From Briefing.com: The broader market closed out Tuesday with notable gains. The advance today was led by the Nasdaq Composite which added 47.93 points (+1.03%) to 4685.92. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average followed closely together, with the former up 15.01 points (+0.78%) to 1938.68 and the latter up 117.65 points (+0.72%) to 16516.22. In economic data today was limited to the November Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey which showed that job openings increased to 5.431 million from October's revised 5.349 million figure (from 5.383 million).
The Technology (XLK 40.83, +0.48 +1.19%) sector closed out the session with notable gains, as broader market action took the sector higher in the final two hours of action. Component Cognizant Tech (CTSH 59.65, +3.53 +6.29%) was the best performer today as the company reaffirmed guidance for the FY15 (Dec) period as it sees EPS of at least $3.03. Other sectors closed today XLV +1.28%, XLY +1.11%, XLI +0.80%, XLF +0.77%, XLP +0.55%, XLE +0.24%, XLB +0.15%, XLU -0.39%, IYZ -0.62% with Healthcare and Tech leading the advance.
Software (IGV 97.89, +1.10 +1.14%) names were among the top performers today as the sector managed almost the entire session above flat lines. Component Activision Blizzard (ATVI 37.12, +0.91 +2.51%) saw relative strength as it was disclosed that King Digital (KING 17.84, +0.02 +0.11%) had approved the acquisition by ATVI of the company's King by ABS Partners unit. Other names in the sector which closed higher included NOW +3.13%, CTXS +2.79%, TTWO +2.59%, ATVI +2.51%, MSTR +2.45%, WDAY +2.35%, EA +2.20%.
At the end of the day, the S&P 500 Information Technology sector (683.49, +8.40 +1.24%) was also held up by the broader market today, as action managed to stay out of the red for the entire day. Components which displayed relative strength with the broader sector included AKAM +3.12%, APH +2.51%, TSS +2.29%, HRS +2.27%, CA +2.18%, INTC +1.93%, FB +1.91%, ACN +1.79%, FIS +1.78%, CRM +1.75%, YHOO +1.72%.
Other notable news items among sector components:
King Digital (KING) has approved the acquisition by Activision Blizzard's (ATVI) King by ABS Partners unit.
VirnetX Holding's (VHC 2.56, +0.56 +27.75%) pending litigation against Apple (AAPL 99.96, +1.43 +1.45%), in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division, the court issued a comprehensive order with rulings on all of the pending Daubert and Dispositive motions.
Datalink (DTLK 6.51, -0.09 -1.36%) has achieved the Cisco (CSCO 25.35, +0.08 +0.32%) Master Service Provider designation with the introduction of its Cisco Powered Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Cisco Powered Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) offerings.
Elsewhere in the technology space:
Ultra Clean Holdings (UCTT 5.50, +0.74 +15.55%) reaffirmed its fourth quarter 2015 revenue guidance. The company expects revenue for the fourth quarter of 2015 to be at the high end of the range of $98.0 million to $103.0 million.
Equinix (EQIX 314.92, +2.04 +0.65%) obtained permanent financing and terminated Bridge Credit Agreement with JPMorgan effective January 8, 2016.
Jack Henry (JKHY 77.90, +1.17 +1.52%) announced David Foss will be named president and CEO on July 1.
Orange (ORAN 17.13, +0.62 +3.76%) to acquire Cellcom Liberia. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Aspen Tech's (AZPN 36.28, +0.12 +0.33%) ATI Global Optimisation LTD subsidiary announced a recommended all cash offer for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of KBC Advanced Technologies plc. KBC shareholders will receive 185p in cash for each share. The transaction values KBC at about 158 million or about $230 million at the current exchange rate.
Anadigics (ANAD 0.68, +0.05 +9.52%) announced GaAs Labs has made a superior offer to acquire the company at $0.66 per share. The prior bid was $0.62 per share.
ClearOne (CLRO 11.60, +0.04 +0.35%) was awarded a new patent on technology for adaptively configuring beam-forming microphone arrays.
ManTech (MANT 28.57, +0.14 +0.49%) has been awarded a contract by the Department of Defense to support the defense and Intelligence Community's growing needs for modernization. The deal is for a base period of 1 year, followed by 4 option years. The total projected value is more than $200 million.
