From Briefing.com: 4:18 pm Adobe Systems beats by $0.07, beats on revs; guides Q2 EPS above consensus, revs in-line (ADBE) :
Reports Q1 (Feb) earnings of $0.94 per share, $0.07 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.87; revenues rose 21.6% year/year to $1.68 bln vs the $1.65 bln Capital IQ Consensus. Digital Media segment revenue was $1.14 billion, with record Creative revenue growing to $942 million. Strong Creative Cloud and Document Cloud adoption and retention drove Digital Media Annualized Recurring Revenue ("ARR") to $4.25 billion exiting the quarter, a quarter-over-quarter increase of $265 million. Adobe Marketing Cloud achieved record revenue of $477 million.
Co issues upside guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $0.94, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.91 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q2 revs of $1.73 bln vs. $1.72 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. "We expect to achieve ~$290 million of net new Digital Media ARR in Q2 -- which represents both sequential and year-over-year growth in net new ARR achievement. We expect Digital Media Q2 segment year-over-year revenue growth of ~24%, and Adobe Marketing Cloud year-overyear revenue growth of ~26%.
4:07 pm Rubicon Tech appoints director Timothy E. Brog as CEO to replace Bill Weissman, who has resigned as CEO and President effective March 17, 2017 (RBCN) :
4:04 pm Vivint Solar beats by $0.02, reports revs in-line; guides Q1, FY17 installation and costs (VSLR) :
Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.41 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of ($0.43); revenues rose 161.2% year/year to $41.8 mln vs the $41.71 mln Capital IQ Consensus. MW Booked of ~57 MWs for the quarter. MW Installed of ~47 MWs. Total cumulative MWs installed were ~681 MWs. Installations were 6,460 for the quarter. Cumulative installations were 99,598.
Cost per Watt was $3.08, an increase from the third quarter of 2016 and down from $3.12 in the fourth quarter of 2015.
For the first quarter of 2017, expect: MW Installed: 43 to 46 MWs; Cost per Watt: $ 2.95 - $ 3.05.
For the full year 2017, expect: MW Installed: 210 - 230 MWs; Cost per Watt: $ 2.82 - $ 2.94
4:27 pm Closing Market Summary: Stocks Stall on Thursday (:WRAPX) :
Wednesday's bullish momentum lingered at the opening bell on Thursday, but the energy faded fast as investors came up short on reasons to extend the stock market's record high level. The S&P 500 and the Dow closed with losses of 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively, while the Nasdaq finished flat.
News from Washington did little to encourage the notion that tax reform will be a quick and easy process; President Trump's proposed budget was met with resistance and three House Republicans voted against the GOP health care bill in a committee vote, casting doubt on the legislation's chances on the floor of the House.
Crude oil also played into the cautious tone as the energy component failed to sustain yesterday's positive momentum, squandering a solid pre-market gain. WTI crude finished the day just above its flat line at $48.75/bbl while the energy sector (-0.6%) closed solidly lower.
Biotechnology names weighed on the health care space (-0.9%) after Biogen (BIIB 278.96, -13.68) shares were downgraded at both Morgan Stanley and Leerink Partners on Thursday morning. The company lost 4.7% while the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 298.61, -3.78) tumbled 1.2%.
The rate-sensitive utilities sector (1.1%) fell all the way to the bottom of the day's leaderboard as selling pressure in the Treasury market left yields modestly higher; the benchmark 10-yr yield increased by four basis points to 2.54%.
Most of the remaining sectors finished lower, including industrials (-0.4%), materials (-0.6%), telecom services (-0.3%), and real estate (-0.3%). However, the financials and technology sectors, which together comprise around 35.0% of the broader market, offset most of the negative influence with gains of 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively.
