From Briefing.com: 4:11 pm First Solar beats by $0.83, beats on revs; reaffirms FY16 EPS guidance, guides FY16 revs in-line; Stock will resume trading at 4:45pm ET (FSLR) :
Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $1.60 per share, $0.83 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.77; revenues fell 6.5% year/year to $942 mln vs the $928.98 mln Capital IQ Consensus. Co issues guidance for FY16, reaffirms EPS of $4.00-4.50, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $4.12 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY16 revs of $3.88-4.00 bln vs. $3.77 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.Additional 2016 Guidance UpdateRaises low end of Gross Margin guidance to 17-18% from 16-18%OpEx reaffirmed at $380-400 mlnOperating Income reaffirmed at 260-330 mlnOperating Cash Flow $400-600 mln (Prior $500-700 mln)CapEx reaffirmed at $300-400 mlnShipments reaffirmed at 2.9-3.0 GW
4:09 pm Ultra Clean Holdings beats by $0.01, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS, revs above consensus (UCTT) :
Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.01 per share, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of ($0.02); revenues fell 13.8% year/year to $103.42 mln vs the $102.1 mln Capital IQ Consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.01-0.04 vs. ($0.01) Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of $108-113 mln vs. $105.12 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.Gross margin for the fourth quarter of 2015 was 12.9%, compared to 15.4% for the previous quarter and 15.3% for the same period a year ago.
4:07 pm Ixia beats by $0.06, beats on revs; announces new stock buyback (XXIA) :
Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.22 per share, $0.06 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.16; revenues rose 9.2% year/year to $138.9 mln vs the $129.75 mln Capital IQ Consensus.Co also announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program under which the company may, over the next 12 months, acquire up to $25 million of its common stock.
4:10 pm : The major averages ended their day on a lower note as the broader market felt renewed pressure from the oil patch. Additionally, the underperformance of influential sectors and a worse than anticipated consumer confidence reading helped end the market's recent winning streak. Before today's session, the stock market had advanced in four of the last six sessions and the S&P 500 (-1.3%) and Dow Jones Industrial Average (-1.1%) were in positive territory for the month. Following today's decline, the two indices now hold respective month-to-date losses of 1.0% and 0.2%.
Oil was pressured today as investors weighed whether an output cap would be enough to combat the persisting oil glut. Any hopes of larger action by OPEC and non-OPEC states were dashed when Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi stated that the proposed production cap would not lead not an eventual output cut by Saudi Arabia. Mr. al-Naimi underscored his point by stating that higher cost drillers will need to find a way to become more efficient, borrow cash, or liquidate. Separately, comments from Iran's oil minister Bijan Zangane indicated that Iran would not be joining in the proposed output freeze. As a result, WTI crude ended its day lower by 4.9% at $31.80/bbl.
Commodity-sensitive energy (-3.3%) and materials (-2.4%) were the obvious losers with today's action in oil while financials (-1.8%) and technology (-1.8%) followed them on the bottom of the leaderboard.
In the energy space, independent oil and gas names showed the largest losses in the sector as the companies represent some of the higher cost drillers. Conversely, Dow component, Exxon Mobil (XOM 81.23, -1.16) managed to trade ahead of the broader sector, but trailed the benchmark index.
Economically-sensitive financials were hurt by a poor showing from money center banks. To that point, JPMorgan Chase (JPM 56.12, -2.45) led the downside in the sub-group after the company disclosed, at its analyst day, an additional $600 million in loan loss reserves for energy and material sector loans. JPMorgan Chase also disclosed that they see investment bank revenue declining 20.0% in the first quarter.
In the heavyweight technology space, Western Digital (WDC 42.77, -3.33) plummeted 7.2% after the company agreed to alter its deal to acquire SanDisk (SNDK 66.61, -1.07) despite a division of Unisplendour terminating its deal to purchase a 15.0% stake in Western Digital. Elsewhere, large-cap constituent Microsoft (MSFT 51.18, -1.47) surrendered 2.8% while Apple (AAPL 94.69, -2.19) lost 2.3%.
The Treasury complex saw increased buying interest throughout the day as the yield on 10-yr note sank from 1.81% to 1.74% by the end of the session.
Meanwhile, safe haven investments were bid higher with gold and the yen ending their day on a positive note. The dollar yen/pair ended at 112.10 (-0.7%) while gold gained 1.0%, climbing to $1,224.10/ozt.
