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From Briefing.com: 4:39 pm Microchip increases quarterly dividend to $0.3595/share from $0.359/share (MCHP) :

4:36 pm Transocean beats by $0.41, beats on revs (RIG) :

Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $0.69 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.41 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.28; revenues fell 34.4% year/year to $1.34 bln vs the $1.10 bln Capital IQ Consensus.Contract drilling revenues for Q1 decreased $345 million sequentially to $1.11 billion due primarily to reduced activity associated with stacked and idle rigs, and rig disposals."Despite the challenging environment, the Transocean team delivered strong operating performance, and solid financial results, adding over $200 million to our cash balance in [Q1]...As we work through [Q2], and the balance of the year, we will continue to prepare ourselves for the eventual industry recovery by taking the necessary steps to both maximize internal efficiencies, and further differentiate Transocean in the eyes of our customers through superior safety and operational performance."

4:24 pm FEI reports EPS in-line, beats on revs; guides Q2 EPS in-line, revs above consensus; reaffirms FY16 guidance (FEIC) :

Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $0.56 per share, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.56; revenues rose 3.6% year/year to $229 mln vs the $221.36 mln Capital IQ Consensus. Co issues guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $0.80-0.90 vs. $0.87 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q2 revs of $250-260 mln vs. $246.88 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. Co reaffirms guidance for FY16, sees EPS of $3.55-3.70 vs. $3.68 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY16 revs of $1.02-1.05 bln vs. $1.03 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

4:22 pm CenturyLink beats by $0.03, reports revs in-line; guides Q2 EPS below consensus, revs in-line (CTL) :

Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $0.71 per share, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.68; revenues fell 1.1% year/year to $4.4 bln vs the $4.43 bln Capital IQ Consensus.Approximately 16,900 CenturyLink PrismTM TV customers were added during first quarter 2016; added nearly 150,000 addressable homes in new and existing service areas, ending the quarter with more than 3.3 million addressable homes. Co issues guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $0.57-0.62 vs. $0.63 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q2 revs of $4.38-4.43 bln vs. $4.42 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

4:22 pm Microchip beats by $0.02, reports revs in-line; guides JunQ EPS in-line, revs in-line (MCHP)

Reports Q4 (Mar) earnings of $0.70 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.68; non-GAAP revenues rose 3.9% year/year to $568.4 mln vs the $563.6 mln Capital IQ Consensus and vs prior guidance of $560.25-568.50 mln.Co issues in-line guidance for Q1 (Jun), sees EPS of $0.70-0.79, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.79 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 non-GAAP revs of $799.1-841.9 mln vs. $836.0 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate."Our March quarter financial results were very strong amidst a weak semiconductor industry backdrop...We achieved the high end of our net sales guidance provided on April 4, 2016, establishing a new record in the process, and we exceeded the high end of our guidance for non-GAAP gross margin percentage, operating profit percentage and non-GAAP [EPS]."

4:16 pm Veeco Instruments beats by $0.14, beats on revs; guides Q2 EPS in-line, revs below consensus (VECO) :

Reports Q1 (Mar) loss of $0.15 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.14 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of ($0.29); revenues fell 20.7% year/year to $78 mln vs the $76.17 mln Capital IQ Consensus. Co issues guidance for Q2, sees EPS of ($0.29)-($0.14) vs. ($0.16) Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q2 revs of $70-83 mln vs. $87.00 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

4:02 pm Qorvo beats by $0.12, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus (QRVO) :

Reports Q4 (Mar) earnings of $1.04 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.12 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.92; revenues fell 4.2% year/year to $608.1 mln vs the $599.32 mln Capital IQ Consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of ~$1.05, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.95 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of ~$650 mln vs. $625.77 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; ~gross margin 50%.

4:01 pm QuickLogic reports EPS in-line, misses on revs (QUIK) :

Reports Q1 (Mar) loss of $0.08 per share, in-line with the two analyst estimate of ($0.08); revenues fell 52.0% year/year to $2.95 mln vs the $3.3 mln single analyst estimate. 4:10 pm : The stock market spent the Wednesday session under pressure as vacillating oil prices fueled a retreat in the broader market. Meanwhile, mixed economic data clouded the economic picture while a rebound in the dollar contributed to a risk-off posture. Furthermore, relative weakness from the heavily-weighted industrial (-1.3%), health care (-1.0%), and financials (-0.8%) spaces contributed to selling pressure. The Nasdaq Composite (-0.8%) finished behind both the S&P 500 (-0.6%) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.6%).

