From Briefing.com: 4:26PM Motorola Mobility beats by $0.14, beats on revs (MMI) 38.67 +0.07 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.20 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.14 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.06; revenues rose 0.3% year/year to $3.44 bln vs the $3.4 bln consensus. The Company continues to work closely with Google to complete the proposed acquisition of Motorola Mobility as expeditiously as possible.
4:18PM KLA-Tencor beats by $0.07, beats on revs (KLAC) : Reports Q2 (Dec) earnings of $0.72 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.07 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.65; revenues fell 16.2% year/year to $642.5 mln vs the $629.45 mln consensus. "A resurgence in demand from foundry customers drove strong order growth in the second quarter and has given KLA-Tencor excellent momentum as we begin calendar 2012."
4:17PM Emulex beats by $0.02, reports revs in-line; guides Q3 EPS in-line, revs in-line (ELX) 9.28 -0.04 : Reports Q2 (Dec) earnings of $0.26 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.24; revenues rose 12.9% year/year to $128.7 mln vs the $127.85 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.17-0.19, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.17 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q3 revs of $121-125 mln vs. $121.43 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
4:13PM Freescale Semi beats by $0.08, misses on revs (FSL) 15.69 +0.09 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.07 per share, $0.08 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of ($0.01); revenues fell 14.3% year/year to $1.01 bln vs the $1.03 bln consensus.
4:09PM Riverbed Technology beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line (RVBD) 29.92 +0.33 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.25 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.24; revenues rose 22.6% year/year to $202.8 mln vs the $201.04 mln consensus. "The business has been executing well and fourth quarter revenue growth was fueled by strong enterprise sales in both the U.S. and EMEA. Despite higher disk drive costs resulting from recent Thai floods, we reported strong gross and operating margins in the fourth quarter. We believe our past investments in our core and new products will continue to yield solid revenue and profit growth in 2012."
4:08PM Juniper Networks beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line; guides Q1 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus (JNPR) 22.37 -0.25 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.28 per share, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.27; revenues fell 5.7% year/year to $1.12 bln vs the $1.12 bln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.11-0.14 vs. $0.27 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of $960-990 mln vs. $1.1 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees gross margin in the range of 63-64%.
4:06PM Lattice Semi misses by $0.01, beats on revs; guides Q1 revs above consensus (LSCC) 6.64 -0.04 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.05 per share, $0.01 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.06; revenues fell 4.0% year/year to $70.2 mln vs the $68.95 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs increasing 1-5% q/q (approx $70.7-73.7 mln) vs. $69.64 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
4:06PM Micros Systems reports EPS in-line, revs in-line (MCRS) 51.66 -20.50 : Reports Q2 (Dec) earnings of $0.51 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate consensus of $0.51; revenues rose 9.4% year/year to $270.4 mln vs the $270.22 mln consensus.
4:05PM Celestica beats by $0.01, misses on revs; guides Q1 EPS in-line, revs slightly below consensus (CLS) 7.68 -0.15 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.27 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.26; revenues fell 6.5% year/year to $1.75 bln vs the $1.78 bln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.18-0.24 vs. $0.23 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of $1.6-1.7 bln vs. $1.72 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
4:03PM Cirrus Logic beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line; guides Q4 revs above consensus (CRUS) 22.07 +0.06 : Reports Q3 (Dec) earnings of $0.43 per share, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.42; revenues rose 28.0% year/year to $122.4 mln vs the $121.96 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q4, sees Q4 revs of $108-122 mln vs. $103.92 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. Q4 gross margin is expected to be between 54 percent and 56 percent.
4:03PM Micron announces retirement of Mark Durcan as President and Chief Operating Officer (MU) 7.55 -0.31 : Co announced that Mark Durcan, President and COO, will be retiring at the completion of co's current fiscal year at the end of Aug 2012. Mark W. Adams, the co's VP of Worldwide Sales, will succeed Mr. Durcan as President and COO upon Mr. Durcan's retirement.
