From Briefing.com: 4:25PM SanDisk resumes trading; jumps to $23.50 (SNDK) 21.48:
4:08PM SanDisk beats by $0.49, beats on revs (SNDK) 21.47 +0.01 : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.75 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.49 better than the First Call consensus of $0.26; revenues rose 13.8% year/year to $935.2 mln vs the $787.9 mln consensus. SanDisk reports gross margin 46.6% vs 31.3% consensus. Co says, "We are encouraged by improved industry fundamentals and our increasingly diversified global markets, which bode well for further growth in Q4 and in 2010."
4:34PM Cymer beats by $0.19, beats on revs; guides Q4 revs above consensus (CYMI) 38.85 -0.12 : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.36 per share, $0.19 better than the First Call consensus of $0.17; revenues fell 16.5% year/year to $92.3 mln vs the $82.2 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q4, sees Q4 revs to be comparable to Q3 revs, which equates to ~92.3 mln vs. $90.62 mln consensus. Co said, "In Q3, we responded to increased demand that resulted in Q3revenue increasing almost 50%, as compared to the prior quarter. In Q4, we anticipate maintaining this increased level of demand for light sources and Installed Base Products."
4:09PM PMC-Sierra and Entropic Communications collaborate to extend reach of fiber for cable operators (PMCS) 9.54 -0.17 : PMC-Sierra and Entropic Communications (ENTR) announce that they are collaborating to develop an innovative and cost-effective solution for delivering >100Mb/s broadband connectivity to each customer in MSO fiber deployments. The companies will demonstrate this concept during the SCTE Cable-Tec Expo in Denver, Colorado, October 28-30, 2009.
4:08PM Cree beats by $0.08, beats on revs; guides Q2 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus (CREE) 41.16 +0.05 : Reports Q1 (Sep) earnings of $0.30 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.08 better than the First Call consensus of $0.22; revenues rose 20.5% year/year to $169.1 mln vs the $164.5 mln consensus. Cree reports gross margin 43.6% vs 40% consensus and co guidance. Co issues upside guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $0.28-0.30, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.23 consensus; sees Q2 revs of $180-190 mln vs. $173.18 mln consensus. Targeted non-GAAP earnings exclude expenses related to the amortization of acquired intangibles of $0.02 per diluted share, and stock-based compensation expense of $0.06 per diluted share. "We are benefitting from continued LED lighting adoption and high factory utilization and are well positioned for solid growth in Q2. As a result of the recent equity offering, we have the balance sheet to invest in the growth of our business as we look to continue to lead the LED lighting revolution."
4:05PM Cree testing the 2004 high at $42.44 (CREE) 41.16 +0.05 : Volume is really light. Last trade at $42.00
4:01PM Universal Display awarded U.S. Army SBIR ~$334k contract extension for Flexible OLED displays built on metal foil (PANL) 13.59 -0.06 :
4:30 pm : Positive earnings surprises from Apple (AAPL 198.76, +8.90), Texas Instruments (TXN 23.66, +0.14), Caterpillar (CAT 59.61, +1.76), Pfizer (PFE 17.93, -0.05), and UnitedHealth (UNH 25.96, +1.04) couldn't keep the broader market from slipping to a loss as a stronger dollar pressured stocks and commodities alike.
Stocks looked poised to start the session on strong footing and extend the previous session's gains, but the positive tone among participants dwindled in the opening minutes as enthusiasm faded for the strong earnings of several widely-held companies. A bounce by the U.S. dollar also undercut stocks; basic materials stocks (-1.1%) and energy stocks (-0.9%) were hit particularly hard, given their correlation to commodity prices.
With the Dollar Index climbing 0.4% this session, the CRB Commodity Index retreated to a 0.5% loss as oil futures prices fell 0.7% to $79.09 per barrel. Gold prices were able to recover from negative territory to finish fractionally higher at $1058.60 per ounce, however.
Health care stocks also struggled this session. The sector shed 1.0% as Boston Scientific (BSX 8.57, -1.59) slumped in the wake of its quarterly earnings report, which actually contained a positive earnings surprise and an in-line earnings forecast. That couldn't stop a Wells Fargo downgrade from dragging down the stock, though.
Meanwhile, managed care providers (+2.2%) looked strong following better-than-expected earnings and reaffirmed upside guidance from UnitedHealth, but their gains couldn't overcome weakness in the rest of the health care sector.
Tech stocks settled as the best performing sector, even though it closed unchanged. The sector found strength as participants flocked to shares of Apple in the wake of its strong quarterly results. Apple was also a primary leader in the Nasdaq.
