The Senate on a voice vote confirmed Robert Glenn Hubbard on Thursday as
head of President Bush's White House Council of Economic Advisers
MAJOR INDEXES AND VOLUMES
* Dow Jones Industrials: 10,910.44, up 43.46 or 0.40%
* Dow Jones Transports: 2,899.76, up 34.03 or 1.19%
* Dow Jones Utilities: 383.52, down 0.22 or 0.06%
* S&P 500: 1,255.19, down 0.35 or 0.03%
* NASDAQ Composite Index: 2,128.89, down 27.74 or 1.29%
* Russell 2000: 490.58, up 0.40 or 0.08%
* FTSE: 5,971.50, up 113.40 or 1.94%
* NIKKEI: 14,017.79, down 67.06 or 0.48%
* Ten-Year Treasury Note Yield: 5.21%, up 0.04 or 0.77%
* NYSE volume (preliminary): 1.05 billion shares
* Nasdaq volume (preliminary): 1.7 billion shares
SCOUTING REPORT: FRIDAY
Official government retail sales figures emerge tomorrow
morning and could either reinforce or negate the individual
store reports released today. Consumer spending accounts
for about two-thirds of economic activity, so these next
numbers will be important to watch.
ECONOMIC CALENDAR:
*Retail Sales for April, forecast: +0.2 percent
*Producer Price Index for April, forecast: +0.3 percent
Updated: 10-May-01 AFTER THE CLOSE ******
SpeedFam-IPEC (SFAM) 5.67 +0.11: Semiconductor equipment manufacturer to
eliminate 120 positions or roughly 12% of its workforce as part of its drive
to reduce operating costs during the semiconductor downturn.
Cray Inc (CRAY) 2.47 -0.06: Company announces completion of distribution
agreement with NEC Corporation (NIPNY) for $25 mln in funding.
World Wrestling (WWF) 13.15 -0.10: Company in conjunction with its partner
NBC (GE) announce plans to discontinue its professional football league, the
XFL.
After Hours Movers : Nasdaq-100 After Hours Indicator currently trading up
4.2 points...stocks on the move (change vs. close)...PIXR trading up 2
1/3...WWCA trading down 3 after the provider of wireless communications
services reported a Q1 loss significantly below estimates.
Juniper Networks (JNPR) 53.61 -3.76: -- Update -- Briefing.com was finally
able to speak with someone from Juniper Investor Relations, who told us that
Juniper has not offered any guidance since its post-earnings conference call
on April 12. CNBC reported earlier in the afternoon that the company had
provided guidance on an analyst call; Juniper did participate in a call
hosted by Buckingham Research following that firm's initiation of JNPR on
Tuesday, but provided no guidance. CNBC has since retracted the story. JNPR
has traded up over 1 pt after hours to 54.75.
F5 Networks (FFIV) 12.06 +0.07: Announces that Steve Coburn will be joining
F5 as the company's new senior VP and CFO, starting at the end of May. Mr.
Coburn comes to F5 Networks from Seattle-based Vitessa, where he served as
CFO.
Universal Health Realty (UHT) 22.00 +0.06: Copmpany files a shelf
registration statement with the SEC to sell shares with an aggregate
offering price of up to $100 mln.
Pixar Animation (PIXR) 34.09 +0.06: -- Update -- Conference call
ended....Tone of call very positive. Monsters shaping up to be a winner with
the next feature, Finding Nemo, doing well also. Jobs said test results for
the latter have been "breathtaking." Briefing.com will be posting a Story
Stock later today on Pixar....stock trading at 36.11.
Nortel Networks (NT) 15.22 -0.58: Reuters confirming that NT will exit the
DSLAM business; this was reported on In Play before the open today.
Companies that were hurt by this news today included CTLM -25.3% and GSPN
-10.6%, both of which are NT suppliers. Companies that benefitted were CMTN
+19% and PDYN +11%, both of which lost a competitor in NT.
Pixar Animation (PIXR) 34.09 +0.06: -- Update -- Company's next animated
feature, Monsters, Inc., is turning out to be "fantastic." It's scoring
higher than any of its prior films in test screenings, and will be released
domestically 11/2....On costs, mgmt saying on conf call that animation
salaries have been declining. With labor being a large part of expenses,
this is important. Goldman Sachs asked this question so expect this point
stressed in that firm's research note on the quarter tomorrow
morning....Stock trading at 36.10.
SanDisk Corp (SNDK) 27.21 -0.34: Company files a complaint for patent
infringement against Viking Components, Inc.
Pixar Animation (PIXR) 34.09 +0.06: -- Update -- Jobs also addressed Harry
Potter competition which will be released 2 weeks after Monsters Inc; the
other competition has cleared out....Mgmt sees Monsters being differentiated
from Harry Potter because it's a comedy....Mgmt stressed they have $266 mln
cash on the books, or $5.56 per share...stock trading at 36.10.
Western Wireless (WWCA) 43.50 +0.14: Reports Q1 loss of $0.22 a share, $0.28
worse than the First Call consensus of $0.06, vs year-ago earnings of $0.01;
revenues rose 35.0% to $236.47 mln from a year-ago of $175.19 mln.
