09:57 ET Apple Computer (AAPL) 20.41 +0.91 (+4.7%): Wit SoundView feels that in light of further weakness in consumer PC demand in March, there is moderate risk that Apple falls short of its heavily sought goal of a "slight profit" in MarQ and a high risk company falls short of consensus estimates for the JunQ.
09:46 ET Winstar Comms (WCII) 13/32 halted: -- Update -- Troubled telecom company says will halt domestic and international network expansion for the remainder of the year; company also immediately reducing its workforce by approximately 2,000 employees. Plans to provide more details once discussions concerning several material transactions are concluded.
09:43 ET Strong Groups : What isn't strong? Techs surge out of the gate, led by optical equipment, storage, PC hardware, and internet sectors. Nasdaq (+73) trading 7 pts off its high of the morning.
09:31 ET World Access (WAXS) 7/32: Receives notice of default from holders of its 13.25% Senior Notes due 2008. The Noteholders have filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition.
09:22 ET Xbox Over-reaction : Wedbush Morgan reiterates ratings on ERTS, THQI, TTWO, THDO; does not believe any delay in receiving updated Xbox development kits is currently affecting the creation of Xbox games made by major U.S. publishers.
09:16 ET Seattle Genetics (SGEN) 4 7/8: Banc of America Sec. initiates coverage with a BUY and $10 price target. Expect the stock to rise once Seattle Genetics presents positive data on either of its lead product candidates, displays progress of its clinical pipeline, and/or signs additional drug development alliances, which would reduce the risk to Seattle Genetics and generate revenues.
09:11 ET FLAG Telecom (FTHL) 3 5/16: Verizon Communications (VZ) to purchase certain European dark fibre and collocation facilities owned by FLAG Telecom. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
09:09 ET Gapping Up : YHOO +22% (Lehman upgrades)... PRGN +19% (reaffirms guidance)... SCMR +17% (Cisco dumps competing switch)... BEAS +16% (CEO reaffirms guidance for second time in as many days)... CIEN +9% (see SCMR)... DELL +8% (reaffirms guidance)... Other movers of note include JNPR +14%, JDSU +9%, CSCO +7%, ORCL +6.5%, INTC +6%.
09:05 ET Amer Home Prods (AHP) 56.29: JP Morgan initiates coverage with a BUY rating and a 12-month price target of $67. Projects 16-17% EPS growth through 2003, fueled by robust 14-15% pharmaceutical sales growth.
09:03 ET Speechworks Intl (SPWX) 5: Microsoft Corp (MSFT) licenses company's Speechify text-to-speech (TTS) engine.
09:02 ET Opening Indications : S&P futures +23.5, or 26 pts above fair value; Nasdaq futures +42, or 39.5 pts below fair value. Still looking like a solidly positive open; S&P and Dow indications strengthening, aided by solid earnings from AA.
09:00 ET BlackRock (BLK) 32.00: Merrill Lynch upgrades to NT ACCUMULATE from NT NEUTRAL based on recent price weakness. BLK is gaining market share in the institutional fixed income business at an accelerating clip.
08:49 ET Park Place Entrmnt (PPE) 9.75: Goldman Sachs upgrades to MKT OUTPERFORM from MKT PERFORM based on cash flow characteristics (DCF analysis suggests a price of $13 per share), underlying asset value, historical trading patterns and entering the seasonally strongest season in Atlantic City. Says this is purely a trading and valuation call, as we do not expect a significant turnaround in fundamentals for another 2 quarters.
08:48 ET PacifiCare Hlth (PHSY) 23 15/16: -- Update -- Though company reaffirmed previous guidance, the street sees this as upward guidance. PHSY had indeed previously stated that full year EPS would be $2.94, but many analysts doubted this number and the consensus was only $2.29. One firm -- CSFB -- reiterated a SELL rating after PHSY's last report and said that the company would lose $2.18 instead of earning $2.94.
08:47 ET Audiocodes (AUDC) 8: Prudential downgrading to SELL from ACCUMULATE and cutting price target to $8 from $21; slashes FY01 est. to $0.22 from $0.70 and revenue view to $46 mln from $93.8 mln. Company continues to be impacted by delayed or cancelled orders by both large and small customers.
08:43 ET Novellus (NVLS) 33 7/8: SG Cowen initiates coverage with a BUY and $70 price target. Calls NVLS the best midcap play on technology shifts; 300mm, copper, low-k, and shrinks. Operational outsourcing model & outstanding time to market key competitive differentiators. Expect 15% growth in 2002 after a tough 2001, fueled by market share gains and new products.
