From Briefing.com: 4:30 pm : A midmorning drop of more than 1% threatened to give the stock market its eighth straight loss before buyers began to bid stocks higher in afternoon action.
Listlessness among stocks during early trade caused the S&P 500 to roll over to a new 2011 low. From its 10-day high to this session's low, the S&P 500 was down more than 8%.
Data didn't do anything to stop sellers from applying more pressure, even though the July ADP Employment Change showed that private payrolls increased by 114,000, which is greater than the increase of 100,000 that had been widely expected. The July ISM Services Index was expected to improve to 53.7, but instead it slipped to 52.7 from 53.3 in the prior month. Factory orders for June fell by 0.8%, which is less steep than the 1.0% decline that had been broadly anticipated.
Selling pressure in recent sessions has led to several technical breakdowns, but stocks were able to secure support at the 38% retracement level of the surge that spanned from July 2010 to May 2011. Support at that point helped trigger a rebound that many traders began to chase.
Although it initially encountered some resistance, the Nasdaq had an easier time turning higher, mostly because tech stocks began to provide leadership. Tech stocks collectively climbed 1.2%. Many consider MasterCard (MA 338.47, +39.98) to be a financial play, but the stock was actually a top performer in the tech sector. Its surge to a new record high came after the company posted an impressive quarterly report. There was a barrage of other earnings reports, most of which were better than expected, but none had any real impact on broad market trade.
As a group, energy stocks suffered a 0.6% loss, which made them the worst performers of the day. Weakness in the space came as oil prices fell almost 2% to close pit trade slightly below $92 per barrel. While weekly inventory data showed a slightly smaller-than-expected build, macro concerns continue to weigh on the price of oil. Oil has actually closed lower in five of the past six sessions.
An interest in safety sent gold futures higher by 1.3% to settle pit trade at $1665.70 per ounce, while silver soared 3.9% to close at $41.69 per ounce. Gold actually registered an all-time high of $1675.90 per ounce in overnight trade. Silver set a multi-month high of $42.06 per ounce.
A weaker dollar made it easier for precious metals to push higher. The dollar ended the day with a 0.7% loss against a collection of competing currencies. The dollar's downturn was partly attributable to efforts by the Swiss National Bank to weaken the franc.
Share volume on the NYSE cleared 1 billion for the fourth straight session. That marks a sharp pick up in participation over the paltry volume levels seen on the Big Board during recent months.
Advancing Sectors: Tech +1.2%, Telecom +1.0%, Industrials +0.8%, Consumer Discretionary +0.7%, Consumer Staples +0.6%, Financials +0.5%, Materials +0.4%, Health Care +0.1%
Declining Sectors: Utilities -0.1%, Energy -0.6%DJ30 +29.82 NASDAQ +23.83 NQ100 +0.9% R2K +0.8% SP400 +0.5% SP500 +6.29 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1519/2.61 bln/1034 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1743/1.35 bln/1262
4:18PM GT Solar beats by $0.10, beats on revs; guides FY12 EPS in-line, revs in-line (SOLR) 13.06 -0.51 : Reports Q1 (Jun) earnings of $0.41 per share, $0.10 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.31; revenues fell 14.9% year/year to $231.1 mln vs the $225.7 mln consensus. Gross profit for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 totaled $113.4 million, or 49.1 percent of revenue, up from $116.9 million, or 43.0 percent of revenue in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 and $45.9 million, or 34.0 percent of revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2011. Operating margin for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 was 34.0 percent of revenue, compared to 30.5 percent of revenue in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 and 20.0 percent in the first quarter of fiscal 2011. As of July 2, 2011, the company's backlog was $2.3 billion, the highest level of quarter-ending backlog ever achieved by the company. This included $978.2 million in the polysilicon segment, $369.6 million in the PV segment and $952.5 million in the sapphire segment. Included in the total backlog was $395.7 million of deferred revenue. Net new orders for the first quarter were $1.3 billion, which included $464.7 million in polysilicon, $95.2 million in PV and $776.8 million in sapphire. Co issues in-line guidance for FY12, sees EPS of $1.55-1.85, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $1.78 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY12 revs of $1.0-1.1 bln vs. $1.07 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. The company is raising its gross margin guidance to a range of 43 percent to 45 percent up from the prior guidance of 42 percent to 44 percent.
