some early playas releases
See second set below for CNBC mentions YUM & such. Canadian Solar iffy.
EIA 10:30am ET. rem last night API had a larger draw.
Mortgage purchase demand is up a sharp 19 percent from a year ago. The average rate for 30-year conforming loans ($417,000 or less) fell 2 basis points in the week to 4.11 percent.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Lowe’s (LOW +0.75%) reported Q2 EPS of $1.20, less than consensus of $1.24.
Staples (SPLS -0.56%) reported Q2 EPS of 12 cents, right on consensus.
Hormel Foods (HRL -1.37%) reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 56 cents, higher than consensus of 55 cents.
Intuit (INTU +0.15%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at Deutsche Bank.
Google (GOOG -0.72%) was upgraded to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Neutral’ at Atlantic Equities.
International Game (IGT -0.87%) was initiated with a ‘Sell’ at Goldman Sachs.
Aflac (AFL +0.08%) was downgraded to ‘Underperform’ from ‘Neutral’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch.
C.H. Robinson (CHRW +0.09%) was initiated with a ‘Buy’ at Evercore ISI with a price target of $81.
Knight Transportation (KNX +0.29%) was initiated with a ‘Buy’ at Evercore ISI with a price target of $32.
Con-way (CNW -0.40%) was initiated with a ‘Buy’ at Evercore ISI with a price target of $44.
Seagate (STX -0.76%) said it will acquire Dot Hill Systems (HILL -4.78%) for $9.75 per share, or $694 million.
The WSJ reported that JPMorgan Chase (JPM +0.21%) is in advanced discussions with the SEC to settle investment bias charges for $150 million that it inappropriately guided clients to its own investment products.
DeVry (DV -2.03%) slid over 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 EPS of 57 cents, below consensus of 61 cents.
La-Z-Boy (LZB -0.11%) rose over 1% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 EPS of 27 cents, higher than consensus of 21 cents.
Analog Devices (ADI -2.69%) jumped over 7% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 EPS of 77 cents, better than consensus of 74 cents.
Earnings and Economic Numbers from seekingalpha.com…
Today’s Economic Calendar
7:00 MBA Mortgage Applications
8:30 Consumer Price Index
10:30 EIA Petroleum Inventories
2:00 PM FOMC minutes
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Check out which companies are making headlines before the bell:
Lowe's—The home improvement retailer missed estimates by 4 cents with quarterly profit of $1.20 per share. However, revenue and a same-store sales increase of 4.3 percent both beat analyst forecasts, and the company's full-year earnings outlook is slightly above consensus estimates.
Staples—The office supplies retailer matched estimates with adjusted quarterly profit of 12 cents per share, and revenue was essentially in line. However, Staples also expects current quarter sales to fall below year-ago levels.
Weight Watchers—The weight loss company's stock was upgraded to "equal weight" from "underweight" at Morgan Stanley, following a 76 percent drop in the stock year to date. However, Morgan Stanley also reiterated concerns that declining attendance at meetings is a permanent trend.
Hormel Foods—The maker of Spam, Dinty Moore and other food brands earned an adjusted 56 cents per share for its latest quarter, a penny above estimates, though revenue was slightly below forecasts. Hormel also raised its full-year forecast, as its grocery product sales increase and the company is able to successfully navigate the negative influence of avian flu on its Jennie-O turkey segment.
La-Z-Boy—The company reported quarterly profit of 27 cents per share, 6 cents above estimates. Revenue was in line with expectations, with the furniture maker's same-store sales rising by 5.3 percent.
Analog Devices—Analog Devices earned an adjusted 77 cents per share for its latest quarter, 3 cents above estimates, with the chip maker's revenue also coming in well above forecasts. The company's current quarter outlook is also largely above Street projections.
Canadian Solar—Canadian Solar trounced estimates by 18 cents with adjusted quarterly profit of 31 cents per share, with revenue also considerably higher than forecasts. However, the solar equipment maker's profits were about 70 percent below year-ago levels on falling sales.
Yum Brands—The KFC parent named long-time executive Micky Pant as chief executive officer of Yum's China division. He will succeed the retiring Sam Su.
Dot Hill Systems—Dot Hill will be acquired by hard disk drive maker Seagate Technology for $9.75 per share in cash, or about $694 million. Dot Hill is a maker of software and hardware data storage systems, and the deal represents an 88 percent premium to Tuesday's close.
Citigroup—Citigroup unit Citigroup Global Markets will return $4.5 million in account management fees as part of an agreement with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's office.
American Express—American Express is adding a cash back feature to its "Serve" prepaid debit cards.
Sina—The China-based internet company reported adjusted quarterly profit of 6 cents per share, 2 cents above estimates, with revenue also beating forecasts. Its publicly traded microblog unit, Weibo, reported adjusted quarterly profit of 5 cents per share, 2 cents above estimates. Weibo also reported revenue that beat Street forecasts.
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The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions.
~ Leonardo da Vinci
