From Briefing.com: 4:21 pm Motorola Solutions beats by $0.12, reports revs in-line; guides Q1 EPS below consensus; guides FY16 EPS above consensus (MSI) :
Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $1.58 per share, $0.12 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $1.46; revenues fell 7.7% year/year to $1.68 bln vs the $1.69 bln Capital IQ Consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of 0.37-0.42 vs. $0.45 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees revs down 4-6% YoY vs. consensus expectations for revenue to fall 3%. Co issues upside guidance for FY16, sees EPS of 4.45-4.65 vs. $4.03 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees revs +5-7% vs. +1% consensus.
4:07 pm Veeco Instruments beats by $0.03, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus (VECO) :
Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.01 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of ($0.02); revenues fell 6.3% year/year to $106.5 mln vs the $99.87 mln Capital IQ Consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of ($0.35)-($0.25), excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.00 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of $70-80 mln vs. $101.75 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate"Entering 2016, we continue to face a weak macro-economic environment and challenging LED industry conditions.
As a result, we expect investments for Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition ("MOCVD") equipment will remain soft through the first half of this year. During this time, we continue to strengthen our product portfolio and recently introduced the TurboDisc K475i MOCVD reactor to complement our industry leading EPIK 700 MOCVD product. We remain focused on positioning the Company for long term growth and are encouraged by our prospects."
4:15 pm : The major U.S. indices began their week on an upbeat note as equities rallied in tandem with crude oil. Meanwhile, a reversal in industrial metals buoyed investor sentiment while chatter regarding a merger between industrial giants Honeywell (HON 105.17, -2.10) and United Technologies (UTX 92.37, +4.14) pushed the stock market to its highest level of the day. The averages ended off their best levels with the Nasdaq Composite (+1.5%) and the S&P 500 (+1.5%) leading the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+1.4%). To be fair, conviction in today's rally was lacking, evidenced by relatively light trading volume as fewer than 976 million shares changed hands at the NYSE floor.
Ahead of today's session, oil continued its rebound from the last week as a report from the International Energy Agency elicited a bullish response from investors. The IEA reported that U.S. shale production was expected to decline by 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2016 while falling an additional 200,000 bpd in 2017. As a result, the oil market would begin rebalancing in 2017. Market participants ran with the mid-term outlook and bid WTI crude, sending the commodity higher by 5.1% to $33.38/bbl. Separately, rising industrial metal prices boosted investor confidence as it reportedly reflected receding worries regarding economic growth.
Predictably, commodity-sensitive energy (+2.2%) and materials (+1.9%) were able to end their day in the front of the pack as consumer discretionary (+1.9%) and industrials (+1.7%) followed. Oil and gas companies demonstrated relative strength in the energy sector and helped move the cyclical sector into positive territory for the month (+0.4%).
In the material sector, Alcoa (AA 8.91, +1.04) gained 13.2% amid today's rebound in aluminum (+1.4%) while Eastman Chemical Co. (EMN 64.52, +2.12) outperformed with a gain of 3.4%.
Consumer discretionary names Amazon (AMZN 559.50,+24.60) and Netflix (NFLX 91.93, +2.70) benefited from a a positive profile in Barron's. The two companies were cited as possible beneficiaries of the FCC's decision to move forward with efforts to open the cable box market.
Honeywell and United Technologies initially spiked when CNBC reported that the two companies held merger talks. By the end of the day though, Honeywell settled lower by 2.0% while United Technologies climbed 4.7%. However, it is worth noting that United Technologies reportedly expressed concerns about the deal getting blocked on anti-trust grounds.
The Treasury complex traded in a narrow range, showing modest losses throughout the day. As a result, the yield on the 10-yr note edged up one basis point to 1.76%.
