AMAT looks OK, but many of other leading stocks didn't fare so well today. IBD and other news sources have varying degrees of concern about the market today - could be a key reversal day to the downside - time will tell and tomorrow should be a very interesting day.
The following is from Briefing.com - after hours report:
<<Wednesday After Hours price levels vs. 4pm ET: Buyers have not found a ton to get excited about with a handful of top-line misses weighing heavily on the after hours trade. Presently, the S&P futures, at 1043, are 3 points below fair value, and the Nasdaq 100 futures, at 1412, are 8 points below fair value. Tech giant IBM (IBM 89.80 -2.94) set the tone for the night with its Q3 (Sept) report that was short of the revenue consensus estimate.
Specifically, the Dow component's net sales increased 9% from the year-ago period, to $21.52 bln versus the $21.85 bln Reuters Research estimate. A 17% increase in global services sales, to $10.4 bln (including the addition of the former PwC Consulting business) provided the large bulk of the revenue growth. As for EPS, that inched 3% higher, to $1.02, which was in line with the consensus expectation.
Software company Siebel Systems (SEBL 12.00 -0.43) committed a similar offense by coming up shy of the revised Q3 (Sept) consensus revenue estimate. After preannouncing lower than expected sales on October 2, management reported a 10% fall to $321.4 mln (consensus of $323.2 mln) that was, actually, in line with its original forecast of $320-322 mln. License revenues, separately, were $110 mln and also within the range provided by management. Siebel also announced that it would be acquiring UpShot Corp, a pioneer in delivering hosted CRM service over the Internet, in a cash transaction valued at up to $70 mln.
Storage company QLogic (QLGC 51.45 -0.03) did beat the top and bottom-line consensus estimates, but even its stock has not received a bid from investors. Q2 (Sept) net income and revenues rose to record levels, with EPS checking in at $0.37 and revenues coming in at $132.3 mln. The company attributed the 24% increase in sales to a significant increase in sales of its Fibre Channel products. Competitors of QLGC include the likes of BRCD, ELX, and MCDT.
Shares of Apple Computer (AAPL 23.92 -0.90) have also found themselves the targets of profit-taking following the company's better than expected Q4 (Sept) report. Apple reported net income of $0.08 per share, which was a penny better than the consensus forecast, and revenues that rose 19% to $1.72 bln. Management also said that it saw Q1 (Dec) revenues of $1.9 bln (consensus of $1.79 bln) and Q1 GAAP EPS slightly up from Q4 GAAP EPS, which were $0.12. As this metric was given on a GAAP (and not pro forma) basis, it is unclear if it is comparable to the consensus estimate of $0.13.
Finally, Lam Research (LRCX 26.41 -1.23) stock has tumbled nearly 5% in the extended session following the semiconductor company's Q1 (Sept) revenue miss. Specifically, revenues fell 1% to $183.7 mln as compared to the $187.4 mln consensus. Management stipulated, though, that new orders of approximately $211 mln in Q4 (June) represented 10% sequential growth, showing that 'there are early signs that demand for wafer processing equipment is improving.'>>
Also, as this note is written, the futures are in negative territory.
cme.com
Don |
