From Briefing.com: 4:17PM KLA-Tencor beats by $0.03, beats on revs (KLAC) 37.59 -0.17 : Reports Q4 (Jun) earnings of $0.60 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the First Call consensus of $0.57; revenues fell 19.8% year/year to $590.7 mln vs the $572.8 mln consensus. "This was a year of solid execution for KLA-Tencor in a tough overall market environment. We expanded our potential market opportunity through the acquisition of ICOS Vision Systems, and delivered good operating performance in a very challenging demand environment. Our strong performance in the face of these challenges reflects the strength of our market leadership, the superior value we deliver to our customers in helping them meet their yield demands, and the resilience of the KLA-Tencor team."
4:05PM Monolithic Power reports EPS in-line, beats on revs; guides Q3 revs above consensus (MPWR) 21.75 -0.55 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.20 per share, in-line with the First Call consensus of $0.20; revenues rose 34.7% year/year to $41.5 mln vs the $40 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q3, sees Q3 revs of $46-49 mln vs. $45.64 mln consensus.
4:04PM Kulicke & Soffa announces agreements to acquire Orthodyne Electronics and divest the K&S Wire business unit (KLIC) 6.36 -0.30 : Co announces it has entered into definitive agreements to acquire substantially all of the assets of Orthodyne Electronics Corporation, a leading supplier of wedge bonders, and sell the K&S wire business unit to W.C. Heraeus GmbH, a precious metals and technology group that has a leading position in its markets.
4:04PM Photon Dynamics reports Q3 (Jun) results, beats on revs (PHTN) 14.90 -0.06 : Reports Q3 (Jun) earnings of $0.21 per share, includes items, may not be comparable to the First Call consensus of $0.23; revenues rose 2.3% year/year to $46.1 mln vs the $44.8 mln consensus.Net income for the third quarter of fiscal 2008 reflects net charges of $2.5 mln related to the following items: Stock-based employee compensation expense of $1.1 mln; Acquisition related charges of $1.6 mln; Recovery of previously reserved inventory of $1.1 mln; Amortization of intangible assets of $0.9 mln.
4:03PM Pericom Semi beats by $0.01, beats on revs; guides Q1 revs in-line (PSEM) : Reports Q4 (Jun) earnings of $0.17 per share, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.16; revenues rose 37.8% year/year to $43.4 mln vs the $42.6 mln consensus; Gross margin was 36.0%, down from 37.6% last quarter, and down from 36.5% in the comparable period last year, mainly due to a higher mix of FCP products compared to the previous periods. Co issues in-line guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $44-46 mln vs. $45.06 mln consensus. Gross margins are expected to be in the 36.0% to 37.0% range. Margins are influenced by the product mix of turns business and sales, if any, of previously reserved inventory.
4:03PM Cray misses by $0.01, beats on revs; reaffirms FY08 revs guidance (CRAY) 5.08 -0.22 : Reports Q2 (Jun) loss of $0.15 per share, $0.01 worse than the First Call consensus of ($0.14); revenues rose 75.6% year/year to $46.7 mln vs the $46 mln consensus. Co reaffirms guidance for FY08, sees FY08 revs in the range of $280 mln vs. $266.99 mln consensus, with revs weighted heavily toward Q4. Co continues to expect to be profitable for the year. Co sees Y08 gross margins to be similar to 2007 for the year, but to fluctuate significantly.
4:30 pm : A late sell off knocked the stock market sharply lower before closing near its worst point of the session. The Dow and the S&P 500 finished 1.8% and 1.3% lower, respectively. The Nasdaq closed with a modest loss.
Thursday’s loss concluded what was an overall pessimistic session. The tone was set early on after disappointing economic data was unveiled.
According to the latest government data, the U.S. economy expanded 1.9% in the second quarter, missing the 2.3% gain economists were expecting. Though the top line of this number is a bit disappointing, its downside surprise is due to a negative impact from inventories. What is more, trends in consumer spending, business investment, exports, and government spending were generally better than forecast.
Many Wall Street pundits and economists believe U.S. economic growth will not return to its full potential until housing has successfully turned around. Former Fed Chairman Greenspan stated in an interview on CNBC that home prices are nowhere near a bottom. He also acknowledged there is still a 50-50 chance the U.S. will experience a recession.
On a similar note, The Wall Street Journal reported Treasury Secretary Paulson noted that housing is still correcting, but the fiscal stimulus has helped economic growth.
