From Briefing.com: 4:15 pm : Equities began today's session on a down note after Spain and the country's fiscal struggles were put back in the spotlight. The major indices marked session lows during the first hour before reversing and attempting a return to the unchanged line. However, due to the lack of a catalyst, the key averages were unable to sustain a meaningful rally. As a result, the S&P 500 slipped 0.6%. The Nasdaq underperformed and settled lower by 0.8%.
Utility stocks led as the defensive sector rose on the back of today's risk-off sentiment. High-yielding major utility producers advanced as a group. Consolidated Edison (ED 60.09, +0.63), Southern Company (SO 46.11, +0.37), and PG&E (PCG 43.00, +0.35) all gained near 1.0%.
Technology stocks were under pressure as the sector trailed the broader market. Apple (AAPL 665.18, -8.36) continued its recent slump as the tech giant slipped 1.2%.
Two listings traded lower after reporting earnings. Jabil Circuit (JBL 18.90, -2.07) slid 9.9% after delivering a mixed quarterly report. JBL missed on earnings, but reported revenues above consensus. In addition, the company issued downside guidance for the first quarter and announced the authorization of a $100 million share repurchase program.
SYNNEX (SNX 32.45, -1.80) slipped 5.3% after missing on earnings and reporting in-line revenues. In addition, the company issued downside guidance for the fourth quarter. Following the earnings release, Needham downgraded shares of SNX from ‘strong buy' to ‘buy' while lowering the price target from $42 to $40.
Elsewhere in the sector, semiconductor makers continued selling off. Infineon (IFNNY 6.36, -0.24), which cut its guidance yesterday, was downgraded from ‘hold' to ‘underperform' by Jefferies. The stock settled lower by 3.3% while its peer Texas Instruments (TXN 27.57, -0.26) lost 0.9% after being downgraded from ‘positive' to ‘neutral' by Avian.
Lastly, GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT 5.35, -0.29) slumped 5.3% after Canaccord Genuity downgraded the stock from ‘buy' to ‘hold' while lowering the price target from $9 to $6.
Major financials continued their post-FOMC weakness. The SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF (XLF 15.49, -0.10) shed 0.6% as it traded in-line with the broader market. Individual components which showed relative weakness include, American Express (AXP 56.14, -0.99), Citigroup (C 32.51, -0.35), and Wells Fargo (WFC 34.42, -0.30). The three names all lost close to 1.0%.
Also of note, Santander Mexico (BSMX 12.91, +0.72) closed higher by 6.0% on its first day of trading as an exchange-listed company.
The Dow Jones Transportation Average showed little change as it outperformed the broader market. Airlines were relatively strong as the 20-stock group was led by Alaska Air (ALK 35.74, +2.07) which added 6.2% after announcing a $250 million share repurchase program. Meanwhile, Delta (DAL 9.16, +0.14), Southwest (LUV 8.92, +0.08), and United Continental (UAL 20.16, +0.33) all gained between 0.9% and 1.7%.
Railroad stocks were down as a group once again. CSX (CSX 21.00, -0.17) shed 0.8%, while Kansas City Southern (KSU 75.36, -1.00), Norfolk Southern (NSC 64.57, -0.50), and Union Pacific (UNP 118.92, -1.46) were all down near 1.0%.
Shares of homebuilders were broadly weaker as the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB 24.60, -0.57) lost 2.3%. The ETF began selling off after new home sales indicated 373k new homes were sold in August while a reading of 380k was expected. Shares of major homebuilders declined broadly as Ryland Homes (RYL 30.01, -1.81) fell 5.7%. Meanwhile, PulteGroup (PHM 15.30, -0.76), Standard Pacific (SPF 6.80, -0.35), KB Homes (KBH 13.90, -0.51), and Lennar (LEN 34.64, -1.62) all slipped between 3.5% and 5.0%.
In tomorrow's economic data, weekly initial and continuing unemployment claims will be reported at 8:30 ET. Durable orders, durable orders ex-transportation, and GDP-third estimate will also be released at 8:30 ET. Lastly, pending home sales will cross the wires at 10:00 ET.
The U.S. Treasury will auction off 7-yr notes.DJ30 -44.04 NASDAQ -24.03 SP500 -8.27 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 909/1.71 bln/1530 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1229/738.7 mln/1823
3:35 pm : Most commodities sold off this morning as a rising dollar index added pressure on the group.
Nov crude oil sold off hard today, declining below the $90 level and as low as $88.97/barrel, crude chopped higher following that LoD and ended its floor trading session just under $90. Crude ended the day $1.49/barrel lower at $89.93 and it now 9.5% off its recently-hit high, which was on Sept. 14.
Nov natural gas began to move sharply higher this morning. Overall, nat gas trended higher all session, hitting as high as $3.24/MMBtu. Nat gas ended the day 3.5% higher at $3.22/MMBtu.
Precious metals ended the day mixed as silver finished its pit trading session basically flat (down 1 cent) at $33.94/oz. Both gold and silver sold off sharply earlier this morning and while silver made it back into positive territory a short while before the close of floor trading, gold never made it back into positive territory. Dec copper ended the day 1.3% lower at $3.71/lb.DJ30 -41.96 NASDAQ -26.39 SP500 -7.84 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 824/1474.7 mln/1610 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1125/518 mln/1899
O2Micro International (OIIM) announced that it was issued 20 claims under U.S. patent for its Vertical Bus Circuit invention.
Technology stocks are under pressure as the sector underperforms the broader market. Apple (AAPL 664.15, -9.39) is continuing its recent slump. Shares of the tech giant are down 1.4%.
Two listings are trading lower after reporting earnings. Jabil Circuit (JBL 18.94, -2.03) is sliding 9.7% after delivering a mixed quarterly report. JBL missed on earnings, but reported revenues above consensus. In addition, the company issued downside guidance for the first quarter and announced the authorization of a $100 million share repurchase program.
