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From Briefing.com: A solid day on Wall Street began in Minsk where Russia and Ukraine penned yet another ceasefire agreement. Doubts remain that they can continue to abide by the accord, but for Thursday anyway the market was heartened by the prospect of peace in the region and used it as an excuse to overlook yet another disappointing retail sales report and execute a broad-based rally.

Other items helping to underpin things included an assumption that Greece and the troika will reach yet another compromise on the Greek bailout program, Carl Icahn suggesting Apple (AAPL 126.43, +1.55, +1.2%) should be trading at $216 per share, Cisco (CSCO 29.42, +2.49, +9.3%) reporting better than expected results and offering reassuring guidance, and Expedia (EXPE 89.57, +11.35, +14.5%) announcing its intention to acquire Orbitz (OWW 11.72, +2.10, +21.8%).

Apple and Cisco, in particular, were instrumental in driving yet another day of outperformance for the S&P 500 information technology sector (+1.6%), but they had ample company as all but six of the sector's 66 components closed the day with a gain. Many of those same components also helped the Nasdaq Composite (4857.61) close at its highest level since March 2000.

Notable news items from the S&P 500 information technology sector included:

Apple (AAPL 126.43, +1.55, +1.2%): Carl Icahn, a major Apple shareholder, said the stock should be trading at $216 per share, which would translate to a $1.3 trillion market capitalization

Applied Materials (AMAT 24.13, -0.13, -0.5%): Reported Q1 (Jan) earnings of $0.27 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with estimates. Revenues rose 7.8% year/year to $2.36 bln, which was slightly ahead of expectations. For Q2, sees EPS of $0.26-0.30, excluding non-recurring items, which is shy of analysts' average expectation. Net sales are expected to be in the range of flat to up a couple of percentage points from the previous quarter

Cisco Systems (CSCO 29.42, +2.49, +9.3%): Reported Q2 (Jan) earnings of $0.53 per share, topping analysts' average expectation. Revenues rose 7.0% year/year to $11.94 bln, which was also ahead of estimates. Sees Q3 EPS $0.51-0.53 and revenues +3-5%, both of which were in-line with expectations. Separately, the company's Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per common share, a two-cent increase over the previous quarter's dividend, to be paid on April 22, 2015 to all shareholders of record as of the close of business on April 2, 2015.

Microchip Technology (MCHP 49.98, +1.11, +2.3%): Announced expected EPS accretion from recent refinancing transactions. Specifically, in the March 2015 quarter, the refinancing activities are expected to add about 1 cent of accretion to the Company's previously provided non-GAAP earnings per share guidance. Microchip is upwardly revising its non-GAAP earnings per share guidance for the March 2015 quarter to be $0.66 to $0.68 cents per diluted share. Notes there will be a one-time charge to GAAP diluted earnings per share in the March quarter due to a loss on the retirement of the convertible junior subordinated debentures due 2037.

Motorola Solutions (MSI 70.00, +1.43, +2.1%): Acquired Emergency CallWorks, provider of next-gen 911 call taking software; details not disclosed

NetApp (NTAP 36.89, -2.90, -7.3%): Reported Q3 (Jan) earnings of $0.75 per share, excluding non-recurring items, which was shy of analysts' average expectation. Revenues fell 3.7% year/year to $1.55 bln, also below expectations. Forr Q4, sees EPS of $0.70-0.75, excluding non-recurring items, and revenues of $1.55-1.65 bln, both of which are below expectations. NetApp increased its stock repurchase program, of which $206 million remained available, by an additional $2.5 billion. The Company plans to repurchase $206 million of its common stock by the end of May 2015. The additional $2.5 billion of repurchases is expected to be completed by the end of May 2018, with the first $1 billion expected to be completed by the end of May 2016.

NVIDIA (NVDA 22.29, +1.48, +7.1%): Reported Q4 (Jan) earnings of $0.43 per share, excluding non-recurring items, which was ahead of expectations. Revenues rose 9.4% year/year to $1.25 bln, also ahead of estimates. For Q1, sees revenues of $1.14 - $1.18 bln, which is in-line with estimates. Q1 GAAP and non-GAAP gross margins are expected to be 56.2 percent and 56.5 percent, respectively, plus or minus 50 basis points. Elsewhere in the technology arena:

Baidu.com (BIDU 205.05, -9.62, -4.5%): Reported Q4 (Dec) earnings of $1.61 per share, excluding non-recurring items, which was shy of analysts' average estimate. Revenues rose 47.5% year/year to $2.26 bln, also shy of estimates. For Q1, sees revenues of $2.038-2.106 bln, which is below analysts' average expectation.

Cree (CREE 37.43, +0.57, +1.4%): Announced U.S. International Trade Commission investigation into unfair trade practices by Feit Electric Company and Unity Opto Tech, following its complaint on January 12, 2015

Expedia (EXPE 89.57, +11.35, +14.9%): Entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Orbitz (OWW 11.72, +2.10, +22.3%) for $12.00 per share in cash for an enterprise value of ~$1.6 bln. The Boards of Directors of both companies have approved the transaction, which is subject to approval by the shareholders of a majority of Orbitz Worldwide's common stock and other customary closing conditions, including applicable regulatory approvals. The Board of Directors of Orbitz Worldwide received a fairness opinion from Qatalyst Partners and has recommended that its stockholders vote in favor of the merger.

