From Briefing.com: 4:35 pm Ixys reports DecQ results, revenue increases 5.8% YoY (IXYS) : Reports Q3 (Dec) earnings of $0.16 per share; revenues rose 5.8% year/year to $79.48 mln. There are no analyst estimates.
Co guides to Q3 (Mar) revenue being up 3% sequentially which we compute as $81.9 mln. There are no analyst estimates.
"Political uncertainty materially held back growth in 2016 as customers were reticent to make forecasts, preferring to purchase as needed on short lead times. IXYS was able to adapt to these conditions, securing new customers and stabilizing revenue trends. With various governmental elections decided by the end of 2016, focus has returned to economic development worldwide. Bookings are up and our backlog remains strong...Therefore, we are cautiously optimistic about our prospects and expect revenues in [MarQ] to increase 3% from [DecQ]."
4:13 pm Motorola Solutions beats by $0.17, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus (MSI) :
Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $2.03 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.17 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $1.86; revenues rose 12.0% year/year to $1.88 bln vs the $1.84 bln Capital IQ Consensus.
Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.52-0.57, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.67 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs growth of 3-5% year/year, which calculates to ~$1.23-1.25 bln vs. $1.28 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
4:10 pm Cypress Semi beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line; guides Q1 EPS in-line, revs above consensus (CY) :
Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.15 per share, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.14; revenues were unchanged from the year-ago period at $530.17 mln.
Co issues guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.09-0.13 vs. $0.10 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of $495-525 mln vs. $495.81 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
4:10 pm Pixelworks beats by $0.03, beats on revs; guides Q1 revs above consensus -- co preannounced Q4 revs on 1/10 (PXLW) :
Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.04 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.01; revenues rose 17.1% year/year to $15.99 mln vs the $15.49 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
On a non-GAAP basis, fourth quarter 2016 gross profit margin was 53.6%, compared to 48.6% in the third quarter of 2016 and 50.9% in the fourth quarter of 2015. Fourth quarter 2016 gross profit margin increased compared to the prior periods due to a more favorable sales mix and lower direct material cost, primarily for products sold into the digital projector market.
Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $22-23 mln vs. $18.52 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
"These results demonstrate the considerable progress we've made over the last few quarters to transform our operating model and strengthen the Company's fundamentals. Looking forward, we expect to achieve year-over-year revenue growth, excluding the anticipated EOL contribution, while also maintaining a goal of delivering profitability in 2017."
4:09 pm Rudolph Tech beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line; guides Q1 EPS below consensus, revs in-line (RTEC) :
Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.21 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.20; revenues rose 5.9% year/year to $54.1 mln vs the $54.17 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
Gross margins remained strong at 52 percent for the quarter.
Co issues guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.22-0.25, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.26 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of $57-60 mln vs. $58.23 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
4:08 pm Amazon beats by $0.12, misses on revs; guides Q1 below consensus (AMZN) :
Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $1.54 per share, $0.12 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $1.42; revenues rose 22.4% year/year to $43.74 bln vs the $44.69 bln Capital IQ Consensus.
NA sales +22% to $26.24 bln; operating income +28% to $816 mln
AWS slaes +47% to $3.53 bln; operating income +60% to $926 mln.
Co issues downside guidance for Q1:
Sees Q1 revs of $33.25-35.75 bln vs. $36 bln Capital IQ Consensus, or to grow between 14% and 23% compared with first quarter 2016. This guidance anticipates an unfavorable impact of ~$730 million or 250 basis points from foreign exchange rates.
Operating income is expected to be between $250 million and $900 mln vs. ests near $, compared with $1.1 billion in first quarter 2016.
"Prime members can now choose from over 50 million items with free two-day shipping - up 73% since 2015. Prime Video is now available in more than 200 countries and territories. Prime Now added 18 new cities, which means millions more members now get one and two hour delivery. New benefits were also added to the list, like Prime Reading, Audible Channels for Prime, Twitch Prime and more. And customers noticed - tens of millions of new paid members joined the program in just this past year."4:10 pm : Investors held their ground again on Thursday, as the major averages failed to deviate from their flat lines in range-bound action. The S&P 500 (+0.1%) finished just above its flat line, while the Nasdaq (-0.1%) closed just a tick lower. The sideways action took place ahead of tomorrow's release of the Employment Situation report for January (Briefing.com consensus 170k).
On the political front, House Speaker Paul Ryan announced on Thursday that tax reform and infrastructure bills, two key policies that fueled the post-election rally, will have to wait until the spring due to budgetary restrictions. For now, the new administration's focus will be health care reform.
The news did not invite an immediate response from the market, but it could lead to some anxiety as it appears that traders will have to wait a little while longer for validation of the post-election rally.
Facebook (FB 130.84, -1.41) was the focal point of today's earnings news after the company reported above-consensus earnings and revenue after yesterday's close. However, the stock finished Thursday lower by 1.8% on possible concerns surrounding the company's lackluster year-over-year revenue growth, which slowed down for the third consecutive quarter. Additionally, the stock entered today's session with a 16.0% year-to-date gain, so a muted response to the report wasn't necessarily unexpected.
