| Tuesday After Hours price changes vs 4pm ET levels: The technology sector was front and center after hours as a host of companies reported their earnings results for the Dec. qtr... Novellus Systems (NVLS 37.65 +1.42) beat the Q4 consensus EPS estimate by $0.01, but came up a bit shy of the Multex consensus revenue estimate of $203 mln; NVLS is trading higher, however, as better than expected revenue guidance for Q1 and an expectation of a Q1 book-to-bill ratio of 1.0 proved an effective offset; related stocks include AMAT, KLAC, and LRCX... Separately, SEMI reported that the North American semi equipment book/bill ratio rose to 0.78 in December from 0.73 in Nov; the good news is that it was better than the 0.75 consensus and the ratio rose this time due to an increase in bookings rather than a decline in billings... Following an in line fiscal Q3 report, Applied Micro Circuits (AMCC 9.05 -0.76) is trading lower after lowering sales guidance for the March qtr and providing disappointing commentary on its path to profitability; related stocks include PMCS, TQNT and VTSS (11.92 -0.44), the latter of which reported earnings tonight, provided in line guidance for the March qtr., and said it was seeing signs of stability in its markets... Emulex (EMLX) is gaining ground after the storage network supplier provided a better than expected outlook for fiscal Q3, FY02 and FY03; related stocks include BRCD, QLGC, INRG and MCDT.A... For added detail on these, and other developments, be sure to visit Briefing.com's In Play, Guidance, and Earnings Calendar pages. Presently, the S&P futures, at 1122, are 2 points above fair value while the Nasdaq 100 futures, at 1508, are 2 points above fair value.-- Patrick J. O'Hare, Briefing.com |
