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From Briefing.com: 4:24 pm NVIDIA beats by $0.15, beats on revs; guides Q1 revs above consensus (NVDA) :

Reports Q4 (Jan) earnings of $1.13 per share, $0.15 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.98; revenues rose 54.9% year/year to $2.17 bln vs the $2.1 bln Capital IQ Consensus.

Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $1.90 +/-2% (Approx $1.86-1.93 bln, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $1.87 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

For fiscal 2018, NVIDIA intends to return $1.25 billion to shareholders through ongoing quarterly cash dividends and share repurchases (Prior guidance was $1.2 bln)

4:50 pm Sierra Wireless also announced that Volkswagen (VLKAY) selected Sierra Wireless AirPrime AR Series modules and the Legato platform for its next generation of connected cars (SWIR) : Sierra Wireless' integrated 4G technology will reach the market beginning in 2018 in several Volkswagen models worldwide.

4:43 pm Sierra Wireless beats by $0.11, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS above consensus, revs in-line (SWIR) :

Reports Q4 (Dec) adj. earnings of $0.27 per share, $0.11 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.16; revenues rose 12.8% year/year to $163 mln vs the $161.06 mln Capital IQ Consensus.

Revenue from OEM Solutions was $135.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2016, up 11.2% compared to $121.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2015. Revenue from Enterprise Solutions was $21.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2016, up 27.1% compared to $16.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2015. Revenue from Cloud and Connectivity Services was $6.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2016, comparable to the fourth quarter of 2015.

Co issues guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.13-0.20, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.12 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of $152-161 mln vs. $155.51 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

4:19 pm Amtech Systems reports Q1 (Dec) results, beats on revs; guides Q2 revs below two analyst estimate (ASYS) :

Reports Q1 (Dec) GAAP net of breakeven, may not be comparable to the single analyst GAAP estimate of ($0.25); revenues rose 32.0% year/year to $29.14 mln vs the $26.01 mln two analyst estimate.
Customer orders in the first quarter of fiscal 2017 were $34.7 million ($15.9 million solar), compared to $27.7 million ($11.8 million solar) in the preceding quarter and $35.6 million ($23.0 million solar) in the first quarter of fiscal 2016. These orders do not include the large order announced in January 2017 for a turnkey project in China for a solar cell manufacturing line for n-type bi-facial cells, or the other January orders in that order announcement.

At December 31, 2016, the Company's total order backlog was $51.5 million ($35.8 solar) compared to total backlog of $48.6 million (solar $34.0 million) at September 30, 2016 and $42.9 million (solar $31.3 million) at December 31, 2015. Backlog includes deferred revenue and customer orders that are expected to ship within the next 12 months.

Co issues downside guidance for Q2, sees Q2 revs of $27-30 mln vs. $30.16 mln two analyst estimate. Gross margin for the quarter ending March 31, 2017, is expected to be in the mid 20s percent range, with operating margin negative. Due to the recent increase in orders, including the large turnkey order received in January 2017, revenue is expected to increase significantly in the second half of fiscal 2017 and is expected to lead to an improvement in the results of operations for the second half as compared to the first half of the fiscal year.

4:19 pm Infinera beats by $0.01, beats on revs (INFN) :

Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.12 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of ($0.13) and at the high end of prior guidance of $(0.16)-(0.12); revenues fell 30.4% year/year to $181.04 mln vs the $175.37 mln Capital IQ Consensus and vs prior guidance of $165-185 mln.

"We executed well in the fourth quarter and delivered results at the high-end of our guidance," said Tom Fallon, Infinera's Chief Executive Officer. "As network infrastructures rapidly evolve, our objective remains to help our customers win by delivering the highest performing solutions at the Transport Layer. Though our product transition is currently holding back revenue growth and profitability, by introducing next generation ICE4 products, my belief is that we are well positioned to begin improving our business results over the course of 2017 and for significant opportunities in the future."

