From Briefing.com: 4:15 pm : Equity indices finished the Thursday session on an upbeat note with the S&P 500 settling above its 2013 closing high of 1848.36 after three unsuccessful attempts.
Stocks climbed throughout the session despite starting the day on a cautious note. The early weakness could be traced to European markets, which were pressured by news of renewed tensions in the pro-Russian region of Crimea in Southern Ukraine.
The developments weighed on European equities and contributed to a risk-off sentiment in the foreign exchange market where the yen strengthened notably against all major currencies. The dollar/yen pair fell as low as 101.70, which fueled worries about forced unwinds of yen-based carry trades.
Those worries were calmed by a rebound that sent the currency pair to a session high of 102.20. Meanwhile, the stock market began the trading day on a flat note and continued climbing throughout the day.
Participants heard from Fed Chair Janet Yellen today, but Ms. Yellen struck a familiar tone during her appearance before the Senate Banking Committee.
The Fed Chair did not provide any startling insights, which seemed to sit well with the market. To that end, the market didn't need her to sound outright dovish, just not clearly hawkish. She reiterated that further assessment time is necessary to determine what type of impact the severe winter weather has had on the economy and reminded her listeners that asset purchases are not on a preset course.
Eight of ten sectors ended in the green while energy (-0.01%) and utilities (-0.3%) posted modest losses.
On the upside, telecom services (+1.7%) outperformed notably thanks to a 2.5% gain in Verizon (VZ 47.50, +1.15), which rallied after being added to JPMorgan's Focus List.
The telecom sector was followed by materials (+0.7%) and technology (+0.7%). The materials sector drew strength from steelmakers as the Market Vectors Steel ETF (SLX 45.73, +0.65) gained 1.4%.
Meanwhile, the tech sector received significant support from its top component, Apple (AAPL 527.67, +10.32), which gained 2.0%. Despite Apple's strength, other large tech names did not fare as well. Cisco Systems (CSCO 21.92, -0.01), Google (GOOG 1219.21, -0.96), Qualcomm (QCOM 75.19, +0.14), and Intel (INTC 24.76, -0.04) were all little changed.
Elsewhere among influential groups, health care (+0.5%) and financials (+0.6%) ended in-line or just ahead of the broader market.
Strikingly, Treasuries finished the session on their highs with the benchmark 10-yr yield down two basis points at 2.65%.
Participation was a bit below average as 683 million shares changed hands at the NYSE.
Economic data was limited to weekly initial claims and durable orders for January:
Initial claims increased to 348,000 from a downwardly revised 334,000 (from 336,000) while the Briefing.com consensus pegged the initial claims level at 335,000. We had anticipated that the initial claims level would hold between 330,000 and 340,000 for the next several weeks. The increase in claims obviously exceeded this range, but we are not concerned. While the Department of Labor stated that there was nothing unusual in the claims data, the DoL has had extreme difficulties accounting for holiday-shortened weeks with their seasonal adjustment factors. It was likely that the Presidents' Day holiday negatively impacted the seasonal adjustments last week.
Regarding durable goods, orders fell 1.0% in January after declining a downwardly revised 5.3% (from -4.2%) in December. The Briefing.com consensus expected durable goods orders to fall 1.0%. A big drop in aircraft orders (-7.2%) pulled overall transportation demand down 5.6%. Excluding transportation, orders increased 1.1% after falling a downwardly revised 1.9% (from -1.3%) in December. The consensus expected these orders to decline 0.2%.
Tomorrow, the second estimate of Q4 GDP will be released at 8:30 ET while the Chicago PMI for February will cross the wires at 9:45 ET. The final reading of the Michigan Sentiment survey for February will be reported at 9:55 ET while the Pending Home Sales report for January will be released at 10:00 ET.
Nasdaq Composite +3.4% YTD
Russell 2000 +2.3% YTD
S&P 500 +0.3% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average -1.8% YTD
DJ30 +74.24 NASDAQ +26.87 SP500 +9.13 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1679/1.89 bln/919 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2047/682.9 mln/980
3:30 pm :
Precious metals traded slightly higher today as the dollar index dipped into negative territory while Fed Chair Janet Yellen testified in front of Congress. She reaffirmed that if there is a significant change to outlook, the Fed would be open to reconsidering the pace of tapering. She said that she needs to get a firmer handle on how much of the recent soft economic data can be explained by weather.