The trading day began on a lower note as investors weighed a slew of economic reports from overseas and the United States. Lackluster readings of Services PMIs from Germany, France, and the eurozone weighed on global equities while a below-consensus reading of the U.S. ADP National Employment Report for April (156,000; Briefing.com consensus 196,000) pushed equity futures back towards their lows.

The cash market found little relief despite an above-consensus reading of the ISM Non-Manufacturing Index for April (55.7; Briefing.com consensus 54.5). The datapoint was masked by a recent string of weaker than expected economic data, which mars prospects of a sharp pick-up in economic growth heading into the second half of the year. Furthermore, renewed pressured from the greenback weighed on dollar-denominated commodities and on the possibility of increased earnings prospects.

The major averages ended off their lows despite seven sectors finishing beneath their flat lines. The commodity-sensitive energy (-1.3%) space traded in-line with industrials (-1.3%) and behind materials (-1.0%), health care (-1.0%), and financials (-0.8%). Conversely, countercyclical utilities (+1.1%), consumer staples (+0.3%), and telecom services (+0.2%) finished with the only gains.

The energy space (-1.3%) sank to the bottom of the leaderboard after investors ruminated over larger than expected builds in crude oil (2.78 million barrels; consensus: 1.69 million barrels) and gasoline (0.53 million barrels; consensus: -0.14 million barrels) stockpiles. WTI crude ended its day higher by 0.3% ($43.78/bbl), but well off its opening level ($44.84/bbl). In the group, Marathon Petroleum (MPC 36.22, -1.77) ended lower by 4.7% as refining names underperformed. On the flipside, Noble Energy (NBL 35.59, +0.38) ended higher by 1.1% after beating bottom-line results for the first quarter.

In the industrial space (-1.3%), airlines continued their recent losing streak as Delta Air Lines (DAL 41.43, -1.49) and American Airlines (AAL 33.21, -1.37) finished with respective losses of 3.5% and 4.0%. Elsewhere, Cummins (CMI 114.44, -4.16) fell 3.5% after a report indicated that class-8 truck orders declined 39.0% year-over-year in April.

Biotechnology underperformed in the health care space (-1.0%), evidenced by the 2.9% decline in the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 258.03, -7.72). The sub-group was led lower by Biogen (BIIB 263.12, -10.59), which extended its May loss to 4.3%. Elsewhere, Anthem (ANTM 138.73, -2.69) fell 1.9% after announcing that CFO Wayne DeVeydt will step down.

The U.S. Dollar Index (93.22, +0.28) finished off its session high, as the greenback gained against the euro, yen, and Canadian dollar. The euro/dollar pair finished lower by 0.1% at 1.1492 while the dollar gained 0.3% against the yen (106.91). Separately, the dollar jumped of 1.2% against the Canadian dollar (1.2873).

The Treasury complex finished on its high as the yield on the 10-yr note fell three basis points to 1.77%. This represents a six basis point move since last Friday's settlement at 1.83%.

Today's participation was above the recent average as more than 992 million shares changed hands on the NYSE floor.

Today's economic data included the weekly MBA Mortgage Index, April ADP Employment Change, preliminary Q1 Productivity, Unit Labor Cost, March Trade Balance, March Factory Orders, and April ISM Services:

