From Briefing.com: Investors tiptoed back into tech one day after heading for the exit en masse but networking leader Cisco Systems (CSCO 23.82 -0.26) continued to fall, shedding another 1.1% on top of Wednesday's 8.8% loss. The Briefing.com Tech Index (BTI) tacked on 0.3% with advancers leading decliners 1.3:1. Advancers rose 2.8% and decliners fell 2.9%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX 495.73 +2.38) moved up 0.48%. Advancers outnumbered decliners 2.0:1. The Nasdaq Composite (IXIC 2019.56 +5.42) added 0.27%, the Dow (DJI 10495.55 +24.81) gained 0.24% and the S&P (SPX 1128.59 +2.07) edged higher 0.18%.
Investors were unmoved Thursday by the rise in new unemployment claims to 356K, instead focusing on earnings and Friday's report on January Payrolls as the primary drivers for equities trading. Cerner (CERN 45.03 +6.58) was one of the big winners in Thursday's session after posting results ahead of expectations. Shares jumped over 17% in heavy trading. We think there is limited upside from current level until growth accelerates into the mid to high teens range or management expands operating margin into the high 20% range. We would take profits on today's strength and wait for a 10-15% pull-back before opening a new position. Please visit the Story Stocks page for our assessment of Q4 results and investment summary. Other strong movers include: Akamai (AKAM 14.50 +3.05, +26.6%), Endwave (ENWV 11.34 +1.90, +20.1%) and Switchboard (SWBD 6.14 -1.65, -21.2%).
After the close, American Power Conversion (APCC 26.38 +1.46), Electronic Data Systems (EDS 23.29 +0.22), Maxim Integrated Products (MXIM 48.72 +0.03) and Triquint Semiconductor (TQNT 8.42 +0.41) reported results ahead of consensus. Please see the Industry Briefs section on the Tech Stocks page for details.
Looking ahead to Friday, the focus will be on jobs. Please visit the Looking Ahead and Economic Calendar pages for Briefing.com's perspective on what to expect out of the January Payroll report due at 8:30am ET. Ericsson (ERICY 23.70 +1.17), Veeco Instruments (VECO 27.44 +0.24) and Vishay Intertechnology (VSH 21.93 +0.23) report before the open, and Nam Tai Electronics (NTE 27.33 -1.23) after the close.--Ping Yu, Briefing.com
6:21PM Thursday After Hours prices levels vs. 4 pm ET: A relatively quiet night of trading that has wrapped a week (thus far) of fairly volatile trading. Today's session was more sedate - the major indices finishing with slight gains - but still lacking the same upside momentum the market has exhibited in earlier weeks.
Tonight's releases have come from a variety of companies with limited market impact. As a result, the after hours indications are close to unchanged - the S&P futures, at 1126, 2 points below fair value, and the Nasdaq 100 futures, at 1467, 2 points above fair value. The below table lists tonight's most notable announcements, and the reasons behind the stock's resulting move.
After Hours Mover % Change Move Reason for Move
Business Objects (BOBJ) -5% Business intelligence solutions provider reports Q4 (Dec) revenues of $158.0 mln, better than the Reuter Research consensus estimate; Q4 license revenues came in at $76 mln, and for more details behind this number, visit Briefing.com's Earnings Briefing; Business Objects also guided Q1 (Mar) EPS and revenues in line with the Street's expectations
California Micro Devices (CAMD) +14% Small-cap semiconductor company surpasses the consensus EPS estimate by $0.03 on sales that rose 50% in Q3 (Dec) report; Analog name originally raised its Q3 outlook on January 5, and topping those forecasts has put an additional bid in CAMD
EDS (EDS) unch Professional services firm shows upside in its Q4 (Dec) report and issues guidance for Q1 (Mar) and FY04 that appears to be in-line, to even above consensus estimates; Traders hold off on accumulating more shares with EDS 7% off a 52-week high and questions lingering regarding its turnaround plan
Maxim Integrated (00C0) +3% Large-cap semi name tops the Street's estimates for earnings and revenues in its Q2 (Dec) report and also declares a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share; Management say that bookings exceeded their expectations, and that it believes 'the ATE market will continue to improve during calendar 2004'
Schering-Plough (SGP) -2% Drug company discontinues its Phase III clinical study of Sarasar in non-small-cell lung cancer, Negative development for a company whose leading franchise is unable to grow sales; Briefing.com recommended investors avoid SGP for now (in a Story Stock Jan 26) with management calling for another EPS decline in FY04 (Dec)
Tomorrow, all eyes will be on the January employment report, which will be released at 8:30 ET. Following December's disappointment - in which jobs grew by a mere 1K versus a consensus estimate of 148K, traders will be looking to see if nonfarm payrolls increased at a faster rate. The current consensus estimate is pegged at 165K, and Briefing.com discusses the pros and cons of coming in below - and above - the figure in our Looking Ahead column.
For more detail on these, and other developments, be sure to visit our Stock Market Update and Daily Sector Wrap. -- Heather Smith, Briefing.com
4:53PM TriQuint Semi confirmation (TQNT) : -- Update -- Reuters Research is indicating that excluding items actual of a $0.01 earnings per share is comparable to the loss of $0.01 consensus... see 16:24 comment for full earnings report.
