From Briefing.com: 6:36 pm Marvell responds to press reports that Broadcom (AVGO) might purchase MRVL; confirms it has not been and is not engaged in discussions with AVGO with respect to any possible offer to acquire MRVL (MRVL) :
Co is aware of certain press reports speculating that Avago Technologies (Broadcom) is a potential purchaser of Marvell. Marvell's policy is not to comment on rumors or speculation, but because this particular rumor has the potential to be disruptive to Marvell's business, Marvell is confirming that it has not been and is not engaged in discussions with Avago with respect to any possible offer to acquire Marvell. Marvell does not intend to comment further on this or other rumors or speculation.5:21 pm QuickLogic proposes public offering of common stock for an undisclosed amount (QUIK) : The Company expects to use the net proceeds from the Offering for working capital and general corporate purposes.
5:11 pm Chipmos Technology reports February 2016 revs of $45.1 mln, -6.5% MoM (IMOS) :
4:02 pm Finisar beats by $0.03, reports revs in-line; guides Q4 EPS above consensus, revs in-line (FNSR) :
Reports Q3 (Jan) earnings of $0.25 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.22; revenues fell 3.7% year/year to $309.2 mln vs the $311.23 mln Capital IQ Consensus. Co issues guidance for Q4, sees EPS of $0.22-0.28, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.21 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q4 revs of $307-327 mln vs. $313.45 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
The broader market turned green to red this afternoon, but finished mixed as the stocks finished off afternoon lows. The S&P 500 finished modestly higher, advancing less than one point (+0.02%) to 1989.57. The Nasdaq Composite shed 12.22 points (-0.26%) today to close 4662.16, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 5.23 points (-0.03%) to 16995.13. Indices began the day higher, but after advancing modestly following the open, the indices went green to red and bounced off lows to end mixed.
Meanwhile, a raft of new easing measures from the European Central Bank was met with a sell-the-news reaction as the market wonders whether the ECB has reached its monetary policy limits. Ahead of today's session, the ECB released its latest policy statement, which exceeded investor expectations regarding the size and scope of its quantitative easing program. The central bank lowered its interest rate corridor and expanded its monthly asset purchases to 80 billion euros. Furthermore, the ECB added investment grade euro-denominated bonds of non-bank corporations to its list of assets eligible for purchases. However, the spike in risk assets has been retraced after ECB President Mario Draghi signaled that further interest rate cuts are "unlikely."
Related, in the currency markets the U.S. Dollar Index lost 1.15% today to close 96.05 after the ECB policy announcement. The EUR/USD pair closed up 1.91% to $1.1195 as the central bank cut its deposit rate by 10 basis points today to -0.40% from -0.30% but expanded its monthly asset purchases.
In the Technology (XLK 42.23, -0.03 -0.07%) sector, trading modestly lower today, well off lows. Component Yahoo! (YHOO 32.82, -0.69 -2.06%) traded lower on news that the company added two directors to the board, increasing the overall size of the board to nine from seven. Other sector closed Thursday XLB +0.53%, XLY +0.25%, XLE +0.08%, XLU +0.08%, XLV +0.06%, XLP +0.04%, XLF -0.09%, XLI -0.15%, IYZ -0.33% as Materials were strong and Telecoms lagged.
The S&P 500 Information Technology (695.41, -0.86 -0.12%) sector was also modestly lower as component Microsoft (MSFT 52.05, -0.79 -1.50%) signed a worldwide patent licensing agreement with Rakuten through a MSFT subsidiary. Other sector names which displayed relative weakness today included WU -2.39%, FLIR -1.94%, TDC -1.73%, QRVO -1.62%, SWKS -1.48%, INTU -1.46%, FFIV -1.33%, ADSK -1.31%, CTSH -1.12%, ORCL -1.12%.
Other notable news items among sector components:
Microsoft's (MSFT) Microsoft Technology Licensing and Rakuten signed a worldwide patent cross-licensing agreement covering each company's respective consumer electronics products, including Linux and Android-based devices.
ServiceNow (NOW 60.72, +0.23 +0.38%) settles patent litigation with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE 15.90, +0.41 +2.65%).
Yahoo! (YHOO) appointed Catherine Friedman and Eric Brandt to the Board effective Mar 8, thereby increasing the number of Board members to nine from seven.
