From Briefing.com: 4:38PM Skyworks beats by $0.02, reports revs in-line; guides Q2 EPS in-line, revs below consensus (SWKS) 5.02 +0.11 : Reports Q1 (Dec) earnings of $0.17 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the First Call consensus of $0.15; revenues fell 0.1% year/year to $210.2 mln vs the $211.2 mln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $0.10-0.11 vs. $0.10 consensus; sees Q2 revs of $168.0 vs. $189.71 mln consensus. "The ongoing inventory contraction is exacerbating traditional market seasonality, and as a result, we believe the supply chain sell-in will decline 20 to 30 percent sequentially in the March quarter. Against this backdrop, we are forecasting our revenue to decrease 20 percent sequentially."
4:33PM Multi-Fineline beats by $0.05, reports revs in-line; guides Q2 revs below consensus (MFLX) 19.02 -1.00 : Reports Q1 (Dec) earnings of $0.56 per share, $0.05 better than the First Call consensus of $0.51; revenues rose 17.6% year/year to $216.6 mln vs the $215.3 mln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q2, sees Q2 revs of $170-190 mln vs. $200.58 mln consensus. Co says, "We remain concerned regarding the potential impact that a prolonged economic slowdown could have on customer demand, and recently we have begun to see softness in customer orders. While our second quarter net sales projections reflect expected year-over-year growth, we currently expect a sequential decline due in part to the economic downturn and in part due to the seasonal effect of the December holidays and the Chinese New Year in January."
4:31PM Lattice Semi appoints Michael Potter Corporate Vice President and CFO (LSCC) 1.55 +0.07 : The co announces that it has appointed Michael Potter as its Corporate Vice President and Chief Financial Officer effective February 17, 2009. Potter was most recently Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Neophotonics.
4:18PM Ixia misses by $0.01, reports revs in-line (XXIA) 5.53 +0.26 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.02 per share, $0.01 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.03; revenues fell 11.6% year/year to $41 mln vs the $41 mln consensus.
4:17PM Intl Rectifier reports Q2 (Dec) results, revs in-line; guides Q3 revs below consensus (IRF) 14.09 +0.27 : Reports Q2 (Dec) loss of $2.56 per share, includes a $48.9 million asset impairment charge for the Company's Newport, Wales fabrication facility, a $10.3 million investment impairment charge primarily related to long-term investments to reflect the decline in fair market value of the Company's mortgage- and asset-backed securities, and a $102.5 million tax provision charge related to reserves that have been recorded against the Company's tax assets, may not be comparable to the First Call consensus of ($0.15); revenues fell 25.9% year/year to $175.8 mln vs the $176.8 mln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q3, sees Q3 revs of $115-150 mln vs. $162.95 mln consensus.
4:15PM Silicon Image beats by $0.21, beats on revs; guides Q1 revs below consensus (SIMG) 2.99 +0.13 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.21 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.21 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.00); revenues fell 30.4% year/year to $59.4 mln vs the $56.7 mln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $40-45 mln vs. $51.67 mln consensus, sees Q1 gross margin of 56% - 57%. "We focused on development of our technology to expand the breadth of our product offering, and the continued improvement of the efficiency of our operating model by enhancing our gross margin and lowering operating expenses. During the last twelve months, we have introduced industry-leading new technology developments such as Mobile High-Definition Link and LiquidHD along with supporting products. Going forward we are well positioned to grow revenue and earnings when the economy and the consumer electronics industry rebound."
4:12PM MEMC appoints Ahmad Chatila Chief Executive Officer effective March, 2, 2009 (WFR) 14.58 +0.58 : Co announces the appointment of Ahmad Chatila as President and Chief Executive Officer, effective March 2, 2009. Mr. Chatila will also become a member of MEMC's Board of Directors. Marshall Turner, who has served the company as Interim CEO since November 2008, will continue as a member of MEMC's Board of Directors.
4:09PM Rudolph Tech beats by $0.04, misses on revs (RTEC) 3.38 +0.02 : Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.08 per share, ex-items, $0.04 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.12); revenues fell 57.9% year/year to $16.4 mln vs the $17.8 mln consensus.
4:07PM Cohu misses by $0.01, beats on revs; Board approves cash dividend (COHU) : Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.17 per share, $0.01 worse than the First Call consensus of ($0.16); revenues fell 27.5% year/year to $41.4 mln vs the $39.5 mln consensus. Orders for the fourth quarter of 2008 were $34.4 million compared to $46.0 million for the third quarter of 2008. Orders for semiconductor equipment decreased to $21.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2008 from $31.0 million in the third quarter of 2008. Backlog was $46.6 million at December 27, 2008 compared to $52.0 million at September 27, 2008. Backlog and orders include amounts associated with Rasco and were $1.8 million in orders received after December 9 and $2.8 million in year end backlog. Cohu expects first quarter 2009 sales to be approximately $33 million. Cohu's Board of Directors approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.06 per share payable on April 24, 2009 to shareholders of record on March 10, 2009. Cohu has paid consecutive quarterly cash dividends since 1977.
