From Briefing.com: The broader market ended Tuesday split, as only the Tech heavy Nasdaq Composite closed below flat lines on the session. To that end, the Nasdaq edged lower by 12.06 points (-0.24%) to 5083.24. The Dow Jones Industrial Average for its part closed higher by 27.73 points (+0.16%) to 17758.21. The S&P 500 was also higher today, advancing 3.14 points (+0.15%) to 2081.72. The Dow and S&P edged higher in the final hour of action, as Utilities and Energy helped the two toward the end of the session. Market data today was limited to Import/Export Prices which declined 0.3% in October after a 0.5% decline in the prior reading and Wholesale Inventories which increased 0.5% in September on top of an upwardly revised 0.3% increased (from 0.1%).
In Technology (XLK 43.62, -0.29 -0.66%), action was staunchly to the downside as the sector did not mark a single tick above yesterday's closing price. The sector traded lower as names like AVGO -5.25%, WDC -4.55%, STX -4.55%, FSLR -4.32%, WIN -4.29%, BRCM -3.27% finished in the red, while names like TSS +2.46%, V +2.03%, HPQ +1.80%, INTU +1.40%, FB +1.33%, JNPR +1.27%, FISV +1.13%, YHOO +0.92% managed to escape the session in positive territory. Sector component Windstream (WIN) announced the latest network expansion as part of the company's 2015 network expansion strategy. Overnight, component First Solar (FSLR) reported full Q3 results (prelim results were announced Oct. 29), taking the stock lower on today's session. On the flip side, sector component HP (HPQ) announced the availability of the world's first native quad UHD/4K display support for breakthrough graphics performance.
Semiconductors (SOX 657.96, -11.98 -1.79%) dictated trading in the sector today, as component SunEdison (SUNE 5.77, -0.63 -22.03%) reported quarterly results in the overnight session. The miss on the bottom line of the company's results, in addition to certain operating metrics missing their mark caused the stock to remain under pressure today, as the broader market also traded in the red mostly from start to finish. Other components which ended lower today were SWKS -5.32%, AVGO -5.25%, QRVO -3.33%, ON -2.48%, ASML -2.30%, TSM -1.96%, NVDA -1.91%, MRVL -1.91%, MU -1.86%
In the S&P 500 Information Technology sector (734.90, -5.33 -0.72%), trading was also pressured by broader market action at the open but did not recover. Names which finished down with the sector included SNDK -1.57%, MCHP -1.37%, QCOM -1.27%, MSFT -1.20%, APH -0.84%, LRCX -0.75%, SYMC -0.75%, CSCO -0.71%. A notable laggard on the session was bellwether Apple (AAPL 116.77, -3.80) which slipped 3.15% today as a cautious analyst note circulated early in the session citing concerns about the company's iPhone Asian supply chain checks.
Other notable news items among sector components:
Microsoft (MSFT) announced plans to offer commercial cloud services from the UK. Microsoft Azure and Office 365 will be generally available from local UK-based data centers in late 2016 with Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online following shortly thereafter.
Symantec (SYMC 19.97, -0.15 -0.75%) entered into a $500 million accelerated share repurchase program, as expected per the company's Q2 report.
The USAF awarded Harris (HRS 79.05, -0.44 -0.55%) a $40 million nine-month extension of the Network and Space Operations and Maintenance contract to support the Air Force Satellite Control Network at two network control locations in the U.S. and at antenna sites throughout the world. The contract was initially awarded during 1Q16.
Microsemi (MSCC 36.914, -1.03 -2.71%) was informed that its proposal to acquire PMC-Sierra (PMCS 11.89, +0.14 +1.19%) constitutes a superior proposal, under the terms of PMSC's merger agreement with
Skyworks (SWKS 80.37, -4.52 -5.32%).
AT&T (T 32.79, -0.05 -0.15%) will offer Apple's (AAPL 116.77, -3.80 -3.15%) iPad Pro with Wi-Fi + Cellular starting tomorrow at www.att.com and in AT&T stores.