The weekly MBA Mortgage Index showed a seasonally adjusted decrease of 3.4%. This compares to last week's -4.1% reading.
The ADP Employment Change report was a disappointment, showing an estimated 156,000 positions were added to private sector payrolls in April (Briefing.com consensus 196,000)
Briefly, the decline in productivity in the first quarter followed on the heels of an upwardly revised decline of 1.7% (from -2.2%) in the fourth quarter.
First quarter productivity declined 1.0% (Briefing.com consensus -1.4%)
Unit labor costs jumped 4.1% (Briefing.com consensus +2.6%), reflecting a 3.0% increase in hourly compensation and a 1.0% decrease in productivity.
On a year-over-year basis, productivity is up just 0.6% while unit labor costs are up 2.3%. That's a relationship with stagflation written on it.
The trade deficit for March narrowed sharply to $40.4 billion (Briefing.com consensus -$41.4 bln) from $47.0 billion in February.
That was a function of imports falling more than exports. Specifically, imports were $217.1 billion, $8.1 billion less than February imports, while exports were $176.6 billion, $1.5 billion less than February exports.
The import weakness was concentrated in consumer goods, which decreased by $5.1 billion on less demand for just about every category of consumer goods, and in capital goods, ex automotive, which decreased by $1.6 billion.
The export weakness also can be traced to consumer goods, which fell by $1.6 billion, yet almost all of that decline was related to lower exports of pharmaceutical preparations (-$0.8 bln) and gem diamonds (-$0.7 bln).
On a year-over-year basis, imports are down 9.2% while exports are down 5.4%.
The month of March marked the 14th straight month that exports have declined year-over-year.
New orders for manufactured durable goods increased 1.1% in March (Briefing.com consensus +0.5%) following a downwardly revised 1.9% decline (from -1.7%) in February.
Excluding transportation, factory orders rose 0.8% after declining 0.9% in February. Shipments increased 0.5% in March, breaking a streak of eight consecutive monthly decreases.
Shipments of nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft -- a metric used in the GDP computation -- also increased 0.5% after declining 1.8% in February and 1.4% in January.
Orders for durable goods increased 0.8% in March while orders for nondurable goods increased 1.5%.
Notwithstanding the overall increase in orders for manufactured goods, new orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft -- a proxy for business spending -- were up just 0.1% after declining 2.7% in February.
Total inventories for all manufacturing industries increased 0.2%, which was the first increase after eight straight monthly decreases. The inventories-to-shipments ratio held steady at 1.37.
The ISM Non-Manufacturing Index for April was better than expected at 55.7 (Briefing.com consensus 54.5) and up from the March reading of 54.5.
It followed on the heels of the ISM Manufacturing Index report for April, which not only fell shy of economists' median estimate but also checked in below the prior month's reading.
The dividing line between expansion and contraction for the ISM Non-Manufacturing Index is 50.0. April marked the 75th consecutive month that it has been above 50.0.
The most important takeaway from the April report is that it reflected faster growth from March. That's important because the non-manufacturing side of the economy is significantly larger than the manufacturing side of the economy, and it's important because this is a second quarter number. Market participants are anxious to see faster growth after real GDP increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of just 0.5% in the first quarter.
The improvement in the ISM Non-Manufacturing Index in April was fueled by an uptick in the New Orders Index to 59.9 from 56.7.
In turn, the Employment Index rose to 53.0 from 50.3, marking the second straight month it has been above 50.0.
The Prices Index increased to 53.4 from 49.1, which is an indication that prices increased for the first time in three months.
The biggest drag for the month was the New Export Orders Index, which slipped to 56.5 from 58.5.

Tomorrow's economic data will be limited to Challenger Job Cuts for April and weekly initial claims (Briefing.com consensus 259k), which will be released at 7:30 ET and 8:30 ET, respectively. DJ30 -99.65 NASDAQ -37.58 SP500 -12.25 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 960/1.767 bln/2076 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1196/992.03 mln/1813

3:30 pm :

The dollar index consolidates near the highs of the day, currently up +0.3% around the 93.21 level, weighing on commodities
Commodities, as measured by the Bloomberg Commodity Index, are down -0.3% at 83.35
Crude oil plummets after the release of EIA petroleum storage data, briefly consolidating below the previous day's close and staging a late day rally into the close
June crude Oil futures rose $0.14 (+0.3%) to $43.78/barrel
Crude oil inventories had a build of +2.784 mln (consensus called for a build of 500k-800k)
Gasoline inventories had a build of +0.536 mln
Distillate inventories had a draw of -1.261 mln
API inventory data released yesterday evening showed a build of +1.265 mln barrels, compared to expectations for a build of ~+0.5 mln barrels
Natural gas consolidates and trades sideways with little volatility in afternoon pit trading
June Natural Gas closed $0.05 higher (+2.4%) at $2.14/MMBtu
In precious metals, gold trends lower, closing near the lows of the day
June gold ended today's session down $17.60 (-1.4%) to $1274.20/oz
Silver sees a similar move to gold, closing near the lows of the day after a uni-directional downtrend all day
July silver closed today's session $0.19 lower (-1.1%) at $17.30/oz
Base metal copper inches lower to end pit trading
July copper closed $0.03 lower (-1.4%) at $2.19/lb
Back-to-back losses in the broader market were led by the Nasdaq Composite which lost 37.58 points (-0.79%) to end 4725.64. The S&P 500 closed down 12.25 points (-0.59%) to 2051.12. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 99.65 points (-0.56%) to end 17651.26. The market was weighed lower by mixed economic data, dollar strength and weak action in crude oil. Specifically, June Crude Oil futures ended the day modestly higher (+0.3%) after spending most of the session below flat lines as the weekly EIA inventory report showed higher than consensus build of 2.78 million barrels.