Apple (AAPL 128.52, -0.23) and Microsoft (MSFT 63.17, -0.41) also had a rough day, losing 0.2% and 0.6%, respectively. Unsurprisingly, the tech sector (+0.1%) never got going on Thursday, but still finished in line with the S&P 500. Elsewhere among influential groups, the financial struggled amid relative weakness in large cap names. The space closed the day 0.4% lower.
Merck (MRK 64.18, +2.08) was the only Dow component to report earnings results on Thursday. The company missed revenue estimates and issued below-consensus guidance before the opening bell. However Merck shares jumped 3.4% as investors appeared more focused on the upcoming milestones for KEYTRUDA, the company's experimental lung cancer treatment. In addition, President Trump's expressed desire to cut industry regulation and speed up the drug approval process has been viewed as a positive for the industry. Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier was among the executives who attended Tuesday's meeting with President Trump at the White House.
On the upside, consumer staples (+0.8%) finished near the top of the leaderboard. The sector profited from positive reactions to quarterly reports from Estee Lauder (EL 82.00, +2.08) and Philip Morris (PM 98.84, +2.89) in addition to a 21.4% spike in the shares of Mead Johnson Nutrition (MJN 84.38, +14.88). The company's huge day came after confirming discussions with Reckitt Benckiser (RBGLY 18.16, +0.64) with respect to its proposal to acquire MJN for $90 per share in cash.
The lightly-weighted utilities (+1.0%) and real estate (+1.3%) sectors neighbored consumer staples at the top of the day's standings. However, the two spaces will enter Friday as the only countercyclical sectors holding week-to-date losses.
U.S. Treasuries held solid gains on Thursday morning, only to squandered them all by the day's close. The benchmark 10-yr yield finished its trading session unchanged at 2.47%.
Today's economic data included Initial Claims and fourth quarter Productivity & Unit Labor:
The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 246,000 while the Briefing.com consensus expected a reading of 250,000. Today's tally was below the revised prior week count of 260,000 (from 259,000). As for continuing claims, they declined to 2.064 million from the revised count of 2.103 million (from 2.100 million).
The key takeaway from this report is that initial claims continue to run at low levels, as employers appear reluctant to cut their payrolls.
Unit labor costs increased 1.7% during the fourth quarter, which was lower than the 1.9% increase that had been anticipated by the Briefing.com consensus. The preliminary productivity reading showed an increase of 1.3%. The Briefing.com consensus expected an increase of 1.0%.
The key takeaway from the report is that productivity is low, with the average annual rate of productivity growth from 2007 to 2016 being 1.1% versus the long-term rate of 2.1% from 1947 to 2016. For all of 2016, nonfarm business sector productivity increased 0.2%. Low productivity gets in the way of a rising standard of living.
Tomorrow's economic data will include the Employment Situation report for January (Briefing.com consensus 170k) at 8:30 am ET, while December Factory Orders (Briefing.com consensus 1.4%) and ISM Services (Briefing.com consensus 57.0) will cross the wires at 10:00 am ET.
Nasdaq Composite 4.7% YTD
S&P 500 1.9% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +0.6% YTD
Russell 2000 UNCH YTD
DJ30 -6.03 NASDAQ -6.45 SP500 +1.30 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1346/1.87 bln/1477 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1593/1.04 bln/1287
3:30 pm :
Natural gas closed pit trading higher for the 3rd session in a row following EIA data that was in-line with expectations
Mar natural gas closed $0.01 higher (+0.3%) at $3.18/MMBtu.
EIA highlights:
Natural gas inventory showed a draw of -87 bcf vs expectations for inventory to be a draw of approximately -88 bcf.
Working gas in storage was 2,711 Bcf as of Friday, Jan 27, 2017, according to EIA estimates.
Stocks were 266 Bcf less than last year at this time and 59 Bcf above the five-year average of 2,652 Bcf.
At 2,711 Bcf, total working gas is within the five-year historical range.
Crude oil reversed its initial morning gains, snapped a 2-session streak, & closed lower ahead of tomorrow's rig count data
Mar crude oil futures fell $0.34 (-0.6%) to $53.54/barrel.
Baker Hughes rig count data will be released at 1 pm ET tomorrow
Reminder:
Last week, data showed that the number of active oil rigs increased for the second consecutive week, resuming a multi-month climb to highs not seen since Nov 2015.
15 oil rigs were added last week, bringing the total to 566 US oil rigs.
The number of gas rigs increased by 3 to 145 rigs. This brings the total number of active oil and gas rigs to 712, an increase of 18.
The total count is now higher by 93 rigs, compared to the same period last year.
In precious metals, gold closed pit trading near a 2-month high
April gold ended today's session up $11.20 (+0.9%) to $1219.60/oz.
Although this morning's dollar move wasn't commensurate to the rally in gold this morning, central bank comments on inflation and recent inflation readings lean positive for gold.
March silver closed today's session $0.04 lower (-0.2%) at $17.42/oz.