Elsewhere in the technology space:
Rackspace (RAX 30.33, +3.24 +11.96%) in addition to reporting quarterly results, announced a proposed $350 million offering of senior notes due 2024.
Science Applications (SAIC 45.99, +0.35 +0.77%) announced it is one of two awardees for a contract to provide technical services for SSC Pacific for a potential value of $94 million for all awardees.
Unwired Planet (UPIP 0.88, -0.01 -1.13%) appointed Jim Wheat as CFO effective immediately.
Zayo Group Holdings (ZAYO 24.55, -1.24 -4.81%) will acquire Viatel's infrastructure and non-Irish enterprise businesses, for 95 million.
ZAYO will also reorganize into two principal operating units: Strategic Business Segments and Global Sales and Customer Success.
Microsemi Corporation (MSCC) signed a reseller agreement with Thales e-Security. The agreement makes the company a certified reseller of Thales nShield HSMs.
Syntel (SYNT 47.51, -0.55 -1.14%) announced that CFO Arvind Godbole will retire. The firm will search for a permanent replacement.
Xplore Tech (XPLR 5.96, +0.28 +4.93%) named interim CFO Tom Wilkinson as permanent CFO.
Edgewater (EDGW 7.96, -0.04 -0.50%) rejected the unsolicited, all-stock proposal from AMERI Holdings for $8.50 per share, calling it grossly inadequate.
Taiwan Semi (TSM 22.51, -0.45 -1.96%) reported October revenues of NT$81.74 billion and approved a capital appropriations following the Board meeting.
Fusion Telecom Int'l (FSNN 2.22, +0.01 +0.45%) offered an update on its cost efficiency initiative, stating it will surpass its $3 million in annual savings goal.
Remark Media (MARK 4.15, -0.02 -0.48%) filed for an offering of about 14.23 million shares of common stock for selling stockholders.
Giga-tronics (GIGA 1.18, -0.01 -0.84%) reported Q2 sales decreased 39% y/y to $3.1 million. The company reported a non-GAAP net loss of $1.2 million or $0.18 per share compared to net income of $262,000 or $0.03 in prior year period; also received a $1.4 million order.
Trimble Navigation (TRMB 22.58, +0.49 +2.22%) will acquire privately held Agri-Trend. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
AVG Tech (AVG 19.59, +0.39 +2.03%) adopted a 1.6 million share repurchase program.
In reaction to quarterly results:
Rackspace (RAX) reported Q3 EPS and revenues which beat expectations at $0.26 and $503.06 million, respectively. The company also guided revenue growth to be 2-3% quarter-over-quarter on a constant currency basis. Also expects adjusted EBIDTA margins to be 33-34%.
Jive Software (JIVE 5.11, +0.43 +9.19%) reported better than expected EPS for Q3 with a loss per share of $0.03. Also reported revenues which were mostly in-line at $49.1 million. JIVE also guided Q4 EPS slightly better than expected at ($0.06)-($0.04) on revenues which are expected mostly in-line at $49-50 million.
RigNet (RNET 22.80, -8.95 -28.19%) reported Q3 GAAP EPS loss of $0.62 per share on revenues which fell 24.5% year-over-year to $66.32 million.
SunEdison (SUNE) reported Q3 EPS loss of $0.91 per share, missing expectations. Revenues were better than expected at $476 million.
Textura (TXTR 23.62, -5.81 -19.74%) reported Q3 EPS which beat expectations at $0.07 on revenues which missed expectations and rose 37.2% year-over-year to $22.5 million. The company also issued Q4 guidance of EPS in the range of $0.06-0.09 on revenues of $23-24 million.
ViaSat (VSAT 63.08, -2.92 -4.42%) reported Q2 EPS and revenues which missed expectations at $0.30 and $353.3 million, respectively.
