From Briefing.com: 6:20 pm Vivint Solar closes new $313 mln term loan facility - refinanced 11 tax equity funds that were part of the company's aggregation facility (VSLR) : The term loan facility provides back-leverage financing for a portfolio of 12 tax equity funds that own over 307 megawatts and 47,000 residential solar energy systems across 12 states. This syndicated credit facility provides an alternative to bond securitization. "We believe that the commercial bank market is a very accommodating market of execution for leading players in the power sector. Over time, we expect residential installers will find the bank market to be an attractive alternative to the securitization market."
5:58 pm Motorola Solutions announces $2 billion increase to share repurchase program (MSI) :
5:15 pm Emcore beats by $0.01, guides revs in-line (EMKR) :
Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.05 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ consensus est analyst estimate of $0.04; revenues rose 6% year/year to $22.4 mln vs the $23.1 mln consensus
Co sees Q4 revs outlook at $23-25 mln vs. $24.1 mln consensus
4:43 pm Motorola Solutions beats by $0.16, beats on revs; guides Q3 just below consensus; reaffirms FY16 guidance; adds $2 bln to repurchase program (MSI) :
Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $1.03 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.16 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.87; revenues rose 4.5% year/year to $1.43 bln vs the $1.4 bln Capital IQ Consensus including $146 million in sales associated with the Airwave acquisition. As expected, Products segment sales declined 8 percent primarily driven by weakness in Latin America, Europe and China. The Services segment grew 26 percent with the addition of Airwave, and posted growth of 4 percent in organic managed and support services. Excluding Airwave, the Services segment declined 4 percent due to lower systems integration revenues associated with the completion of a large project in Europe.
Co issues downside guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $1.17-1.22, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $1.23 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q3 revs of +% to ~$1.51-1.52 bln vs. $1.53 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
Co reaffirms guidance for FY16, sees EPS of $4.45-4.65, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $4.52 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY16 revs of +5-7% to ~$5.98-6.09 bln vs. $5.98 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
Ending backlog is $8.2 billion, up $2.2 billion from the year ago period, driven by the addition of $1.6 billion from Airwave and approximately $600 million of organic managed and support services. Products backlog was up $64 million from the year-ago period.
The company also announced that its board of directors has approved a $2 billion increase to the share repurchase program, raising the total authorization since July 2011 to $14 billion.
4:40 pm Universal Display misses by $0.05, misses on revs; guides FY16 revs below consensus (OLED) :
Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.46 per share, $0.05 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.51; revenues rose 10.8% year/year to $64.4 mln vs the $69.51 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
Co issues downside guidance for FY16, sees FY16 revs of $190-200 mln vs. $217.04 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
"We expect strong revenue growth in 2017. At that time, new OLED production from the multi-year capital expenditure cycle is slated to start contributing to our revenues. Ahead of this wave of high-volume capacity, we have been working to expand and broaden our team and core competencies to advance our strategic initiatives and increase our competitive edge. We expect these initiatives, along with new OLED capacity, coupled with our pipeline of new materials, new technologies and new agreements, to bolster our long-term growth plan."
4:39 pm Sierra Wireless beats by $0.08, reports revs in-line; guides Q3 EPS, revs below consensus; sees FY16 EPS, revs at low end of prior guidance (shares halted) (SWIR) :
Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.20 per share, $0.08 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.12; revenues fell 1.1% year/year to $156.23 mln vs the $154.95 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
On August 3, 2016, the co completed the acquisition of all of the outstanding shares of GenX Mobile Incorporated for total cash consideration of $7.8 million ($6.0 million, net of cash acquired), subject to working capital adjustments. GenX is a provider of in-vehicle cellular devices for the fleet management, asset tracking and transportation markets.
"As a global leader in intelligent wireless solutions for the Internet of Things, we believe that we are well positioned to drive strong long term growth. However, our short term outlook is more cautious. While we expect to see continued solid revenue contributions from new OEM programs, we are seeing signs of softer short term demand and tighter inventory management with some established OEM customers and programs.
