From Briefing.com: 4:30 pm : A slump among energy stocks dragged down the broad market, but afternoon support helped the major equity averages recover into the close.
Trade was generally unimpressive for the first half of the day. Selling eventually intensified to take the Nasdaq down to a loss of more than 1%. Akamai Tech (AKAM 33.46, -0.77) and Amazon.com (AMZN 198.45, -2.74) were among its heaviest drags. Nasdaq component Foster Wheeler (FWLT 34.20, -1.05) was also a heavy drag following news that the oil services company's earnings came short of the consensus estimate.
Energy stocks were weak across the board. Even Anadarko Petroleum (APC 78.51, -1.84) dropped sharply, despite a much stronger-than-expected earnings report. Overall, energy stocks fell to a 2.4% loss. A 2.2% drop in oil prices to $111.05 per barrel didn't bode well for the energy sector. Oil prices haven't been that low in more than two weeks.
The broad market did a decent job of limiting selling pressure, especially since today's leaders were utilities stocks (+0.7%) and telecom stocks (+1.5%) -- neither has much sway with the market, given their lack of weight.
Blue chip Pfizer (PFE 20.44, -0.58) fell sharply, even though the pharmaceutical play posted an upside earnings surprise. Its weakness in the Dow was offset by Intel (INTC 23.23, +0.32) and Bank of America (BAC 12.60, +0.26).
A big earnings beat by MasterCard (MA 282.38, +7.09) helped make the stock a top performer; shares set a near three-year high.
Even though today's action wasn't very exciting, and there weren't many catalysts to bring in traders from the sidelines, share volume on the NYSE hit 1 billion shares for the first time in about a month.
Advancing Sectors: Telecom (+1.5%), Utilities (+0.7%), Financials (+0.4%), Consumer Staples (+0.3%)
Declining Sectors: Tech (-0.2%), Industrials (-0.3%), Health Care (-0.3%), Consumer Discretionary (-0.5%), Materials (-1.0%), Energy (-2.4%)DJ30 +0.15 NASDAQ -22.46 NQ100 -0.5% R2K -1.3% SP400 -1.1% SP500 -4.60 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 782/2.23 bln/1824 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1042/1.00 bln/1949
4:26PM Nanometrics announced that Korean memory manufacturer has accepted its UniFire 7900 metrology system for process control of advanced packaging of DRAM devices (NANO) 15.63 -0.21 :
4:17PM AXT Inc beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line; guides Q2 EPS in-line, revs in-line (AXTI) 7.19 +0.52 : Reports Q1 (Mar) GAAP earnings of $0.13 per share, $0.01 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.12; revenues rose 31.8% year/year to $24.6 mln vs the $24.5 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $0.13-0.16 vs. $0.13 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q2 revs of $26.5-27.5 mln vs. $25.83 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.
4:11PM First Solar beats by $0.17, beats on revs; reaffirms FY11 EPS guidance, revs guidance (FSLR) 134.66 -2.87 : Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $1.33 per share, $0.17 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $1.16; revenues were unchanged from the year-ago period at $567 mln. Quarter over quarter, the net income decrease was primarily driven by lower net sales and gross margin. Year over year, the net income decrease was primarily driven by reduced average selling prices and higher expenses, partially offset by increased module production and lower module cost per watt. Gross margins 45.6% compared to 49.7% in prior year. Co reaffirms guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $9.25-9.75 vs. $9.52 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees FY11 revs of $3.7-3.8 bln vs. $3.79 bln Thomson Reuters consensus.
4:05PM QuickLogic beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line (QUIK) 3.65 -0.13 : Reports Q1 (Mar) loss of $0.01 per share, $0.01 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of ($0.02); revenues rose 2.2% year/year to $5.6 mln vs the $5.5 mln consensus. "As previously announced, we had a revenue shortfall in the first quarter. While I'm disappointed in our short term results, I am not discouraged about our future success in light of our continued positive progress in the smartphone and tablet markets," said Andy Pease, QuickLogic's President and CEO. "We continue on track toward a mid-year launch of a previously discussed VEE/DPO-enabled smartphone and we continue to make progress on several new VEE/DPO-enabled tablet designs."