Companies scheduled to report quarterly results tonight/tomorrow before the open: ALRM, DOX, HCKT, LXFT, OPWR, FENG/GIB, CYRN, MGIC
Analyst actions:
VIP was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup,
NEWT was upgraded to Outperform from Mkt Perform at Raymond James;
TXTR was downgraded at Oppenheimer and Northland Capital,
ADSK was downgraded at Rosenblatt and Morgan Stanley,
RNET was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Sidoti,
WYY was downgraded to Hold ffrom Buy at Craig Hallum,
SMT was downgraded to Sector Underperform from Sector Perform at CIBC,
BKFS was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Monness Crespi & Hardt,
BITA was downgraded to Underperform from Outperform at Credit Agricole,
CYBR was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BofA/Merrill,
KING was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley,
CEVA was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Wunderlich
4:00 pm Lattice Semi appoint Glen Hawk COO (LSCC) : Hawk previously served as the co's Corporate VP, Chief Marketing Officer
4:15 pm : The stock market ended Tuesday on a mixed note as the Nasdaq Composite (-0.2%) settled with a modest loss while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.2%) and S&P 500 (+0.2%) overcame the weakness in the technology sector (-0.7%), eking out slim gains.
Equities stumbled at the start of the trading day with the opening move paced by the largest stock in terms of market cap. Specifically, Apple (AAPL 116.73, -3.84) fell 3.2% in reaction to a Credit Suisse report, which indicated the tech giant has cut its orders for iPhone 6s components by as much as 10.0%. Shares of Apple slid below their 100-day moving average (117.33) after struggling with the 200-day average (122.06) over the past few days. Meanwhile, supplier names like CirrusLogic (CRUS 29.43, -2.78), Broadcom (BRCM 51.45, -1.74), AvagoTechnologies (AVGO 119.86, -6.64) lost between 3.3% and 8.6% while the PHLX Semiconductor Index fell 1.8%.
Apple's weakness kept the technology sector (-0.7%) deep in the red throughout the session, which in turn, weighed on the Nasdaq. Meanwhile, six of the remaining nine sectors settled in the green. That included the health care sector (+1.0%), which gathered steam late in the day while biotechnology recovered from early weakness. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 331.96, +1.38) climbed 0.4% after being down more than 1.0% in the early going.
Elsewhere, influential sectors like consumer discretionary (+0.7%) and financials (+0.5%) held slim gains in morning action, but extended higher in the afternoon. Also of note, the energy sector (+0.2%) settled just above its flat line while crude oil rallied 0.8% to $44.21/bbl. Meanwhile, the other commodity-linked sector-materials (-0.7%)-spent the day at the bottom of the leaderboard.
Staying on the cyclical side, the industrial sector (unch) struggled throughout the day with transport stocks responsible for some of the weakness. However, the Dow Jones Transportation Average returned to unchanged by the end of the day. It is worth noting Norfolk Southern (NSC 88.57, -0.05) shed just 0.1% after surging 11.0% yesterday with today's downtick taking place after Canadian Pacific (CP 139.95, -2.23) denied interest in NSC.
Treasuries snapped their six-day skid with the 10-yr note settling near its high, dropping the benchmark yield three basis points to 2.32%.
Today's participation was just below average with about 820 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.
Economic data was limited to Import/Export Prices and Wholesale Inventories:
Export prices, excluding agriculture, decreased 0.3% in October after decreasing 0.5% (revised from -0.6%) in the prior reading
Excluding oil, import prices decreased 0.3%, which followed last month's decrease of 0.2% (revised from -0.3%)
Wholesale inventories increased 0.5% in September on top of an upwardly revised 0.3% increase (from 0.1%) for August
The Briefing.com consensus expected an increase of 0.1%
Wholesale sales increased 0.5% after declining 0.9% in August
The inventory-to-sales ratio held steady versus the prior month at 1.31, but is up from 1.20 in the same period a year ago
Investors will not receive any economic data tomorrow and the bond market will be closed for Veterans Day.
