From Briefing.com: 4:15 pm : The stock market kicked off the new trading week on an upbeat note despite enduring a shaky start to the session. The S&P 500 settled higher by 0.7% with nine sectors ending in the green.
Equity indices climbed out of the gate amid upbeat action in Europe where Portugal's Banco Espirito Santo received bailout funds over the weekend. While the actual need for a bailout was not a positive in itself, the news calmed some fears about the stability of the European banking system.
Despite the opening strength, the key indices were back in the red during the first 90 minutes of action, but the outperformance of influential sectors like consumer discretionary (+1.0%), financials (+0.8%), and technology (+0.7%) invited dip-buyers into the fold. After a range-bound first half of the session, the indices spent the afternoon in a steady climb to new highs.
Overall, cyclical sectors fared better than defensively-oriented groups with five growth-sensitive sectors ending ahead of the broader market. The energy sector (+1.6%) was an early laggard, but surged into the lead in the afternoon after Colorado officials announced the formation of a task force aimed at minimizing regulatory conflicts in the industry. For its part, crude oil rose 0.4% to $98.27/bbl.
Like energy, the consumer discretionary sector (+1.0%) also added at least 1.0%. The group received all-around support as carmakers, homebuilders, and retailers rallied. Shares of Ford (F 17.02, +0.21) and General Motors (GM 33.61, +0.17) posted respective gains of 1.3% and 0.5% in reaction to strong July sales, while the iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction ETF (ITB 22.36, +0.22) added 1.0%. With regard to retail stocks, the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 84.57, +0.93) advanced 1.1%, but Michael Kors (KORS 77.01, -4.82) lost 5.9% after its disappointing outlook for Q2 overshadowed its above-consensus results and upbeat full-year guidance.
Elsewhere, the top-weighted S&P 500 sector-technology (+0.7%)-ended in line with the benchmark index. Large cap listings displayed broad strength with Google (GOOGL 582.27, +8.67) and Microsoft (MSFT 43.37, +0.51) both adding near 1.3%, while Apple (AAPL 95.59, -0.54) lagged. The largest tech stock shed 0.6%.
Even though most cyclical groups outperformed, the industrial sector (+0.3%) could not keep pace. Defense contractors pressured the sector (PHLX Defense Index -0.2%), while transport stocks struggled intraday. The Dow Jones Transportation Average added 0.4% to avoid its third consecutive decline.
On the countercyclical side, consumer staples (+0.4%), health care (+0.5%), and telecom services (+0.6%) benefitted from the afternoon rally, while the utilities sector (-0.6%) spent the entire trading day in the red to widen its third quarter loss to 7.1%.
Treasuries registered modest gains with the 10-yr yield slipping one basis point to 2.49%.
Participation was a bit below average with 661 million shares changing hands at the NYSE.
Tomorrow, June Factory Orders (Briefing.com consensus 0.5%) and the ISM Services Index for July (consensus 56.5) will both be reported at 10:00 ET.
S&P 500 +4.9% YTD
Nasdaq Composite +5.0% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average UNCH YTD
Russell 2000 -3.3% YTD
DJ30 +75.91 NASDAQ +31.25 SP500 +13.84 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1763/1.54 bln/1027 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1891/661.1 mln/1175 3:30 pm :
Dec gold declined for a fourth time in five sessions as the dollar index traded higher. The yellow metal pulled back from a session high of $1295.90 per ounce and brushed a session low of $1287.00 per ounce. It eventually settled with a 0.4% loss at $1289.00 per ounce.
Sep silver retreated into negative territory after touching a session high of $20.44 per ounce in morning action. It dipped as low as $20.20 per ounce and settled with a 0.7% loss at $20.24 per ounce.
Sep crude oil rose for the first time in six sessions with prices lifting from a session low of $97.52 per barrel in early morning pit trade. The energy component touched a session high of $98.52 per barrel moments before settling with a 0.4% gain at $98.27 per barrel.
Sep natural gas chopped around in positive territory in a tight range between $3.80 and $3.85 per MMBtu. It managed to hold momentum and settled at $3.84 per MMBtu, or 1.1% higher.
4:22 pm Rudolph Tech beats by $0.02, misses on revs (:RTEC) : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.04 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.02; revenues fell 6.6% year/year to $43.02 mln vs the $43.74 mln consensus.
At June 30, 2014, cash and marketable securities totaled $177.3 million, a decrease of $6.2 million from $183.5 million at the end of the 2014 first quarter.
