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From Briefing.com: 5:17PM QLogic sees Q4 EPS of ~$0.22-0.24 vs $0.21 First Call consensus; sees Q4 revs of ~$134-140 mln vs $133.4 mln First Call consensus; sees gross margins of ~66% vs 65.9% consensus (QLGC) 18.08 -0.71 :

4:20PM QLogic beats by $0.03, beats on revs (QLGC) 18.08 -0.71 : Reports Q2 (Sep) earnings of $0.21 per share, $0.03 better than the First Call consensus of $0.18; revenues fell 23.2% year/year to $131.5 mln vs the $125.7 mln consensus. "We are pleased with our strong financial performance during the second quarter, which was driven by a 7% sequential increase in revenue over our prior fiscal quarter. Our revenue performance, combined with effective operating expense management, yielded results that exceeded our guidance... We are cautiously optimistic given the signs of stability and early indicators of recovery we are experiencing in our business. We are encouraged by the improvements we experienced in order trends and shipments during the second quarter and believe we are well positioned to experience continued improvement in financial results."

4:32PM Mattson reports 3Q09 loss per share of ($0.31), ex-items, vs. ($0.32) First Call consensus; revenue decreased 62.7% y/y to $11.2 mln vs. $10.9 mln consensus (MTSN) 2.64 -0.23 :

4:32PM Ixia says Q3 revs will be ~$46.4 mln vs $ 45.2 mln consensus, compared to prior $42-47 mln guidance; co announces it will Buy Agilent Technologies' N2X data network testing product line for $44 mln (XXIA) 8.04 -0.09 : Co announced that it has signed a definitive agreement with Agilent Technologies (A), under which Ixia will acquire Agilent's N2X Data Networks Product Line for $44 mln in cash. Co says its evenue estimate includes a full quarter of results for Catapult Communications Corporation, which Ixia acquired in June of this year, but does not include any revenues related to its planned acquisition of Agilent's N2X business.

4:13PM Novellus beats by $0.01, beats on revs (NVLS) 21.61 : Reports Q3 (Sep) loss of $0.03 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.04); revenues fell 29.3% year/year to $176.9 mln vs the $172.4 mln consensus. Bookings in the third quarter of 2009 were $171.5 million, up $60.4 million or 54.3 percent from second quarter 2009 bookings of $111.2 million. Third quarter 2009 shipments of $165.4 million were up by $45.5 million or 37.9 percent from $120.0 million reported for the second quarter of 2009. Deferred revenue at the end of the third quarter of 2009 was $32.3 million, a decrease of $11.5 million or 26.3 percent from $43.8 million at the end of the second quarter of 2009. "This quarter was characterized by strong customer order activity driven by improved fab utilization levels, increased memory prices and demand for PCs and smartphones."

4:09PM LDK Solar announces a supply contract with Enfinity (LDK) 7.81 -0.13 : Co announces that a supply contract with Enfinity for the largest rooftop solar energy installation project in Benelux. LDK Solar will provide approximately 18,000 solar modules to be installed on the Balta Group's factory rooftop in Sint-Baafs-Vijve, Belgium.

4:08PM TriQuint Semi reports EPS in-line, misses on revs; guides Q4 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus (TQNT) 8.10 -0.12 : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.10 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the First Call consensus of $0.10; revenues rose 2.3% year/year to $173 mln vs the $177.8 mln consensus. On a non-GAAP basis, gross margin was 35.0%, up from 33.2% in the prior quarter. Gross margin increased due to improved factory utilization and the elimination of inefficiencies associated with high sequential revenue growth in the second quarter. Co issues downside guidance for Q4, sees EPS of $0.10-0.12, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.13 consensus; sees Q4 revs of $175-185 mln vs. $188.03 mln consensus.

4:08PM F5 Networks trading over 2 points following a beat on both the top and bottom line (FFIV) 41.53 -0.60 : $44.19 is the 52 wk high. Last trade at $44.05

4:08PM Lam Research beats by $0.11, beats on revs (LRCX) 35.85 -1.15 : Reports Q1 (Sep) earnings of $0.03 per share, $0.11 better thanthe First Call consensus of ($0.08); revenues rose 46.3% year/year to $318.5 mln vs the $287.5 mln consensus. Ongoing gross margin for the September 2009 quarter was $131.3 million or 41.2%, compared to ongoing gross margin of $67.8 million, or 31.1%, for the June 2009 quarter -- may not be comparable to 38.1% First Call consensus.

4:25 pm : An aggressive selling effort in the final hour of trade took the stock market from a solid gain to a considerable loss. The downturn was broad based and left many of the major sectors to settle at session lows.

Stocks had been showing moderate weakness ahead of the opening bell, but jumped out to a strong gain in the early going. The S&P 500 even made its way to a near 1% gain so that it fractionally set a new high for 2009.

