From Briefing.com: 4:21PM Intel beats by $0.10, beats on revs; guides Q3 revs and gross margins above consensus (INTC) 16.83 +0.34 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.18 per share, ex-items, $0.10 better than the First Call consensus of $0.08; revenues fell 15.3% year/year to $8.02 bln vs the $7.28 bln consensus. INTC reports Q2 gross margin of 50.8% vs guidance of "mid-40s" and consensus of 46.4% Co issues upside guidance for Q3, sees Q3 revs of $8.1-8.9 bln vs. $7.81 bln consensus; sees Q3 gross margin of 51-55% vs 49.76% consensus. For FY09, co sees spending (R&D plus MG&A) of between $10.6-10.8 bln, up from the prior outlook of $10.4 to $10.6 bln. Sees capital spending of $4.7 bln plus or minus $200 mln, down from $5.2 bln in 2008... "Intel's second-quarter results reflect improving conditions in the PC market segment with our strongest first- to second-quarter growth since 1988 and a clear expectation for a seasonally stronger second half... Intel's strategy of investing in new technologies and innovative products, combined with ongoing focus on operating efficiencies, continues to yield benefits that are evident in our strengthening financial performance." (Stock is halted; set to resume trading at 16:35)
4:35PM Intel jumps +1.17 (+7%) to 18.00 upon resumption of trading, following earnings (INTC) 16.83 +0.34 : See 16:21 comment for earnings details.
4:22PM Altera reports EPS in-line, revs in-line; guides Q3 revs below consensus (ALTR) 16.56 +0.19 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.16 per share, includes $0.04 in additional tax charges, in-line with the First Call consensus of $0.16; revenues fell 22.4% year/year to $279.2 mln vs the $277.6 mln consensus. Altera sees Q3 revs down 1-5% sequentially. Co issues downside guidance for Q3, sees Q3 revs down 1-5% sequentially, which equates to ~$265.2-276.4 mln vs. $279.23 mln consensus.
4:30 pm : Despite a lack of leadership, stocks were able to log modest gains following upbeat earnings announcements from Goldman Sachs and Johnson & Johnson and a mixed batch of economic data.
Goldman Sachs (GS 149.66, +0.22) unveiled earnings of $4.93 per share for the second quarter. Excluding a one-time preferred dividend, diluted earnings came in at $5.71 per share. The consensus was pegged at $3.54 per share. The better-than-expected results were helped by improvements in Goldman's fixed income, currency, and commodities segment, which generated record quarterly net revenues, and the trading and principal investments segment, which saw net revenue nearly double year-over-year.
Though Goldman's results were impressive, many had expected the company to top the consensus earnings estimate. Despite the firm's best-in-class status, many also question the sustainability of earnings from its trading and investments division.
The financial sector lagged for the entire session after showing leadership the day before. Financials closed 0.3% lower. Telecom (-0.7%) was the only other major sector to post a loss.
Pharmaceutical and health care products giant Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 58.23, +0.51) reported today better-than-expected earnings of its own by bringing in $1.15 per share. However, the Dow component didn't provide much leadership. Health care stocks advanced 0.4%.
Some health care stocks were weighed down by news that House Democrats proposed a bill to expand health benefits in a plan that includes a public health plan option to compete against private insurers. Managed care providers fell 0.8%.
Technology stocks, which collectively carry the heaviest market weight in the S&P 500, made a modest 0.3% gain. Dell (DELL 11.97, -1.05) weighed on things by stating it expects gross margins to decrease even though it expects revenue to make a slight sequential increase. Oracle (ORCL 20.63, -0.09) still expects its acquisition of Sun Microsystems (JAVA 9.17, +0.01) to be accretive to its adjusted earnings even though Sun believes fourth quarter losses could range from $0.16 to $0.06 per share, which would be worse than the loss of $0.01 per share that analysts currently expect.
Semiconductor stocks showed strength ahead of the latest earnings announcement from Intel (INTC 16.83, +0.34). The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index climbed 1.6%.
By climbing 1.5%, consumer discretionary stocks logged the best gains of any major sector. Their strength was owed to retailers, which climbed 1.6% in the face of mixed retail sales data.
Higher gasoline and auto purchases helped retail sales for June increase 0.6%, which was more than expected. However, when excluding autos, sales increased just 0.3%, which was less than expected.