8:29AM EMCORE awarded solar panel manufacturing contract by Orbital Sciences Corp for the ice, cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) mission (EMKR) 5.44 : Co announced that it has been awarded a solar panel manufacturing contract by Orbital Sciences Corporation for NASA's Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) mission targeted for launch in early 2016. Solar panels populated with EMCORE's most advanced ZTJ triple-junction solar cells will power the ICESat-2 spacecraft manufactured by Orbital. ICESat-2 builds on measurements taken by NASA's original ICESat mission
Cypress Semiconductor (CY) announced that Himax Imaging has selected Cypress's EZ-USB FX3 peripheral controller for its USB 3.0 5M Sensor Evaluation Board.
Universal Display (PANL $36.64 +1.01) and Duksan Hi-Metal Company announced that the companies have entered into a master services agreement to enhance Universal Display's local presence and expansion in Korea. As the first initiative under the agreement, Duksan will provide manufacturing services for one of Universal Display's host products for certain Korean customers. Universal Display and Duksan will also explore additional areas for collaboration to better serve and support the needs of the growing Korean OLED industry.
Jabil Circuit (JBL $19.77 -1.20) reported fourth quarter earnings of $0.54 per share, $0.04 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.58, while revenues rose 1.4% year/year to $4.34 billion versus the $4.22 billion consensus. The company issued downside guidance for the first quarter with EPS of $0.51-0.62 versus the $0.67 consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of $4.3-4.5 bln vs. $4.51 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. "Results for the fourth quarter were negatively impacted by a challenging new program ramp in our Specialized Services sector...Additionally demand remained weak in most of our business segments." Management also announced that the Jabil Board of Directors has authorized the repurchase of up to $100 million worth of shares of the Company's common stock during the next twelve months.
Yahoo (YHOO $15.77 +0.11) announced that Ken Goldman will join the company as CFO, effective Oct. 22. Goldman joins Yahoo! from Fortinet, a provider of threat management technologies, where he served as CFO. Goldman succeeds Yahoo! CFO Tim Morse, who has been with the company since June 2009. Morse will leave the company later this fall.
Synnex (SNX $34.25 +0.00) reported third quarter earnings of $0.93 per share, $0.01 worse than the consensus of $0.94, while revenues rose 0.2% year/year to $2.58 billion versus the $2.59 bln consensus. The company issued downside guidance for the fourth quarter EPS of $1.02-1.06 versus the $1.18 consensus and revenues of $2.71-2.81 billion versus the $2.85 billion consensus.
09:56 am Texas Instruments downgraded to Perform at Oppenheimer: . Oppenheimer downgrades TXN to Perform from Outperform. While they continue to believe in the co's long-term "core" analog/embedded share gain story, TXN's "non-core" wireless business remains a headwind. Tuesday, TXN articulated a shift in wireless strategy, with plans under way to discontinue wireless (OMAP/connectivity) investment for smartphone/tablet. Wireless (~10% of sales) will likely see revs dwindle over the next several years as the business slowly unwinds, much as the baseband exit created material top-line headwinds. As it is the most broadly diversified co in their universe, they expect challenged global GDP will weigh on the core business near term. With upside likely limited, they are stepping to the sidelines.
09:55 am Marvell downgraded to Hold at Canaccord Genuity on storage and mobile headwinds: . Canaccord Genuity downgrades MRVL to Hold from Buy and lowers target price at $9 on shrinking HDD TAM and TD- SCDMA share loss. It's lowering its estimates and sees potential for additional revisions. While MRVL is trading near its 52-week low, firm believes further downside is likely as Street consensus estimates move lower. It believes the dividend provides enough support to preclude a SELL rating.
09:54 am Google tgt raised to $850 at Canaccord Genuity;: . Canaccord Genuity raises their GOOG tgt to $850 from $700 on a higher multiple (18x from 16x) and a rollout to FY13 ests. They believe Google stock can continue its recent momentum on the basis of 1) better CPC trends creating an upward bias to revenue estimates in future periods, 2) continued dissipation of MMI-related apprehension and 3) multiple expansion; Buy.
10:50 am S&P Information Technology Index trading lower today as market sells off
The tech sector is trading lower today, trailing narrower losses in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative weakness as well with the SOX trading 1.3% lower. Within the chip index, SNDK (-3.6%) is a notable laggard. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.3% lower today, while the QQQ and the NASDAQ are both trading 0.6% lower on the session. Among tech bellwethers, TXN (-2.6%) is showing notable weakness, while T (+0.6%) is bucking the trend. In tech earnings last night, JBL (-9.2%) posted a mixed Q4 and guided lower. Elsewhere, SNX (-4.4%) reported a slight Q3 miss and guided lower. In news, YHOO (-0.1%) named Ken Goldman as CFO. He was formerly from FTNT (-6.7%). Also, PANL (+2.4%) contracted with Duksan Hi-Metal to provide manufacturing services for OLED host material.
There were no notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, but there were plenty of downgrades. IFNNY (-3.8%) was downgraded to Underperform at Jefferies, Needham downgraded SNX (-4.4%) to Buy, SNDK (-3.6%) was downgraded to Market Perform at JMP, EA (-4.0%) was downgraded to Neutral at BofA/Merrill, Oppenheimer downgraded TXN (-2.6%) to Perform, CVG (-3.9%) was downgraded to Neutral at Macquarie, PAYX (-0.7%) was downgraded to Equal Weight at First Analysis, Canaccord downgraded MRVL (-2.4%) to Hold, Avian downgraded TXN (-2.6%) to Neutral, and MRVL (-2.4%) & INTC (+0.2%) were downgraded at Caris. There are no notable names in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.
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