From Briefing.com: 4:30 pm : Weakness among financial issues took the broader market through a near-term technical support level to settle at a session low, and left the Dow to close below 10,000 for the first time in three months.
Financial stocks dropped 2.2% as participants pressured the sector after it had rallied this past Friday for a 1.2% gain. Financials traded as laggards for the entire session, but didn't drag down the broader market until late in the session.
Bank of America (BAC 14.48, -0.52) was one of the weakest performers within the financial sector. It was also a primary laggard among blue chips and helped drag down the Dow. Though the Dow has made intraday dips below the psychologically significant 10,000 level in recent sessions, this session marked the first time since early November that it actually closed below the mark.
Technical support had provided early support for the broader S&P 500 near the 1059 line in the early going and briefly into the close. However, sellers redoubled their efforts in the waning minutes of the session and caused stocks to close at session lows.
Broader market weakness inevitably dragged down shares of retailers from a 1.3% gain to a 0.2% loss. The group had found strength in better-than-expected earnings from CVS Caremark (CVS 32.72, +1.65) and Morgan Stanley's upgrade of Home Depot (HD 28.59, +0.61).
The dollar's move off of its session lows also weighed on stocks. The Dollar Index had been down 0.4% at its session low, but cut that to a 0.1% loss.
Despite that move, commodities were still able to book strong gains. As such, the CRB Commodity Index advanced to a 1.2% gain.
Advancing Sectors: (None)
Declining Sectors: Financials (-2.2%), Materials (-1.5%), Industrials (-1.1%), Utilities (-1.1%), Energy (-0.9%), Telecom (-0.8%), Tech (-0.5%), Consumer Discretionary (-0.4%), Health Care (-0.4%), Consumer Staples (-0.3%)DJ30 -103.84 NASDAQ -15.07 NQ100 -0.6% R2K -1.1% SP400 -0.7% SP500 -9.45 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 922/2.05 bln/1708 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1077/1.08 bln/1957
4:18PM Trident Microsystems reports Q2 results (TRID) 1.81 +0.11 : Trident Microsystems reports Q2 earnings of ($0.22), which includes the impact of a $2.8 mln write-off of pre-production inventory, vs ($0.18) First Call consensus; revs increased 66% year/year to $31.9 mln vs $32.75 mln First Call consensus. As previously announced, Trident has changed its fiscal year end to December 31. For its new fiscal first quarter ending Mar. 31, 2010, which will include approximately eight weeks of operating results for the newly acquired product lines, Trident is providing the following outlook. Co sees Q1 revs of $85 mln to $90 mln, which may not be comparable to the $33.4 mln First Call consensus. Co also issues Q2 revenue guidance of $140 mln to $160 mln, which may not be comparable to $35 mln First Call consensus.
4:07PM Nuance Communications beats by $0.02, beats on revs (NUAN) 14.91 +0.23 : Reports Q1 (Dec) earnings of $0.29 per share, $0.02 better than the First Call consensus of $0.27. "Nuance achieved increased revenue growth in the quarter, enabled by stronger performance across all of its business lines. In the quarter, operating margins improved year over year, even as we increased investments in R&D, advertising and sales personnel" said Paul Ricci, chairman and CEO of Nuance. "Our first quarter performance, on-going investments in sales, channels and products, and our leadership position in key markets position Nuance for sustained growth for the balance of fiscal 2010."
4:02PM Veeco Instruments beats by $0.07, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus (VECO) 31.05 +0.63 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.41 per share, $0.07 better than the First Call consensus of $0.34; revenues rose 32.7% year/year to $146.4 mln vs the $129.8 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.41-$0.50 vs. $0.37 consensus; sees Q1 revs of $150-165 mln vs. $142.23 mln consensus. "With record backlog of $402 million at the end of December, Veeco begins 2010 with unprecedented momentum. Business patterns in LED remain very strong in the first quarter, similar to what we experienced in the latter half of 2009, with multi-tool system orders being quoted to a large number of customers. Leading global LED manufacturers are showing strong interest in our newly introduced TurboDisc K465i(TM) GaN MOCVD System, which we believe is the best product on the market today. We are increasing manufacturing capacity to satisfy customer demand, with a current plan to ramp capacity to 45 or more tools this quarter and approximately 70 by the second quarter. We believe our Data Storage business, with its dramatically lowered breakeven structure and backlog of $60 million ending 2009, is in excellent position starting 2010. We remain well-aligned with our key customers and plan to introduce new technologies to continue to advance areal densities for thin film magnetic heads. In Metrology, our new product pipeline is the best it's been in years, and the business returned to profitability in both Q3 and Q4 2009. We currently expect all three Veeco businesses to grow revenues and profits in 2010."
4:01PM Atmel beats by $0.04, beats on revs (ATML) 4.80 -0.01 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.04 per share, $0.04 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.00); revenues rose 2.7% year/year to $343.6 mln vs the $338 mln consensus. "We are pleased to have delivered revenue growth and gross profit expansion that exceeded the upper end of our guidance range this quarter, as demand strengthened and factory utilizations improved," said Steve Laub, Atmel's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Microcontroller sales of 8- and 32-bit products, as well as our capacitive touch solutions, grew strongly as we continued to outperform the market. Based on our solid design win momentum and booking activity we are excited about the outlook for 2010, particularly for our microcontroller and touch products."
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