Today's economic data included the weekly MBA Mortgage Index which showed a seasonally adjusted decline of 3.4%. The ADP Employment Change report was a disappointment, as only an estimated 156,000 positions were added to private sector payrolls in April. Unit labor costs jumped 4.1%, reflecting a 3.0% increase in hourly compensation and a 1.0% decline in productivity.

The trade deficit for March narrowed sharply to $40.4 billion from $47.0 billion in February. Imports were $217.1 billion, $8.1 billion less than February imports, while exports were $176.6 billion, $1.5 billion less than February exports. New orders for manufactured durable goods increased 1.1% in March following a downwardly revised 1.9% decline in February. The ISM Non-Manufacturing Index for April was better than expected at 55.7 and up from the March reading of 54.5.

Technology (XLK 41.93, -0.12 -0.29%) was also weaker today, following the broader market pressure lower. Component Windstream (WIN 9.31, +0.62 +7.13%) was a notable outperformer today on the eve of the company's Q1 earnings report; conversely, component Teradata (TDC 24.41, -0.63 -2.52%) was notably weak ahead of its Q1 results which are scheduled for tomorrow morning. Other sectors as measured by the S&P closed action XLU +1.17%, XLP +0.30%, IYZ +0.00%, XLY -0.45%, XLF -0.78%, XLV -0.96%, XLB -1.01%, XLI -1.23%, XLE -1.44% as Utilities led today's advance while Energy was the worst performer.

In the S&P 500 Information Technology (692.58, -3.04 -0.44%) sector, trading finished near the middle of the daily range as the sector fell on the open and never looked back. Component Western Union (WU 19.01, -0.82 -4.14%) was among the worst performing components following the company's worse than expected Q1 EPS and revenue results. Other names in the space which closed with notable weakness included SWKS -2.67%, ADSK -2.67%, HRS -2.66%, VRSN -2.56%, TDC -2.56%, FLIR -2.41%, NVDA -2.28%, FSLR -2.02%, CSCO -1.56%, INTU -1.49%, TXN -1.35%.

Other notable news items among sector components:


8:38 am NetList announces Inphi's (IPHI) decision not to seek further appeal to the US Supreme Court following the Federal Circuit's denial of Inphi's petition for rehearing in January (NLST) :
Fiat Chrysler (FCAU 7.83, -0.13 -1.63%) confirmed plans to integrate Alphabet's (GOOGL 711.37, +2.93 +0.41%) Google's self-driving technology into 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans.

IBM (IBM 144.25, +0.12 +0.08%) Research is making quantum computing available to members of the public, who can access and run experiments on IBM's quantum processor.

Harris (HRS 74.40, -2.03 -2.66%) received a $12 million order to upgrade the U.S. Air Force's tactical radios currently used to provide multiband communications on Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles.

Elsewhere in the tech space:

Cornerstone OnDemand (CSOD 33.14, -0.43 -1.28%) announced the appointment of Brian Swartz to replace Perry Wallack as CSOD's CFO effective on or before June 1, 2016.

Comtech Telecom (CMTL 23.80, -0.14 -0.58%) announced that its government solutions segment has received incremental funding in the amount of $5.8 million to further support its Secret Internet Protocol Router and Non-secure Internet Protocol Router Access Point (SNAP) Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) hardware and sustainment services delivery order.

2U, Inc. (TWOU 26.97, -1.19 -4.23%) announced that Jim Shelton, president and chief impact officer, has decided to leave the company to join the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to lead the education efforts effective June 1, 2016.

Sizmek (SZMK 2.58, -0.03 -1.15%) rescheduled the date for its Q1 earnings call to take place on May 10, 2016. Previously, the call had been scheduled for May 12; management will host call at 5:00 pm ET on May 10 to review the results.

In reaction to quarterly results:

Priceline (PCLN 1253.04, -101.60 -7.50%) reported better than expected Q1 EPS and revenues of $10.54 and $2.15 billion, respectively. The company also issued worse than expected Q2 EPS guidance in the range of $11.60-12.50.

Western Union (WU) reported worse than expected Q1 EPS and revenues of $0.37 and $1.3 billion, respectively. Additionally, the company guided in-line FY16 EPS in the range of $1.58-1.70.

Jack Henry (JKHY 83.08, +1.63 +2.00%) reported better than expected Q3 EPS and revenues of $0.68 and $333.2 million, respectively.