Today's participation remained below the recent average with less than 914 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.
Today's data included the December Case-Shiller 20-city Index, the February Consumer Confidence report, and the Existing Home Sales report for January.
The Case-Shiller 20-city Home Price Index for December rose 5.7% (Briefing.com consensus of 5.8%). This followed the previous month's increase of 5.7% (revised from 5.8%).
The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index decreased to 92.2 (Briefing.com consensus 97.3) in February from a downwardly revised 97.8 (from 98.1) in January.
February marked the lowest level for consumer confidence since October 2015.
The drop in February stemmed from a drop in both the Present Situation Index (from 116.6 to 112.1) and the Expectations Index (from 85.3 to 78.9).
Notably, the report attributed the weakening in the present situation to greater apprehension about business conditions, their personal financial situation, and to a lesser degree, labor market prospects.
Existing home sales ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.47 million units in January (Briefing.com consensus 5.30 million), up 0.4% from a downwardly revised 5.45 million (from 5.46 million) in December.
Existing home sales are 11.0% higher than a year ago. At the current sales pace, there is a 4.0-month supply of inventory of unsold homes, which is well below the 6.0 month supply that is typically maintained during normal periods of buying and selling.
The lack of supply has helped push median prices higher, which in turn is limiting sales activity since price increases are outpacing income gains for a large swath of potential buyers. The share of first-time homebuyers remained at 32.0% for the second consecutive month.
Overall, the median home price for all housing types in January was $213,800, up 8.2% year-over-year.
The slight improvement in existing home sales in January was surprising as many economists thought low inventory levels, the winter blizzard in the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast late in the month, and a normal pullback from a much stronger than expected December home sales gain would produce a modest downturn in existing home sales. That wasn't the case.
It is worth noting that Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer will speak at 20:30 ET.
Tomorrow's economic data will be limited to the 7:00 ET release of the weekly MBA Mortgage Index and the January New Home Sales Report (Briefing.com 523k), which will cross at 10:00 ET.DJ30 -189.08 NASDAQ -67.02 SP500 -24.24 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 872/1.598 bln/2112 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 998/913.9 mln/2077
4:28 pm Marvell names Deloitte & Touche LLP as its new independent registered public accounting firm (MRVL) :
3:50 pm :
Energy was weak today with WTI oil selling off, falling 5%
Front-month Apr crude oil closed today's session at $31.80/barrel
Apr nar gas lost steam as well, closing -1.6% at $1.83/MMBtu
Apr gold, on the other hand, ran 1% higher today to $1222.40/oz, while Mar silver gained 0.3% to $15.23/oz
The broader market closed the session near daily lows. The downward action was led by the Nasdaq Composite which lost 67.02 points (-1.47%) to 4503.58. The S&P 500 was down 24.23 points (-1.25%) to 1921.27 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rounded out the trio lower by 188.88 points (-1.14%) to 16431.78. The markets pushed lower as the session began as weakness overseas, oil/energy losses and a weaker than expected Consumer Confidence report pressured the broader market. Losses progressed into midday, and the three major indices all finished near the lows of their respective trading ranges today. Stocks retraced most of yesterday's advance which took the Dow and the S&P above late January highs.
Market data today came in the form of the Case-Shiller 20-city Home Price Index for December which rose 5.7%. The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index declined to 92.2 in February from a downwardly revised 97.8 (from 98.1) in January. Also, the existing home sales reading was 11.0% higher than a year ago.
Today's action in the Technology (XLK 40.55, -0.65 -1.58%) sector was mostly to the downside, but resisting the selling action today component Frontier Communications (FTR 5.08, +0.57 +12.64%) reported better than expected Q4 EPS and noted that the pending acquisition of Verizon's (VZ 50.61, -0.46 -0.90%) wire-line operations in certain states is on track. Other sectors closed trading IYZ +0.50%, XLU +0.09%, XLP -0.02%, XLY -0.55%, XLV -0.75%, XLI -1.00%, XLF -1.78%, XLB -2.46%, XLE -3.42% at Telecoms were out-performers and Energy lagged.