Apr gold advanced to a session high of $1336.40 per ounce in morning action and eventually settled with a 0.3% gain at $1331.80 per ounce.
May silver dipped to a session low of $20.20 per ounce shortly after equity markets opened but recovered back into positive territory. It brushed a session high of $21.47 per ounce and settled at $21.35 per ounce, or 0.3% higher.
Apr crude oil retreated into negative territory after pulling back from its session high of $102.94 per barrel set at pit trade open. It dipped to a session low of $101.75 per barrel but managed to inch back up above the $102 per barrel level and settled with a 0.2% loss at $102.38 per barrel.
Apr natural gas spent most of the session chopping around below the break-even line as inventory data showed a draw of 95 bcf when a larger draw of 101-107 bcf was anticipated. It slipped to a session low of $4.44 per MMBtu and then rose as high as $4.57 per MMBtu. It eventually settled with a 0.7% loss at $4.51 per MMBtu.
4:54PM Universal Display misses by $0.08, beats on revs; guides FY14 revs in-line (OLED) 35.18 +1.09 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.35 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.08 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.43; revenues rose 76.2% year/year to $49.5 mln vs the $46.77 mln consensus.
Growth in fourth quarter revenues was led by a 153% increase in material sales, which rose to $25.5 million, up from $10.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2012, reflecting strong volume growth in green emitter and host material sales. Royalty and license fees were $23.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2013 compared to $15.4 million in the same quarter of 2012. The Company recognized $20 million in SDC licensing revenue in the fourth quarter of 2013, up from $15 million in the same quarter of 2012.
Co issues in-line guidance for FY14, sees FY14 revs of $190-205 mln vs. $197.48 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
4:45PM Intermolecular announced that the development activity related to the Collaborative Development Program agreement with SanDisk (SNDK) and Toshiba (TOSBF) has reached its successful conclusion. (IMI) 3.85 :
4:32PM OmniVision beats Q3 ests; guides Q4 in-line (OVTI) 16.20 +0.44 : Reports Q3 (Jan) non-GAAP earnings of $0.69 per share, may not be comparable to the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.35; revenues fell 16.9% year/year to $352 mln vs the $325.72 mln consensus. For Q3, the Company recorded a one-time after-tax benefit of ~$15.9 million, or $0.28 per diluted share, related to the initial public offering (IPO) of its equity investee, China WLCSP Ltd (not clear if included in non-GAAP EPS).
Co issues in-line guidance for Q4, sees adj. EPS of $0.19-0.35 vs. $0.23 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q4 revs of $275-305 mln vs. $286.31 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
12:31PM Tessera Tech announces settlement with PTI (will receive $196 mln); raises Q1 rev guidance (TSRA) 20.97 0.82 : Tessera's subsidiary, Tessera, Inc., has entered into a settlement with Powertech Technology, Powertech Technology Co. Ltd., and Macrotech Tech related to their pending cases in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Under the terms of the settlement, PTI agrees to pay $196 million to Tessera, Inc. with two required payments to be made in 2014 and quarterly recurring payments beginning in 2015 through the end of 2018. In addition, Tessera, Inc. and PTI have agreed to stay the pending cases. If Tessera, Inc. receives a majority of the total amount owed by PTI under the settlement, and other conditions are met, by March 31, 2015, Tessera and PTI will dismiss the pending cases.
Co is increasing Q1 revenue guidance to the range of $83-86 mln, up from its previously announced revenue guidance of $33 million to $36 million; may not compare to $34 mln consensus.
12:24PM Notable movers of interest (SCANX) : The following are some of today's most notable movers of interest, categorized by market capitalization (large cap over $10 billion and mid cap between $2-10 billion) and ranked by % change (all stocks over 100K average daily volume).
Large Cap Gainers
WDAY (113.32 +13.01%): Beat on EPS by $0.03; beat on revs; guided Q1 revs above consensus; guided FY15 revs above consensus; upgraded to Outperform from Mkt Perform at FBR Capital; tgt raised to $150 from $84; target raised to $126 from $82 at JMP Securities; target raised to $95 at Macquarie.
MYL (56.78 +10.42%): Beat on EPS by $0.03, reported revs in-line; guided FY14 EPS in-line, revs above consensus; sees Q1 EPS similar to last year's $0.74, current consensus $0.73.
SNP (89.7 +5.7%): Added to Conviction Buy list at Goldman.