4:18 pm MagnaChip Semi misses by $0.07, reports revs in-line; guides Q1 revs below two analyst estimate (MX) :

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.05 per share, $0.07 worse than the single analyst estimate of $0.12; revenues rose 18.4% year/year to $180.5 mln vs the $180 mln two analyst estimate.

Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $157-163 mln vs. $166.05 mln two analyst estimate.

4:04 pm Monolithic Power beats by $0.02, reports revs in-line; guides Q1 revs in-line (MPWR) :

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.65 per share, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.63; revenues rose 19.2% year/year to $103.62 mln vs the $103.09 mln Capital IQ Consensus.

Co issues in-line guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $98-102 mln vs. $99.03 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

4:20 pm : Stagnant no more, the major averages finished Thursday's session at fresh record highs. The S&P 500, Nasdaq, and the Dow closed with gains of 0.6%, while the small-cap Russell 2000 (+1.4%) outperformed.

Visions of tax reform drove today's advance after President Trump promised to make a "phenomenal" tax-related announcement in the coming weeks. There are no details as of yet regarding what the plan will look like, so it is impossible to say for certain which stocks/industry groups will be winners and losers. The positive response today was grounded more in psychology than economics because, again, there were no details given.

Equity indices remained near their highs, shrugging off comments from Chicago Fed President Charles Evans, who reiterated that three rate hikes in 2017 may be reasonable. Mr. Evans is a voting member on this year's FOMC.

Treasuries didn't have a strong reaction to Mr. Evan's speech. However, the risk-on sentiment did help steepen the yield curve as long-term Treasuries fell under heavy selling pressure relative to shorter-dated issues. The benchmark 10-yr yield finished seven basis points higher at 2.40% while the 2-yr yield closed three basis points higher at 1.18%.

Capitalizing on the steeper yield curve, financials (+1.4%) provided strong sector leadership throughout Thursday's session. Financial components showed broad strength with JPMorgan Chase (JPM 87.20, +1.24), Goldman Sachs (GS 241.55, +3.82), MetLife (MET 52.58, +1.19), and Prudential (PRU 108.39, +3.17) gaining between 1.4% and 3.0%. Prudential's uptick took place in reaction to better than expected earnings.

The consumer staples space (+0.4%) was also represented on the earnings front with Coca-Cola (KO 41.25, -0.77), CVS Health (CVS 77.31, +0.28), and Kellogg (K 76.44, +2.95) reporting results before this morning's open. The results were mixed as KO finished 1.8% lower after below-consensus guidance overshadowed better than expected revenues. Separately, CVS and K posted respective gains of 0.3% and 4.0% after beating earnings estimates.

Energy (+0.9%) also outpaced the benchmark index thanks in part to an uptick in crude oil. The energy component closed 1.2% higher at $52.98/bbl following yesterday's surprising gains in the face of Energy Information Administration (EIA) data which showed a 13.8 million barrel build in oil inventories. Short positions being squeezed out most likely contributed to the counter-intuitive advance.

Utilities (-0.8%) and materials (unch) were the only two spaces to finish Thursday lower. Higher market rates weighed on the rate-sensitive utilities sector while Sealed Air (SEE 47.14, -3.08) had its hand in pushing the materials space lower. The company plunged 6.1% in reaction to the disappointing guidance and lower than expected revenues.

Nine of eleven spaces are higher for the week going into Friday's session with materials and energy showing week-to-date losses of 0.9% and 1.4%, respectively.

Today's economic data included Initial Claims and December Wholesale Inventories:

The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 234,000 while the Briefing.com consensus expected a reading of 250,000. Today's tally was below the unrevised prior week count of 246,000. As for continuing claims, they rose to 2.078 million from the revised count of 2.063 million (from 2.064 million).
The key takeaway from the report is that employers appear reluctant to trim their payrolls, which is a reflection of the tightness in the labor market and the difficulty in finding new employees with the right skill set.
December Wholesale Inventories increased 1.0%, which was in line with the Briefing.com consensus. The prior month's reading was left unrevised at 1.0%.
December marked the second straight month that wholesale inventories increased 1.0%, helping to explain the positive contribution the change in inventories made to Q4 GDP growth.