Participants received no economic data of note today, but tomorrow's economic calendar will include the 9:00 ET release of the December Case-Shiller 20-city Index (Briefing.com consensus 5.8%). Separately, February Consumer Confidence (Briefing.com consensus 97.3) and the Existing Home Sales report for January (Briefing.com consensus 5.30 million) will cross the wires at 10:00 ET.
Russell 2000 -9.8% YTD
Nasdaq Composite -8.7% YTD
S&P 500 -4.8% YTD
Dow Jones -4.6% YTD
DJ30 +228.67 NASDAQ +66.18 SP500 +27.72 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2132/1.618 bln/839 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2396/975.6 mln/672
3:40 pm :
Oil prices were the big mover again today
WTI oil futures rallied in early morning trade after the International Energy Agency (IEA) released its Medium-Term Oil Market Report
Apr crude oil finished today's floor session +5.3% at $33.43/barrel
Mar nat gas closed +1.1% at $1.82/MMBtu today
However, the dollar index traded higher all day, and remained near today's high, which pressured most other commodities today, such as precious metals
Apr gold ended today's session -1.7% at $1209.90/oz, while Mar silver ended -1.3% at $15.18/oz
Copper, on the other hand, traded higher all day, finishing +2% at $2.12/lb
The broader market finished Monday trading on a rebound from the close to last week which ended in two days of losses. Out-performing the others, the Nasdaq Composite added 66.18 points (+1.47%) to 4570.61. The S&P 500 was close behind, higher by 27.72 points (+1.45%) to 1945.50. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rounded out the trio higher by 228.67 points (+1.40%) to 16620.66. Early gains would hold throughout the session as all three major US indices rallied to begin Monday trade; action closed near the highs of the daily range in all three major indices as highs of the session rang in around 2 p.m. ET and pulled back slightly into the close.
Action in Technology (XLK 41.20, +0.54 +1.33%) was decidedly to the upside today as component Qualcomm (QCOM 51.28, +1.86 +3.76%) announced its Snapdragon 820 chip-sets would be powering Samsung's (SSNLF 1000, flat) latest iteration of the Galaxy smartphone lines - the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. Other sectors were XLE +2.55%, XLY +1.94%, XLB +1.91%, XLI +1.70%, XLF +1.57%, IYZ +1.48%, XLV +1.43%, XLU +1.17%, XLP +0.49% when Monday was done.
Today's positive action among tech sub-sectors was spearheaded by the Social Media (SOCL 17.46, +0.46 +2.71%) sector as component Nutrisystem (NTRI 22.48, +2.27 +11.23%) soared to multi-month highs as the stock was added to B. Riley & Co's Focus List ahead of the open. Other SOCL names which out-performed today included P +7.24%, GRPN +5.38%, YNDX +5.21%, GREZF +4.44%, NTES +3.99%, YELP +3.98%, WB +3.89%, YHOO +3.76%.
As is happened, the S&P 500 Information Technology sector (679.93, +9.60 +1.43%) soared to highs as well, spending almost the entirety of the session at the top of the daily range. Component Western Digital's (WDC 46.10, +1.98 +4.49%) shareholder Alken Asset Management issued an open letter regarding WDC's acquisition of SanDisk (SNDK 67.68, -1.17 -1.70%), noting they believe the deal should be cancelled. Other names in the sector which displayed strength included VRSN +4.12%, ADBE +3.62%, NVDA +3.55%, HPQ +3.49%, ADS +3.20%, CRM +2.96%, STX +2.84%, AKAM +2.54%, FB +2.48%, XRX +2.46% FSLR +2.34%, INTC +2.23%.
Other notable news items among sector components:
Salesforce.com (CRM 63.98, +1.84 +2.96%) to acquire PredictionIO. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
Alliance Data's (ADS 210.89, +6.53 +3.20%) Epsilon signed a multi-year agreement with Shire plc (SHPG 163.90, -0.32 -0.19%) to build, host and manage a consolidated database of consumer and healthcare professional information that will enable improved and more effective communication in the U.S. and around the world.