Nasdaq Composite +7.3% YTD
S&P 500 +1.1% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average -0.4% YTD
Russell 2000 -1.2% YTD
DJ30 +27.73 NASDAQ -12.06 SP500 +3.14 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1398/1.74 bln/1491 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1748/823.2 mln/1330
3:35 pm :
The dollar index trended strong in early trade, before seeing a modest pull-back from mid-day highs most recently
Sentiment ahead of this week's US employment data and moderate moves in the Euro and Yen drove a good portion of the dollar's action this session
The index is now holding gains for the day at +0.3% to 99.28
Gold closed near-unchanged, avoiding a sell-off seen in the more-industrial silver. The December contract ended $0.50 higher at $1088.40/oz
Copper and silver both closed negative for the day, following underwhelming Chinese copper-import data which showed a 4.2% Y/Y decline (for the first 10 months of this year)- re-affirming market conviction of weakness in global industrial demand for base metals.
Copper closed $0.01 lower (-0.4%) to $2.22/lb, with silver $0.03 lower (-0.1%) to $14.37
Crude rallied to highs near the $44.70/barrel level in mid-morning trade, amidst (and despite) a report by the IEA which called for a base-case of $80/barrel in 2020 and included the expectation for tepid demand growth in the intermediate-term.
The report stated that "developing Asia, a region in which India takes over from China as the largest source of consumption growth, is the leading demand centre for every major element of the world's energy mix in 2040-oil, gas, coal, renewables and nuclear. By 2040, China's net oil imports are expected to be nearly five times those of the United States, while India's easily exceed those of the European Union."
December WTI held a good portion of its gain going into the close, ending up $0.37 (+0.8%) to $4.24/barrel. Natural gas closed $0.03 higher (+1.3%) at $2.33/MMBtu
Agricultural commodities were driven to increased volatility this session, by the release of the USDA WASDE report mid-session
The report included a bearish view for corn, and calls for a fall in the world supply estimates for soybeans and wheat
Corn closed $0.08 lower (-2.2%) at $3.60/bushel, Wheat closed $0.08 lower (-1.6%) at $4.93/bushel and Soybeans closed $0.16 lower (-1.8%) at $8.58/bushel
1:52 pm Pericom Semi: Montage Technology Group reports that proxy firm Egan-Jones recommends shareholders vote against the Diodes Incorporated (DIOD) transaction (PSEM) :
11:50 am Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New lows (148) outpacing new highs (63) (SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: AAME, ABCB, ATHN, BABY, BANR, BDGE, BHLB, BNCN, BNK, BOCH, BSFT, CABO, CALL, CPS, DCOM, DMND, DSGX, FCLF, FLIC, FLTX, FNBC, FNWB, FRBK, GABC, GCI, GE, GENC, GSV, GWB, HOMB, IBOC, INDB, KINS, KRNY, MDR, MITK, MLVF, MPAA, OCAT, OLBK, OMI, ORI, OSBC, PAYX, PFSW, PRMW, QABA, RMAX, SGBK, SHOR, SIFI, SPHS, TCBK, TECD, TFSL, TSYS, UCFC, VC, WAFD, WST, ZIOP, ZIXI, ZSPH
Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: ACTG, ADUS, AEGR, AFT, AHGP, AMTX, APT, ARLP, ASCMA, AVL, AVP, AYA, BBL, BBRG, BDE, BGX, BID, BKE, BLMN, BREW, BRFS, BVN, CCO, CDI, CGG, CGIX, CHMI, CMLS, CNL, CNP, CNV, CPST, CREG, CTIC, CVA, CX, DAVE, DDC, DDD, DEST, DPW, DXYN, EAC, EFF, EGLE, EMITF, ENOC, ENPH, ENSV, ESMC, ETRM, ETSY, EVEP, FDEU, FEI, FFIV, FLOW, FMI, FSTR, FTD, FTGC, FTK, GEN, GILT, GKOS, GLBS, GLF, GNK, GNRT, GRPN, GRSHU, GTIM, IBM, IILG, INVT, IPHS, JCAP, JCS, JGW, JSD, KEN, LCI, LF, LIQD, MCUR, MHR, MNKD, NDLS, NGL, NOR, NRF, NRX, NSAM, NSH, NSL, NSPH, NSPR, NTK, NVS, OMCL, OSTK, OZM, PEIX, PICO, PRAA, PRGN, RAS, RDY, REXI, RNET, ROSG, RPRX, RTK, RWT, SB, SBLK, SCTY, SEMI, SJT, SNTA, SOHO, SUNE, SWIR, SXC, SXCP, TAS, TEU, TK, TLYS, TOO, TTGT, TU, TWER, TWIN, TXTR, URG, VAC, VALE, VBND, VCSH, VHI, VKTX, VPCO, WDC, WILN, WLH, XGTI, XHR
ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: none
ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: COW, DBB, DJP, JJC, PPLT
Amtech Systems (ASYS) solar subsidiary, Tempress Systems, won an order from a new customer in Taiwan, a repeat order from an existing customer in Taiwan and installed 800MW of its next-generation solar diffusion systems at a leading Chinese solar cell and module manufacturer.