Gross margin was 54 percent of revenues in the 2014 second quarter, compared to 52 percent in the 2014 first quarter. The second quarter gross margin was positively impacted by record software sales, which represented 16 percent of revenues and was well above the Company's target model of 10 percent. 4:21 pm GT Advanced Tech. misses by $0.01, misses on revs; guides FY14 EPS in-line, revs in-line (:GTAT) :
Reports Q2 (Jun) loss of $0.16 per share, $0.01 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of ($0.15); revenues fell 65.5% year/year to $58 mln vs the $64.34 mln consensus. During the second quarter, PV and polysilicon non-GAAP gross margins were 45 percent and 12 percent, respectively. Sapphire gross margins were 20 percent, reflecting the contribution of higher margin equipment sales partially offset by negative margins associated with the company's materials operation in Arizona. "The build-out of our Arizona facility, which has involved taking a 1.4 million square foot facility from a shell to a functional structure as well as the installation of sapphire growth and fabrication equipment, is nearly complete and we are commencing the transition to volume production," Gutierrez continued. "We remain confident about the long-term potential of the sapphire materials business for GT". The company ended the second quarter with $333 million of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, compared to $509 million at the end of the first quarter of fiscal year 2014. The second quarter ending cash balance reflects the receipt of $103 million of prepayments for the Arizona sapphire materials project. The fourth prepayment from Apple is contingent upon the achievement of certain operational targets by GT. GT expects to achieve these targets and receive the final $139 million prepayment by the end of October 2014. Equipment orders booked during the quarter were $75 million, including $72 million in sapphire equipment. The company ended the quarter with $628 million of equipment backlog, consisting of $333 million of sapphire equipment, $292 million of polysilicon and $3 million of PV.Guidance
Co issues in-line guidance for FY14, sees EPS of $0.12-0.18 vs. $0.03 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY14 revs of $600-700 mln vs. $665.82 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
Reiterated 2016 EPS gudiance of $1.50.
4:13 pm Advanced Energy beats by $0.01, beats on revs; guides Q3 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus (:AEIS) : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.38 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.37; revenues rose 4.7% year/year to $146.29 mln vs the $140.02 mln consensus.
"Even with a downturn in semiconductors, our diversification into a variety of precision power applications drove revenues higher sequentially and generated cash in the quarter," said Garry Rogerson, CEO of Advanced Energy. "While recent changes in the solar industry have dampened expectations for large utility scale projects, we are taking immediate action to address this overhang. The transition of our inverter manufacturing to Shenzhen and our new organizational structure with a product line focus should provide increased resource flexibility and cost savings. Our strong cash generation of $200 million in the last 3 years is enabling us to invest in product lines that fit our model and diversify our portfolio, while returning value to our shareholders. The business model we have put in place is driving continued success through cyclical peaks and troughs and we remain focused on cash generation, revenue acceleration and margin expansion."
Co issues downside guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.30-0.38 vs. $0.40 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q3 revs of $130-140 mln vs. $144.50 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
4:12 pm Axcelis Tech reports Q2 results in-line with lowered guidance from July 7 (:ACLS) : Reports Q2 (Jun) loss of $0.06 per share, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of ($0.06); revenues fell 13.4% year/year to $41.15 mln vs the $40.75 mln consensus. Note, on July 7, co guided to revs of $40-42 mln down from $55-60 mln. Co guided to EPS of $(0.07)-(0.05) from $(0.02)-0.00.
4:06 pm Advanced Energy adds UltraVolt High Voltage products to its expanding product portfolio; purchase price of $30.2 mln in cash; expect this acquisition to be accretive within the next year and should accelerate Advanced Energy's revenue and profitability over time (:AEIS) : Co announced it has acquired UltraVolt, Inc., a privately-held provider of high voltage power solutions. Based in Ronkonkoma, New York, UltraVolt has a comprehensive portfolio of high voltage power supplies and modules ranging from benchtop and rack mount systems to microsize PCB-mount modules.
Its standard DC-to-DC product line consists of over 1,500 models, which can be combined with accessories and options to create thousands of product configurations. Serving over 100 markets, UltraVolt's fixed-frequency, high-voltage topology provides wide input and output operating ranges while retaining excellent stability and efficiencies.
"We expect this acquisition to be accretive within the next year and should accelerate Advanced Energy's revenue and profitability over time." Under the agreement, Advanced Energy has acquired UltraVolt for a purchase price of $30.2 mln in cash.