Friday's economic data will include January Export/Import Prices at 8:30 am ET, February Michigan Sentiment Index (Briefing.com consensus 97.9), and January Treasury Budget at 2:00 pm ET.

Nasdaq Composite +6.2% YTD
S&P 500 +3.1% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +2.1% YTD
Russell 2000 +1.6% YTD

NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2113/1.75 bln/803 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1918/994.9 mln/997

3:30 pm :

Natural gas ended pit trading modestly higher for a 3rd consecutive session after EIA reported a draw in-line with Consensus
Mar natural gas closed $0.02 higher (+0.6%) at $3.14/MMBtu
EIA highlights:
Natural gas inventory showed a draw of -152 bcf vs expectations for inventory to be a draw of approx. -153 bcf.
Working gas in storage was 2,559 Bcf as of Friday, Feb 3, 2017, according to EIA estimates.
Stocks were 325 Bcf less than last year at this time and 45 Bcf above the five-year avg of 2,514 Bcf.
At 2,559 Bcf, total working gas is within the five-year historical range.
Crude oil extended yesterday's surprise post-EIA gains ahead of tomorrow's rig count
Mar crude oil futures rose $0.62 (+1.2%) to $52.98/barrel
Baker Hughes rig count data will be released tomorrow at 1 pm ET.
In precious metals, gold retreated from yesterday's 3-month high on renewed dollar index strength
April gold ended today's session down $2.70 (-0.2%) to $1236.80/oz
March silver closed today's session $0.03 higher (+0.2%) at $17.74/oz
The dollar index was +0.4% around the 100.65 level, weighed on gold futures
Commodities, as measured by the Bloomberg Commodity Index, were +0.1% around the 88.53 level

The broader market finished Thursday at record highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 118.06 points (+0.59%) to 20172.40. The S&P 500 was up 13.20 points (+0.58%) to 2307.87, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 32.73 points (+0.58%) to 5715.18.

Today's economic data included the latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 234,000. Today's tally was below the unrevised prior week count of 246,000. As for continuing claims, they rose to 2.078 million from the revised count of 2.063 million (from 2.064 million). Also, December Wholesale Inventories increased 1.0%, which was in line with the Briefing.com consensus. The prior month's reading was left unrevised at 1.0%.

For its part, the Technology (XLK 51.17, +0.16 +0.31%) space also traded to some pretty impressive highs today, touching levels not seen since September of 2000. Component Teradata (TDC 32.74, +2.57 +8.52%) performed well today after reporting Q4 results and giving mixed Q1 guidance. Other sectors as measured by the S&P closed Thursday XLF +1.37%, XLE +1.13%, XLI +0.77%, IYZ +0.65%, XLY +0.63%, XLRE +0.42%, XLP +0.41%, XLV +0.36%, XLB -0.04%, XLU -0.85%.

In the S&P 500 Information Technology (863.97, +2.46 +0.29%) space, trading ended slightly off highs. Component Intel (INTC 35.46, -0.92 -2.53%) ended as one of the worst performers today after the company's Investor Day. Other names in the space which closed higher with the sector today included CTSH +2.75%, WU +2.36%, EA +2.18%, FSLR +2.16%, HPE +1.90%, FISV +1.57%, PAYX +1.46%, ATVI +1.38%, ACN +1.34%, SYMC +1.33%, ADS +1.28%.

Other notable news items among sector components:


Accenture (ACN 116.98, +1.55 +1.34%) to acquire the iDefense Security Intelligence Services business from VeriSign (VRSN 82.52, -0.05 -0.06%). Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Take-Two (TTWO 56.02, +2.31 +4.30%) announced plans to launch an NBA 2K eLeague. Will debut in 2018.