Co issues downside guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.06-0.13 vs. $0.22 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q3 revs of $145-155 mln vs. $167.19 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
Co comments on FY16 guidance for FY16, saying it sees EPS at the low end of its $0.60-0.90 guidance vs. $0.69 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY16 revs at the low the low end of its prior $630-670 mln guidance vs. $643.73 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. "In the fourth quarter of 2016, we expect to see sequential and year-over-year growth, although not to the levels previously anticipated."
4:37 pm Super Micro Computer beats by $0.04, reports revs in-line; guides Q1 in-line (SMCI) :
Reports Q4 (Jun) earnings of $0.20 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.16 and guidance of $0.15-0.17; revenues fell 8.6% year/year to $524.3 mln vs the $523.34 mln Capital IQ Consensus and guidance of $520-524 mln.
Co issues in-line guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.15-0.30, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.28 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of $470-550 mln vs. $532.69 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
4:33 pm Univ Elec reports EPS in-line, beats on revs; guides Q3 EPS in-line, revs in-line (UEIC) :
Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.77 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.77; revenues rose 16.7% year/year to $172.2 mln vs the $169.97 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
Co issues in-line guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.87-0.97, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.95 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q3 revs of $169-177 mln vs. $175.73 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
4:28 pm FEI beats by $0.05, beats on revs (FEIC) :
Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.92 per share, excluding transaction costs related to the pending merger with Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO)and purchase accounting adjustments and integration costs related to the December 2015 acquisition of DCG Systems, Inc., $0.05 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.87; revenues rose 15.7% year/year to $259.36 mln vs the $254.82 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
4:19 pm Applied Optoelectronics beats by $0.10, beats on revs; guides Q3 above consensus (AAOI) :
Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.16 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.10 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.06; revenues rose 11.5% year/year to $55.3 mln vs the $50.84 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
Co issues upside guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.16-0.21 vs. $0.15 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q3 revs of $56-59 mln vs. $54.56 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
"We achieved top and bottom-line results well above our guidance and we are pleased with the progress we made during the quarter. Our results were driven by continued strong demand for our market-leading data center products, where we generated our fifth consecutive quarter of record revenue, and an improvement in demand for our CATV products."
4:18 pm Universal Display signs five-year License and Supplemental Material Purchase Agreement with Tianma Micro-electronics (OLED) : The co announced the signing of an OLED Technology License Agreement and Supplemental Material Purchase Agreement with Tianma Micro-electronics Co. Ltd., a leading Chinese small-and medium-size display panel manufacturer. The agreements run for five years
4:05 pm LinkedIn beats by $0.35, beats on revs (LNKD) :
Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $1.13 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.35 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.78; revenues rose 31.0% year/year to $932.71 mln vs the $898.56 mln Capital IQ Consensus.On June 11, 2016, LinkedIn entered into a merger agreement with Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) under which Microsoft will acquire LinkedIn for $196.00 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $26.2 bln, inclusive of LinkedIn's net cash.
Briefing Market Update - 4:20 pm : The stock market ended a surprisingly sleepy session on a flat note as the S&P 500 (UNCH) maintained a meager nine-point range. We say surprising because the Bank of England (BOE) caused quite the stir this morning with some monetary policy accommodation that was more aggressive than expected.
In particular, the BOE exceeded market expectations when it announced a 25 basis point cut in its Bank Rate to a record-low 0.25%, and added that it will purchase up to GBP10 billion of U.K. corporate bonds, and expand its purchase of UK government bonds by GBP60 billion, bringing its total stock of asset purchases to GBP435 billion.
In the past, such a healthy dose of policy stimulus would have stimulated a much more enthusiastic response in the stock market. That didn't happen this time, however. The market's sluggish behavior was held out as a possible indication that market participants believe monetary policy actions are no longer effective.
The latter point notwithstanding, the British pound dropped nearly 2.0% against the dollar to 1.3130 and sovereign bond markets rallied in the wake of the decision, generating an added thought that the Federal Reserve seems likely to refrain from raising its key policy rate at all this year.
Investors lacked conviction throughout today's session, mulling the possible implications of the BOE decision and cognizant that the Employment Situation Report for July will be released on Friday before the start of trading.
Today's trade featured a continued rebound in oil, some strengthening in the dollar, and otherwise mixed performances by the stock market's most influential sectors. To that end, the information technology sector (+0.4%) traded higher while the financial sector (-0.3%) traded lower. All other sectors moves were equally limited in scope on either side of the unchanged line.