Large Cap Gainers
QIHU (94.96 +4.9%): Strength in Chinese internet stocks: BIDU also higherAMZN (316.03 +2.92%): Announced that Fire TV's app selection has more than doubled
CHTR (156.28 +2.64%): Target raised to $197 from $173 at Wunderlich, reiterated with a Buy rating
Large Cap Losers
KORS (75.97 -7.16%): Beat quarterly EPS by $0.10 ($0.91 vs $0.81 estimate), revs rose 43.9% yoy to $887 mln vs $851.31 mln estimate; Q1 comparable store sales rose 24.2%; sees Q2 EPS of $0.85-0.87 vs $0.89 estimate, revs of $950-960 mln vs $960.58 mln estimate; sees FY15 EPS of $4.00-4.05 vs $3.96 estimate, revs of $4.25-4.35 bln vs $4.2 bln estimate
CAH (68.87 -4.84%): Beat quarterly EPS by $0.02 ($0.83 vs $0.81 estimate), revs fell 9.9% yoy to $22.89 bln vs $21.99 bln estimate; sees FY14 EPS of $4.10-4.30 vs $4.25 estimate
RIG (39.24 -2.97%): Downgraded to Sell from Hold at Deutsche Bank, target lowered to $27 from $45
Mid Cap Gainers
GRPN (7 +8.37%): Strength ahead of co's Q2 results scheduled to be reported after the close on August 5; also general strength in internet information providers: ATHM, YY, WUBA also higher
NPSP (29.47 +5.78%): Announced the inititation of a Phase 2a study to evaluate the safety and tolerability of NPSP795 in adult patients with Autosomal Dominant Hypocalcemia (:ADH), an ultra-rare genetic disorder of calcium homeostasis
RLGY (38.13 +5.62%): Beat quarterly EPS by $0.03 ($0.59 vs $0.56 estimate), revs fell 1.4% yoy to $1.51 bln vs $1.49 bln estimate
Mid Cap Losers
ALR (34.54 -13.54%): Missed quarterly EPS by $0.16 ($0.42 ex items vs $0.58 estimate), revs fell 3.4% yoy to $737.9 mln vs $747.55 mln estimate
CZR (13.99 -8.62%): Bloomberg reporting that a group of senior bondholders that owns debt in a unit of the company have entered into talks to restructure borrowings
OCN (26.67 -3.65%): New York Financial Superintendent is investigating whether the company is overcharging struggling homeowners on insurance
11:41 am Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New lows (128) outpacing new highs (32) (:SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: AGRO, BCRX, BITA, CENX, CLW, COHU, CTP, DRII, EEFT, EXPE, FRP, GCI, GPRE, HCOM, HSKA, IDIX, KALU, MCK, NDZ, PCRX, PEIX, PLNR, PTRY, SFBC, SKM, SLI, SPR, STND, TOUR, VDSI, WBB, XRS
Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: ABCO, ACXM, AGCO, AHPI, AIXG, AKAO, ALDX, ALLY, AMCO, ANAD, ARDX, ASNA, ASTI, ATU, AVL, AWRE, BDE, BGC, BGG, BIOD, BKJ, BODY, BSDM, BTH, CBLI, CDI, CEB, CERU, CGA, CGG, CHCI, CKP, CLRX, CLUB, CLVS, CMCT, COCO, CTT, CUNB, CZR, DAR, DB, DCTH, DLIA, DMD, DORM, DWSN, EDAP, EDMC, EDU, EGLE, ESI, ESNT, EXAR, FHCO, FMER, FOSL, GLPW, GMAN, GNE, GRVY, HE, HERO, HGG, HIBB, HOV, HSOL, IL, IOSP, IPAR, ISCA, ISNS, IVC, KIOR, LIME, LPX, MAT, MBLX, MDC, MDCO, MDWD, MICT, NEWL, NILE, NMIH, NPTN, NRX, NWBI, OC, OCN, OXM, PAR, PARN, PENN, PERI, PLX, PSTI, PVH, QLGC, QRM, RCPI, RDEN, RDN, REXX, RGDX, RUTH, SKYW, SPWH, STAA, TBBK, TESS, TEU, TITN, TRAK, UBS, UCP, USM, UUU, VII, VVI, WMS, WPP, XCO, XNY, YORW, ZFGN, ZQK, ZSPH
ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: none
ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: EWO, FXS
FEI (FEIC) announced that researchers at the NIH-FEI Living Lab for Structural Biology have achieved breakthrough biological results, using FEI's Titan Krios transmission electron microscope.
Intersil (ISIL) announced the ISL78268 55V synchronous buck controller with 3A integrated high side and low side drivers.
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