First Solar (FSLR 32.23, +0.68 +2.16%) was awarded a module supply contract for the 140 megawatt DC Sun Metals Solar Farm in North Queensland (Australia's largest solar project).

Nokia (NOK 4.89, +0.01 +0.20%) to acquire Comptel for EUR 347 million.
Nokia (NOK) has signed a distributor agreement with Energia Communications to sell its G.fast fixed ultra-broadband access technology in Japan.

PayPal (PYPL 40.83, -0.05 -0.12%) in 10-K disclosed it received subpoenas from the DOJ seeking the production of certain information related to the company's historical anti-money laundering program.

Imperva (IMPV 46.75, +3.85 +8.97%) agreed to sell its Skyfence technology and service to Forcepoint. Also acquired the assets of Camouflage Software.

Paycom Software (PAYC 51.32, +6.06 +13.39%) announced an additional $50 million is available for repurchases through Jan 2019.

Microchip (MCHP 70.93, -2.87 -3.89%) to offer $1.5 billion of convertible senior subordinated notes due 2027 and $500 million of convertible junior subordinated notes due 2037 in private placement.

Genpact (G 25.20, +0.39 +1.57%) signed a four-year extension to Master Services Agreement to provide professional services across all GE businesses.

In reaction to quarterly results:

Fiserv (FISV 109.47, +1.69 +1.57%) reported in-line Q4 EPS of $1.16 on revenues which were below market expectations at $1.43 billion. For FY17, the company guided EPS above market expectations at $5.03-5.07.

Telus (TU 32.80, -0.70 -2.09%) reported worse than expected Q4 earnings of CAD$0.53 on in-line revenues of CAD$3.31 billion. For FY17, the company sees EPS below market expectations of CAD$2.49-2.64 on revenues of CAD$13.12-13.25 billion.

CenturyLink (CTL 24.42, -0.01 -0.04%) reported worse than expected Q4 earnings of $0.54 per share on revenues which fell 4.2% compared to a year ago to $4.29 billion. For Q1, the company sees EPS and revenues below market expectations at $0.51-0.57 and $4.23-4.29 billion, respectively. For FY17, the company sees in-line EPS and revenues of $2.10-2.30 and $17.05-17.30 billion.

Twitter (TWTR 16.41, -2.31 -12.34%) reported better than expected Q4 earnings of $0.16 per share on worse than expected revenues of $717 million. Guided Q1 adjusted EBITDA to be between $75 million and $95 million, well below expectations; Adjusted EBITDA margin to be between 17% and 17.5%, and SBC to be between $125 and $135 million.

Trimble (TRMB 31.70, +1.46 +4.83%) reported better than expected Q4 EPS and revenues of $0.31 and $585.6 million, respectively. For Q1, the company sees in-line EPS and revenues of $0.27-0.32 and $585-615 million, respectively.

Tyler Tech (TYL 160.66, +14.67 +10.05%) reported better than expected Q4 EPS of $0.90 on revenues which were worse than expected at $193.28 million. For FY17, the company sees EPS in the range of $3.83-3.91 on revenues between $845-855 million.

Companies scheduled to report quarterly results tonight/tomorrow morning: ATEN ATVI ASYS APDN APTI CARB ECOM CPSI CYBR DTRM EGAN ELLI EXPE HDP INFN JCOM MX MIME MPWR NCR UEPS NVDA P RSYS RPD SWIR TLND UBNT VRSN VSAT WEB WU YELP ZAYO ZIXI ZNGA/G

Analyst actions:

MU was upgraded to Buy from Underperform at BofA/Merrill,
RMBS was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan;
TWTR was downgraded to Underperform at Cowen and to Underperform at Raymond James,
CREE was downgraded to Mkt Perform from Mkt Outperform at JMP Securities,
GRUB was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Mizuho,
VNTV was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies,
SNCR was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank,
QLYS was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at First Analysis Sec;
GTT was initiated with a Buy at BTIG Research,
CAFD was initiated with a Hold at Williams Capital Group,
VSM was initiated with a Hold at Argus