Action to the downside was led today by the Semi (SOXX 82.03, -0.31 -1.57%) space as component Western Digital (WDC 42.77, -3.33 -7.22%) saw pressure today on a morning news release which held that the company is still committed to the SanDisk (SNDK 66.61, -1.07 -1.58%) acquisition, and that it submitted an altered offer to merge the two companies for $67.50 per share in cash and 0.2387 shares of WDC. Other SOXX components which displayed weakness today included SUNE -6.99%, MU -5.07%, SWKS -2.60%, NXPI -2.39%, TSM -2.34%, ADI -2.19%, MXIM -2.00%, TXN -1.99%, AVGO -1.90%.
In the S&P 500 Information Technology sector (667.43, -12.52 -1.84%), action was decidedly to the downside, but component Motorola Solutions (MSI 70.78, +4.03 +6.04%) out-performed as the company reported better than expected Q4 EPS last night after the market closed. Also helping shares to the upside today was the company's better than expected FY16 EPS guidance. Other components which displayed weakness today included FSLR -3.80%, HPQ -3.46%, SYMC -2.83%, MSFT -2.79%, EA -2.77%, NTAP -2.60%, EBAY -2.54%, AAPL -2.26%, WU -2.23%, TDC -2.11%, ADS -2.10%, CSCO -1.93%, MCHP -1.88%, INTC -1.87%.
Other notable news items among sector components:
Western Digital (WDC) announced its agreement with Unisplendour Corporation Limited (Unis), and Unis Union Information System Ltd. (Unis Union), a subsidiary of Unis that agreed to make a $3.775 billion equity investment in WDC, has been terminated by Unis Union after a decision by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to conduct an investigation into the proposed investment. WDC also affirmed its commitment to the acquisition of SanDisk (SNDK) and announced that the shareholders of SNDK will receive the alternate merger consideration as outlined in the merger agreement. Under the terms of the merger agreement with SNDK announced on Oct. 21, 2015, if the transaction with Unis Union and Unisplendour has not closed or has been terminated by the time of the consummation of the merger, WDC will pay $67.50 per share in cash and 0.2387 shares of WDC common stock per share of SNDK common stock.
Oracle (ORCL 36.55, -0.56 -1.51%) acquired cloud application provider Ravello Systems.
Skyworks (SWKS 62.62, -1.67 -2.60%) and Sequans Communications (SQNS 2.17, +0.11 +5.34%) have delivered the world's first solution optimized for LTE Category M (Cat M) applications addressing the growing demand for embedded cellular connectivity across the Internet of Things (IoT).
Metro de Madrid has selected Accenture (ACN 99.65, -0.68 -0.68%) to support the design of a new operational model for control of station equipment, security, and passenger information management.
Qualcomm's (QCOM 50.42, -0.86 -1.68%) Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., and Ericsson (ERIC 9.22, -0.11 -1.18%) will collaborate on 5G technology development, early inter-operability testing and coordination on select initiatives with leading mobile operators.
Elsewhere in the technology space:
Tribune Publishing (TPUB 7.21, -0.13 -1.77%) appointed Justin Dearborn as CEO effective immediately.
Newport (NEWP 22.76, +7.72 +51.33%) to be acquired by MKS Instruments (MKSI 31.98, -1.63 -4.85%) for $23.00 per share in cash or about $980 million.
Synacor (SYNC 1.67, flat) will acquire privately held digital advertising pioneer Technorati. SYNC expects that the transaction will be accretive to its 2016 adjusted EBITDA, and brings the potential for revenue growth.
eBay (EBAY 23.62, -0.62 -2.56%) priced $750 million of its 6.00% Notes due 2056.
NXP Semi's (NXPI 68.24, -1.67 -2.39%) NXP B.V., together with NXP Funding LLC, has issued redemption notices for an aggregate principal amount of $200 million of its $500 million outstanding 3.5% senior notes due 2016.
Viacom (VIAB 37.01, +0.15 +0.41%) has initiated a process to explore opportunities for a significant strategic minority equity investment in Paramount Pictures.
Lexmark (LXK 30.08, -1.29 -4.11%) in addition to reporting quarterly results announced certain restructuring program initiatives which would result in the elimination of some 550 positions. The program is expected to generate about $67 million in savings in 2016 and annualized savings of about $100 million beginning in 2017.
