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From Briefing.com: 4:24 pm Altera misses by $0.02, beats on revs (ALTR) : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.23 per share, $0.02 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.25; revenues fell 15.7% year/year to $414.2 mln vs the $410.04 mln consensus.

"Our wireless customers reduced demand on us this quarter, as expected, in reaction to continuing adverse market conditions. This pause in wireless spend more than offset growth across many of our vertical markets."

4:24 pm Skyworks beats by $0.05, beats on revs; guides Q4 above consensus (SWKS) : Reports Q3 (Jun) earnings of $1.34 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.05 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $1.29; revenues rose 38.0% year/year to $810 mln vs the $801.84 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q4, sees EPS of $1.51, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $1.42 Capital IQ Consensus; sees Q4 revs of $875 mln vs. $858.89 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
4:21 pm Nanometrics reports EPS in-line, beats on revs; guides Q3 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus (NANO) :

Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.08 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.08; revenues rose 1.2% year/year to $48.6 mln vs the $47.55 mln consensus.
Co issues downside guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.00-0.06, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.12 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q3 revs of $43-47 mln vs. $47.02 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
4:18 pm PMC-Sierra misses by $0.02, misses on revs; Announces steps to reduce costs (PMCS) : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.09 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.11; revenues fell 1.6% year/year to $124.8 mln vs the $133.23 mln consensus.

Cost Reduction Steps

The Company also today initiated steps to reduce spending across the organization by approximately 14 percent. This reorganization involves a reduction in force of approximately 200 employees worldwide and other reductions that are together expected to result in approximately $40 million per year in savings. The full savings resulting from these workforce reductions will not be realized until the fourth quarter of the current year, although some impact from these measures will be noticeable in the Company's third quarter results.

4:17 pm Freescale Semi beats by $0.06, beats on revs; guides Q3 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus (FSL) : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.57 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.06 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.51; revenues rose 0.6% year/year to $1.20 bln vs the $1.18 bln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.47-0.51, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.57 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q3 revs of $1.10-1.17 bln vs. $1.22 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

"Second quarter results represented record performance for Freescale...Gross margins of 48.1% established a new record and were 300 basis points ahead of the prior year's quarter. Gross margins have now increased sequentially for 10 consecutive quarters."

4:15 pm Amazon beats Q2 operating income and sales estimates/guidance; guides Q3 ~in-line (AMZN) :

Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.19 per share, $0.30 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of ($0.11); revenues rose 19.9% year/year to $23.18 bln vs the $22.4 bln consensus and $20.6-22.8 bln guidance.Operating income $464 mln vs. ~$50 estimates and ($500)-50 mln guidance. AWS net sales +81% to $1.8 bln; operating income +408% to $391 mln.Co issues guidance for Q3: sees Q3 revs of $23.3-25.5 bln vs. $23.9 bln Capital IQ Consensus. Operating income (loss) is expected to be between $(480) million and $70 mln vs. ($240) mln ests, compared to $(544) million in 3Q14.
4:14 pm Juniper Networks beats by $0.13, beats on revs; guides Q3 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus (JNPR) : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.53 per share, $0.13 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.40; revenues fell 0.6% year/year to $1.22 bln vs the $1.11 bln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q3, sees EPS of 0.50-0.54 vs. $0.46 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q3 revs of 1.21-1.25 bln vs. $1.16 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; Sees Non-GAAP gross margins in the range of 63.5-64.5%.

4:14 pm Microsemi reports EPS in-line, beats on revs; guides Q4 EPS in-line, revs above consensus (MSCC) : Reports Q3 (Jun) earnings of $0.68 per share, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.68; revenues rose 8.5% year/year to $317.1 mln vs the $304.87 mln consensus.

Co issues guidance for Q4, sees EPS of $0.71-0.75 vs. $0.73 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q4 revs $328 mln +/- 2% or roughly $321.4-$334.5 mln vs. $317.46 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

4:03 pm Microsemi announces its Board of Directors has authorized a new share buyback plan, for up to $100 million of common stock; will be funded from available working capital (MSCC) :

4:13 pm Flextronics reports EPS in-line, misses on revs; guides Q2 EPS in-line, revs in-line (FLEX) : Reports Q1 (Jun) earnings of $0.23 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.23; revenues fell 16.2% year/year to $5.57 bln vs the $5.89 bln consensus. Adjusted operating income was $159 million, above the lower end of the guidance range of $150 to $190 million.