The Nasdaq Composite (+0.1%) ended its day slightly ahead of the S&P 500 (UNCH) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (UNCH).
The S&P 500 meandered in a tight trading range today, finding support at 2159, which was the previous range low, and largely ignored the Factory Orders report for June (-1.5%; Briefing.com consensus -1.9%), which featured the second consecutive monthly decline in factory orders.
A reversal in oil futures added to support efforts as the energy component continued its recent rebound. WTI crude finished its day higher by 2.7% ($41.93/bbl; +$1.11), erasing its weekly loss.
The S&P 500 (UNCH) finished in the middle of today's trading range as six sectors finished in the red. The financial sector (-0.3%) finished behind health care (-0.2%) and energy (-0.2%). Conversely, technology (+0.4%) finished in-line with materials (+0.4%) and ahead of consumer staples (+0.2%) at the front of the pack.
Relative strength in Microsoft (MSFT 57.39, +0.42) and Facebook (FB 124.36, +1.85) helped the technology sector outperform. The two large caps gained 0.7% and 1.5%, respectively. The high-beta chipmakers also outperformed as the sub-group moved higher, helped by gains in ASML (ASML 110.09, +1.64) and Micron (MU 14.03, +0.52).
The economically-sensitive financial sector (-0.3%) underperformed as long-term interest rates came under pressure following the Bank of England's decision. Life insurance names also contributed to sustained weakness as Prudential (PRU 72.84, -3.31) and MetLife (MET 39.54, -3.76) fell 4.4% and 8.7%, respectively. The two names disappointed investors with their bottom-line quarterly results.
Biotechnology displayed relative weakness in the health care space (-0.2%) as the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 296.15, -1.77) trimmed its weekly gain to 2.3%. In the group, Biogen (BIIB 315.56, -6.78) continued to underperform as investors further discounted an acquisition of the company. The stock rallied 9.4% on Tuesday on M&A speculation. Elsewhere, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN 433.40, -7.97) declined 1.8% after missing top-line estimates for the quarter.
The U.S. Dollar Index (95.77, +0.21) finished modestly higher as the euro and the pound lost ground against the buck. The single currency declined 0.2% against the dollar (1.1130).
Treasuries finished the day on a higher note as yields came down across the curve. The 10-yr note yield finished lower by four basis points (1.51%).
Participation was below the recent average as fewer than 796 million shares changed hands at the NYSE floor.
Today's economic data included Challenger Job Cuts for July, weekly initial claims, and Factory Orders for June:
July Challenger Job Cuts reported in at 45,300, which compares to the prior month's reading of 38,500.
Initial claims increased by 3,000 to 269,000 (Briefing.com consensus 264,000) for the week ending July 30.
There were no special factors influencing the initial claims reading.
The four-week moving average for initial claims jumped to 260,250 from 256,500.
Weekly initial claims remained below 300,000 for the 74th straight week.
Continuing claims decreased by 6,000 to 2.138 million for the week ending July 23.
The four-week moving average for continuing claims increased by 5,250 to 2.142 million, which is still near its lowest level since November 2000.
Factory orders declined 1.5% in June (Briefing.com consensus -1.9%) on the heels of a downwardly revised 1.2% decline (from -1.0%) in May.
That qualified June as a double-dip month since it was the second consecutive month that factory orders declined.
On a year-over-year basis, factory orders are down 2.6% with durable goods orders unchanged and nondurable goods orders down 5.1%.
Orders for durable goods slumped 3.9% in June after a 2.9% decline in May.
That had a lot to do with a 10.5% decline in orders for transportation equipment, which featured a 58.8% decline in orders for nondefense aircraft and parts.
There was some offsetting strength fortunately in orders for nondurable goods industries, which increased 1.0% in June on the back of a 0.6% increase in May.
Notwithstanding the back-to-back monthly decline in factory orders, shipments increased 0.7% and were up for the fourth straight month.
Total inventories for all manufacturing industries were down 0.1% and have now declined in thirteen of the last fourteen months.
The inventory-to-shipments ratio dipped to 1.35 in June from 1.36 in May.