4:03PM Maxim Integrated beats by $0.02, reports revs in-line; guides Q3 EPS below consensus, revs in-line (MXIM) : Reports Q2 (Dec) earnings of $0.34 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.32; revenues fell 3.5% year/year to $591.4 mln vs the $595.94 mln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.25-0.29 vs. $0.32 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q3 revs of $555-585 mln vs. $581.64 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
4:02PM Microsemi reports EPS in-line, revs in-line; guides Q2 EPS in-line (MSCC) 20.38 -0.45 : Reports Q1 (Dec) earnings of $0.39 per share, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate consensus of $0.39; revenues rose 30.6% year/year to $240.9 mln vs the $240.8 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $0.43-$0.48 vs. $0.46 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
4:01PM Seagate Tech increases dividend by 39% and announces $1 bln share repurchase. (STX) 19.80 +0.03 : Co increases quarterly cash dividend from $0.18 to $0.25 per share, an increase of 39%. The increase is effective with the dividend payable on March 1 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on Feb 15. Additionally, the Board has authorized the repurchase an additional $1 bln of its outstanding common shares. The January 2012 authorization extends Seagate's commitment to enhancing shareholder value by utilizing the robust cash generation ability of its business. To date, Seagate has utilized approx $1.1 biln against the existing $2 bln share repurchase authorization approved by the Board on Nov 29, 2010 to repurchase 67.8 mln shares. The remaining balance of the November 2010 authorization ($0.9 billion) is expected to be utilized by the end of fiscal year 2012 (June 29, 2012), market and other economic conditions permitting.
"These actions by the Board demonstrate our ongoing commitment to maximize shareholder value. The Board and the management team remain confident in the co's ability to maintain a strong balance sheet and sustain exceptional cash generation from the business." Seagate expects to fund the dividend and share repurchases through a combination of cash on hand, future cash flow from operations and potential alternative sources of financing.
4:30 pm : Although the effort encountered resistance, the stock market was able to build on an early gain and overcome resistance to put itself back in positive territory for the year.
Early market participants provided a modest bid in the face of muddled action abroad and a new 11-month low for the euro following a mixed debt auction in Italy. The euro eventually worked its way higher and, in turn, bolstered broad market buying interest; the currency climbed out of the red to end the trading day with a 0.4% gain against the greenback. The euro is still down more than 3% this year, though.
Financials helped boost the broad market by providing leadership. The sector fully recovered from their prior session slump by bouncing to a 1.6% gain. Banks proved to be a primary driver of that move. However, bank stocks remain the reason for the sector's poor performance this year -- the KBW Bank Index is down 23% this year while the broader financial sector is off by 18% year to date.
Defensive-oriented stocks have generally outperformed in 2011. Year to date, utilities stocks are up more than 15%, consumer staples stocks are collectively up 11%, and the health care sector is up more than 10%.
All 10 major sectors scored strong gains today, though. Despite such broad-based strength, the S&P 500 had a hard time moving more than a couple of points above the 1258 zone, which contains its 2011 starting point and its 200-day moving average. Still, stocks never retreated and ultimately prevailed in overcoming resistance. The lack of share volume likely helped the move -- with only a half billion shares traded on the NYSE share volume was only about half of its average daily volume. Nonetheless, the S&P 500 is now fractionally positive for the year.
Economic data had little sway with the broad market, but shares of homebuilders were helped by a surprisingly strong pending home sales report. Pending home sales for November increased by 7.3%, which is greater than the 0.6% increase that had been generally expected among economists polled by Briefing.com, but less than the 10.4% increase recorded in the prior month.
The Chicago PMI for December also exceeded expectations. Although it eased down to 62.5 from 62.6 in the prior month, it was better than the reading of 60.1 that had been generally expected.
Weekly initial jobless claims jumped to 381,000 from the multi-month low of 366,000 posted for the previous week. Economists polled by Briefing.com had expected, on average that initial claims would be closer to 368,000.
The commodities complex failed to benefit from the positive tone displayed in the stock market and the dollar's decline from a multi-month high. That left the CRB Index to suffer a 0.2% loss. That said, several commodities were able to recover from new or near multi-month lows. The CRB is positioned for a year-to-date loss of about 8.5%.
Advancing Sectors: Financials +1.6%, Industrials +1.3%, Energy +1.2%, Materials +1.1%, Consumer Discretionary +1.1%, Health Care +1.0%, Tech +0.9%, Telecom +0.9%, Utilities +0.8%, Consumer Staples +0.7%
Declining Sectors: (None)DJ30 +135.63 NASDAQ +23.76 NQ100 +0.8% R2K +1.3% SP400 +1.4% SP500 +13.38 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1888/1.03 bln/724 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2381/531 mln/637
9:33AM SanDisk gaps lower following earnings as it dips down into its mid Dec low near $47.00 (SNDK) 46.80 -5.48 : The 200-day ma's come into play below near $45.00-46.00.