Co issues in-line guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $0.22-0.28, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.25 Capital IQ Consensus EstimateCo sees Q2 revs of $5.9-6.5 bln vs. $6.22 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

4:11 pm Maxim Integrated beats by $0.04, misses on revs; guides Q1 EPS in-line, revs below consensus (MXIM) : Reports Q4 (Jun) earnings of $0.43 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.39; revenues fell 9.3% year/year to $582.51 mln vs the $590.14 mln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.38-0.44, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.42 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of $545-585 mln vs. $600.41 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

4:10 pm Celestica beats by $0.02, reports revs in-line; guides Q3 EPS in-line, revs in-line (CLS) : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.25 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.23 and toward the higher end of guidance of $0.20-0.26; revenues fell 3.7% year/year to $1.42 bln vs the $1.40 bln consensus and vs within prior guidance of $1.35-1.45 bln. Co issues in-line guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.28-0.34, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.29 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q3 revs of $1.40-1.50 bln vs. $1.44 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

4:10 pm : The stock market registered its third consecutive decline on Thursday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average surrendering 0.7% while the S&P 500 (-0.6%) and Nasdaq Composite (-0.5%) posted slimmer losses.

Equities spent the first two hours of action near their flat lines before sliding to session lows amid selling pressure in heavily-weighted sectors like consumer discretionary (-0.6%), financials (-0.8%), and industrials (-0.9%). That being said, all ten sectors ended the day with losses, but relative strength in the top-weighted technology sector (-0.3%) prevented the market from ending deeper in the red. Taking a look at the bigger picture, the S&P 500 settled below its 50-day moving average (2,103) for the first time in nearly two weeks.

Quarterly earnings were in focus on Thursday after more than 175 companies reported their results since Wednesday's closing bell. Broadly speaking, bottom-line beats were commonplace, but many companies failed to show year-over-year revenue growth.

Four Dow components were among those reporting and all four ended the day with losses. American Express (AXP 77.01, -1.98) and 3M (MMM 149.50, -5.91) lost 2.5% and 3.8%, respectively, after reporting bottom-line beats on below-consensus revenue while Caterpillar (CAT 76.88, -2.88) fell 3.6% in reaction to an in-line report and lowered guidance. For its part, McDonald's (MCD 97.09, -0.49) lost 0.5% despite reporting a three-cent beat.

The four Dow members pressured their respective sectors while technology (-0.3%) settled ahead of the broader market thanks to gains among chipmakers. The PHLX Semiconductor Index gained 1.5% after being up as much as 2.7% in the early going. Only five index members ended in the red while SanDisk (SNDK 63.70, +9.52) soared 17.6% after beating earnings and revenue expectations. As for large cap tech components, Apple (AAPL 125.16, -0.06) and Microsoft (MSFT 46.11, +0.57) registered gains while Qualcomm (QCOM 61.75, -2.44) dropped 3.8% after its cautious guidance overshadowed a bottom-line beat. Also of note, the company announced plans to reduce its semiconductor division by about 15%.

Similar to technology, the energy sector (-0.3%) finished ahead of the broader market even though crude oil lost 1.8%, ending the pit session at $48.39/bbl. Including today's decline, the energy sector is down 2.1% for the week and lower by 5.5% since the end of June.

Over on the countercyclical side, utilities (-1.5%) underperformed throughout the day while consumer staples (-0.4%), health care (-0.3%), and telecom services (-0.6%) settled closer to the broader market.

The modest loss in the health care sector masked a 2.2% spike in the shares of Cigna (CI 154.36, +3.29) after the Wall Street Journal reported the company is close to being acquired by Anthem (ANTM 155.21, +0.11) for about $188/share.