Tomorrow's data includes the 8:30 ET release of the Employment Situation Report for July. The report is expected to show that nonfarm payrolls increased by 185,000. Separately, the June Trade Balance Report (Briefing.com consensus -$42.7 billion) June Consumer Credit (Briefing.com consensus $16.2 billion) will cross the wires at 8:30 ET and 15:00 ET.
DJ30 -2.95 NASDAQ +6.51 SP500 +0.46 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1443/1.714 bln/1375 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1665/795.5 mln/1273
3:30 pm :
Commodities, as measured by the Bloomberg Commodity Index, were up +0.4% around the 83.91 level
Crude oil extends yesterday's post-EIA gains ahead of tomorrow's Baker Hughes rig count data
September crude oil futures rose $1.11 (+2.7%) to $41.93/barrel
Natural gas closes lower despite inventory data showing a surprise draw compared to Consensus
September natural gas closed $0.01 lower (-0.4%) at $2.83/MMBtu
Natural gas inventory showed a draw of -6 bcf vs expectations for inventory to be a build between +1 and +10 bcf.
Working gas in storage was 3,288 Bcf as of Friday, July 29, 2016, according to EIA estimates.
Stocks were 389 Bcf higher than last year at this time and 464 Bcf above the five-year average of 2,824 Bcf.
At 3,288 Bcf, total working gas is above the five-year historical range.
In precious metals, gold & silver trade in opposite directions, widening the gold:silver ratio
December gold ended today's session up (+0.2%) $2.60 to $1367.20/oz
September silver closed today's session $0.04 lower (-0.2%) at $20.43/oz
Base metal copper ends lower for the second day in a row
September copper closed $0.03 lower (-1.4%) at $2.17/lb
TECHSTOCKS: Today's flat performance in the broader market comes on the heels of the Bank of England's decision to lower its key interest rate to a record-low 0.25% from 0.50% and ahead of tomorrow's influential Employment Situation Report for July. Further, the BoE voted to increase its U.K. government bond purchases by GBP60 billion and to purchase up to GBP10 billion of U.K. corporate bonds. The accommodative monetary policy decision follows the surprise Brexit vote in late June.
Also, market data today came in the form of July Challenger Job Cuts which were 45,300, compared to the prior month's reading of 38,500. Additionally, initial claims increased by 3,000 to 269,000 for the week ending July 30. Continuing claims decreased by 6,000 to 2.138 million for the week ending July 23. Factory orders declined 1.5% in June on the heels of a downwardly revised 1.2% decline (from -1.0%) in May.
Thursday concluded a mixed session as morning weakness cooled into the afternoon and ultimately ended on a modestly lower tick. Leading the day higher, the Nasdaq Composite added 6.51 points (+0.13%) to 5166.25. Helping the Nasdaq outperform today, top Nasdaq 100 components TSLA +2.1%, PYPL +2.0, NVDA +1.9%, AVGO +1.8%, MAR +1.3% all finished with strong days. The S&P 500 was up less than a point (+0.02%) when the day was done to 2164.25, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was the lone laggard, shedding 2.95 points (-0.02%) to 18352.05.
As it were, S&P sectors were also scattered as a whole with XLB +0.37%, XLP +0.24%, XLI +0.03%, XLU -0.06%, XLY -0.06%, IYZ -0.09%, XLV -0.15%, XLE -0.18%, XLF -0.30%. Technology (XLK 46.58, +0.23 +0.50%) was the best performing S&P sector, ending just off highs of the day. Component Western Union (WU 20.69, +0.77 +3.89%) posted a strong Thursday following better than expected Q2 earnings.
In the S&P 500 Information Technology (772.10, +3.79 +0.49%) sector, trading came to a close slightly off highs after tepid morning action. Component First Solar (FSLR 43.72, -5.52 -11.21%) was the worst performing component following its latest quarterly print; the company beat market expectations on the top and bottom lines for Q2 but worries about margins and commentary regarding a very competitive pricing environment held the stock lower today. Other names in the space which outperformed today included PYPL +1.97%, TDC +2.02%, NVDA +1.85%, AVGO +1.75%, STX +1.72%, FB +1.51%, YHOO +1.38%, MSI +1.36%, LRCX +1.26%, SWKS +1.20%, HPE +1.16%.