Financials underpinned the stock market's early advance. The sector traded to a gain of 1.3% following strong earnings from Morgan Stanley (MS 34.08, +1.56) and U.S. Bancorp (USB 24.43, +0.63). However, financials rolled over in late trade and settled with a 1.9% loss as pressure intensified against Wells Fargo (WFC 28.90, -1.56), which was hit with a midday downgrade by widely-followed analyst Dick Bove. Bove, and others, were unimpressed with Wells Fargo's report, even though it featured better-than-expected earnings.

As financials fell under a strong fit of selling pressure, the broader market also buckled.

Even energy stocks couldn't hold their gains into the close. The sector overcame an early loss of roughly 0.9% to climb to a gain of nearly 2% before falling back into the red to finish with a 0.2% loss. Energy stocks had been helped by higher oil prices, which reached new 2009 highs around the $82 per barrel mark following the latest oil inventory data. Crude oil inventories increased 1.31 million barrels, which is below the 1.5 million barrel build that had been expected. Gasoline inventories had a draw of 2.21 million barrels, which is larger than the draw of 850,000 barrels that was widely expected. Oil futures prices closed at $81.37 per barrel, up 2.9%.

Stocks and commodities paid little attention to a weaker dollar in the early going, but the greenback garnered more attention as it extended its slide. The dollar's drop came amid comments from a British central bank governor that suggested higher interest rates could be in the offing. That strengthened the British pound, but helped send the Dollar Index to a fresh 12-month low.

Nine of the 10 major sectors fell to a loss -- only utilities (+0.2%) posted a gain.

Health care stocks had lagged for virtually the entire session as participants shrugged off better-than-expected earnings and an upside forecast from Eli Lilly (LLY 33.66, -1.58). They finished with a 1.3% loss.

Consumer discretionary stocks also settled with a steep loss. They shed 1.5% as retailers fell to a 1.9% loss. Retailers had actually been up as much as 1.3%.

Trading volume was higher this session than in recent sessions, but still shy of longer-term averages. Nonetheless, trading volume spiked into the close, which is when this session's selling effort intensified.

Advancing Sectors: Utilities (+0.2%)
Declining Sectors: Financials (-1.9%), Consumer Discretionary (-1.5%), Health Care (-1.3%), Materials (-1.3%), Consumer Staples (-0.9%), Industrials (-0.9%), Energy (-0.2%), Tech (-0.2%)
Unchanged: TelecomDJ30 -92.12 NASDAQ -12.74 NQ100 -0.2% R2K -1.4% SP400 -1.1% SP500 -9.66 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 869/2.58 bln/1806 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 995/1.41 bln/2031

11:14AM Advanced Energy and Suntech announce multi-year agreement for Solaron Inverter Solutions (AEIS) 13.98 +0.35 : Co announced that it has entered into a multi-year agreement with Suntech Power Holdings (STP). This agreement includes the range of AE's expanding Solaron offerings, including utility-scale, photovoltaic inverters, Remote PV Tie accessories and SafeGuard support and service options. As a part of this agreement, Solaron inverters and services will contribute to the innovation, dependability and cost-effectiveness of Suntech's Reliathon platform, a simplified, integrated program for designing and building utility-scale PV plants.

9:17AM On the Wires : Flextronics (FLEX) is expanding its medical disposables offering and has signed an agreement to acquire Slomedical S.R.O through a share purchase agreement. Slomedical is a European manufacturer of disposable medical devices ranging from tubing sets to complex devices for minimally-invasive surgery.

8:39AM On The Wires : Phoenix Technologies (PTEC) announces a strategic agreement with Samsung Electronics to bring to market notebooks and netbooks that are instant on/off, more user-friendly, fun, automated and secure, with extended battery life...

7:00AM ATMI beats by $0.08, beats on revs (ATMI) 18.00 : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.17 per share, excluding $0.04 of tax benefits, $0.08 better than the First Call consensus of $0.09; revenues fell 16.3% year/year to $72.6 mln vs the $68.5 mln consensus. "Our performance in the quarter was largely consistent with the market. Revenues from our major product lines improved sequentially, reflecting higher wafer starts and improved utilization rates. Combined with our cost control efforts, this enabled us to achieve a solid level of profitability at this stage in the recovery. During the recent downturn we continued to invest in our High Productivity Development capabilities, and believe we have improved our position in emerging technology node-driven opportunities. While industry forecasts point to a more or less flat wafer start environment in the fourth quarter and early 2010, we expect leading customers to begin ramping production at the most advanced nodes, and we remain confident about our long term growth opportunities. Our sequential revenue growth during the quarter was driven by strong demand for our copper materials and improved revenue contribution from our SDS product line. We have executed our cost reduction plans and, in line with the recovery, are beginning to selectively incur certain expenses that had previously been deferred."