FireEye (FEYE 39.62, +3.93, +11.0%): Reported Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.38 per share, comfortably ahead of analysts' average expectation. Revenues rose 149.6% year/year to $143 ml, which also exceeded estimates. Q4 billings were $212.6 million, above the previously issued guidance range of $195 to $210 million. Product billings totaled $67.6 million. Deferred revenue totaled $352.5 million at the end of the fourth quarter, an increase of $165 million from the end of the fourth quarter of 2013. For Q1, sees EPS of ($0.53) - ($0.49) and revenues of $118-122 mln, both of which are in-line with expectations. Sees Q1 total billings in the range of $130 to $140 million; sees Q1 gross margin in the range of 69 to 72 percent of total revenue. For FY15, sees EPS of ($1.90) - ($1.80) and revenues of $605-625 mln, which was also in-line with estimates. Total billings for FY15 expected to be in the range of $800 to $820 million and gross margin in the range of 71% to 75% of total revenue.

TripAdvisor (TRIP 82.47, +15.20, +22.4%): Reported Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.35 per share, excluding non-recurring items, which was light of estimates. Revenues rose 35.2% year/year to $288 mln, also ahead of expectations.

Twitter (TWTR 47.95, +0.45, +1.0%): Confirmed Niche acquisition (provider of software, community and monetization services) Analyst Action:

Baidu.com (BIDU 205.05, -9.62, -4.6%): target lowered to $250 from $275 at Brean Capital; Buy... target lowered to $230 from $280 at Oppenheimer; Outperform... target lowered to $253 from $283 at Jefferies; Buy... Stifel downgrades to Hold from Buy

Cisco Systems (CSCO 29.42, +2.49, +9.4%): target raised to $29 from $28 at Wunderlich; Hold... Oppenheimer raises target to $30 from $29... RBC Capital Markets raises its target to $31 from $29... target raised to $30 from $26 at MKM Partners; Neutral

FireEye (FEYE 39.62, +3.93, +10.8%): target raised to $48 from $45 at Stifel; Buy... target raised to $45 from $40 at Piper Jaffray; Overweight... target raised to $42 from $35 at Barclays; Overweight

NetApp (NTAP 36.89, -2.90, -7.3%): downgraded to Hold from Buy at Brean Capital... target lowered to $48 from $55 at Maxim Group; Buy

NVIDIA (NVDA 22.29, +1.48, +7.0%): target raised to $23 from $21 at Topeka Capital Markets; Hold... target raised to $27 from $25 at Needham; maintain Buy... RBC Capital Markets raises its target to $27 from $26... target raised to $23 from $22 at Canaccord Genuity; Hold

TripAdvisor (TRIP 82.47, +15.20, +22.3%): Oppenheimer reiterates Outperform and $90 target... Needham reiterates Buy with $125 target... target raised to $87 from $84 at CRT Capital; maintain Fair Value... target lowered to $80 from $90 at Wunderlich; Hold... target raised to $108 from $95 at Deutsche Bank; Buy

4:32 pm MagnaChip Semi completes restatement of financial filings; filed Form 10-K for YE 2013 with SEC and Form 10-Q for the first three quarters of 2014 (MX) : "Our results for the first three quarters of 2014 show that we have challenges to overcome, but we believe that we are making the necessary changes to ensure that we have the right strategy, products, people and cost structure in place to better anticipate and serve the changing marketplace... We believe we have made solid progress to date, and we expect to fully address all of the material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting described in our filings today by the end of 2015."

4:20 pm Mattson beats by $0.03, beats on revs (MTSN) : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.07 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.04; revenues rose 34.1% year/year to $54.7 mln vs the $49.32 mln consensus.

4:05 pm Rubicon Tech beats by $0.04, beats on revs (RBCN) : Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.36 per share, $0.04 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of ($0.40); revenues fell 22.6% year/year to $8.9 mln vs the $8.05 mln consensus.

First Quarter 2015 Guidance


"While sapphire prices increased in the first half of 2014, pricing in the back half of the year was driven lower by fluctuations in demand and excess inventory in the supply chain. More recently, pricing has come under further pressure due to the significant weakening of the Russian ruble and Japanese yen. Commenting on the outlook for the first quarter of 2015. There remains enormous potential for sapphire products with the growing adoption of LED lighting and use of sapphire in mobile devices and other optical applications. However, the sapphire market remains challenging at the moment with continued pricing pressure and fluctuations in demand. We expect to sell higher volumes and to begin driving down product costs in the first quarter but price reductions will minimize the impact. As a result, we expect Q1 2015 results to be similar to the previous quarter. We expect that actions we are taking now will result in a significant improvement in both revenue and earnings by the end of the year."

11:00 am Semi Manufacturing announces that it has entered into the Share Purchase Agreement with an Investor to allot and issue 4.7 bln New Shares at the Subscription Price of HK$0.6593 per New Share (SMI) : The New Shares represent ~13.10% of the existing issued share capital of the Company as at the date of this announcement and ~11.58% of the issued share capital of the Company as enlarged by the issue of the New Shares. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the issue of the New Shares, any Datang Pre-emptive Shares and any Country Hill Pre-emptive Shares for the purpose of capital expenditure, debt repayment and general corporate purposes.

6:02 am Trina Solar has signs a framework investment agreement with PingAn Trust and Jiangsu Jiuzhou Investment to develop photovoltaic power plants in China; total project capacity of 500MW-1,000MW over the next three years (TSL) :