Treasuries maintained narrow ranges overnight, but climbed during the session with the 10-yr yield falling five basis points to 2.27%.

Today's participation was ahead of recent averages with more than 835 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.

Economic data was limited to Initial Claims and Leading Indicators:


The initial claims level plummeted to 255,000 for the week ending July 18 from an unrevised 281,000 while the Briefing.com consensus expected a decline to 279,000
That was the lowest initial claims reading since November 1973 when claims dropped to 233,000
The BLS reported that there were no special factors that impacted this week's claims reading
The continuing claims level declined to 2.207 million for the week ending July 11 from an upwardly revised 2.216 million (from 2.215 million) while the consensus expected a decrease to 2.213 million
The Leading Indicators report for June was up 0.6% while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase of 0.2%

Tomorrow's economic data will be limited to the New Home Sales report for June, which will be released at 10:00 ET (Briefing.com consensus 550K).

Nasdaq Composite +8.7% YTD
Russell 2000 +3.3% YTD
S&P 500 +2.1% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average -0.5% YTD

DJ30 -119.09 NASDAQ -25.36 SP500 -12.00 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 889/1.85 bln/1954 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 971/836.9 mln/2122 3:35 pm :

WTI crude oil futures sold off today
Front-month crude finished the day 2% lower at $48.39/barrel
In other energy, Aug natural gas dropped 3.1% today to $2.81/MMBtu
Metals showed a mixed day
Aug gold rose 0.2% to $1094.10/oz, while Sept silver fell -0.1% to $14.71/oz
Copper extends recent losses. Front-month Sept copper closed 2% lower today to $2.39/lb

11:46 am Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New lows (335) outpacing new highs (189) (:SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: AAP, ABT, ACN, ADPT, AF, AFOP, AFSI, AIG, ALGN, ALGT, ALK, AMBA, AMED, AMWD, ANSS, ANTH, AOS, ATRI, ATTU, AVG, AXDX, BABY, BBCN, BBT, BF.B, BGFV, BHLB, BK, BNCN, BRLI, C, CAKE, CARA, CASH, CBF, CBM, CEA, CELG, CLFD, CMG, CMN, CNBKA, CPRX, CRI, CRTO, CS, CSL, CVBF, CVS, CYNO, DATA, DERM, DRI, DSGX, DXCM, EEFT, EFSC, EFX, EGRX, ESGR, ETB, EURN, EVHC, EVR, FAF, FFIN, FHN, FIX, FL, FLML, FRME, FTNT, GLOB, GMED, GNCMA, GPI, GWRE, HAFC, HALO, HBAN, HCSG, HIFS, HOMB, HQL, HTBK, IBP, IMPV, INBK, INFN, INSM, INSY, ITEK, JBLU, JPM, JRVR, LAZ, LDRH, LGF, LGND, LKQ, LTXB, LYTS, MANH, MD, MHK, MKL, MLM, MMAC, MMI, MMS, MNST, MOFG, MRNS, MSCI, MTB, MYCC, NCLH, NDRM, NJ, NKE, NTRI, NTRS, NVR, NWBO, NYCB, OC, OMAB, OMCL, ORLY, PANW, PBIP, PENN, PFPT, PGTI, PLL, PNC, POST, PPBI, PRAH, PRTA, PSMT, PTLA, QGEN, QTS, RAI, RF, RJF, RLGY, RLI, SBUX, SCHW, SEIC, SGU, SIRO, SIVB, SKX, SNBC, SNV, SPLK, SRNE, STNG, STT, SUBK, SUSQ, TECH, TFX, TSCO, TTWO, TXMD, TYL, UA, UBSI, UEPS, UFPI, UHAL, ULTA, UN, VAC, VG, VRX, WFC, WIFI, WIX, WNS, WWAV, WWE, WYY, XENT, ZOES

Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: AA, ACP, AG, AGI, ALTV, AMBR, AMOV, AMX, ANGI, AP, APA, AR, ARCI, AREX, ARII, ARLP, ARR, ATE, ATLS, ATW, AU, AUMN, AUO, AUY, AXAS, BAP, BBD, BBK, BCE, BCX, BEAV, BGR, BHP, BIOS, BKH, BLT, BMO, BOX, BRS, BSI, BTZ, BWG, BWP, CAB, CAFD, CAT, CBA, CBL, CCC, CECE, CEM, CFX, CH, CHK, CHY, CIG, CIG.C, CIK, CLD, CLUB, CNNX, CNP, CNQ, CNS, COP, CPG, CPN, CRTN, CSAL, CTG, CTL, CU, CVA, CVE, CYBE, CYS, CZZ, DFRG, DLB, DNR, DO, DOM, DPG, DRD, DRQ, DVN, DWSN, DXM, DXPE, EARN, ECA, ECR, ECT, EDE, EDI, EFC, EFF, ELON, EMF, EMR, ENPH, ENSV, EOG, EOX, EPM, ERA, ERC, ERF, ESEA, ETP, EVA, EVAL, EVEP, EVLV, EVTC, FCX, FDML, FGP, FHY, FIF, FLDM, FLR, FLS, FOF, FOSL, FRD, FREE, FSM, FSTR, FTEK, FTGC, FTI, FTR, FXCM, FXEN, GDF, GDP, GEF, GEF.B, GHY, GIFI, GIM, GLOP, GLRE, GLT, GMT, GNT, GOL, GOV, GPRK, GRC, GROW, GRP.U, GST, GULTU, GWR, HDNG, HEES, HES, HGT, HIO, HIX, HK, HMSY, HNRG, HRZN, HSC, HUB.A, HYB, HYI, HYT, I, INF, INPH, INTC, INVE, IO, IPI, ITUB, IVH, JCS, JGW, JMLP, JONE, JOY, KED, KERX, KFS, KMM, KORS, KST, KT, KTF, L, LADR, LF, LPL, LRE, LSCC, LTRX, MAV, MCEP, MDIV, MDLY, MDU, MEP, MGRC, MHGC, MHR, MHY, MRO, MUR, MUX, MVO, MYM, NAK, NAO, NBL, NGD, NNI, NOV, NRF, NSC, NSLP, OAS, OGE, OI, OIBR, OIBR.C, OIS, ORC, OSK, OTTR, OXY, PBA, PBT, PCH, PDVW, PEO, PGH, PHF, PICO, PKE, PKX, PLTM, POT, PPP, PRGX, PSAU, PSCE, PSTI, PSUN, PTR, PVA, PWE, PX, QEP, RAIL, RAS, RBCN, RCPI, RDEN, RELL, RFP, RNO, RNWK, ROYT, RXN, RYAM, RYN, SA, SAND, SDPI, SGMO, SGY, SID, SIR, SJI, SJR, SKM, SMLP, SNI, SNR, SPH, SPIL, SPW, SQM, SRT, SVU, SVVC, SWN, SWSH, SXE, SYX, SZC, TAHO, TAL, TAT, TCK, TESO, TEX, TGD, TGP, THTI, TICC, TK, TKR, TLN, TOO, TRP, TSU, TYC, UMC, UNP, UPL, URI, USEG, UTI, UTIW, VALE.P, VIV, VLT, VMI, WAVX, WCC, WIN, WLFC, WLL, WPT, WPX, WRLD, WRN, WY, XOM, YLCO

ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: IHI, IYF, IYG, KBE, UYG, XLF, XLY

ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: DBC, DIG, DJP, EPU, EWY, IGE, ILF, IXC, IYE, IYM, JJC, JO, SIL, THD, UYM, VXX, XLE, XOP

8:09 am Cypress Semi beats by $0.02, reports revs in-line (CY) :

Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.15 per share, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.13; revenues rose 167.4% year/year to $491 mln vs the $487.71 mln consensus.
"We are pleased to announce strong financial results for the second quarter of 2015, our first full quarter as a combined company. Our non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.15 represents a record relative to the last 10 quarters of the Cypress and Spansion pro forma combination. Our sales force is actively cross-selling products from our expanded product portfolio. As a result, we have begun to see an increase in new opportunities at top-tier customers, particularly in the automotive market. We have continued to make excellent progress on integration. We have exited 19 of the 27 sites planned for closure, reduced our combined headcount by 833 people and achieved $51.6 million in annualized synergies in the second quarter-ahead of our plan to achieve $160 million in synergies..."
8:07 am Amtech Systems announces that its Kingstone Tech unit will sell shares in Kingstone Semi (ASYS) : Co announces that Kingstone Tech (of which Amtech owns 55%) has signed an agreement to sell shares in Kingstone Semi to a China-based venture capital firm. Proceeds from the sale of shares will be paid to Amtech and used to support the company's core strategic initiatives. Upon completion of the transaction, Amtech will receive approximately $8 million (pre-tax) for its shares and the repayment of a loan; and an additional $5.6 million (pre-tax) by March 31, 2016, for its exclusive sales and service rights; and will own 15% of the Hong Kong holding company (effectively a 10% beneficial ownership in the Shanghai operating entity).

In U.S. corporate news of note:


3M (MMM 155.40, -0.01): unch after reporting a three-cent beat on below-consensus revenue.
American Express (AXP 77.15, -1.84): -2.3% after reporting a bottom-line beat on below-consensus revenue.
Cigna (CI 158.00, +6.93): +4.6% after the Wall Street Journal reported the company is close to being acquired by Anthem (ANTM 160.04, +4.94) for about $188/share. Cirrus Logic (CRUS 33.91, +3.20): +10.4% in reaction to better than expected results and upbeat guidance. Credit Suisse (CS 30.20, +2.12): +7.6% after beating earnings and revenue estimates. F5 Networks (FFIV 126.00, +7.50): +6.3% after beating bottom-line estimates and guiding ahead of analyst expectations. Fortinet (FTNT 47.20, +4.90): +11.6% following above-consensus earnings and revenue. General Motors (GM 32.25, +1.95): +6.4% after beating earnings estimates and reaffirming its outlook.
Qualcomm (QCOM 63.10, -1.09): -1.7% after cautious guidance overshadowed a bottom-line beat. Also of note, the company announced plans to reduce its semiconductor division by about 15%.
Las Vegas Sands (LVS 56.75, +1.79): +3.3% despite missing earnings and revenue estimates.
SanDisk (SNDK 60.82, +6.64): +12.3% after beating earnings and revenue expectations. Southwest Airlines (LUV 37.25, +2.13): +6.1% following its one-cent beat. Texas Instruments (TXN 49.50, +0.20): +0.4% despite reporting a one-cent miss and guiding Q3 results below analyst estimates.
7:39 am Caterpillar reports EPS in-line, misses on revs; reaffirmed FY15 EPS in-line, lowered revs guidance below consensus (CAT) : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $1.27 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $1.27; revenues fell 13.0% year/year to $12.32 bln vs the $12.68 bln consensus.

Caterpillar said that a challenging second half of the year is still expected -- low oil prices are a major factor.The economic and industry conditions that were expected at the beginning of the year are occurring.World economic growth is about as the company expected: severe weakness in mining continues, construction-related sales in China and Brazil are lower and new orders for oil-related applications declined. Co reaffirmed guidance for FY15, sees EPS of $4.70-5.00, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $4.96 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; lowered FY15 revs guidance to about $49 bln vs. $49.48 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate, down from about $50 bln.The primary reason for the decrease from our initial outlook provided in January is due to the currency translation impact of a stronger U.S. dollar on our sales outside the United States.

4:11 am STMicroelectronics beats by $0.03, reports revs in-line (STM) : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.04 per share, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.01; revenues fell 5.6% year/year to $1.75 bln vs the $1.77 bln consensus. Co issues guidance for Q3, sees Q3 revs of +2.5% seq (+/-3.5pp), may not be comparable to $1.82 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

"Based upon our visibility and mixed market conditions, including weaker demand in components for PC applications and the economic environment in China, in the third quarter we anticipate revenues to grow sequentially by about 2.5% at the midpoint...We remain committed to our priorities to accelerate revenue growth and improve operating margins, and we continue to explore options for our Digital Product Group."