From Briefing.com: For the second straight day, the stock market relented to profit-taking efforts that led to broad-based losses for the major indices. Unlike Tuesday, it was the Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.6%) and S&P 500 (-0.4%) that led the losses on Wednesday.
Every sector ended the day lower with the exception of the health care sector (+0.4%).
Supported by gains in SanDisk (SNDK 82.68, +3.59, +4.5%), Yahoo (YHOO 43.99, +1.37, +3.2%), and Facebook (FB 80.89, +1.29, +1.6%), the S&P 500 information technology sector (-0.3%) held up relatively well and outperformed the broader market.
Notable news from sector components included:
Avago Technologies (AVGO 129.40, +1.18, +0.9%): A Reuters article, citing people familiar with the situation, said Avago is still looking for a potential acquisition after backing out of negotiations to acquire Freescale Semiconductor (FSL 40.38, -0.12, -0.4%), which recently agreed to be acquired by NXP Semiconductors (NXPI 99.47, +0.74, +0.7%).
Cisco (CSCO 29.34, -0.20, -0.7%): Announced it has established software resale agreements with Cloudera, Hortonworks and MapR for their industry leading Apache Hadoop Data Management capabilities and innovation.
Corning (GLW 24.75, +0.15, +0.6%): Announced that Gionee Communication Equipment Co. has chosen Corning Gorilla Glass 3 with NDR for both the front and back glass panels of its newly announced Ultra Smartphone Elife S7
Facebook (FB 80.88, +1.30, +1.6%): A Bloomberg article, citing people with knowledge of the matter, said that Facebook may introduce a competitor to Twitter's (TWTR 47.57, -0.14, -0.3%) MoPub
Fiserv (FISV 77.97, -0.53, -0.7%): Announced the launch of four new solutions on its Financial Crime Risk Management platform. These new solutions bring to market unique capabilities for financial crime prevention professionals to more effectively detect, investigate and resolve the most significant crimes affecting financial services companies across the globe.
IBM (IBM 159.42, -1.61, -1.0%): Acquired AlchemyAPI; financial terms not disclosed. IBM said the acquisition is intended to accelerate IBM's development of next generation cognitive computing applications, and significantly expands the Watson ecosystem, with 40,000 developers that have innovated on the AlchemyAPI platform, entering the IBM Watson developer community. Separately, IBM announced that SoftLayer will offer OpenPOWER-based servers as part of its portfolio of cloud-based services. With the new offering, clients will be able to select OpenPOWER-based "bare metal" servers when configuring their cloud-based IT infrastructure from SoftLayer, an IBM company.
MasterCard (MA 91.71, +0.74, +0.8%): Company and Citigroup have signed a new and expanded 10-year agreement; Citi will begin aligning its consumer proprietary credit and debit portfolios to the MasterCard network in 2015
NVIDIA (NVDA 22.44, +0.26, +1.2%): Introduced NVIDIA SHIELD, the world's first Android TV console, which delivers video, music, apps and amazing games to the home.
Yahoo! (YHOO 43.99, +1.37, +3.2%): Move in YHOO attributed to renewed speculation that Alibaba (BABA 85.49, +3.91, +4.8%) might acquire the companyElsewhere in the technology space:
Alibaba (BABA 85.49, +3.91, +4.8%): Following a sizable decline in the stock in recent months, the analyst at UBS defended the stock on CNBC. Separately, reports suggested the company's Ali Venture subsidiary to invest RMB 2.4 bln in TV program and film production company Enlight Media.
Ambarella (AMBA 67.43, +4.38, +7.0%): Reported Q4 (Jan) earnings of $0.68 per share, well ahead of analysts' average expectation. Revenues rose 61.8% year/year to $64.7 mln, also well ahead of estimates. Gross margin on a non-GAAP basis for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015 was 64.3%, compared with 64.1% for the same period in fiscal 2014. Guides for Q1 revenue of $64-$68 mln and EPS of $0.53-$0.59. both forecasts were well ahead of analysts' average expectations. Notes that its view of the market has improved since last quarter. It now believes it can exceed its previous growth outlook
ARM Holdings (ARMH 53.88, +0.41, +0.8%): Going to collaborate with Tencent Holdings (TCEHY) to advance mobile gaming
Ericsson (ERIC 12.82, +0.06, +0.5%): Signed a Memorandum of Understanding with KT, South Korea's leading telecom provider, for collaboration on technologies related to next-generation networks, during Mobile World Congress 2015 in Barcelona, Spain.
NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NXPI 99.45, +0.72, +0.7%): Announced that the Barcelona Metropolitan Transport Authority will use MIFARE DESFire for their new mobility card, T-Mobilitat.
Qorvo (QRVO 72.02, +1.18, +1.7%): Announced it has commenced volume production of Qorvo's RF Fusion complete front end solution in support of a flagship 4G smartphone from a top-five smartphone manufacturer. The flagship smartphone is expected to launch in the first half of calendar 2015.
Sprint (S 5.21, -0.03, -0.6%): Sprint CFO disclosed purchase of 20000 shares, worth total of $102K (3/2 transaction date)
Analyst Action:
Amazon.com (AMZN 382.72, -1.89, -0.5%): target raised to $425 from $380 at Robert W. Baird; Outperform
Ambarella (AMBA 67.43, +4.38, +7.0%): target raised to $74 from $66 at Canaccord Genuity; Buy... target raised to $64 from $50 at Deutsche Bank; Hold... Stifel raises their AMBA tgt to $73 from $64... Ascendiant Capital Markets raises their AMBA tgt to $72 from $65... Topeka Capital Markets raises their AMBA tgt to $75 from $62; Buy.
Amphenol (AMPH 14.49, +0.47, +3.4%): target raised to $60 from $58 at RBC Capital Markets; Top Pick
F5 Networks (FFIV 119.24, +0.23, +0.2%): initiated with Outperform at Wedbush; target $140
T-Mobile US (TMUS 32.68, -0.08, -0.2%): upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BTIG Research
4:10 pm : The stock market registered its second consecutive retreat on Wednesday with the S&P 500 losing 0.4%. The benchmark managed to cut its loss in half by the closing bell while the Nasdaq Composite (-0.3%) outperformed. The tech-heavy Nasdaq remains higher by 0.1% week-to-date while the S&P 500 is down 0.3% since the end of last week.
For the second day in a row, the market opened amid broad pressure, but heavily-weighted health care and technology sectors hit their lows during the opening hour and climbed off those lows into the afternoon. The health care sector (+0.4%) registered a modest gain while technology (-0.3%) finished ahead of most other cyclical sectors.
Biotechnology contributed to the outperformance of the health care sector with the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 340.09, +2.17) climbing 0.6%. In addition, the high-beta group helped the Nasdaq stay ahead of the broader market while chipmakers also displayed relative strength with the PHLX Semiconductor Index shedding 0.1%. Meanwhile, large cap components of the tech sector ended on a mixed note. Apple (AAPL 128.54, -0.82) lost 0.6% while Facebook (FB 80.90, +1.30) added 1.6%.
Elsewhere among cyclical sectors, energy (-0.2%) settled among the outperformers despite a late-morning slide to lows after the EIA storage report showed that crude inventories increased by 10.3 million barrels from the prior week. Like the sector, crude oil fell to lows on the news, but came back roaring to end the pit session higher by 1.9% at $51.50/bbl.
Also of note, the consumer discretionary sector (-0.6%) lagged throughout the session with Lumber Liquidators (LL 35.64, -5.14) tumbling 12.6% after the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation took interest in the company following reports it imported laminate flooring containing significant amounts of formaldehyde.
Over on the countercyclical side, the health care sector represented the lone outperformer while consumer staples (-0.8%), telecom services (-1.2%), and utilities (-0.6%) lagged throughout the trading day.
Treasuries notched their highs in the morning, but surrendered those gains in the early going, and spent the afternoon near the unchanged level. The 10-yr note ended flat with its yield at 2.12%.
Today's participation was in-line with recent trends as roughly 705 million shares changed hands at the NYSE floor.
Economic data included ADP Employment, ISM Services, and MBA Mortgage Index:
The ADP National Employment Report revealed that employment in the nonfarm private business sector rose by 212K in February while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase of 220K
The January reading was revised up to 250,000 from 213,000
The ISM Non-Manufacturing Index increased to 56.9 in February from 56.7 while the Briefing.com consensus expected a drop to 56.5
The improvement in the headline index comes despite weakness in production and orders. The Business Activities/Production Index fell to 59.4 from 61.5 while the New Orders Index declined to 56.7 from 59.5
The weekly MBA Mortgage Index ticked up 0.1% to follow last week's 3.5% decline
Tomorrow, the Challenger Job Cuts report for February will be released at 7:30 ET while weekly Initial Claims (Briefing.com consensus 295K) and Q4 Productivity (consensus -2.3%)/Unit Labor Costs data (consensus 2.9%) will be released at 8:30 ET. The day's data will be topped off with the 10:00 ET release of the January Factory Orders report (consensus 0.6%).