7:03 am Microsemi was informed that its proposal to acquire PMC-Sierra (PMCS) constitutes a superior proposal, under the terms of PMSC's merger agreement with Skyworks Solutions (SWKS) (MSCC) :
Co announced that it was informed last night that its reiterated proposal to acquire PMC-Sierra (PMCS) in a cash and stock transaction constitutes a "Superior Proposal" under the terms of PMC's merger agreement with Skyworks Solutions (SWKS).Under the terms of the MSCC reiterated proposal, PMC shareholders will receive $9.04 in cash and 0.0771x of a share of Microsemi common stock for each share of PMC common stock held at the close of the transaction.The merger agreement submitted by Microsemi on Monday in support of its reiterated proposal is the same in all material respect to the previous merger agreement submitted by Microsemi on Oct 30, 2015.However, in support of its intent to consummate the transaction without delay by the end of the calendar year, Microsemi shortened the time to file an Exchange Offer with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
6:42 am Canadian Solar beats by $0.24, beats on revs; guides Q4 revs above consensus (CSIQ) :
Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.53 per share, $0.24 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.29; revenues fell 7.1% year/year to $849.8 mln vs the $811.26 mln Capital IQ Consensus. Total solar module shipments were 1,198 MW, of which 1,150 MW were recognized in revenue, compared to 809 MW recognized in revenue in the second quarter of 2015. Co issues upside guidance for Q4, sees Q4 revs of $930-980 mln vs. $806.27 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. Sees gross margin between 13% and 15%. Sees total module shipments in the range of approximately 1,300 MW to 1,350 MW, including approximately 170 MW of shipments to the Company's utility-scale solar projects that may not be recognized in the fourth quarter 2015 revenue.
6:07 am SunEdison misses by $0.21, beats on revs (SUNE) :
Reports Q3 (Sep) loss of $0.91 per share, $0.21 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus of ($0.70); revenues rose 1.5% year/year to $476 mln vs the $467.78 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
6:02 am Chipmos Technology reports October revenue of ~NT$1.6 bln, -17.4% Y/Y (IMOS) :
Revenue for the month of October 2015 was NT$1,603.6 million or US$49.4 million, an increase of 0.1% from the month of September 2015 and a decrease of 17.4% from the same period in 2014.
4:20 am EZchip: Raging urges shareholders to vote against Mellanox (MLNX) merger; believes EZchip is worth much more than $25.50 (EZCH) : Raging Capital Management, the largest shareholder of EZchip Semiconductor (EZCH), owning approximately 6.7% of the ordinary shares outstanding, issued a letter to EZchip shareholders today urging them to vote against the merger with Mellanox Technologies (MLNX), and vote for the election of Raging Capital's two highly qualified director nominees, Ken Traub and Paul McWilliams.
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