Upland Software (UPLD 6.95, +0.13 +1.91%) acquired substantially all of the assets of a California-based website analytics provider. The consideration paid was about $8.2 million in cash payable at closing (net of $0.2 million of cash acquired) and a $1.2 million cash holdback payable in 12 months. The deal is expected to add about $4.5 million to UPLD's revenues in 2016 and will be accretive to Adjusted EBITDA per share within the first year of closing.
Fabrinet (FN 23.29, +0.06 +0.26%) named Dr. Hong Hou as Chief Technical Officer effective today.
Spark Networks (LOV 3.75, flat) reported its total average subscribers grew 1.4% in Q4 to 200,023 users.
Analyst actions:
AAPL was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill,
INTC was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Mizuho,
CIEN was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley,
FIS was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo,
CA was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays,
UCTT was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Craig Hallum;
FFIV was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank,
TELNY was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan
4:50 pm Progress Software beats by $0.04, reports revs in-line; guides Q1 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus; guides FY16 EPS above consensus, revs in-line (PRGS) :
Reports Q4 (Nov) earnings of $0.53 per share, $0.04 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.49; Non-GAAP revenues rose 17.9% year/year to $115.4 mln vs the $115.93 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.27-0.29, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.30 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Non-GAAP Q1 revs of $92-94 mln vs. $97.45 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
Co issues guidance for FY16, sees EPS of $1.59-1.65, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $1.56 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Non-GAAP FY16 revs of $427-433 mln vs. $427.93 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
The negative currency translation impact on Progress's fiscal year 2016 business outlook compared to 2015 exchange rates is ~$7.0 mln on non-GAAP revenue and $0.02 to $0.03 on non-GAAP earnings per share. The negative currency translation impact on Progress's fiscal Q1 2016 business outlook compared to 2015 exchange rates is ~$3.0 mln to $4.0 mln on non-GAAP revenue and $0.01 to $0.02 on non-GAAP earnings per share.
4:44 pm IDC reports worldwide PC shipments totaled 71.9 mln units in Q4 of 2015, -10.6% YoY (XLK) :
Although total shipments were in line with already conservative expectations, the news nonetheless ended 2015 as the first year below 300 million units since 2008. The holiday quarter achieved a modest uptick compared to the third quarter, but the year-on-year decline in 2015 shipments was nevertheless the largest in history, surpassing the decline of -9.8% in 2013.
Detachable tablets, which are counted separately from PCs, are growing quickly but from a small base. Adding those units to PC shipments would boost growth by roughly 6 percentage points in the fourth quarter and 3 percentage points for all of 2015, bringing year-on-year growth for 4Q15 to a decline of about -5% and -7.5% for all of 2015.
IDC Release (related stocks: AAPL, HPQ, HPE, MSFT, IBM, LNVGY)
4:20 pm : The stock market ended its volatile Tuesday affair on a positive note, with the S&P 500 advancing 0.8%. The stock market fixated on oil prices today after mostly quiet overseas sessions. Despite the moderate advance, the rally remained muted for most of the day thanks to ongoing commodity concerns. The tech-heavy Nasdaq (+1.0%) outperformed the benchmark index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.7%).
Oil rested on its overnight low until reports of a terrorist attack in Turkey pushed the energy-component higher. WTI crude was able to mount a rally into the U.S. open, but was unable to maintain that momentum. Declines in oil were mirrored across equities for the most of the day as WTI crude ended its pit session lower by 3.1% at $30.44/bbl. However, the energy component climbed in electronic trade and the stock market rallied alongside.
On the leaderboard, technology (+1.2%), health care (+1.2%), consumer discretionary (+1.0%), and industrials (+0.7%) lead the pack. On the flipside, energy utilities (-0.5%), telecom services (-0.4%), materials (+0.2%), energy (+0.4%), and consumer staples (+0.5%) underperformed.
In the heavily-weighted technology sector, large-cap components saw relative strength with increased buying interest following the recent selloff. Cornerstones, Alphabet (GOOGL 745.34, +12.27), Facebook (FB 99.37, +1.86), and Apple (AAPL 99.96, +1.43) sported advances between 1.5% and 1.9%. Elsewhere in the space, the high-beta chipmakers ended in liine with the broader market, evidenced by the 0.8% gain in the PHLX Semiconductor index. Inside the index Intel (INTC 32.68, +0.62) outperformed with a gain of 1.9% thanks to resumed coverage at JPMorgan Chase with an 'Overweight' designation.