The technology sector centered its advance around Oracle's (ORCL 45.73, +2.68) latest earnings report in which the company reported better than expected earnings, issued upbeat guidance, and increased its dividend. On the other hand, the financial sector's uptick was likely a belated response to yesterday's rate hike. Since the FOMC announcement, investors heard from the Bank of Japan, Swiss National Bank, and the Bank of England. All three held pat, underscoring the Fed's hawkish tilt when compared to other central banks.
The consumer discretionary (+0.1%) and consumer staples (+0.1%) sectors also performed relatively well, finishing just above their flat lines as retailers showed strength; the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 42.43, +0.13) closed higher by 0.3%. Homebuilders also helped the consumer discretionary sector, evidenced by the 1.9% increase in the iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (ITB 32.52, +0.59). The strength followed the release of the February Housing Starts report, which came in roughly as expected.
In addition to Housing Starts, Thursday also saw Initial Claims, March Philadelphia Fed, and January JOLTS:
Housing starts increased to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 1.288 million units in February, up from a revised 1.251 million units in January (from 1.246 million). The Briefing.com consensus expected starts to increase to 1.260 million units. Building permits decreased to a seasonally adjusted 1.213 million in February from a revised 1.293 million (from 1.285 million) for January. The Briefing.com consensus expected a reading of 1.251 million.
The key takeaway from the report is that there was strength in the single-family sector for both starts and permits. Single-family starts increased 6.5% to 872,000 while single-family permits increased 3.1% to 832,000.
The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 241,000 while the Briefing.com consensus expected a reading of 242,000. Today's tally was below the unrevised prior week count of 243,000. As for continuing claims, they declined to 2.030 million from the revised count of 2.060 million (from 2.058 million). The key takeaway from this report is that initial claims continue to run at low levels that point to the likelihood of healthy nonfarm payroll gains in the Employment Situation Report for March. The Philadelphia Fed Survey for March declined to 32.8 from an unrevised 43.3 in February while economists polled by Briefing.com had expected a reading of 25.0. The key takeaway from the report is that the index has increased for eight consecutive months and remains comfortably above the 0.0 dividing line between expansion and contraction.
The January Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed that job openings increased to 5.626 million from a revised 5.539 million (from 5.501 million) in December.
On Friday, investors will receive February Industrial Production (Briefing.com consensus 0.2%) at 9:15 ET, while February Leading Indicators (Briefing.com consensus 0.5%) and the University of Michigan Sentiment Index for March (Briefing.com consensus 96.8) will cross the wires at 10:00 ET.
Nasdaq Composite +9.6% YTD
S&P 500 +6.4% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +5.9% YTD
Russell 2000 +2.1% YTD
Despite getting out of the gate modestly higher, the broader market turned lower about an hour into the session and never came back. The S&P 500 was the worst performer today, shedding 3.88 points (-0.16%) to 2381.38. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 15.55 points (-0.07%) to 20934.55, while the Nasdaq Composite managed to post slight gains (+0.01%) to 5900.76.
Economic data today included housing starts which increased to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 1.288 million units in February, up from a revised 1.251 million units in January (from 1.246 million). Building permits decreased to a seasonally adjusted 1.213 million in February from a revised 1.293 million (from 1.285 million) for January. The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 241,000, below the unrevised prior week count of 243,000. As for continuing claims, they declined to 2.030 million from the revised count of 2.060 million (from 2.058 million). The Philadelphia Fed Survey for March declined to 32.8 from an unrevised 43.3 in February. The January Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed that job openings increased to 5.626 million from a revised 5.539 million (from 5.501 million) in December.
Ending Thursday just barely on this side of flat lines, the Technology (XLK 53.43, +0.03 +0.06) space closed with modest gains. Component Oracle (ORCL 45.73, +2.68 +6.23%) finished the session as the best performer in the space following better than expected Q3 earnings. Other sectors as measured by the S&P closed IYZ +0.55%, XLF +0.28%, XLP +0.14%, XLY +0.00%, XLRE -0.22%, XLI -0.42%, XLB -0.68%, XLE -0.71%, XLV -0.94%, XLU -1.10%.