Western Digital (WDC) investor Alken Asset Management confirmed it will vote against WDC's acquisition of SanDisk (SNDK) . The firm issued an open letter to the Board of Directors, stating it believes the deal should be cancelled.
HP (HPQ 10.68, +0.36 +3.49%) announced the HP Elite x3, a mobile solution which bridges phablet, laptop and desktop use cases from a single computing device while enabling users to run key productivity apps across these different experiences seamlessly.
IBM (IBM 133.77, +0.69 +0.52%) and VMware (VMW 49.95, +0.73 +1.48%) announced a strategic partnership whereby the companies will enable enterprise customers to easily extend their existing workloads, as they are, from their on-premises software-defined data center to the cloud.
Qualcomm (QCOM) announced its Snapdragon 820 processor will power Samsung's (SSNLF) latest iteration of the Galaxy phones lineups, the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge.
Ericsson (ERIC 9.33, +0.10 +1.08%) and Cisco (CSCO 26.63, +0.08 +0.30%) reported significant progress in all areas of their next- generation strategic partnership, announced in November 2015. The companies' sales forces have successfully engaged with customers across the world on business deals spanning networking, mobility and cloud technologies, IP transformation and managed services agreements, resulting in new and expanded businesses opportunities.
In addition, CSCO announced a collaboration with ERIC and Intel (INTC 29.35, +0.64 +2.23%) to develop a next-generation 5G router for business and residential services.
Visa (V 73.06, +1.53 +2.14%) is expanding its Visa Ready program to include Internet of Things companies, such as manufacturers of wearables, automobiles, appliances, public transportation services, clothing and almost any other connected device.V also announced Visa Checkout, will be available to merchants and consumers across France, India, Ireland, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom this year. In addition, V is making the Visa Token Service available to auto manufacturers. Intel's (INTC) Security and Samsung Elect (SSNLF) announced an expanded relationship whereby Security will come pre-installed with McAfee VirusScan on Samsung Galaxy S7 and GalaxyS7 Edge phones.
MasterCard (MA 87.82, +1.02 +1.18%) and WISeKey announced a partnership to enable contact-less payments on select luxury brand watches and wearables.
Adobe (ADBE 83.80, +2.93 +3.62%) announced Adobe Experience Manager Mobile, an application to aid developers.
Elsewhere in the tech space:
AT&T (T 36.86, +0.29 +0.79%) to deploy nearly $10 billion of Capex to drive agility for businesses worldwide. The company continues to expect Capex of about $22 billion in 2016.
Central European Media (CETV 2.45, +0.18 +7.93%) entered into a new 469 million term loan guaranteed by Time Warner (TWC 190.76, +1.92 +1.02%).
Verizon (VZ 51.07, +0.21 +0.41%) purchased XO Communications' fiber-optic business for about $1.8 billion.
Nokia (NOK 6.19, +0.19 +3.17%) announced the planned acquisition of Nakina Systems. The deal is expected to close in Q1 2016.
Nxt-ID (NXTD 0.67, -0.09 -11.96%) announced a $15 million purchase order for a new SmartCard being developed for WorldVentures vacation club Members.
In reaction to quarterly results:
Intelsat (I 2.72, -0.29 -9.63%) reported better than expected Q4 EPS of $0.55 on revenues which fell 7.7% year-over-year to $571.3 million. Also, the company guided FY16 revenues of $2.14-2.20 and EBITDA in the range of $1.625-1.675 billion.
Companies scheduled to report quarterly results tonight/tomorrow morning: MSI, ROG, SREV, VECO/AIXG, ANGI, CTG, DAKT, EXLS, FTR, LXK, SNI
Analyst actions:
CREE was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray,
IMAX was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Wedbush,
SMI was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan,
BITA was upgraded to Buy from Underperform at Credit Agricole;
EXPE and TRIP were downgraded to Sell from Hold at Stifel
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