News Focus
News Focus
Followers 71
Posts 12229
Boards Moderated 1
Alias Born 04/01/2000

Re: ReturntoSender post# 6854

Thursday, 02/19/2015 7:06:09 PM

Thursday, February 19, 2015 7:06:09 PM

Post# of 12809
From Briefing.com: It was another languid day of trading for the broader market, which continued to be transfixed by the back and forth drama surrounding Greece's efforts to work out a new agreement with the troika. To that end, early reports on Thursday said Greece requested a six-month extension for its loan agreement. Soon thereafter, it was reported that Germany balked at that request.

By and large, investors balked at participating in Thursday's market. Trading volume at the NYSE totaled just 677 mln shares, which marked the second lowest volume day of the year.

The S&P 500 dipped two points, or 0.1%, held back by weakness in the utilities (-1.01%), energy (-0.8%), consumer staples (-0.6%), and financial (-0.4%) sectors.

The S&P 500 information technology sector (+0.4%) was the best-performing sector on Thursday, which was remarkable simply because Apple (AAPL 128.45, -0.26, -0.2%) did not participate in the move. After seven straight gains, Apple rested on the eighth session. Picking up its slack were Applied Materials (AMAT 24.91, +0.84, +3.4%), EMC Corp. (EMC 28.72, +0.52, +1.8%), Facebook (FB 79.42, +2.71, +3.5%), MasterCard (MA 89.20, +1.47, +1.7%), and Yahoo! (YHOO 44.37, +0.72, +1.7%).

Once again, newsflow from sector components was limited, but included the following: Google (GOOG 542.91, +3.21, +0.6%): CNBC reported after Wednesday's close that Google may soon introduce paid subscription service

IBM (IBM 163.89, +1.70, +1.1%): Announced two new next generation flash storage products for data-intensive applications and infrastructures

Qualcomm (QCOM 70.99, +0.45, +0.6%): Disclosed that, on February 18, 2015, it entered into a Revolving Credit Agreement which provides for a five-year senior unsecured revolving credit facility in an aggregate principal amount of $4 bln. Loans under the Revolving Credit Facility will bear interest, at the option of the Company, at either LIBOR (determined in accordance with the Revolving Credit Agreement) plus an initial margin of 0.700% per annum or the Base Rate (determined in accordance with the Revolving Credit Agreement) plus an initial margin of 0.000% per annum.

Yahoo! (YHOO 44.39, +0.74, +1.6%): Announced new mobile developer suite at its Yahoo Mobile Developer Conference; includes suite apps for analytics, publishing, marketing and search Elsewhere in the technology space: Priceline (PCLN 1219.42, +96.43, +8.6%): Reported Q4 (Dec) non-GAAP earnings of $10.85 per share, which was well ahead of estimates. Revenues rose 19.4% year/year to $1.84 bln. For Q1, sees non-GAAP EPS of $7.20-7.75, which is shy of expectations. Year-over-year (YoY) increase in total gross travel bookings of ~2% - 9% (an increase of ~14% - 21% on a local currency basis). YoY increase in international gross travel bookings of ~3% - 10% (an increase of ~17% - 24% on a local currency basis). YoY increase in domestic gross travel bookings of ~0% - 5%. YoY increase in revenue of ~4% - 11%. YoY increase in gross profit of ~9% - 16% (an increase of ~21% - 28% on a local currency basis). Adjusted EBITDA of ~$475 million to $510 million.

SolarCity (SCTY 53.79, -3.31, -5.9%): Reported Q4 (Dec) loss of $1.47 per share, excluding non-recurring items, which was shy of analysts' average loss estimate. Revenues rose 51.8% year/year to $71.8 mln, slightly ahead of expectations. For Q1, sees EPS of ($1.75)- ($1.65), excluding non-recurring items, which is a bigger projected loss than analysts were expecting. Company said it has secured a majority of the financing commitments required to fund all of its 2015 needs. For the first quarter of 2015, it is targeting MW Installed of 145 MW. This reflects the typical commercial softness in the first quarter, the company said, and growing seasonality in its residential deployments in light of a higher mix of demand in Northeast states like NY, MA, and CT where snow on rooftops can and is causing delays in some installs.