Mobileye N.V. (MBLY 28.75, -0.24 -0.83%) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Nissan (NSANY 17.13, -0.24 -1.39%) aimed to integrate its new Road Experience Management technology into Nissan's fleets.
Monster Worldwide's (MWW 2.66, -0.28 -9.52%) CFO Michael McGuinness resigned to pursue another career opportunity.
TeleTech (TTEC 27.62, +0.51 +1.88%) increased its semi-annual dividend to $0.185 per share from $0.18 per share. The company also increased its share repurchase allowance by $25 million.
Ingram Micro (IM 35.73, -0.18 -0.50%) extended the availability of cloud data protection solutions from Acronis.
ViaSat (VSAT 71.29, +0.83 +1.18%) signed a MoU agreement with Qantas Airways to bring in flight internet to Qantas flights.
In reaction to quarterly results:
Motorola Solutions (MSI) reported better than expected Q4 EPS of $1.58 on revenues which fell 7.7% year-over-year to $1.68 billion. MSI also issued worse than expected Q1 EPS guidance of $0.37-0.42, but better than expected FY16 EPS guidance of $4.45-4.65.
Frontier Communications (FTR) reported better than expected Q4 EPS of $0.05 on revenues which rose 6.2% year-over-year to $1.41 billion. The company also noted the Verizon (VZ) transaction is on track, and increased their synergy estimate to in excess of $600 million.
Scripps Networks Interactive (SNI 58.04, +2.24 +4.01%) reported better than expected Q4 EPS and revenues of $1.35 and $851.8 million, respectively.
Lexmark (LXK) reported better than expected Q4 EPS of $1.16 and revenues of $982 million.
Angie's List (ANGI 8.14, -1.20 -12.85%) reported worse than expected Q4 EPS and revenues of $0.24 and $86.26 million, respectively.
Veeco Instruments (VECO 17.07, -2.02 -10.58%) reported better than expected Q4 EPS and revenues of $0.01 and $106.5 million, respectively. The company also guided Q1 EPS and revenues worse than expected at ($0.35)-($0.25) and $70-80 million, respectively.
Companies scheduled to report quarterly results tonight/tomorrow morning: BNFT CVG DWA FIVN HCKT XXIA RP RUBI UCTT WBMD/CNK SATS MBLY PLAB SSTK SBGI
Analyst actions:
TWTR was upgraded to Outperform from Mkt Perform at Raymond James,
MSI was upgraded to Outperform from Mkt Perform at Bernstein,
HIMX was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Craig Hallum;
MMYT was downgraded to Reduce from Neutral at Nomura,
CCOI was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan,
SOHU was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan
11:56 am Aixtron down 4% following Q4 results, guidance (AIXG) :
Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of 0.02 per share, 0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of (0.03); revenues rose 7.8% year/year to 62.5 mln vs the 56.57 mln Capital IQ Consensus. Co preannoucned FY15 rev on December 9.Co issues in-line guidance for FY16, sees FY16 revs of EUR 170-200 mln vs. 190.72 mln Capital IQ Consensus, with a significantly stronger revenue generation in the second half of 2016 compared to the first half of 2016. Currency-adjusted order intake is expected to be at the same level as in fiscal year 2015. Depending on the successful completion of qualification processes and market entry efforts as well as the achievement of revenues at the high end of the revenue guidance range, Management expects to achieve another improvement of results in 2016. EBITDA, EBIT, net result and free cash flow are expected to improve slightly compared to 2015 but to remain negative for the full year 2016. Management expects to report a positive EBITDA for full year 2017.
8:34 am Texas Instruments and Volkswagen (VLKAY) collaborate on a new infotainment platform (TXN) :
Texas Instruments and Volkswagen have collaborated on a new infotainment platform that delivers one of the most dynamic technologies available and offers new levels of performance, flexibility and adaptability.
The Volkswagen MIB II infotainment platform incorporates a range of TI's "Jacinto" processors, as well as power management integrated circuits (ICs), and FPD-Link III serializers and deserializers. Together, the TI devices provide improved processing performance, platform scalability and a responsive user interface.