08:38 ET Verizon Comms (VZ) 48.90: -- Update -- Merrill Lynch says Verizon Wireless report of a 518K increase in new customers was below firm's range of 575-750K (with most analysts at 700-750K). Thinks shortfall was due primarily to two factors that are, in this case, specific to Verizon Wireless; 1) a one-time adjustment to the prepaid base and 2) an increase in churn, in particular higher analog churn. Nevertheless, expects sector to be under pressure today as investors react to the news.
08:37 ET Genentech (DNA) 41.25: CIBC World Markets upgrades to STRONG BUY from BUY on price basis. Cites strong presentation on broad pipeline at recent conferences. Positive results of RITZ 2 study of tezosentan (acute heart failure) at ACC meeting and positive Phase III data on Xolair for prevention of seasonal allergenic rhinits also cited. Price target is $88.
08:34 ET NetZero (NZRO) 1/2: Inks 2-yr agreement to become a provider of dial access Internet services for IBM's Affinity programs. As part of the relationship, NetZero's new bannerless pay service will become one of the primary choices when Affinity partners require prepaid Internet service.
08:30 ET Economic Data : US jobless claims for the week ended 3/31 rose 18K to 383K, compared to consensus of 372K.
08:30 ET Black & Decker (BDK) 36.88: Goldman Sachs upgrades to MKT OUTPERFORM from MKT PERFORM based on valuation. Strong housing markets, improving consumer confidence, and aggressive new product launches give some optimism for second half results, although the pace of recovery likely will be slower than previously believed. Price target is $45.
08:24 ET PacifiCare Hlth (PHSY) 23 15/16: Reaffirms previously disclosed earnings per share guidance of $0.35 for Q1 and $2.94 for the full yr.
08:20 ET Merrill Cuts PC Chipmakers : Merrill Lynch downgrades Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) to NEUTRAL from ACCUMULATE and downgrades Micron to NEUTRAL from BUY based on belief that demand from the low end of the PC business may not be meeting previous expectations. Need to see a convincing demand follow-through to support continued intermediate-term optimism for the stocks; checks do not suggest that we're getting that follow-through.
08:11 ET Emulex (EMLX) 12 1/2: -- Update -- Cites continuation of the downturn in Fibre Channel host bus adapter demand for need to lower forecasts. "It has now become clear that the progressive weakening of the economic climate impacted the storage networking sector during the first calendar quarter." Company has insufficient visibility to provide guidance on future quarters at this time.
08:05 ET Emulex (EMLX) 12 1/2: Company projecting that Q3 pro-forma earnings will approximate $0.13 per share, up roughly 30% from the yr-ago, but down from its earlier expectation of up to $0.23 (mean $0.20).
08:04 ET Corning Inc (GLW) 19: Robertson Stephens initiates coverage with a LT ATTRACTIVE rating. Says although Corning's valuation is largely driven by its telecommunications segment, we believe its portfolio approach diversifies risk of any particular business line and enables the company to capitalize on fast growing end-markets. Corning has not been (and cannot be) immune to the current decline in telecommunications spending and inventory overhang; but GLW is well positioned to capitalize on the projected long-term growth of the telecommunications market.
08:01 ET Opening Indications : S&P futures +24, or 27.5 pts above fair value; Nasdaq futures still +42, or 39.5 pts above fair value. In addition to guidance reaffirmations from DELL, BEAS, and PRGN, market also buoyed now by Bank of England rate cut and Lehman upgrade of YHOO.
07:54 ET Cisco Systems (CSCO) 13 11/16: After the close, Cisco announced plans to discontinue the optical switch acquired as part of its purchase Monterey Networks. Saw heavy buying (and short-covering) in shares of switch competitors Ciena (CIEN) and Sycamore Networks (SCMR) in reaction to the news.
07:47 ET Yahoo! (YHOO) 12 7/16: Lehman upgrades to BUY from MKT PERFORM; feels that at current levels, the downside on the stock is protected by takeover potential; convinced that the worst is over and the risk-reward on the shares is favorable for investors with a longer-term time horizon; firm has a 12-month price target of $20.
07:41 ET Geron Corp (GERN) 9 31/64: Announces publication of study that demonstrates the utility of the human telomerase promoter to drive the preferential expression of therapeutic genes in cancer cells.
07:37 ET Opening Indications : S&P futures +21, or 24.5 pts above fair value; Nasdaq futures +42, or 39.5 pts below fair value. Not much direction to recent futures action; still a positive leaning with several reaffirmations of guidance seen but no major earnings warnings.
07:36 ET Verizon Comms (VZ) 48.90: Company's Verizon Wireless unit reports a 518,000 increase in net new customers during Q1.
07:28 ET Bed Bath & Bynd (BBBY) 24 5/8: Speciality retailer reported Q4 net of $0.22 a share, a penny above Wall Street views. Revenues increased 31% to $746.11 mln. On the conference call, BBBY stated that it was comfortable with EPS estimates of $0.10 and $0.72 for Q1 and FY01.