Adding to the dour mood among participants, jobless claims for the week ended July 26 climbed 44,000 to 448,000, marking the third time in the last five weeks claims have surpassed 400,000. Continuing claims rose 6.0% to 3.282 million, while the four-week moving average jumped to 393,000 from 382,000.
In the end, the disappointing economic data trumped relatively upbeat earnings data from several widely held companies
11:01AM Intel, Facebook sign infrastructure solutions agreement (INTC) 22.56 +0.33 :
8:40AM Vishay names new Chief Financial Officer (VSH) 8.95 : Co announces that Lior Yahalomi will become the company's CFO and Lori Lipcaman will assume the newly created role of Chief Accounting Officer, Richard Grubb will step down as CFO, effective Sept 1, 2008, but will be a consultant to the company's Executive Chairman.
7:08AM Motorola beats by $0.05, beats on revs; guides Q3 EPS in-line; guides FY08 EPS above consensus (MOT) 7.68 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.02 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.05 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.03); revenues fell 7.4% year/year to $8.08 bln vs the $7.69 bln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.00-0.02, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.01 consensus. Co issues upside guidance for FY08, sees EPS of $0.06-0.08, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.01 consensus. "The Company had positive operating cash flow of $204 million and ended the quarter with a net cash position of $3.6 billion and a total cash position of $7.8 billion."
7:07AM Solarfun Power signs 30MW sales contract with Martifer Solar (SOLF) 13.47 : Co announces that Jiangsu Linyang Solarfun, a subsidiary of SOLF, has entered into a 30MW sales contract with Martifer Solar Sistemas Solares. Under the terms of the agreement, Solarfun has agreed to supply a total of 30MW of PV modules to Martifer Solar at a fixed price to be delivered according to a binding delivery schedule from January 2009 to December 2009.
4:02AM Taiwan Semi reports EPS in-line, revs in-line (TSM) 9.80 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.18 per share, in-line with the First Call consensus of $0.18; revenues rose 28.1% year/year to $2.9 bln vs the $2.88 bln consensus. Co expects Q3 revenue growth to be below seasonality. Q308 revenue is expected to be between NT$90 bln and NT$92 bln; gross profit margin is expected to be between 45% and 47%; operating profit margin is expected to be between 34% and 36%.
12:53AM Cabot Microelectronics receives ruling in Markman hearing in patent infringement enforcement action against DuPont Air Products NanoMaterials, LLC (CCMP) 39.07 : Co announces that on July 25, 2008, the U.S. District Court for the District of AZ issued its patent claim construction, or "Markman" Order, in Cabot Microelectronics' ongoing patent infringement litigation against DuPont Air Products NanoMaterials, LLC. In the recently issued Markman Order, the Court adopted interpretations that Cabot Microelectronics believes are favorable to Cabot Microelectronics on all claim terms that were in dispute in the litigation.
09:35 am Dell: . Cowen upgraded DELL to Outperform from Neutral and believe the shares can outperform the market by 25% in the next year. The firm base this on the success Dell is having in bringing down op ex, gaining share and growing revenues in consumer, S.M.B and emerging markets.
09:34 am First Solar: . Target $330 to $350. Credit Suisse raises their FSLR tgt to $350 from $330 following earnings. While they'd prefer if it were not routine for investors to expect more from FSLR every quarter, they think there is enough in the name for it to grind its way higher towards their new price target of $350. They think FSLR, along with ENER and SPWR are the "best of breed" solar companies - differentiated technologies with sustainable barriers. Their analysis suggests FSLR's cost structure and PV's distributed generation advantages should allow co to deliver inline or better bottomline results per watt even on utility scale contracts despite competition from wind and solar thermal.
11:04 am Motorola (MOT)
Motorola (MOT 8.57, +0.89) posted an unexpected profit -- albeit a small one of $4 million -- and gave a solid outlook. Investors are pleased, sending shares 11.6% higher.
Analysts expected Motorola to post a second quarter loss of $0.03 per share, but Motorola surprised Wall Street by earning $0.02 per share, excluding one-time items.
Revenue slipped 7.4% year-over-year to $8.08 billion, although the result was better than the $7.69 billion consensus. The catalyst behind the sales drop was a 22% decrease in mobile devices segment sales, although its bleeding is slowing with Motorola maintaining its market share of the global handset market.
Home networks mobility segment sales rose 7%, and enterprise mobility solutions rose 6%, which offset the weakness in mobile devices.
The company expects to earn between $0.06 to $0.08 per share, ex-items, in fiscal year 2008, which tops the $0.01 consensus estimate. |