In other economic news, the June Producer Price Index increased 1.8%. That was twice the increase that had been expected and was the sharpest jump since late 2007. Core PPI also increased more than expected by coming in with a 0.5% increase, which is the biggest jump since late 2008. The latest consumer price data is due tomorrow morning.
Businesses continue to pare inventories amid persistently weak demand. May business inventories fell a sharper-than-expected 1.0% in what was the ninth straight decline.
Trading volume was low even though there were plenty of news items to act as catalysts or cues for trading. Fewer than 1 billion shares traded hands on the NYSE this session. That's well below recent trends.DJ30 +27.81 NASDAQ +6.52 NQ100 +0.4% R2K +0.6% SP400 +0.8% SP500 +4.79 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1497/1.88 bln/1125 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2121/978 mln/891
9:29AM Rambus: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rejects additional patent claims that Rambus is asserting against NVIDIA (RMBS) 15.48 : NVIDIA (NVDA) announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has initially rejected an additional eight claims challenged by NVIDIA in two patents that Rambus has asserted against it in litigation. This follows the USPTO's rejection last month of 41 other claims in seven patents that Rambus had asserted against NVIDIA.
9:04AM Actel announces that Maurice Carson has joined the company as executive vice president and CFO, effective August 17, 200 (ACTL) 10.95 :
8:32AM Apple's App Store downloads top 1.5 billion in first year (AAPL) 142.34 : Co announces that customers have downloaded more than 1.5 bln applications in just one year from its App Store. The App Store is also growing with more than 65,000 apps and more than 100,000 developers in the iPhone Developer Program. "The App Store is like nothing the industry has ever seen before in both scale and quality," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "With 1.5 billion apps downloaded, it is going to be very hard for others to catch up."
Aehr Test Systems (AEHR) announces it has received a follow-on order for the company's new Advanced Burn-in and Test System from Integrated Service Technology in Taiwan.
10:15 am Dell (DELL)
After the close Monday, Dell (DELL 12.16, -0.86) issued second quarter guidance that expects a slight increase in revenue from the first quarter.
The company said year-over-year demand for its information-technology products appears to have stabilized, and that it expects to report a slight sequential revenue increase in its fiscal second-quarter 2010 (First Call consensus is for 1.6% growth), which ends July 31.
The company said it also anticipates a modest decline in second quarter gross margins, the result of higher component costs, a competitive pricing environment, and an unfavorable mix of product and business-segment demand.
In a statement in advance of a Tuesday meeting in Austin with securities and industry analysts, CFO Brian Gladden said that while demand for Dell's products and services seems to have stabilized, it varies significantly by customer segment and geography.
He added that Dell remains focused on optimizing liquidity, profitability and growth in the midst of a still-challenging operating environment, and is on course to reduce annual costs by more than $4 billion by the end of fiscal 2011.
The company stated that, over a longer time horizon, it will be targeting 5% to 7% compounded annual sales growth, operating income at or above 7% of revenue, and cash flow from operations exceeding net income. However, Dell warned that the results are dependent on broad global economic improvement accompanied by higher worldwide IT spending, including a sustained double-digit growth rate in demand for computer systems.
08:38 am Sun Microsystems (JAVA)
Preliminary fiscal fourth quarter results released Tuesday by Sun Microsystems (JAVA 9.16) call for a wider loss than analysts expected.
Sun said that it expects a fourth quarter net loss of $0.06 to $0.16 per share, on a non-GAAP basis, a wider loss than the current First Call consensus that expects a loss of $0.01 per share.
Sun said it expects revenues for its fiscal fourth quarter (ended June 30) to range from $2.58 billion to $2.68 billion, well shy of the $3.03 billion First Call consensus.
After reviewing the results, Oracle (ORCL 20.72), which announced plans to acquire Sun for $9.50 per share in cash in April, said that it still expects the Sun acquisition to be accretive to its earnings by at least $0.15 per share on a non-GAAP basis for the first full year after closing.
In addition, Oracle reaffirmed estimates that the acquisition of Sun will contribute over $1.5 billion to Oracle's non-GAAP operating profit in that year, increasing to over $2 billion in the second year.
Year-to-date, shares of ORCL are 16.9% higher, while shares of JAVA have surged nearly 140%.
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