Nasdaq Composite +4.9% YTD
Russell 2000 +2.3% YTD
S&P 500 +1.9% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +1.5% YTD
DJ30 -106.41 NASDAQ -12.76 SP500 -9.25 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1130/1.73 bln/1647 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1175/706.5 mln/1886
3:40 pm :
Oil prices displayed some volatility today, but ultimately closed higher
Oil showed some strength following Saudi price increase on Asian and U.S. oil exports, but reversed lower following the weekly EIA storage data
However, that didn't hold and crude began to rally, finishing today's session $0.96 higher at $51.50/barrel
In other energy , Apr natural gas rose $0.06 to $2.77/MMBtu
Metals weren't very interesting today. Precious metals declined, while copper ended flat
Apr gold fell $3.00 to $1201.20/oz, while May silver lost $0.12 to $16.17/oz
4:33 pm Semtech beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line; guides Q1 below consensus (SMTC) :
Reports Q4 (Jan) earnings of $0.34 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.33; revenues rose 3.1% year/year to $130.4 mln vs the $130.09 mln consensus.
Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.27-0.30, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.37 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of $130-136 mln vs. $136.36 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
4:08 pm Vivint Solar beats by $0.16, beats on revs; guides Q1 revs below consensus (VSLR) : Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.36 per share, $0.16 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of ($0.52); revenues rose 248.2% year/year to $6.86 mln vs the $6.01 mln consensus.
Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $8.0-8.5 mln vs. $9.08 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. Sees Q1 MW Installed: 40 to 42 MWs Sees FY15 MW Installed: 290 - 310 MWs
4:02 pm Interdigital Comm intends to offer $275 mln aggregate principal amount of Senior Convertible Notes due 2020 in a private offering (IDCC) : The co expects to use a portion of the net proceeds from the offering of the notes and the proceeds from the sale of the warrants to fund the cost of the convertible note hedge transactions.
12:23 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
HCA (75.45 +6.58%): Healthcare names outperform as oral arguments on Obamacare are presented; a final decision is expected in June.
YHOO (43.34 +1.69%): Renewed Alibaba (BABA) for Yahoo chatter.
BBY (39.75 +1.45%): Wave of analyst rating changes following earnings, including price target increases to $45 at JP Morgan and Sun Trust Rbsn Humphrey, and a price target increase to $50 at BB&T Capital Mkts.
Large Cap Losers
AA (14.44 -4.9%): Downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BofA/Merrill.
RIO (45.93 -2.38%): Story in the Business Spectator downplaying the potential merger between Rio and Glencore (GLNCY).
KMX (64.91 -3.68%): Downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Robert W. Baird.
Mid Cap Gainers
ATHM (43.77 +13.99%): Beat Q4 consensus EPS estimates by $0.10, beat on revs; guided Q1 revs above consensus.
W (28.94 +14.61%): Beat Q4 consensus EPS estimates by $0.10, beat on revs; guided Q1 revs above consensus.
AEO (16.3 +9.99%): Beat Q4 consensus EPS estimates by $0.02 after raising guidance in January, beat on revs; guided Q1 EPS above consensus.
Mid Cap Losers
TNET (33.19 -12.38%): Reported Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.26 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.11 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.37; revenues rose 25.3% year/year to $603.7 mln vs the $573.37 mln consensus.
MIDD (100.47 -6.01%): Reported Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.94 per share, $0.04 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.98; revenues rose 15.3% year/year to $435 mln vs the $432.5 mln consensus.
ZAYO (28.04 -3.01%): Hearing initiated with a Sell at Drexel Hamilton; tgt $20.