Sprint (S 4.88, -0.10, -2.0%): Commenced an underwritten public offering of $1 bln aggregate principal amount of notes. The company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, which may include, among other things, working capital requirements, retirement or service requirements of outstanding debt and network expansion and modernization.

SunEdison (SUNE 21.97, -0.05, -0.2%): Reported Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.16 per share, well ahead of estimates. Revenues fell 34.9% year/year to $625.5 mln, which was shy of expectations. Q4 Solar energy systems retained on the balance sheet 295 MW compared to guidance of between 251 MW and 361 MW. Operating cash used in the 2014 fourth quarter was $199.9 million and was primarily the result of changes in working capital and continued investment to grow the business. Free cash flow was $198.6 million and was largely influenced by solar energy project financing, solar project construction activities, and capital expenditures.

T-Mobile (TMUS 31.85, +0.85, +2.7%): Reported Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.12 per share, which was ahead of analysts' average expectation. 4Q14 Adjusted EBITDA increased 41.3% to $1.8 billion. Company said it had 2.1 million total net adds in 4Q14 and 8.3 million in 2014. For 2015 it is targeting 2.2 to 3.2 million branded postpaid net customer additions and $6.8 to $7.2 billion of Adjusted EBITDA. Adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter of 2015 is expected to be significantly impacted by a large investment to front end customer growth in 2015, similar to what the Company did in 2014.

Unisys Corporation (UIS 23.23, +0.28, +1.2%): Announced that Banco de Brasilia has signed a contract with Unisys' Brazilian subsidiary for new Unisys ClearPath Libra systems to expand computing power to support growth initiatives, streamline operations and enhance customer service. Signed in the third quarter of 2014, the three-year contract has a value of ~$16 million.

Analyst Action:

Amazon.com (AMZN 378.99, +5.62, +1.5%): target raised to $475 from $420 at Piper Jaffray; Overweight

Apple (AAPL 128.45, -0.26, -0.2%): target raised to $140 from $130 at RBC Capital Mkts; Outperform

Avago Technologies (AVGO 110.90, +0.90, +0.8%): target raised to $125 from $122 at Canaccord Genuity; Buy

Qihoo 360 Tech. (QIHU 52.09, -2.74, -5.0%): target lowered to $88 from $98 at Stifel

SolarCity (SCTY 53.81, -3.29, -5.8%): Canaccord Genuity raises their SCTY tgt to $67 from $64
(Disclosure: Briefing.com has a business relationship with Yahoo!)

4:12 pm Cohu beats by $0.22, beats on revs (COHU) : Reports Q4 (Dec) adearnings of $0.39 per share, $0.22 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.17; revenues rose 57.4% year/year to $96.2 mln vs the $82.01 mln consensus. Orders were $60.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2014 and $86.7 million for the third quarter of 2014. Orders for semiconductor equipment were $56.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2014 compared to $82.6 million in the third quarter of 2014 as customers digested the significant capacity additions from recent quarters.

4:11 pm Marvell beats by $0.01, misses on revs; guides Q1 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus (MRVL) : Reports Q4 (Jan) earnings of $0.25 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.24; revenues fell 8.0% year/year to $857 mln vs the $889.88 mln consensus. Reports Non-GAAP Gross Margin of 51.9% compared to guidance of 49.5-51.5%. Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.17-0.19 vs. $0.22 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of $810-830 mln vs. $884.21 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. Non-GAAP Gross Margin is expected to be in the range of 49.5-51.5%.

4:08 pm Univ Elec beats by $0.05, reports revs in-line; guides Q1 EPS below consensus, revs in-line (UEIC) : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.70 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.05 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.65; revenues rose 1.7% year/year to $138.39 mln vs the $139.19 mln consensus.