07:19 ET BOE Lowers Rates : As expected, the Bank of England lowered its repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.5%. The Monetary Policy Committee stated that "while growth in final domestic demand has remained firm, there are downside risks to U.K. activity form the slowdown in the global economy, the recent fall in equity markets and, in the short-run, from foot-and-mouth disease. These developments could already have affected demand and output growth and may continue to do so, in particular through their impact on business and consumer confidence."
07:15 ET BEA Systems (BEAS) 20 11/16: -- Update -- After the close, company announced that it plans to reaffirm guidance issued Feb. 22. Company chairman will keynote a private luncheon hosted today by Morgan Stanley.
07:09 ET Opening Indications : This morning's fair value figures -- S&P 500 fair value: 1109.0; closed yesterday at 1112.5 or 3.5 pts above fair value. Nasdaq 100 fair value: 1382; closed yesterday at 1379.5 or 2.5 pts below fair value. Current indications: S&P 500 futures are +20.5, or 24 pts above fair value. Nasdaq 100 is +42, or 39.5 pts above fair value. Positive tone this morning is the result of Dell (DELL) reaffirming earnings guidance after the close yesterday; also saw reaffirmations from BEAS and PRGN. Earnings warnings still plentiful, but not coming from any major names.
07:08 ET Peregrine Sys. (PRGN) 13 3/4: Software company reaffirmed Q4 outlook of $0.16 in earnings and revenue of $170 mln. PRGN shares surged more than 19% in extended hours trading.
07:04 ET Qwest Comms (Q) 30.11: Responding to market rumors, company announced that it has no current intention to acquire, purchase any assets of, or invest in WinStar Communications (WCII), or any other fixed wireless company.
07:01 ET Dean Foods (DF) 32.50: Enters agreement to be acquired by Suiza Foods (SZA 46.44) in transaction valued at $2.5 bln, including the assumption of $1 bln in debt. Under terms of the agreement, Dean shareholders will receive total consideration of $40.92 per common share, consisting of $21 in cash and 0.429 shares of Suiza stock.
06:52 ET webMethods (WEBM) 17: -- Update -- Company says it will need to reassess revenue guidance and further monitor cost structure given that its customers, in a number of cases, are deferring IT spending decisions. WEBM to conduct a conference call at 8:30; dial-in number is 800-967-7135.
06:49 ET webMethods (WEBM) 17: Provider of integration software solutions expects to report Q4 results in the range of $0.00 to ($0.03), compared to a profit of $0.06 anticipated by Wall Street; puts revenue at $60-$62 mln (mean est. $65 mln).
06:41 ET Dell Computer (DELL) 22 3/16: After the close, PC maker issued press release stating plan to reaffirm Q1 earnings and revenue targets this morning at its spring analyst meeting. Company is maintaining quarterly targets of $0.17 a share, on $8 bln in revenue. (stocks to watch on Dell news include chip makers INTC and AMD and box names CPQ and GTW)
06:37 ET U.S. Markets : S&P futures trading at 1130, 19.0 points over fair value, Nasdaq 100 futures trading at 1421.50, 37.5 points over fair value. The 30-year bond is down 11 ticks at 5.499%, but is still faring better than the front of the curve on the back of an expected equity bounce.
06:36 ET European Markets : FTSE +1.12%, DAX +2.42% -- European stocks higher across the board. Sharp gains in US stock futures a major plus. Dell announced late yesterday that it plans to stick by its fiscal Q1 earnings estimate of $0.17 a share. Chipmakers outperform in Europe with ARM Holdings, ASM Lithography, Infenion and Royal Philips Electronics leading the way. On a more traditional note, Novartis up on EU approval to sell diabetes drug. UK retailers such as Ted Baker, Arcadia and Austine Reed all higher on favorable retail sales numbers. Orange boosted by inclusion in the French benchmark CAC40 Index at the expense of Equant. BT, the UK’s second large phone company, up almost 5% on talk of a possible sale of its directory services unit, Yell. Nokia and Ericssson supported by favorable comments from Goldman Sachs. Region’s carmakers also up with US auto sales coming in better than expected.
06:36 ET Asian Markets : Nikkei +1.05%, Hang Seng % -- Asian stocks higher on the Dell’s Q1 earnings affirmation. Technology outperforms. Singapore’s STI the biggest gainer, up 2.76% with reports of local bargain hunting and index buying. Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing , up almost 5%. Computer-related stocks such as NEC, Fujitsu and Sony lead Japan higher. Nikkei up for the third consecutive session. Favorable expectations surrounding the government’s emergency economic package to be released tomorrow also supportive, particularly for banks. Markets in Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan and India all closed for public holidays. |