12:18 pm Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New highs (96) outpacing new lows (85) (:SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: ABCD, ABM, ACHC, ADMP, AEO, AFAM, AMAG, AMBA, AMC, ANAC, APH, ASMI, AVG, BBC, BCV, BLRX, BOTJ, BRLI, BRP, BSQR, BURL, BX, CAPN, CBPO, CHE, CHEV, CLDX, CMCSA, CMCSK, CNC, CNDO, COLM, CPIX, CRI, CRMD, CSV, CSWC, DDS, DEPO, DLPH, FLKS, FMB, FNRG, FRC, GLOB, GMK, GWB, HAIN, HASI, HCA, HPI, HSP, IBP, INDY, INT, JRN, JTP, LARK, LBRDK, LBTYA, LBTYK, LH, LHCG, LLNW, LMCK, MKTX, MMU, MRCC, NBIX, NID, NLNK, NSP, OLN, OMER, PAM, PTLA, RHP, SBBX, SBFG, SMTC, SPTN, SSP, STMP, SYBT, TGT, TWC, UEPS, UHS, UNTD, VMC, WBB, WMS, WNS, WWAV, XON, ZIOP
Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: ADGE, AGYS, AHGP, AMZG, ANF, ASRV, ATNM, AVAL, AXU, BAK, BOCH, CACQ, CHK, CIB, COVR, CPL, CRRS, CTG, CWEI, DBVT, DSCI, DV, EHTH, EJ, ELRC, ENOC, FAST, FCTY, FIVE, FSTR, GAIA, GLDD, GLF, GLRI, GOL, HLX, HSBC, I, IGOV, JONE, KOF, MCF, MNI, MSM, MTLS, MX, NFG, NGG, NOR, NSPR, OESX, ORMP, PCO, PGN, PHIIK, PQ, PRAA, PRIM, PRXI, PSMT, QRHC, RCI, RNET, ROYL, RUSHA, SCHN, SFUN, SIF, SJR, SMTX, SNMX, STRL, TDW, TSU, TTF, UG, ULTR, VBLT, VRTS, WILN, WIN, WTW, XRA, ZSAN, ZU
ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: IHF, PSK, UUP, XBI
ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: BWX, DBA, EPU, FXE, JJA, SGG
7:50 am ReneSola beats by $0.05, beats on revs; guides Q1 revs below consensus; guides FY15 revs below consensus (SOL) : Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.08 per share, $0.05 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of ($0.13); revenues fell 11.8% year/year to $387 mln vs the $355.08 mln consensus. Total solar module shipments were 488.4 megawatts, exceeding previous guidance and representing an increase of 5.7% from Q3 2014. Total solar wafer and module shipments in Q4 2014 were 744.3 MW, representing an increase of 12.1% from 663.9 MW in Q3 2014, and a decrease of 5.1% from 784.1 MW in Q4 2013.
Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $360-380 mln vs. $392.30 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; and gross margin to be in the range of 14% to 16%.Co issues downside guidance for FY15, sees FY15 revs of $1.5-1.6 bln vs. $1.68 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. For year 2015, the Company does not have any plans for internal capacity expansion.
6:10 am Trina Solar reports Q4 EPS in-line, beats on revs (TSL) : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.13 per share, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.13; revenues rose 34.1% year/year to $705 mln vs the $642.92 mln consensus.
Total module shipments were 1,098.8 MW (guidance of 1.045-1.095 MW), consisting of 1,070.5 MW of external shipments and 28.3 MW of shipments to the Company's own downstream power projects. This compares with total shipments of 1,063.8 MW, consisting of 936.8 MW of external shipments and 127 MW of shipments to the Company's own downstream power projects, in the third quarter of 2014. Q1 Guidance: The Company expects to ship between 840 MW to 870 MW of PV modules, of which 60 MW to 70 MW of PV modules will be shipped to the Company's downstream PV projects.
FY15 Guidance 2015: Manufacturing Capacity The Company expects to achieve annualized capacity at the end of 2015: Ingot production capacity of ~2.8 GW Wafer capacity of ~2.3 GW PV cell capacity of ~3.5 GW Module capacity of ~4.8 GW. The co expects total PV module shipments between 4.4 GW and 4.6 GW, of which 700 MW to 800 MW of PV modules will be shipped to the Company's downstream projects. The total shipment volume represents an increase of 20% to 26 % from 2014.
5:24 am SunEdison offers new solar energy saver plan To UK Homeowners (SUNE) : SunEdison (SUNE) announced the launch of the new SunEdison Energy Saver Plan, a way for UK homeowners to potentially save up to 15% on their electricity bill with zero upfront cost. SunEdison is the first company in the UK to offer this type of solar product to the residential market, and is unveiling the new solution at EcoBuild
12:00 am ARM Holdings and Tencent (TCEHY) Games collaborate to advance mobile gaming (ARMH) : ARM (ARMH) and Tencent Games today announced a strategic partnership aimed at enriching mobile gamers' graphic experiences. Through this partnership, Tencent mobile game developers will gain access to a wide range of leading-edge hardware, tools and expertise. This will enable the development of games that efficiently deliver superior 2D and 3D graphic experiences including the most complex geometries, richer textures and faster frame rates. As a result of the collaboration, gamers in China will benefit from an improved mobile gaming experience.
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