7:19 am Newport beats by $0.04, misses on revs; MKSI to acquire NEWP for $23 a share - see 7:03 comment (NEWP) :
Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.39 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.35; revenues fell 5.2% year/year to $150.49 mln vs the $153.98 mln Capital IQ Consensus.Being acquired by MKSI (see 7:03 comment)
Newport announced that it has entered into an agreement with MKS Instruments, Inc. (MKSI), pursuant to which MKS has agreed to acquire Newport for $23.00 per share in cash, in a transaction valued at approximately $980 million. In anticipation of this transaction, Newport will not be conducting conference calls to discuss its results for the fourth quarter or any subsequent periods, and will not be issuing financial guidance for future periods.SunEdison (SUNE) signed two 20-year PPAs with utility co Southern California Edison for 2.7 megawatts DC of solar
5:40 am SanDisk: Western Digital (WDC) alters merger agreement Sandisk; to acquire SNDK for $67.50 per share in cash and 0.2387 shares of WDC (SNDK) :
Western Digital (WDC) announced its agreement with Unisplendour Corporation, and Unis Union Information System), a subsidiary of Unis, agreed to make a $3.775 billion equity investment in Western Digital, has been terminated by Unis Union after a decision by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to conduct an investigation into the proposed investment.
Western Digital affirmed its commitment to the acquisition of SanDisk (SNDK) and announced that the shareholders of SanDisk will receive the alternate merger consideration as outlined in the merger agreement. Western Digital believes the combination is compelling and will create significant value for its shareholders.Under the terms of the merger agreement with SanDisk announced on Oct. 21, 2015, if the transaction with Unis Union and Unisplendour has not closed or has been terminated by the time of the consummation of the merger, Western Digital will pay $67.50 per share in cash and 0.2387 shares of Western Digital common stock per share of SanDisk common stock. This alternate merger consideration is in lieu of the consideration that would have been paid if the Unis Union investment had closed. The alternate merger consideration values SanDisk at $78.50 per share based on Western Digital's closing share price on Feb. 22, 2016.Western Digital, Unis and Unis Union have been notified by CFIUS that it is undertaking an investigation of the proposed Unis Union investment under the Exon-Florio Amendment to the Defense Production Act, triggering a 15-day period during which either Western Digital or Unis Union may terminate the stock purchase agreement.As a result, Unis Union has informed Western Digital that it has decided to terminate the agreement under which Unis Union would have acquired a 15% equity stake in Western Digital for $3.775 billion through the purchase of newly issued Western Digital common stock at a price of $92.50 per share. None of Western Digital, Unis or Unis Union will incur a termination fee as a result of the termination.CalAmp (CAMP) announced the LMU-3200, a tracking device designed to facilitate a broad array of connected vehicle applications. The LMU-3200 provides an OBD-II vehicle interface coupled with GPS tracking to deliver extensive telematics services. In addition, it provides an integrated mobile Wi-Fi hotspot to enable mobile internet connectivity for passengers, all in one device. Pericom Semiconductor, now part of Diodes (DIOD) announced multiple new products supporting next generation embedded chipsets and platforms, including automotive-infotainment, industrial PC, medical, and other related applications. Sierra Wireless (SWIR) announced that Valeo (VLEEY) has selected smart automotive modules from Sierra Wireless for a new generation of telematics control units to enable connected car services internationally. Arrayent announced that it collaborated with NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) to demonstrate a Thread-enabled device that can be remotely monitored and controlled from anywhere in the world with the support of Arrayent's Connect IoT platform.NXP (NXPI) detailed plans to accelerates Smart Wearable Product Development with multiple open-source reference platforms deliver a wide range of capabilities to wearable designers.
3:16 am Cisco Systems prices 6 series of senior unsecured notes in an aggregate principal amount of $7 bln (CSCO) :
Of these notes:
$1 billion will mature in February 2018 and will bear interest at a floating rate equal to three-month LIBOR plus 60 basis points$1.25 billion will mature in February 2018 and will bear interest at an annual rate of 1.400%$1 billion will mature in February 2019 and will bear interest at an annual rate of 1.600%$2.5 billion will mature in February 2021 and will bear interest at an annual rate of 2.200%$500 million will mature in February 2023 and will bear interest at an annual rate of 2.600% $750 million will mature in February 2026 and will bear interest at an annual rate of 2.950%
ARM (ARMH) announced the integration of industry-leading MISRA conformance tools into the ARM DS-5 Development Studio tool suite. Co also announced it is accelerating industrial Internet of Things deployments with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) by enabling greater device interoperability.
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