Large Cap Losers
CTRX (45.77 -11.65%): Beat on EPS by $0.02, beat on revs; guided FY14 EPS below consensus, revs in-line.
RBS (10.96 -6.56%): Reported Q4 results; reported a pre-tax loss for 2013 of GBP 8.243 bln.
CLR (116.21 -3.62%): Missed on EPS by $0.09, missed on revs.
Mid Cap Gainers
TROX (24 +10.09%): Beat on EPS by $0.07, missed on revs; received positive planning decision in Fairbreeze mine.
VE (18.88 +7.83%): Reported FY13 from cont ops of ($0.32) vs ($0.40) consensus; revs fell 4% YoY to EUR 22.314 bln vs $22.824 bln consensus.
SHLD (43.4 +7.43%): Reported Q4 loss of ($0.96) per share, $0.64 better than the ($1.60) consensus, reported revs in line; Q4 domestic comparable store sales declined 6.4%.
Mid Cap Losers
CHS (16.57 -7.94%): Missed on the top and bottom lines.
LPI (25.64 -6.53%): Beat on EPS by $0.04, beat on revs.
LKQ (27.4 -5.74%): Missed on EPS by $0.03, missed on revs; guided FY14 EPS in-line.
Riverbed Technology (RVBD) announces Satya Nadella has retired from the board of directors; Mr. Nadella is stepping down in order to more fully devote time to his new position as CEO of Microsoft (MSFT)
First Solar (FSLR) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Robert W. Baird; tgt raised to $67 from $62
Microsoft (MSFT) initiated with a Neutral at B. Riley & Co.; tgt $39
Technical Factors
The S&P has now formed two inside days in a row following the 6.9% Feb surge into Monday's high.
This kind of very narrow range action indicates that sellers remain sidelined despite the aggressive run but also that buying interest is limited amid the extended technical posture.
While at least a brief corrective period seems warranted to bring buyers back into the fray, the obvious short term keys levels are at the highs/lows of the last two sessions (1852 and 1840).
Support of note below is at 1836/1835 which marks congestion and the low of Monday's all time high bar.
AMD (AMD) announced that the AMD FirePro R5000 remote graphics card has been fully tested and certified by Autodesk, Bentley, Dassault Systemes and Siemens PLM software.
FSLR +1.8% (First Solar upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Robert W. Baird; tgt raised to $67 from $62)
8:05AM Amtech Systems announces $10 mln in solar orders from solar technology leaders; obtains second PECVD production order (ASYS) 10.05 : Co announced it has received ~ $10 million in new solar orders, including orders for its diffusion and PECVD systems from respected solar technology leaders in Korea and Taiwan. The orders are expected to ship within the next six months.
6:58AM LTX-Credence beats by $0.05, misses on revs; guides Q3 EPS above consensus, revs in-line (LTXC) 9.19 : Reports Q2 (Jan) loss of $0.13 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.05 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of ($0.18); revenues rose 95.3% year/year to $68.4 mln vs the $71.91 mln consensus.
Co issues guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.00-0.06 vs. ($0.01) Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q3 revs of $100-105 mln vs. $100.84 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
"During the quarter we closed on the acquisition of the Multitest and Everett Charles Technologies businesses from Dover Corporation, implemented restructuring plans that are expected to deliver over $15 million in annual savings, and saw significantly improving business conditions in our SOC tester business. As we start the new calendar year we are optimistic about our growth prospects for 2014. We are seeing the strongest business conditions in the semiconductor test market in more than two years, and the PCB tester business is also showing strong momentum, especially with our industry leading flying probe test technology."
6:04AM Trina Solar awarded EPC contract with Fresh Fruits, a food storage and logistics co in Amman, Jordan, for a 2 MW rooftop solar power plant on the co's stores and warehouses (TSL) 14.99 :
Co announced that it has signed an EPC contract with Fresh Fruits Company, a food storage and logistics company in Amman, Jordan, for a 2 MW rooftop solar power plant on the company's stores and warehouses. Under the contract, Trina Solar is responsible for the engineering, procurement, and construction of the project. The project will use Trina Solar TSM-PC05A Honey 260 Wp, high efficiency modules that adapt well to dry and high temperature conditions prevalent in the Middle East.
This will be the first mega-scale rooftop solar power project in Jordan. The construction is scheduled to start in March this year and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2014.
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