In the S&P 500 Information Technology (903.80, +2.09 +0.23%) space, trading held morning gains through the session. Component Lam Research (LRCX 125.97, +1.80 1.45%) put in a strong session following a premarket upgrade of the stock at Pacific Crest. Other names in the space which closed higher today included XRX +1.65%, GPN +1.23%, NVDA +1.23%, RHT +1.00%, FFIV +0.91%, IBM +0.81%, JNPR +0.78%, YHOO +0.69%.
Other notable news items among sector components:
GoPro, Inc. (GPRO 8.51, +1.16 +15.78%) affirmed Q1 revenue to be in the upper end of its previously announced $190-210 million range and repeated its target of full-year non-GAAP profitability. The company also announced a restructuring that reduces full-year GAAP operating expenses to below $585 million and non-GAAP operating expenses to below $495 million without impacting the Company's roadmap for new hardware and software products. The reduction in operating expenses will be achieved with a combination of cuts to program costs, headcount and open positions, totaling the elimination of about 270 positions. GPRO therefore estimates that it will incur total aggregate charges of up to $10 million for the restructuring, which are primarily cash expenditures related to severance costs. The company expects to recognize the restructuring charges in Q1.
NVIDIA (NVDA103.81, +1.26 +1.23%) and PACCAR (PCAR 68.89, +0.02 +0.03%) announced a partnership to develop autonomous vehicle solutions.
On top of quarterly results, Oracle (ORCL) increased its quarterly dividend rate to $0.19 from $0.15 per share.
Agilent (A 53.05, -1.05 -1.94%) appointed Koh Boon Hwee as Chairman effective today.
First Data (FDC 16.15, +0.24 +1.54%) to acquire Acculynk, a technology company that delivers eCommerce solutions for debit card acceptance. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Diebold Nixdorf (DBD 29.15, +0.40 +1.39%) announced that the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published its official findings in connection with the business combination of Diebold, Incorporated and Wincor Nixdorf AG in the U.K. The CMA has concluded that a structural remedy is required. DBD is now actively pursuing a divestiture of its legacy Diebold business in the U.K. with a potential purchaser. The company believes it can satisfy the CMA's requirements and conclude this transaction as soon as practicable.
In reaction to quarterly results:
Oracle (ORCL) reported better than expected Q3 EPS of $0.69 on in-line revenues which rose about 2.9% compared to last year to $9.27 billion. The company also guided Q4 EPS ahead of market expectations at $0.78-0.82 on in-line revenues of -1% to +2%, which equates to about $10.48-10.82 billion.
Jabil Circuit (JBL 28.26, +1.28 +4.74%) reported better than expected Q2 EPS and revenues of $0.48 and $4.45 billion, respectively. For Q3, the company sees EPS and revenues in-line at $0.16-0.39 and $4.25-4.55 billion, respectively.
Yirendai (YRD 25.65, -3.64 -12.43%) reported better than expected Q4 EPS and revenues of $0.91 and $154.27 million, respectively. For Q1, the company sees revenues between $130-134 million. For FY17, YRD expects revenues in the range of $634-663 million.
Companies scheduled to report quarterly results tonight: ADBE, EXA, VSLR
Analyst actions:
GPRO was upgraded to Neutral from sell at Citigroup,
ORCL was upgraded to Mkt Perform from Mkt Underperform at JMP Securities and to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan,
JBL was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Needham,
LRCX was upgraded to Overweight from Sector Weight at Pacific Crest,
NCR was upgraded to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer,
LITE was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman,
INFN was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman,
INST was upgraded to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James,
SYNA was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Northland Capital;
RUBI was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies,
CIEN was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman;
SNAP was initiated with a Sell at MoffettNathanson,
CARB was initiated with a Buy at Craig Hallum,
GIMO was initiated with an Outperform at FBN Securities
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