Notable news items among tech companies:
CSRA (CSRA 25.85, -0.25 -0.96%) announced it received a contract to support the Air Force Research Laboratory in conducting human-centered research and development to improve and protect mission-critical processes and tools used by airmen. The single-award contract is valued at $7.5 million over a six-year period.
RadiSys (RSYS 4.72, +0.01 +0.21%) filed for a $100 million mixed securities shelf offering.
Novatel Wireless (MIFI 2.00, +0.12 +6.38%) disclosed a restructuring plan including the reduction of the workforce by about 24%.
TerraForm Global (GLBL 3.36, -0.03 -0.88%) disclosed the receipt of a letter from SunEdison (SUNEQ 0.12, flat) purporting to terminate the Interest Payment Agreement dated as of August 5, 2015.
Elli Mae (ELLI 98.50, +5.98 +6.46%) priced a follow-on offering of 2.75 million shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $90 per share.
Guidewire Software (GWRE 61.31, +0.38 +0.62%) to acquire FirstBest. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Zynga (ZNGA 2.97, +0.01 +0.34%) appointed Matt Bromberg as COO effective August 8.
BlackBerry (BBRY 7.76, -0.02 -0.26%) commenced a normal course issuer bid to purchase up to $125 million principal amount of its 6% unsecured convertible debentures.
In reaction to quarterly results:
BCE Inc (BCE 47.94, +0.68 +1.44%) reported better than expected Q2 EPS of C$0.94 and in-line revenues of C$5.34 billion. The company also reaffirmed FY16 EPS and revenue guidance of C$3.45-3.55 and growth of 1-3%, respectively.
Nokia (NOK 5.50, -0.19 -3.34%) reported in-line Q2 EPS of EUR0.03 on worse than expected revenues which rose 91.3% versus a year ago to EUR5.58 billion.
Equinix (EQIX 371.40, +1.06 +0.29%) reported Q2 funds from operations of $3.55 per share on revenues of $900.5 million. The company also sees Q3 revenues of $915-921 million on adjusted EBITDA of $419-425 million. For FY16, the company expects revenues of $3.59-3.61 billion on adjusted EBITDA of $1.658-1.668 billion.
CenturyLink (CTL 30.25, -0.26 -0.85%) reported better than expected Q2 EPS of $0.63 on in-line revenues of $4.4 billion. For Q3, CTL sees EPS worse than market expectations at $0.52-0.57 on in-line revenues of $4.35-4.40 billion.
Western Union (WU) reported better than expected Q2 EPS of $0.42 on revenues which came in at $1.38 billion. For FY16, the company sees EPS of $1.60-1.70 compared to prior expectations of $1.58-1.70.
TripAdvisor (TRIP 63.59, -5.90 -8.49%) reported worse than expected Q2 EPS and revenues of $0.38 and $391 million, respectively.
First Solar (FSLR) reported better than expected Q2 EPS and revenues of $0.87 and $934 million, respectively. For FY16, the company sees better than expected EPS of $4.20-4.50, prior guidance was $4.10-4.50 on revenues of $3.8-4.0 billion.
GoDaddy (GDDY 31.78, +3.47 +12.26%) reported a Q2 loss per share of $0.11 on better than expected revenues which rose 15.6% compared to a year ago to $456.2 million. The company also sees Q3 revenues of $468-471 million. For FY16 revenues, GDDY sees $1.84-1.847 billion.
Companies scheduled to report quarterly results tonight/tomorrow morning: TWOU ATVI ACXM MDRX AMBR ASYS AAOI ANET TEAM ABTL RATE WIFI ECOM CPSI CSOD DMD FEIC FEYE GSAT HDP IMMR IMPV SAAS INAP KTOS LNKD MRIN MELI MSI EGOV PCLN RBCN SHOR SWIR SSNI SMCI SYMC TTWO TRMR TRUE UBNT OLED WEB ZG ZNGA/CTSH TDS USM
Analyst actions:
TXN was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Exane BNP Paribas,
IPAS was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Chardan Capital Markets,
NSIT was upgraded to Mkt Perform from Underperform at Raymond James,
LMOS was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies,
IL was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Craig Hallum;
RUBI was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup and to Hold from Buy at Needham,
INOV was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray and to Neutral from Buy at Goldman, TNET was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley,
FLTX was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays
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