Paycom Software (PAYC 40.05, +1.77 +4.62%) reported better than expected Q1 EPS and revenues of $0.33 and $90.1 million, respectively. PAYC also guided Q2 and FY16 revenues better than expected at $69-71 million and $320-322 million (from prior $309-311 million).

Shopify (SHOP 29.61, -1.14 -3.71%) reported better than expected Q1 EPS at a loss per share of $0.06 on revenues which were also ahead of expectations and grew 94.7% versus last year to $72.7 million. SHOP also guided Q2 revenues better than expected at $79-81 million. The company also sees higher than prior FY16 revenues of $337-347 million (up from $320-330 million).

Zillow (ZG 4834.00, -15.00 -0.31%) reported worse than expected Q1 adjusted loss of $0.13 per share, and reported better than expected Q1 revenues which rose 46.1% versus last year to $186 million. The company guided Q2 revenues better than expected at $203-208 million. Further, ZG sees FY16 revenues ahead of expectations at $825-835 million.

Cray (CRAY 31.02, -7.89 -20.28%) reported better than expected Q1 loss per share of $0.13; CRAY also reported better than expected revenues which rose 32.9% versus last year to $105.5 million. CRAY also guided Q2 revenues worse than expectations at $100 million. The company also issued in-line FY16 revenue guidance in the range of $825 million.

Match Group (MTCH 12.81, +1.65 +14.78%) reported better than expected Q1 EPS and revenues of $0.11 and $285.3 million, respectively. MTCH also guided Q2 Dating revenue growth of 4-5% sequentially and sees FY16 Total Dating revenues of $1.10-1.14 billion on single digit non-dating revenue growth.

Companies scheduled to report quarterly results tonight/tomorrow morning: HIVE DOX ARRS BNFT CTL CPSI CSOD CSGS EQIX FEIC FICO FLTX GDDY HDP HUBS INOV INST ITRI KTOS LPSN MCHP NEWP QRVO QUIK RP RST SEDG TRIP VRNS VECO WBMD WK XOXO XCOM YUME ZNGA/ACIW ACTA IOTS ANSS BITA BR CDK CBB CCOI SCOR CNSL EPAM IT G IMN KVHI LIOX LQDT LFUS LMOS MMS MITL MBLY MWW NTCT NICE PRFT RSTI TDC TVPT VG WIN

Analyst actions:

PLT was upgraded to Mkt Perform from Underperform at Raymond James;
CRAY was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Needham and Craig Hallum,
MSI was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Northcoast,
GRUB was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley,
GLUU was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at ROTH Capital,
IL was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Craig Hallum;
SCTY was initiated with a Buy at Guggenheim


Co has cleared the final hurdle in the years-long reexamination of U.S. Patent No. 7,532,537, with Inphi's decision not to seek further appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court following the Federal Circuit's denial of Inphi's petition for rehearing in January.Co also announced that the PTAB issued decisions last week again confirming the validity of 15 total claims in the IPR of U.S. Patent Nos. 8,001,434 and 8,359,501 brought by SanDisk (SNDK).The PTAB denied SanDisk's request for rehearing of the '434 in its entirety, again confirming the validity of the 14 claims found patentable last December. With respect to the '537, the USPTO will now go through the administrative process of issuing a certificate with the 60 claims that survived the five year reexamination process. The certificate will likely be issued later this year, at which time the patent is available for enforcement.

8:35 am Kopin reports Q1 EPS of ($0.11) vs ($0.09) single analyst estimate; revs fell 29% YoY to $6.1 mln vs $5.00 mln two analyst estimate (KOPN) : "We have been working with several large Asian companies to integrate the Whisper chip into their products, and we expect to announce design wins late this year. In our military group we have been selected by a major U.S. Military prime contractor to supply eyepiece assemblies for the U.S. Army's FWS-I program, the next generation of thermal weapon sights. Finally, the Solos direct marketing campaign is scheduled to launch this quarter, with unit delivery starting late this summer."

7:06 am Kulicke & Soffa beats by $0.01, beats on revs; guides Q3 revs above consensus (KLIC) :

Reports Q2 (Mar) earnings of $0.07 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.06; revenues rose 7.7% year/year to $156.4 mln vs the $135 mln Capital IQ Consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q3, sees Q3 revs of $195-205 mln vs. $161.95 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate."Our broadening product offerings continues to be closely aligned with major industry trends which are driving capacity and capability requirements. As we have in the March quarter, we expect to continue benefiting from new System-In-Package demand requirements through the near term. In the longer-term we are well positioned to participate in growth associated with the Automotive, Industrial and Advanced Packaging segments."