Axcelis Technologies (ACLS) announced a strategic service partnership with ULVAC TECHNO to support Axcelis semiconductor processing systems in Japan.
8:16AM Ultratech beats by $0.01, misses on revs (UTEK) 27.54 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.42 per share, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.41; revenues rose 28.7% year/year to $56.1 mln vs the $58.8 mln consensus.
8:04AM Cypress Semi beats by $0.03, beats on revs (CY) 19.15 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.32 per share, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.29; revenues rose 7.0% year/year to $242.3 mln vs the $236.68 mln consensus. All core divisions and most major product lines decreased sequentially as expected. Non-GAAP consolidated gross margin for Q4 was 56.1%, down 1.8 percentage points from the previous quarter due mainly to product mix and factory.
Booking visibility will remain limited into Q1 due to historically low lead-times, continued inventory adjustments and ongoing concerns over worldwide macroeconomic issues. Book-to-bill ratio for Q4 was 0.58, a decrease from that of Q3 and less than the normal seasonal figure. Consequently, expect Q1 revenue also to decrease at a rate greater than normal. The expected decrease in revenue includes not only the seasonal factor, but also some revenue decreases due to tablet end sales. Assuming no further macroeconomic deterioration, expect that bookings and revenue will bottom out in Q1 2012 and lead to a strong second half as many new product design wins ramp into production.
6:31AM Nokia convenes annual general meeting 2012; dividend of EUR 0.20 per share will be proposed for 2011; will propose 360 mln share repurchase (NOK) 5.26 : The Board will propose to the Annual General Meeting that a dividend of EUR 0.20 per share be paid for the fiscal year 2011. The ex-dividend date would be May 4, 2012, the record date May 8, 2012 and the payment date on or about May 23, 2012. The Board will propose that the Annual General Meeting authorize the Board to resolve to repurchase a maximum of 360 million Nokia shares. The proposed maximum number of shares is the same as in the Board's current share repurchase authorization and it represents less than 10 % of all the shares of the Company.
NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) announced the availability of several new LED driver ICs in its SSL2108x family for compact, non-dimmable retrofit lamps, following the success of the SSL21081.
09:18 am Suntech Power downgraded to Sell at Stifel Nicolaus: . Stifel Nicolaus downgrades STP to Sell from Hold following a surge in solar equities they continue to be cautious on the sector, as they see the recent optimism as short-lived ahead of additional subsidy revisions in Germany, and as checks indicate that pricing remains still challenging and inventories high in a seasonally weak period.
12:26 pm S&P Tech Sector Up Modestly, In-line With The S&P 500
The tech sector is trading slightly lower today, along with losses in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative strength in the tech space, however, with the Philly Semi Index trading 0.1% higher. TER (+4.9%) is a standout, while SNDK (-9.2%) is a notable laggard in the chip index. Among other major indices, the S&P 500 is trading 0.2% lower, while the NASDAQ is trading 0.1% higher and the QQQ is 0.1% lower on the session. Among tech bellwethers, GOOG (+0.4%) is showing strength, while T (-2.1%) is a notable underperformer.
In earnings last night, SNDK (-9.2%), SYMC (-1.3%), and CTXS (-3.4%) each posted slight upside to its quarterly earnings results with inline revenues, but all offered downside guidance. This morning, NOK (+3.7%) posted a modest earnings beat, while T (-2.1%) reported a mixed Q4.
In news, RNWK (+29.7%) announced it has signed an agreement to sell a significant number of its patents and its video codec software to INTC (-0.7%) for a purchase price of $120 mln.
Among notable analyst upgrades this morning, EFII (+3.6%) was upgraded to Outperform at BMO Capital. Among downgrades, GLW (-2.4%) was downgraded to Underweight at Morgan Stanley and ADP (-2.0%) was downgraded at Well Fargo and Citi.
CLS (-1.5%), FSL (+2.6%), and JNPR (+0.7%) are the notable names in tech scheduled to report results today after the close |
