS)
11:49 (Dow Jones) Investors are shrugging off Akamai Technologies' (AKAM)
warning of lower-than-expected 1Q revenue, which prompted a few analysts'
rating downgrades. The stock is up 8%. Why? Because the Internet
infrastructure company also expects narrower-than-expected negative cash
flow, thanks to cost-cutting measures. Plus, executives assured investors in
a conference call that the company's business plan is fully funded through
its target of posting breakeven earnings before interest, taxes,
depreciation and amortization in 2002. (PDL)
11:43 (Dow Jones) Peregrine Systems (PRGN) soared 39.1% Thursday after the
company said it will meet analysts' earnings expectations for the 4Q. The
enterprise software company said it expects operating earnings of 16 cents a
share, on revenue of about $170 million. (CAL)
11:38 (Dow Jones) Economic Cycle Research Institute has termed recession in
the U.S., Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, as "unavoidable." In Mexico and
Australia, ECRI assesses the condition as "recession likely," while it says
Canada, Germany, Spain, and Swizerland face "serious slowdown." (JM)
11:31 (Dow Jones) Interactive television stocks were hurt in 2000 into 2001,
but several catalysts should help Wink Communications (WINK) and Gemstar-TV
Guide International (GMST), UBS Warburg analyst Thomas Eagan says.
Initiating both with strong buy ratings, the analyst says Wink should
benefit from extensive affiliations with cable and satellite operators,
broadcast networks and cable e-advertisers. Gemstar should benefit from an
accelerated digital cable rollout and newly expanding affiliations with
cable operators, he says. (DDO)
11:19 (Dow Jones) On top of supply chain and capital-market issues, the
optical sector is going through two key product transitions, Merrill says.
One is a shift from long haul to metro/regional, the other is a shift from
transport to switching. Current technology doesn't yet economically support
the needs of these markets, so the industry is in product transition Dead
Zone. Merrill remains cautious near term, but sees opportunities in
companies that can help the buildout of the metro network and those
developing scalable, more dense optical switches. Favors Ciena (CIEN) and
Finisar (FNSR) in intermediate term, and Nortel (NT), JDS Uniphase (JDSU)
and Sycamore (SCMR) longer term. (TG)
11:04 (Dow Jones) Salomon Smith Barney analyst Thomas O'Donnell says of
latest Fannie Mae (FNM), Freddie Mac (FRE) noise in Washington that "we've
already seen this movie." Last year, he says, the best way to lose money in
Fannie and Freddie shares "was to sell on negative news that proved
groundless." (JC)
10:56 (Dow Jones) For those looking for a stock bottom, a floor trader says
look for two things. One, DJIA needs to have big, big volume. Two, if June
S&Ps do pare gains from their highs, it should only be slight and followed
by a rebound. It also shouldn't have the same volatility on the downside as
seen lately. "We can't have the big breaks if this is any good," he says.
(DMC)
10:53 (Dow Jones) Hopes for an effective Japan package fade fast. Bank of
America says draft is just a political sop with no details on when buying of
bank stock will start. "Last minute haggling about this pathetic package
only underlines the government's lack of direction and the impossibility of
any quick fix to Japan's problems," it warned. (NEH)
10:46 (Dow Jones) Thoughts on FedEx (FDX) a day after the parcel carrier
issued its second profit warning for fiscal 4Q: Aside from the weaker
domestic express volumes the company cited, "we have concerns that there are
still two more feet to drop for FDX and UPS," says Bear Stearns analyst
Wolfe, referring to weaker international volumes and potential for weaker
yields over the next few quarters. He also expects shippers to demand
carriers to take back fuel surcharges soon. FedEx shares are down 5.3%,
while UPS is off 1.4%. (SON)
10:40 (Dow Jones) May Fed funds show about 29% chance of intermeeting cut,
while April contract shows about 36%, analyst says. Strength in stocks today
slicing the likelihood of such a move. (SPC)
10:37 (Dow Jones) Floor traders are keeping an eye on June Nasdaq. Unlike
June S&Ps and DJIA which have made new session highs, June Nasdaq has yet to
take out its opening range high. There could be some concern that all-around
gains might be limited if June Nasdaq can't make new highs. Traders also
apprehensive ahead of Friday's jobs data. (DMC)
10:30 (Dow Jones) Securities firms and other financial stocks rallied
Thursday on a broad market upturn, regaining most of their losses from
earlier in the week. Morgan Stanley (MWD) was one of the biggest losers
Wednesday, with its stock declining 7.8%. In early trading Thursday, shares
of Morgan Stanley rose 9.5% to $49.73. (CUB)
10:24 (Dow Jones) Dell Computer's (DELL) move to back 1Q guidance was a
needed boost for personal-computer stocks. Thursday the sector is rallying,
with Dell leading the way. Other PC stocks trading higher include Compaq
Computer (CPQ), Gateway (GTW), software maker Microsoft (MSFT), and chip
giant Intel (INTC). (DLF)
10:21 (Dow Jones) GAO says U.S. Postal Service, which faces a deficit this
year of as much as $3 billion, may reach its $15 billion statutory borrowing
ceiling by Sept. 30, 2002. (JC)
10:16 (Dow Jones) Verizon Wireless' 1Q gain of 518,000 customers was below
expectations, according to Merrill Lynch analyst Adam Quinton. The consensus
estimate was for 575,000 to 750,000 new subscribers, he says. The company is
a joint venture between Verizon (VZ) and Vodafone (VOD). (CBN)
10:08 (Dow Jones) The American Stock Exchange announced this morning several
Amex-listed exchange-traded funds and baskets of stocks called HOLDRS will
begin trading on the Singapore Exchange May 4th. It will be a major step
forward in AMEX's ambitious plan to make ETFs available for trading 24 hours
a day, around the globe. The funds to be listed in Singapore include S&P 500
SPDRs, and DJIA DIAMONDS, but not the popular Nasdaq-100 Index Stock. (YXH)
(END) DOW JONES NEWS 04-05-01
12:28 PM
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