4:02PM Magma Design Automation announces cost-cutting actions expected to save $20 million (LAVA) 1.32 +0.18 : Co announces a series of actions designed to reduce operating costs, including a 17 percent cut in worldwide employment, salary reductions and consolidation of some facilities. These measures, initiated in the third and fourth quarters of Magma's fiscal year 2009, are expected to reduce total annual costs by approximately $20 mln in fiscal year 2010. In connection with these measures, Magma expects to record restructuring charges ranging from $2.75 mln to $3.75 mln in its fiscal 2009 third quarter, ended Feb. 1, 2009. In addition to reducing employment levels, Magma instituted a 20 percent salary reduction for senior management during the third quarter, followed by a smaller salary reduction for most other employees. Magma closed two sales and support offices in North America and one in Europe, and plans to consolidate its Beijing, China, operations into a single facility and its Shanghai, China, operations into a single facility.
4:30 pm : Stocks put together a fairly strong rebound Thursday. Financials spurred the advance as investors bought into the idea that the government's forthcoming plan to shore-up banks could provide an impetus for a rally.
Financials were down as much as 4.7% in the early going, but managed to climb to a gain of 4.1% after analysts at UBS stated that bank bailout news could induce sizable rallies. Senate Banking Chairman Dodd told reporters it might be possible to modify its mark-to-market rules, which would be a boost to banks hurt by write-downs. Financials finished the session 1.4% higher.
Reuters cited a Treasury official when it reported Treasury Secretary Geithner is expected to unveil a comprehensive financial framework plan Monday. With the government progressing toward a comprehensive plan to help restore the financial system, investors were willing to look past mixed earnings and economic data that had actually put stocks under pressure in the early going.
Cisco (CSCO 16.35, +0.51) topped quarterly earnings expectations, but disappointed investors when it issued downside revenue guidance. Cisco was able to rebound with the help of other large-cap tech stocks. Large-cap tech led the Nasdaq in outperforming the other headline indices.
Visa (V 53.74, +4.61) and MasterCard (MA 159.84, +19.69) both announced better-than-expected quarterly earnings and optimistic forecasts. However, analysts question whether they card companies can continue growing their earnings at rapid rates amid a pullback in consumer activity.
Softer consumer spending prompted numerous retailers to issue cautious forecasts amid lower January same-store sales. However, many retailers' comparables were not as bad as feared, which induced gains in the group. The S&P 500 Retail Index finished 3.3% higher. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart (WMT 48.56, +2.14), BJ's Wholesale (BJ 29.56, -0.70), Aeropostale (ARO 22.81, +1.68), and The Buckle (BKE 23.36, +1.61) distinguished themselves by reporting same-store sales increased.
Weekly initial jobless claims were up for the fourth straight week, this time climbing 35,000 to 626,000 for the week ending Jan. 31. The number exceeded the 580,000 claims that were expected, and was the highest level since 1982. The shock from such heightened claims is tempered by the knowledge that the workforce has grown in recent decades. For that reason, some economists do not believe the unemployment rate will break into the double digits -- the government's official jobs report is due ahead of Friday's opening bell.
The drop in employment actually helped inflate fourth quarter productivity. Since hours worked has fallen at a faster clip than economic output, fourth quarter productivity increased 3.2%. An increase of 1.5% was expected.
Meanwhile, soft economic conditions are undercutting inflationary pressures. Fourth quarter unit labor costs increased 1.8%, which is less than the consensus forecast of a 2.8% increase.
Trading volume hit a two-week high this session, exceeding 1.6 billion shares on the New York Stock Exchange. All 10 of the S&P 500 sectors finished higher.DJ30 +106.41 NASDAQ +31.19 NQ100 +2.4% R2K +1.5% SP400 +1.6% SP500 +13.62 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1735/2.15 bln/945 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1947/1.63 bln/1088
08:10 am Cisco Systems (CSCO)
Cisco Systems (CSCO 15.84) surprised Wall Street with better-than-expected earnings and revenue for its fiscal second quarter, although earnings and revenue slipped year-over-year.
The San Jose, Calif.-based network equipment maker reported earnings of $0.32 per share, excluding nonrecurring items, $0.02 better than the First Call consensus of $0.30. Cisco's earnings per share declined 15.8% year-over-year.
Revenues fell 7.1% year-over-year to $9.1 billion, slightly ahead of the $9.0 billion consensus.
Gross margins game in at 63.0%, behind the company's guidance of 64%.
During the quarter, Cisco repurchased 37 million shares of common stock for an aggregate purchase price of $600 million. The company has $6.8 billion remaining in its repurchase plan, with no termination date.
Cisco generated $3.2 billion in cash flows in the quarter, up from $2.4 billion in the same period a year ago and higher than the $2.7 billion in the company's fiscal first quarter.
On its earnings conference call, Cisco said it expects revenue for the current quarter to drop between 15% and 20% year-over-year. The guidance equates to revenues between $7.83 billion and $8.32 billion, well behind the $8.71 billion consensus. |