The dollar index was +0.2% around the 99.83 level
Commodities, as measured by the Bloomberg Commodity Index, -0.2% around the 88.40 level
Following yesterday's moderate reprieve from the broader losing streak, the broader market closed Thursday split. Action was led by the S&P 500 which added 1.30 points (+0.06%) to 2280.85. The Nasdaq Composite was the worst performer today, shedding 6.45 points (-0.11%) to 5636.20, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 6.03 points (-0.03%) to 19884.91. Perhaps aiding the decline in the Nasdaq, top Nasdaq 100 component Facebook (FB 130.84, -2.39 -1.79%) turned in a weak affair today after its quarterly earnings came in ahead of expectations.
Economic data today included the latest weekly initial jobless claims count which totaled 246,000. Today's tally was below the revised prior week count of 260,000 (from 259,000). As for continuing claims, they declined to 2.064 million from the revised count of 2.103 million (from 2.100 million). Additionally, unit labor costs were up 1.7% during the fourth quarter, and the preliminary productivity reading showed an increase of 1.3%.
The Technology (XLK 50.36, -0.10 -0.20%) sector ended the session in the red following up and down action all day. Component Citrix Systems (CTXS 74.95, +3.71 +5.21%) was higher today, recouping yesterday's weakness related to the realization of the spin-off of GetGo. Also, component Symantec (SYMC 27.76, +0.51 +1.87%) was modestly higher today after its Q3 report and guidance. Other sectors as measured by the S&P closed XLRE +1.19%, XLU +1.06%, XLP +0.92%, XLE +0.57%, XLV -0.04%, XLY -0.09%, XLI -0.19%, XLF -0.39%, XLB -0.44%, IYZ -0.70%.
In the S&P 500 Information Technology (849.56, +0.21 +0.02%) space, trading edged modestly higher into the close after a back-and-forth session. Component Cisco Systems (CSCO 31.18, +0.68 +2.25%) was one of the better performing names in reaction to a morning upgrade of the stock to a 'Positive' rating at OTR Global. Other names in the space which out-performed today included HRS +3.09%, RHT +2.16%, CRM +1.97%, VRSN +1.83%, ADSK +1.82%, JNPR +1.60%, FFIV +1.59%, CA +1.55%, KLAC +1.53%, HPQ +1.47%.
Other notable news items among sector components:
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE 22.68, +0.09 +0.40%) acquired Niara. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Micron's (MU 24.79, +0.04 +0.16%) CEO Mark Durcan announced retirement. The Board has formed a special committee to oversee the succession process and has initiated a search.
Ultratech (UTEK 28.20, +2.26 +8.71%) to be acquired by Veeco Instruments (VECO 24.85, -0.90 -3.50%) in a transaction valued at roughly $28.64 per share in cash & stock, or about $815 million.
Adobe Systems' (ADBE 113.16, -0.20 -0.18%) Board elected President and CEO Shantanu Narayen as Chairman of the Board.
Symantec (SYMC) announced its intention to offer $1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of senior unsecured notes due 2025.
Electronics For Imaging (EFII 44.96, -0.01 -0.02%) entered into transaction to acquire Xerox's (XRX 7.17, +0.10 +1.41%) FreeFlow Print Server Digital Front Ends business.
Amkor (AMKR 9.92, +0.29 +3.01%) to acquire NANIUM. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Spotify may push back its anticipated IPO until 2018, according to TechCrunch.
In reaction to quarterly results:
Facebook (FB) reported better than expected Q4 earnings of $1.41 per share on revenues which came in ahead of expectations at $8.809 billion.
BCE Inc (BCE 44.15, -0.59 -1.32%) reported worse than expected Q4 EPS of CAD$0.76 and revenues which were in-line at CAD$5.7 billion. For FY17, the company sees EPS and revenues below market expectations at CAD$3.42-3.52 and CAD$21.94-22.15 billion.
NXP Semi (NXPI 99.01, +1.26 +1.29%) reported better than expected Q4 EPS of $1.95 on revenues which grew 54.7% compared to a year ago to $2.44 billion.
Nokia (NOK 4.82, +0.25 +5.47%) reported better than expected Q4 earnings of EUR0.12 per share and revenues which fell 13.0% compared to last year to EUR6.71 billion.
Symantec (SYMC) reported better than expected Q3 EPS of $0.32 on revenues which were also ahead of expectations at $1.09 billion. For Q4, the company sees EPS of $0.27-0.29 on revenues which are expected to come in below market views at $1.07-1.09 billion.
Companies scheduled to report quarterly results tonight: AMZN CSC CY FEYE FTNT GIMO GPRO INVN IXYS MTD MSI OTEX PCTY PXLW RTEC DATA V
Analyst actions:
CSCO was upgraded to Positive from Mixed at OTR Global,
ACIA was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley,
APTI was upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital Mkts,
IVAC was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at B. Riley & Co.,
TSS was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Stifel,
SLAB was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Needham,
AAPL was upgraded to Hold from Sell at BGC,
ATTU was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Craig Hallum;
FB was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Pivotal Research,
EGOV was downgraded to Mkt Underperform from Mkt Perform at Avondale,
QRVO was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at BMO Capital,