Looking at the consumer discretionary space, large-cap constituents there also showed relative strength with Starbucks (SBUX 59.46, +1.64) rising 2.8% after the company announced that it's on pace to have 2000 stores in China after looking to add 500 in 2016. Other influential sector members like Disney (DIS 101.46, +1.54) and Netflix (NFLX 116.58, +1.61) added 1.5% and 1.6%, respectively.
Switching to health care , the insurance sub-sector lead the space with Anthem Inc. (ANTM 135.60, +7.24), UnitedHealth Group (112.26, +2.68), and Aetna (AET 109.15, +4.08) outperforming with gains between 2.5% and 5.6%. Elsewhere in the group, biotechnology paced the advance evidenced by the 1.6% gain in the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 296.21, +4.52).
Treasuries ended just below their highs with the 10-yr yield slipping seven basis points to 2.10%.
Trading volume remained heavy with more than a billion shares changing hands at the NYSE floor once again.
On the economic front, the November Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed that job openings increased to 5.431 million from October's revised 5.349 million figure (from 5.383 million).
Tomorrow, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be released at 7:00 ET while the Federal Reserve's January Beige Book and the December Treasury Budget will cross the wires at 14:00 ET.
Russell 2000 -8.1% YTD
Nasdaq -6.4% YTD
S&P 500 -5.2%
Dow Jones Industrial Average -5.2%
DJ30 117.65 NASDAQ +47.93 SP500 +15.01 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1520/1.945 bln/1427 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1474/1.102 bln/1602
3:45 pm :
WTI oil prices dropped below$30/barrel today for a short moment as the bloodbath continues
However, this move was short-lived and Feb WTI closed -3.1% at $30.44/barrel
Natural gas was notably weak today, tanking 5.4% at $2.26/MMBtu
In electronic trade, nat gas is now down 6%
Gold and silver spent today's session in the red. Feb gold lost $10.80 to end at $1085.20/oz, while Mar silver slipped 1% to $13.76/oz
Copper remains under $2, ending the day -0.7% at $1.96/lb
9:29 am Anadigics announces that GaAs Labs has made a superior offer to acquire the company at $0.66/share (prior bid was $0.62/share -- see 1/6 7:47) (ANAD) :
Co announces that affiliates of GaAs Labs delivered to the Company, on January 7, 2016, two proposed further amendments to the previously announced November 11, 2015 agreement and plan of merger pursuant to which GaAs Labs offered to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Anadigics common stock on a fully diluted basis for $0.35/share net in cash, pursuant to an all-cash tender offer and second-step merger.
The first proposed amendment, among other things, if approved by the Company's Board of Directors, would have amended the GaAs Labs Merger Agreement to increase the Termination Fee. If the first proposed amendment were approved by the Company's Board of Directors, GaAs Labs proposed a second amendment to increase the per-share offer price to $0.62 net in cash
On January 8, 2016, another Excluded Party (Party B), whose January 5, 2016 proposed merger agreement was referenced in the Company's January 6, 2016 announcement, delivered to the Company two alternative further revised proposed merger agreements pursuant to which Party B offered, subject to the varying terms thereof, to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Anadigics common stock on a fully diluted basis for either $0.68 per-share net in cash or $0.70 per-share net in cash, respectively, pursuant to an all-cash tender offer and second-step merger.
8:04 am Axcelis Tech sees Q4 revs above consensus; EPS in-line with (ACLS) :
Co issues guidance for Q4 (Dec), sees EPS of $0.00-0.01 vs. $0.00 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q4 (Dec) revs of ~$70 mln vs. $62.57 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
Co sees gross margins in the low 30% range and operating profit of ~$2 million.
Cash balance will be ~$85 million.
6:03 am Super Micro Computer sees Q4 EPS and revs above consensus (SMCI) :
Co issues upside guidance for Q2 (Dec), sees EPS of $0.69-0.72 vs. $0.59 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. This is above previous guidance of $0.54-0.64
Co sees Q2 (Dec) revs of $637-639 mln vs. $600.10 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. This is above previous guidance range of $580-630 mln
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