4:13PM Atmel beats by $0.04, reports revs in-line (ATML) 11.90 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.26 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.22; revenues rose 21.7% year/year to $478.6 mln vs the $475.5 mln consensus. During the second quarter of 2011, Atmel repurchased 2.0 million shares of its common stock in the open market at an average price of $13.64 per share. Gross margin advanced to 51.8% in the second quarter of 2011, a record for the company. This compares to gross margin of 51.0% in the first quarter of 2011 and 40.6% in the second quarter of 2010.
4:08PM ON Semiconductor misses by $0.01, beats on revs; guides Q3 revs in-line (ONNN) 8.57 +0.21 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.25 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.26; revenues rose 55.3% year/year to $905.8 mln vs the $879.7 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q3, sees Q3 revs of $895-925 mln, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $914.68 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. "Backlog levels for the third quarter of 2011 represent approximately 90 percent of our anticipated third quarter 2011 revenues. We expect that average selling prices for the third quarter of 2011 will be flat to down approximately one percent when compared to the second quarter of 2011. The non-GAAP outlook for the third quarter of 2011 includes stock-based compensation expense of approximately $12 million."
4:04PM MEMC Elec announces agreement to acquire U.S. subsidiary of Fotowatio Renewable Ventures; MEMC will pay $112 mln, plus repayment of ~ $22.9 million in intercompany loans and capital contributions (WFR) 6.99 -0.03 :
9:09AM RF Micro Device shareholders approve all proposals during 2011 annual meeting of shareholders (RFMD) 6.51 : The proposals approved by RFMD shareholders included Election of eight directors to serve a one-year term; approved on an advisory, non-binding basis, the Company's executive compensation; approved on an advisory, non-binding basis, a frequency of every one year for holding the non-binding, advisory vote on executive compensation, and Reapproved the RF co's Cash Bonus Plan.
8:03AM O2Micro misses by $0.01, reports revs in-line (OIIM) 4.93 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.09 per share, $0.01 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.10; revenues fell 17.5% year/year to $32.5 mln vs the $32.7 mln consensus. The company ended the second quarter of 2011 with $114.9 million in unrestricted cash and short-term investments or $3.43 per outstanding ADS. The accounts receivable balance was $14.9 million and represented 40 days sales outstanding at the end of Q2 2011. Inventory was $11.7 million or 77 days and turned over 4.7 times during Q2 2011. As of June 30, 2011, the company had $129.0 million in working capital and the book value was $183.2 million, or $5.47 per outstanding ADS.
7:38AM Molex misses by $0.02, reports revs in-line (MOLX) 22.30 : Reports Q4 (Jun) earnings of $0.44 per share, $0.02 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.46; revenues rose 7.8% year/year to $913.7 mln vs the $916.7 mln consensus.
Microsemi Corporation (MSCC) announced the immediate availability of Intrinsic-ID's QuiddikeyTM security intellectual property (IP) on its flash-based devices and development board including the SmartFusion customizable system-on-chip, as well as ProASIC3, IGLOO and Fusion FPGAs.
China Digital TV (STV) and Intel Capital, Intel Corporation's (INTC) global investment organization, jointly announced an Intel Capital investment in Beijing JoySee Technology, a subsidiary of China Digital TV.
Research In Motion (RIMM) announced plans to launch 5 new BlackBerry smartphones based on the BlackBerry 7 Operating System RIM, in conjunction with carriers and distribution partners around the world, is rolling out two new BlackBerry Bold models and three new BlackBerry Torch models, all running the powerful new BlackBerry 7 OS.
Integrated Silicon Solution (ISSI) announced it has begun sampling production units of its new 2 Gigabit DDR2 device, the newest addition to their family of DDR2 SDRAMs.
09:08 am Analog Devices downgraded to Neutral at Sterne Agee: . Sterne Agee downgrades ADI to Neutral from Buy based on near-term Macro trends with weakening Industrial orders and consumer spending. They believe current 2H consensus estimates might be too high. ADI has shown excellent financial execution and caution with not overestimating a Japan tailwind, but some of its key markets appear to be weakening into a seasonal 2H. |