4:03PM Coherent beats by $0.05, beats on revs; guides FY11 revs above consensus (COHR) 60.20 -1.76 : Reports Q2 (Mar) earnings of $0.83 per share, ex-items, $0.05 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.78; revenues rose 34.7% year/year to $200.9 mln vs the $192.7 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for FY11, sees FY11 revs of $790-$805 mln vs. $777.96 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. Co states, "Our record-setting bookings and revenue in the second quarter underscore the continuing strength in our commercial markets, especially in the microelectronics business. Demand for lasers used in the packaging of smartphones and the production of flat panel displays remains very high. We are expanding capacity and adding inventory to fulfill these orders for the balance of fiscal 2011 and into fiscal 2012."
4:02PM Molex reports Q3 (Mar) results, revs in-line; guides Q4 EPS in-line, revs in-line; increases dividend (MOLX) 26.60 +0.12 : Reports Q3 (Mar) earnings of $0.22 per share, may not be comparable to the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.42; revenues rose 15.6% year/year to $874.5 mln vs the $872 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q4, sees EPS of $0.42-0.48 vs. $0.48 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q4 revs of $900-930 mln vs. $907.57 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. The Board of Directors has approved an increase in the quarterly cash dividend to $0.20 per share, an increase of 14.3% from the previous cash dividend of $0.175 per share.
8:40AM Apple announces new iMac with next generation quad-core processors, Graphics & Thunderbolt I/O technology (AAPL) 346.28 : The new iMac features quad-core Intel (INTC) Core i5 processors. iMac is the first desktop computer on the market to include Thunderbolt I/O technology.
GT Solar International (SOLR) announced that it has signed an agreement with leading Taiwanese LED wafer manufacturer, Tera Xtal Technology Corporation, to supply Tera Xtal sapphire cores for increasing their production of epitaxial-ready LED wafers.
8:02AM Vishay reports EPS in-line, revs in-line; guides Q2 revs in-line (VSH) 19.06 : Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $0.49 per share,ex-items, in-line with the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.49; revenues rose 8.5% year/year to $695.2 mln vs the $699.4 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q2, sees Q2 revs of $695-$735 mln vs. $716.63 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.
7:37AM IPG Photonics beats by $0.04, beats on revs; guides Q2 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus (IPGP) 69.40 : Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $0.47 per share, $0.04 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.43; revenues rose 95.2% year/year to $100 mln vs the $95 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $0.50-0.59 vs. $0.46 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q2 revs of $102-110 mln vs. $101.53 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. "IPG's order flow remains strong... It has become clear that our fiber lasers are now well accepted in many applications, especially in materials processing, as potential customers recognize our brand and the value our products provide. In addition, we are seeing customers, especially OEMs, order products in significantly greater quantities. Given the leverage in our business model, our sales performance should result in impressive profitability for the year."
7:02AM Anadigics reports EPS in-line, revs in-line; guides Q2 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus (ANAD) 3.69 : Reports Q1 (Mar) loss of $0.07 per share, in-line with the Thomson Reuters consensus of ($0.07); revenues fell 0.2% year/year to $43.5 mln vs the $43.1 mln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q2, sees EPS of ($0.16)-(0.17) vs. ($0.01) Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q2 revs of $35-37 mln vs. $50.08 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. Shipments to our largest North American wireless customer will decrease during the second quarter resulting in an expected sequential decrease in Wireless net sales of approximately 25% to 30%. While Broadband net sales are expected to increase sequentially by approximately 35%, it will not be sufficient to offset the decline in Wireless sales.
6:14AM Kulicke & Soffa beats by $0.18, beats on revs; guides Q3 revs above consensus (KLIC) 9.03 : Reports Q2 (Mar) earnings of $0.54 per share, $0.18 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.36; revenues rose 34.4% year/year to $206.7 mln vs the $188.3 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q3, sees Q3 revs of $255-275 mln vs. $201.30 mln Thomson Reuters consensus; backlog +64% YoY. "Our results exceeded the high-end of prior guidance, with revenue increasing ~39% compared to the prior quarter led by our OSAT customers. We continue to benefit from strong demand from both our ball and wedge bonder equipment lines from a wide range of customers. Momentum continued in the gold to copper transition, with ~71% of our ball bonder shipments in the most recent quarter sold as copper capable bonders. We also continue to benefit from ongoing replacement demand for our latest generation of gold only ball bonders. We have also seen an increased demand for large area bondable options, which enable our customers to gain added efficiencies and reduce the cost of packaging."
Lattice Semiconductor (LSCC) and Oregano Systems announced the immediate availability of three comprehensive versions of the IEEE-1588 Timing Node System IP core for the LatticeECP3 and LatticeECP2M FPGA families.
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