4:41PM American Power beats by $0.02, ex items, beats on revs (APCC) 26.38 +1.46: Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.29 per share, excluding items, $0.02 better than the Reuters Research consensus of $0.27; revenues rose 20.3% year/year to $430.6 mln vs the $398.2 mln consensus.
4:28PM California Micro beats by $0.03 (CAMD) 10.97 +0.72: Reports Q3 (Dec) earnings of $0.12 per share, $0.03 better than the Reuters Research consensus of $0.09; revenues rose 50.4% year/year to $17.0 mln vs the $17.0 mln consensus.
4:27PM Maxim Integrated beats by a penny, beats on revs; declares dividend (MXIM) 48.72 +0.03: Reports Q2 (Dec) earnings of $0.28 per share, $0.01 better than the Reuters Research consensus of $0.27; revenues rose 18.2% year/year to $338.1 mln vs the $329.7 mln consensus. Co declares a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share.
4:24PM TriQuint Semi reports for Q4 (TQNT) 8.42 +0.41: Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.06 per share, which includes two benefits which accounted for gains of $8.1 mln. After backing these gains out co's EPS is a net of breakeven, Reuters Research consensus of ($0.01); revenues rose 22.4% year/year to $89.0 mln vs the $85.8 mln consensus. Checking with Reuters for a comparable.
12:50PM WDC: In 8-K, co reissues guidance provided Jan 22 9.75 +0.07:
11:04AM Intel approaches Dec lows (INTC) 29.90 -0.11: -- Technical -- Losses are minor thus far but the issue is of interest as it has slipped back toward support at its Dec lows (29.71/29.66) in recent action (session low 29.81).
Ibis Tech (IBIS) 13.96 +1.97 : Co announced the receipt of an order for one Ibis i2000 SIMOX implanter, with an option to purchase a second i2000, from a leading international silicon wafer manufacturer. Co believes this order from a wafer manufacturer indicates that their SIMOX-SOI technology has taken another step forward in the marketplace as a solution for lower cost to wafer manufacturers when producing the SOI wafers needed by the chipmakers.
National Semiconductor (NSM) 37.45 +0.83 : UBS does not believe that current price reflects the "new National" and thinks the current price offers an attractive entry point. Firm expects co's FebQ to reconfirm its progress on margin goals. It is firm's opinion the National will deserve a multiple that approaches that of Texas Instrument when it can demonstrate revenue growth in addition to margins and return ratios more similar to TI and ADI. Price tgt $56.
Gemplus International (GEMP) 5.00 -0.02 : Gemplus International (GEMP 5.00 -0.02): Business Week commented on Gemplus International. GEMP offers smart-card services to telecom and financial-services companies for use in security, wireless, and e-businesses Traded in the U.S. as American depositary receipts, GEMP has risen from $2.75 in August to 5.00 on Feb. 5. The surge in smart-card demand is due in part to rising sales of cellular phones, says Eric Swergold of Gruber & McBaine Capital Mgmtt, which owns 2.9 mln shares. He sees the stock hitting $8 this year and $12 in 18 months. Jason Diamond of CapStone Investments says co's clients include Nextel (NXTL) and Vodafone (VOD) and co also has partnerships with IBM (IBM), Microsoft (MSFT), and MasterCard. Also co has a contract to ship 2 mln cards to the United Arab Emirates for an ID security system, says Diamond, who rates the stock a strong buy.
Sprint PCS (PCS 8.69 +0.13): Bear Stearns, Legg Mason and Smith Barney all upgraded Sprint PCS. Bear Stearns ups to Outperform with an $11 target based on 1) The wireless industry is consolidating, historically a driver for industry outperformance; 2) Strong operational turnaround; 3) Street estimates need to come up to guidance and the firm thinks guidance is beatable; 4) Still trades at substantial EV/EBITDA discount to peers. The firm said the stock is the best pure-play wireless name for investors who want exposure to industry consolidation. Even if Sprint remains independent its competitors will likely be distracted for some time. As for valuation, stock trades at 6.6x 2004 EBITDA vs 7.1x for AWE and 7.6x for NXTL. Legg Mason upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and establishes a $12 price target. The solid operational outlook was driven by two key items which include alternative revenue streams offsetting the voice ARPU decline and cost structure reductions keyed by outsourcing of back-office functions. Smith Barney upgraded to Buy from Hold.
Electroglas (EGLS) 4.72 +0.07 : Before the open, reported Q4 (Dec) non-GAAP loss of $0.27 per share, excluding $4.6 mln of impairment charges, $0.4 mln of restructuring charges and $7.2 mln of other one-time charges for inventory and warranty provisions, which were offset by $1.5 mln gain on sale of a product line, $0.03 better than the Reuters Research consensus of ($0.30); revenues rose 8.6% year/year to $14.3 mln vs the $11.8 mln consensus. Co also guided Q1, sees revenues in range of $15-16 mln vs the R.R. consensus of $12.1 mln.
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