Gross margins were 30.3%, compared to 30.0%.
At December 31, 2014, cash and cash equivalents was $112.5 million.
Co issues mixed guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.41-0.51, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.56 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of $133-141 mln vs. $137.57 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate

4:06 pm Universal Display and OLEDWorks LLC announce the signing of a new OLED Technology License Agreement (OLED) : Under the agreement, Universal Display has granted OLEDWorks non-exclusive license rights, under various patents owned or controlled by Universal Display, to manufacture and sell phosphorescent OLED lighting products. In return, OLEDWorks will pay Universal Display an upfront license fee and running royalties on its sales of these licensed products. The agreement runs for the life of Universal Display's intellectual property rights.

12:55 pm Notable movers of interest (:SCANX) : The following are some of today's most notable movers of interest, categorized by market capitalization (large cap over $10 billion and mid cap between $2-10 billion) and ranked by % change (all stocks over 100K average daily volume).

Large Cap Gainers

PCLN (1211.99 +7.93%): Reports Q4 (Dec) non-GAAP earnings of $10.85 per share, $0.75 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $10.10; revenues rose 19.4% year/year to $1.84 bln vs the $1.8 bln consensus; gross bookings +16.7%; +23% ex-FX; issues downside Q1 guidance.
ABX (12.83 +4.91%): Reported Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.15 per share, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.14; revenues fell 14.2% year/year to $2.51 bln vs the $2.45 bln consensus.
HRL (57.35 +2.16%): Beat Q1 consensus EPS estimates by $0.05, missed on revs; raised FY15 EPS guidance.

Large Cap Losers

HST (21.92 -6.88%): Beat Q4 consensus EPS estimates by $0.01, missed on revs; guided FY15 FFO below consensus.
GG (21.93 -5.96%): Reported Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.07 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.05 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.12; revenues fell 9.6% year/year to $1.09 bln vs the $1.01 bln consensus.
NBL (48.94 -3.45%): Reported Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.38 per share, $0.03 better than theCapital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.35; revenues fell 19.4% year/year to $1.07 bln vs the $1.24 bln consensus.

Mid Cap Gainers

TRN (32.18 +6.77%): Beat Q4 consensus EPS estimates by $0.03, beat on revs; guided FY15 EPS in-line.
SYNT (48.04 +6.4%): Beat Q4 consensus EPS estimates by $0.13, reported revs in-line; guided FY15 revs in-line.
HII (135.05 +5.17%): Reported Q4 (Dec) earnings of $2.19 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.18 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $2.01; revenues fell 0.6% year/year to $1.93 bln vs the $1.89 bln consensus.

Mid Cap Losers

SCTY (53.21 -6.81%): Missed Q4 consensus EPS estimates by $0.29, reported revs in-line; guided Q1 EPS below consensus.
TX (17.81 -5.22%): Reported Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.31 per share, $0.09 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.40; revenues rose 1.8% year/year to $2.15 bln vs the $2.17 bln consensus.
LHO (38.85 -6.48%): Reported Q4 FFO in-line, revs in-line; guided Q1 FFO in-line; guided FY15 FFO below consensus.

