RECAP & STOCKS TO WATCH FOR FRIDAY, 2-9-01
Another day of pressure on Cisco (CSCO) weighed heavily on the markets, sending the Nasdaq to its lowest close since Jan. 10th. All tech sectors bled red, led mainly by the hardware and software issues. The Dow was pressured as well, dragged down by retailers Wal-Mart (WMT) and Home Depot (HD), as well as Microsoft (MSFT) and Hewlett-Packard (HP).
The Nasdaq Composite shed another 45 points to close at 2,562. Volume was 1.8 billion shares, with decliners beating advancers by 21 to 17. Blue chips followed the techs as the Dow lost 66 points to finish at 10,880. Volume on the Big Board was 1 billion shares with decliners beating advancers by 17 to 14.
Traders seem to be in limbo here waiting for the market to finish it’s consolidation, and watching for any news as a reason to buy. In the meantime, the next few weeks may continue to see a churning market, but also with limited selling pressure.
From a technical standpoint, the Nasdaq Composite has support at 2,500, a 62% retracement of the January 3rd to January 31st rally, with resistance at 2,660-2,700, and then at 2,900-3,000. Support on the DJIA stands at 10,700, and the index appears to be consolidating just under resistance at 11,000. The Semiconductor Index (SOX) is resting on support at 635, its 50-day MA, with resistance in the 750 area.
Network Appliance (NTAP): Reports Q3 earnings of $0.11 a share, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.10, vs year-ago earnings of $0.05. Revenues of $288.4 million were an increase of 91% compared to revenues of $151.3 million for the same period a year ago. On conference call, company said they expect $0.41 EPS for current fiscal year ending April, which means consensus is a penny high now. For fiscal 2002, EPS expected $0.55-$0.60, in line with First Call consensus of $0.58. Company also said Internet customer orders were down sharply. However, they said StorageNetworks (STOR), a storage service provider, did a lot of business and is now one of NTAP's top ten customers. This could be positive news for STOR, as it shows they are experiencing strong demand.
ONI Systems (ONIS): Reports Q4 loss of $0.09 a share, $0.02 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.11). Revenues rose 2174.7% to $30.16 mln from a year-ago of $1.33 mln. The company is expecting revenues of $35 to $40 million in the first quarter and $45 to $55 million in the second quarter of this year.
QLT Inc. (QLTI): Reports Q4 earnings of $0.03 a share, in line with the First Call consensus of $0.03. Revenues rose 87.4%, to $13.94 mln from a year-ago of $7.44 mln. |