In economic news, the Producer Price Index for September made a surprise month-over-month drop of 0.6%, while core producer prices made a surprise 0.1% slip. Housing starts for September came in at an annualized rate of 590,000, which is below the rate of 610,000 units that was widely expected. DJ30 -50.71 NASDAQ -12.85 NQ100 +0.0% R2K -1.4% SP400 -0.9% SP500 -6.85 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 726/2.14 bln/1965 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1051/1.24 bln/1996
12:00PM Apple confirms new iMac line and updated MacBook (AAPL) 199.31 +9.45 : Co unveiled new iMac line featuring LED-backlit 21.5 and 27-inch widescreen displays in a new glass design and aluminum enclosure. The new iMac line is starting at $1,199. Every new iMac ships with a wireless keyboard and the all new wireless Magic Mouse, the world's first mouse with Multi-Touch technology pioneered by Apple on the iPhone, iPod touch and Mac notebook trackpad... Co also updated its popular MacBook with a new, durable polycarbonate unibody design featuring a LED-backlit display, a glass Multi-Touch trackpad and built-in battery for up to seven hours of battery life. The new MacBook is available for $999.
8:02AM Cirrus Logic beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line; guides Q3 revs above consensus (CRUS) 5.86 : Reports Q2 (Sep) earnings of $0.11 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.10; revenues rose 4.5% year/year to $55.7 mln vs the $55.7 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q3, sees Q3 revs of $58-62 mln vs. $53.96 mln consensus. Gross margin is expected to be between 52 percent and 54 percent; and combined R&D and SG&A expenses are expected to range between $23 million and $25 million, which include approximately $2 million in share-based compensation and amortization of acquisition-related intangibles expenses. Gross margin for the quarter was 52 percent, down from 56 percent in the quarter a year ago and flat compared to 52 percent reported for the previous quarter.
09:55 am Texas Instruments (TXN)
Texas Instruments (TXN 24.00, +0.48) reported third quarter earnings that topped consensus estimates and issued upside guidance for the fourth quarter, saying that its customers have begun to increase production.
Texas Instruments reported third quarter earnings of $0.42 per share, $0.03 better than the First Call consensus of $0.39. Operating profits increased $17 million from the same period last year primarily due to lower operating expenses as well as lower manufacturing costs.
Revenues fell 15.0% year-over-year to $2.88 billion, but managed to top the $2.82 billion consensus estimate. Revenues were up 17% sequentially, driven by growth in all segments, particularly the company's analog segment.
Gross margins of 51.4% beat the 49.1% Street expectation.
"We are encouraged with the strong sequential increase in demand for our products over the past two quarters as our customers are winding down their inventory corrections and have begun to increase production levels in their factories," said CEO Rich Templeton. "This revenue growth, combined with our early actions to pare costs so that we would not be dependent upon an uncertain rebound in the overall economy, has resulted in solid improvements in our profitability."
Texas Instruments issued upside guidance for the fourth quarter, saying it expects earnings of $0.42 to $0.50 per share; the consensus expects $0.40. Texas Instruments sees fourth quarter revenues ranging from $2.78 billion to $3.02 billion; the consensus currently stands at $2.78 billion.
09:33 am SanDisk ests raised at Wedbush ahead of tonight's earnings: . Wedbush notes SanDisk is set to report Q3 results after the market close. Firm expects the Q3 print to be above the Street and its ests driven by strong retail card pricing and limited NAND supply bolstering gross margin, rev and earnings. Firm is increasing its gross margin est for Q3 to 32.5% up from 30.9% and pro forma EPS to $0.26 from $0.20 on rev of $795 mln (9% Q/Q growth) up from $770 mln above Street at $0.25/$787 mln. Firm looks for SanDisk management to provide a bullish out look for Q4 given its strong positioning in the retail/USB card market due to the limited supply of NAND impeding its competitors from having products on the shelf to compete.
08:36 am Apple (AAPL)
The fiscal fourth quarter report from Apple (AAPL 189.86) easily topped Wall Street's expectations, with strong sales of Macs and iPhones driving the upside surprise.
Apple reported fiscal fourth quarter earnings of $1.82 per share, $0.40 better than the First Call consensus of $1.42.
Revenues rose 25.0% year-over-year to $9.87 billion, ahead of the $9.2 billion consensus.
Apple sold 3.05 million Macs in the quarter, topping the 2.8 million Street expectation, while sales of iPhones (7.4 million vs Street expectation of 7 million) also did better than expected. Apple sold 10.2 million iPods, slightly lower than the expectations for 10.5 million and down 8% year-over-year. Sales of Macs were up 17% year-over-year, while iPhone sales improved 7% from the same quarter last year.
Apple improved its gross margin to 36.6%, beating the consensus expectation of 35.5%.
The company issued mixed guidance for its first quarter, saying it expects earnings of $1.70 to $1.78 per share; the consensus estimate currently stands at $1.91. Apple sees first quarter revenues of $11.3 billion to $11.6 billion, in-line with the $11.45 billion consensus.
Shares of AAPL are surging to all-time highs ahead of Tuesday's opening bell, climbing over 6.5% to crack the $200 level.
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