11:50 am Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New highs (230) outpacing new lows (33) (:SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: AAPL, ABCD, ABM, ACAD, ACT, ADAM, ADPT, AGN, AKAM, AMC, ANAC, ANTH, APD, ASMB, ASPX, ATRC, ATRO, ATU, AVG, AXLL, AYR, BA, BANR, BDC, BGCP, BIB, BIIB, BJRI, BMRN, BOTA, BPTH, BRLI, BURL, BZH, CAVM, CEMP, CHDN, CHH, CI, CNC, CNMD, COL, COLM, CPRT, CRL, CRUS, CSFL, CSS, CSV, CSWC, CTSH, CVS, DAKP, DEG, DEST, DGRW, DHI, DIN, DLHC, DLTR, DOOR, DOX, DRI, DRII, DUK, EA, EAT, EBIX, EBS, EFX, EGRX, EHIC, ENDP, ENPH, EXLS, FBR, FCAU, FCCO, FII, FIS, FLO, FNRG, FSRV, FSS, FTNT, FV, G, GB, GFF, GHC, GIII, GRFS, GSB, GTU, HAIN, HBI, HD, HII, HOLX, HON, HRL, HXL, IBB, ICE, ICLR, IFF, IMAX, INFY, INT, IPAR, IPG, ITW, JACK, JAH, JAXB, JBLU, JBT, JEQ, JKHY, JVA, JW.A, JW.B, KEYS, LAMR, LCI, LII, LLL, LMCA, LMCK, LMT, LNKD, LO, LOW, LULU, LUX, MAR, MATX, MCK, MCS, MENT, MFLX, MHFI, MHG, MHK, MHLD, MIC, MIY, MJN, MLR, MOH, MOS, MPC, MSCI, MTSN, MTU, MWV, NDAQ, NEU, NICE, NOC, NOW, NVR, NXST, ONEQ, PAHC, PANW, PAR, PATK, PAYX, PCYC, PFNX, PKG, PLL, PSCD, PSCH, PSCT, PSO, PTLA, Q, QQEW, QQQ, QQXT, RAI, RCKY, RHP, RKT, RLD, RUK, SAIC, SBFG, SBH, SBI, SBUX, SEE, SEMI, SENEB, SERV, SIBC, SIX, SKYW, SNPS, SONC, STR, STZ, TINY, TM, TQQQ, TSCO, TSO, TTC, TXRH, TY, ULTA, UTHR, VAL, VLO, VMC, VONG, VRSN, VTWG, VTWO, WABC, WBC, WERN, WFM, WPPGY, WWAV, WYN, XLS, XRX

Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: AIZ, ASFI, CCSC, CSLT, ELON, ENBL, ETAK, EVTC, FCO, GLF, HWCC, I, IDN, IPAS, KEYW, MDM, MNI, MX, NBY, NSPR, NWBI, ORM, PCO, QIHU, REGI, SCHN, SQQQ, SVVC, SYX, THST, UPIP, VBLT, XRA

ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: EWJ, IBB, IGN, IGV, ITB, IYH, IYJ, MDY, PPA, PPH, QQQ, XBI, XLI, XLK, XLV, XLY, XRT

ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: JO, SMN
8:03 am Interdigital Comm reports EPS in-line, revs in-line; guides Q1 revs above consensus (IDCC) : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.36 per share, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.36; revenues fell 13.6% year/year to $86.1 mln vs the $85.9 mln consensus.

In fourth quarter 2014, the company generated $43.5 million of free cash flow compared to $14.9 million used in fourth quarter 2013. Ending cash and short-term investments totaled $703.9 million.

Guidance: Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $107-$110 mln vs. $91.25 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

Co states: "This expected sequential quarterly increase is based on the same set of licensees and is driven, in part, by second half 2014 product introductions that saw tremendous market success but also introduce a cyclical element to our first quarter guidance. Consistent with our practice, this revenue guidance is based on royalty reports received to date, and does not include the potential impact of any new patent license, technology solutions or patent sale agreements that may be signed, or any arbitration or dispute resolutions that may occur, during the balance of first quarter 2015."

4:30 am Dialog Semi beats on top and bottom lines; sees Q1 revs in-line (DLGNF) : Reports Q4 EPS $1.17 vs $1.07 Capital IQ consensus; revs increased 24% YoY to $435 mln vs $434 mln consensus.

Full year IFRS gross margin at 44.5%

Outlook
Q1 2015 revenue will reflect the expected seasonal pattern and deliver year on year growth. Co expects revenue for Q1 2015 to be in the range of $265-300 mln vs $288 mln consensus. In line with the seasonal lower revenue, gross margin in Q1 2015 will decline sequentially but improve on a year-on-year basis. Gross margin in 2015 is expected to remain broadly at a similar level to the full year 2014.


Discover What Traders Are Watching

Explore small cap ideas before they hit the headlines.

Join Today