Pixar Animation (PIXR) 34.09 +0.06: -- Update -- On conference call, CEO
Steve Jobs provided color on Monsters, Inc. First, release date is still Nov
2; PIXR will be watching Shrek to see if it hits $100 mln in sales. Strong
Shrek showing is good news for Monsters, Inc., which will begin to be
heavily promoted in late June as a trailer to Disney's animated feature,
Atlantis, followed by commercials etc throughout the fall...stock trading at
36.10.
Anaren Microwave (ANEN) 16.97 -0.69 : Company to move its Anaren Power
Products Inc. subsidiary from Eatontown, N.J., to its Syracuse headquarters.
ANEN also expressed confidence in its ability to meet quarterly earnings
estimate of $0.04 per share.
IBM (IBM) 115.2 -1.78: -- Update -- On call, Gerstner makes point of IBM's
position as the leading software provider in China. IBM +0.80
Pixar Animation (PIXR) 34.09 +0.06: -- Update -- On conference call, company
upping guidance for 2001 EPS to $0.40-$0.55 from earlier guidance of
$0.30-$0.50. First Call consensus is $0.42....Stock trading at 36.71.
IBM (IBM) 115.20 -1.78: CNBC reporting that Gerstner appears to hint at
slightly better earnings for the year; says in analyst meeting that FY01 EPS
growth will be in the double digits; current First Call consensus calls for
9.2% EPS growth.
Corio (CRIO) 1.33 -0.02: Eric Keller, CFO to leave the company upon the
completion of a search for his replacement.
Electronic Arts (ERTS) 54.52 -1.53: Reports Q4 loss of $0.09 a share, $0.05
better than the First Call consensus of ($0.14), vs year-ago earnings of
$0.08; revenues rose 4.4% to $307.30 mln from a year-ago of $294.30 mln.
StarMedia Ntwrk (STRM) 2.17 -0.16: Reports Q1 loss of $0.46 a share, $0.05
better than the First Call consensus of ($0.51); revenues rose 59.5% to
$16.04 mln from a year-ago of $10.06 mln. Company to reduce cash operating
expenses by approximately 30-35% of over the second half of 2001, will take
a one-time charge of $4-6 mln in Q2.
NetZero (NZRO) 1.25 +0.07: Reports Q3 loss of $0.29 a share, $0.03 better
than the First Call consensus of ($0.32); revenues fell 24.2% to $12.77 mln
from a year-ago of $16.86 mln.
Juniper Networks (JNPR) 53.61 -3.76: More on the Buckingham Research-hosted
Juniper call -- ABN AMRO spoke to Juniper's VP of Investor Relations, who
told them that Juniper gave no guidance on the call. Also, there was talk of
inventory issues being mentioned on the call, but Juniper has no inventories
(it outsources all manufacturing). There was a question at the end of the
call regarding any possible risks associated with a fully outsourced,
inventory-less model, but obviously no mention of an inventory build-up at a
company with no inventories.
Knight Transpo (KNGT) 27.30 +0.40: Company declares 3-for-2 stock split,
payable May 18.
Data Return (DRTN) 2.96 -0.18: Reports Q4 loss of $0.36 a share, $0.01
better than the First Call consensus of ($0.37); revenues rose 21.6% to
$14.39 mln from a year-ago of $11.83 mln. For Q1, Data Return expects
revenue to remain roughly constant sequentially at between $13.5 and $14.5
mln.
Pixar Animation (PIXR) 34.09 +0.06: Reports Q1 earnings of $0.16 a share,
$0.04 better than the First Call consensus of $0.12, vs year-ago earnings of
$0.53; revenues fell 73.5% to $16.15 mln from a year-ago of $60.98 mln.
Pixar also announced that it is raising projections for 2001 EPS from the
previous range of $0.30 to $0.50, to a new range of $0.40 to $0.55; current
consensus is $0.42 EPS.
Tut Systems (TUTS) 3.20 unch: Reports Q1 loss of $1.69 a share, (including
an $18.5 mln charge for inventory allowances), excluding this charge the
company loss $0.55 per share, the First Call consensus was ($0.62); revenues
fell 70.3% to $4.89 mln from a year-ago of $16.47 mln.
Ocular Sciences (OCLR) 17.33 +0.68 : Reports Q1 earnings of $0.33 a share,
$0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.32, vs year-ago earnings of
$0.31; revenues rose 30.2% to $56.56 mln from a year-ago of $43.44 mln.
Wild Oats Mkts (OATS) 8.45 +0.21: Reports Q1 net of breakeven, $0.05 worse
than the First Call consensus of $0.05, vs year-ago earnings of $0.23;
revenues rose 3.9% to $219.50 mln from a year-ago of $211.24 mln. Company
in the process of a major operational review that may result in significant
changes to current business strategy and may have a negative impact on the
company's financial projections for the remainder of 2001. OATS to postpone
any further new store openings planned for 2001.
OmniSky (OMNY) 4.10 +0.85: Reports Q1 loss of $0.54 a share, $0.13 better
than the First Call consensus of ($0.67); revenues rose 318.6% to $5.50 mln
from a year-ago of $1.31 mln.
iGATE (IGTE) 2.71 +0.09: Reports Q1 earnings of $0.02 a share, $0.01 better
than the First Call consensus of $0.01; revenues rose 8.5% to $119.47 mln
from a year-ago of $110.09 mln. For Q2, company projects revenues to be
flat to minimally down compared with the first-quarter; in addition, iGATE
projects cash EPS of approximately $0.03, vs consensus estimate of $0.04. |