Elsewhere in the tech space:
In addition to reporting quarterly results, MaxPoint Interactive (MXPT 2.12, +0.33 +18.44%) authorized a $4.0 million stock repurchase program.
Orbcomm (ORBC 9.47, -0.01 -0.16%) and Lockheed Martin (LMT 216.56, +0.15 +0.07%) signed a memorandum of understanding for satellite connectivity and services for IoT applications.
Nuance Communications (NUAN 19.81, -0.40 -1.98%) agreed to repurchase $500 million, or about 26.32 million shares of common stock, from Carl Icahn (IEP 63.05, -0.33 -0.52%) for $19.00 per share.
Tableau Software (DATA 42.80, +0.16 +0.38%) acquired HyPer. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
First Data (FDC 13.23, -0.74 -5.30%) priced an offering of $900 million aggregate principal amount of senior secured first lien notes due 2024.
Unisys (UIS 7.58, -0.39 -4.89%) priced a $190 million private offering of Convertible Senior Notes due 2021.
CSG Systems (CSGS 36.50, -4.40 -10.76%) priced an offering of $200 million of 4.25% Convertible Senior Notes due 2036.
Travelport Worldwide (TVPT 12.85, -0.84 -6.14%) announced a secondary common share offering of 10.6 million by selling shareholders.
Uni-Pixel (UNXL 0.60, +0.06 +11.11%) confirmed a $750,000 settlement with the SEC. The company said current management was not involved, but cooperated fully.
In reaction to quarterly results:
MaxPoint Interactive (MXPT) reported better than expected Q4 EPS and revenues at a loss per share of $0.14 and $25.2 million, respectively. MXPT also guided Q1 revenues in-line at $17-18 million. The company also guided FY16 revenues of $91-95 million.
Canadian Solar (CSIQ 18.89, -2.88 -13.21%) reported better than expected Q4 EPS and revenues of $1.05 and $1.12 billion, respectively. CSIQ also guided Q1 and FY16 revenues worse than expected at $645-695 million and $2.9-3.1 billion, respectively.
Square (SQ 11.30, -0.73 -6.07%) reported Q4 GAAP loss of $0.34 per share and revenues which rose 49.2% versus last year to $374.4 million. SQ also guided Q1 revenues of $132-137 million and FY16 revenues of $600-620 million.
Box (BOX 12.68, +0.16 +1.28%) reported better than expected Q4 EPS and revenues at a loss per share of $0.26 and $85 million, respectively. BOX also guided Q1 EPS and revenues better than expected at ($0.24)-($0.23) and $88-89 million, respectively. The company also guided FY17 EPS slightly better than expected at ($0.85)-($0.83) and guided for revenues of $390-394 million.
Analyst actions:
EXPE was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray;
FDS was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at UBS,
MBT was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup,
SEMI was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie,
BCOM was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Chardan Capital Markets
4:10 pm : The stock market endured a shaky session on Thursday as the major averages backed away from recent rebound highs. Today's decline was goaded by a lack of sector leadership from the heavyweight technology (-0.1%) and financial (-0.1%) sectors, uncertainty over whether the European Central Bank has reached its easing limits, and losses in crude oil. The Nasdaq Composite (-0.3%) ended behind the Dow Jones Industrial Average (UNCH) and the S&P 500 (UNCH).
Today's trade took on a sell the news posture despite the ECB's latest policy statement exceeding investors expectations regarding the size and scope of the central bank's easing program. To that point, the ECB lowered its interest rate corridor and expanded the amount of its monthly asset purchases to 80 billion euros. To be fair though, participants likely responded to comments from ECB President Mario Draghi, which cast doubts on future interest rate cuts. As a result, equity markets pulled back from their early highs.
On the domestic front, the two top-weighted sectors of the S&P 500 underperformed the broader market as technology (-0.1%) and the financial sector (-0.1%) trimmed their month-to-date advances to 2.9% and 3.9%, respectively. Meanwhile, doubts regarding the likelihood of a production cap between OPEC and non-OPEC states weighed on crude oil. Consequently, WTI crude surrendered 1.2% ($37.78/bbl) and forced energy (UNCH) near the bottom of the leaderboard.
In the influential technology space (-0.1%), the underperformance of heavyweight components Apple (AAPL 101.17, +0.05) and Microsoft (MSFT 52.05, -0.79) brought the broader sector to its worst level of the day (-1.5%). However, both names were able to recover from their respective lows. Apple saw increased buying interest after it announced an event on March 21, where it is expected to refresh its product line. Separately, the high-beta chipmakers outperformed in the group, evidenced by the 0.5% gain in the PHLX Semiconductor Index.
Asset management companies underperformed in the economically-sensitive financial sector (-0.1%) throughout the day. To that point, Franklin Resources (BEN 36.76, -0.65) tumbled 1.7% in continuation of yesterday's move lower. Elsewhere, the money center banks ended their day on a mixed note with Bank of America (BAC 13.27, +0.13) climbing 1.0% while JPMorgan Chase (JPM 58.61, -0.51) ended lower by 0.9%.
Conversely, health care (+0.1%), consumer discretionary (+0.2%), telecom services (+0.5%), and materials (+0.5%) topped the leaderboard.
In the heavyweight health care space (+0.1%), biotechnology underperformed, evidenced by the 0.8% loss in the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 255.08, -2.05). The ETF has now surrendered 23.0% year-to-date, compared to the 6.9% loss in the broader health care sector.
The U.S. Dollar Index (96.19, -0.98) finished near its session low as the yen and euro maintained their respective advances against the greenback. The euro/dollar pair rose 1.7% to 1.1181 after trading as low as 1.0849. Meanwhile, the dollar/yen tumbled 0.2% (113.14) after trading as high as 114.40.
The Treasury complex moved sharply lower in the morning, retracing a portion of that move in the afternoon. The yield on the 10-yr note fell from its best level of the day (1.95%) to end its session higher by five basis points at 1.93%.
Today's participation fell in-line with the recent average as more than 1.019 billion shares changed hands at the NYSE floor.
Today's economic data included weekly initial and continuing claims and the Treasury Budget for February:
The latest initial claims report has produced more encouraging news that should help highlight the burgeoning divergences between the ECB and the Federal Reserve.
Initial claims for the week ending March 5 were 259,000 (Briefing.com consensus 275,000), a decrease of 18,000 from the prior week.
There were no special factors behind the drop in claims, which are at the lower end of the 250,000 to 300,000 range that has persisted since July 2014. The four-week moving average fell to 267,500 from 270,000.
Continuing claims for the week ending February 27 were 2.225 million (Briefing.com consensus 2.251 million), a decrease of 32,000 from the prior week.
The latest reading left the four-week moving average for continuing claims at 2.252 million versus 2.257 million previously.
The Treasury Budget for February showed a deficit of $192.6 billion, nearly matching the deficit of $192.4 billion for the same period a year ago.
The Treasury data are not seasonally adjusted, so the February deficit cannot be compared to the January surplus of $55.2 billion.
Total receipts in February were $169.1 billion while total outlays were $361.8 billion. Receipts were $29.8 billion more than receipts in February 2015 while total outlays were $30.0 billion more than February 2015.
The 12-month deficit was little changed at $405.52 billion versus $405.26 billion in January.
Tomorrow's economic data will be limited to Febraury Import/Export Prices, which will be reported at 8:30 ET.
Nasdaq Composite -6.9% YTD
Russell 2000 -6.4% YTD
S&P 500 -2.7% YTD
Dow Jones -2.5% YTD
DJ30 -5.23 NASDAQ -12.22 SP500 +0.31 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1030/1.776 bln/1940 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1306/1.019 bln/1730 3:45 pm :
The dollar rallied initially following the ECB decision. However, following domestic econ data, the dollar began to slide lower
The weakness in the dollar helped give select commodities a boost today
But, overall, commodities, as measured by the Bloomberg Commodity index, is near the unchanged line. Precious metals, however, outperformed with gold and silver each rising 1.2% in pit trade today. Apr gold ended at $1272.80/oz, while May silver finished at $15.55/oz.
May copper, on the other hand, slipped one cent to $2.22/lb
Moving on to energy... WTI oil futures sold off today
But by late morning activity, Apr crude began to recover some, rising back above $38/barrel. At the end of floor trade, crude was -1.2% at $37.78/barrel
Apr natural gas rallied today, finishing +2.3% at $1.79/MMbtu
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