From Briefing.com: 4:15 pm : The stock market meandered inside a narrow range on Wednesday after posting solid gains on Monday and Tuesday. The S&P 500 added 0.3% and notched a fresh record closing high at 1890.90 while the Nasdaq (+0.2%) struggled to stay in the green throughout the session.
Equity indices began the day near their flat lines and maintained narrow ranges into the afternoon before breaking out to fresh highs during the final 30 minutes of action. That thrust placed the Dow Jones Industrial Average above its 2013 closing high of 16576.66 for the first time this year, but the index returned below that level by the close.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 extended their respective 2014 gains to 2.4% and 2.3%, but the Nasdaq had a tough time keeping pace with the benchmark index today as large cap tech names and biotechnology lagged.
The technology sector (-0.02%) spent the bulk of the trading day at the bottom of the leaderboard before clawing its way back to the flat line the close. Chipmakers lagged throughout the session with Intel (INTC 25.89, -0.10) falling 0.4% while the PHLX Semiconductor Index lost 0.2%.
For its part, biotechnology displayed strength at the open, but was unable to revisit its morning high as the day wore on. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 241.60, -0.05) ended little changed while the broader health care sector (+0.4%) finished a bit ahead of the S&P 500.
Elsewhere among influential sectors, financials (+0.1%) lagged while the discretionary sector (+0.7%) finished among the leaders. Homebuilders posted gains with the iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction ETF (ITB 24.71, +0.10) climbing 0.4% while retailers also displayed strength. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 86.74, +1.24) jumped 1.5%.
Also of note, the smallest cyclical sector, materials (+0.6%), outperformed amid strength in miners. The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX 24.32, +0.63) rose 2.7% while gold futures rose 0.9% to $1290.80/ozt.
Treasuries finished just above their lows after spending the entire morning in a steady retreat. The benchmark 10-yr yield added five basis points to 2.80%.
Participation was well below average with only 640 million shares changing hands at the NYSE.
Today's economic data included just two reports:
According to the ADP National Employment Report for March, employment in the nonfarm private business sector rose by 191K, which was below the increase of 215K expected by the Briefing.com consensus. The February reading was revised up to 178,000 from 139,000.
Factory orders increased 1.6% in February after falling a downwardly revised 1.0% (from -0.7%) in January. The Briefing.com consensus expected an increase of 1.1%. The upside surprise in factory orders was a result of stronger-than-expected nondurable goods orders. Nondurable goods orders increased 1.0% in February, which more than offset the 0.7% decline in January. Durable goods orders were unrevised from the advance report, up 2.2% in February after falling 1.4% in January. Excluding transportation, durable goods orders increased 0.1% in February, down from an originally reported 0.2% gain in the advance report.
Tomorrow, the Challenger Job Cuts report for March will be released at 7:30 ET while weekly initial claims (Briefing.com consensus 320K) and the February Trade Balance (consensus -$39.30 billion) will cross the wires at 8:30 ET. The final report of the day-ISM Services (consensus 53.5)-will be released at 10:00 ET.
Russell 2000 +2.6% YTD
Nasdaq Composite +2.4% YTD
S&P 500 +2.3% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average -0.02% YTD
DJ30 +40.39 NASDAQ +8.42 SP500 +5.38 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1496/2.04 bln/1170 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1742/640.0 mln/1290
3:30 pm :
Precious metals traded higher today despite a stronger dollar index. June gold touched a session low of $1288.10 per ounce as pit trade opened and chopped around in a consolidative pattern just above the $1290 per ounce level for the remainder of the session. It eventually settled with a 0.9% gain at $1290.80 per ounce.
May silver traded near the $20 per ounce level and settled with a 1.9% gain at $20.06 per ounce.
May crude oil traded in negative territory and fell to a session low of $98.86 per barrel despite bullish inventory data.
The EIA reported that for the week ending Mar 28, crude oil inventories had a draw of 2.4 mln barrels while consensus called for a build of 1.1-2.5 mln barrels.
The energy component managed to erase most of the loss as it gained momentum heading into the close. It settled 0.1% lower at $99.63 per barrel, slightly below its session high of $99.74 per barrel.
May natural gas trended higher, rising as high as $4.39 per MMBtu after it lifted from a session low of $4.31 per MMBtu set in early morning pit trade. It settled at $4.36 per MMBtu, booking a 2.1% gain.
5:03PM Exar sees Q4 revs of ~$28 vs $30.88 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate (EXAR) 12.20 -0.09 : Co updated its outlook for fiscal fourth quarter revenue. The Company now expects revenue to be approximately $28 million (vs $30.88 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate).
Exar President and CEO Louis DiNardo noted, "Delays in high reliability programs and software license revenue, as well as continued weakness in the networking market, contributed to a softer than expected month of March. Conversely, our core business in the industrial market performed well. Our expectations of a return to growth in the second half of the year remain intact as the pace of our new product introductions and design wins is accelerating."
4:48PM Plug Power acquires ReliOn for $4 mln in stock; expected to be accretive to earnings in 2015 (PLUG) 7.48 -0.06 : Co announced it has acquired the assets of ReliOn Inc., a developer of hydrogen fuel cell stack technology and fuel cell systems based in Spokane, WA. The acquisition adds valuable fuel cell stack technology and products that Plug Power plans to integrate into several models of its GenDrive fuel cell systems with first deployments this year. ReliOn develops modular, scalable proton exchange membrane (PEM) hydrogen fuel cell systems that feature innovative air-cooled stack designs with unique, low-cost snap-and-build stack assembly technology. The company has deployed more than 5,000 fuel cell stacks at customer sites. The acquisition adds 34 additional US fuel cell patents to the company's portfolio. Plug Power paid approximately $4 million in Plug Power common stock for ReliOn's assets and will add key ReliOn personnel, primarily in sales and engineering. The company expects the acquisition to be accretive to earnings in 2015, and to generate approximately $1 million in EBITDAS loss in 2014. Including the impact of the acquisition, the company continues to expect full year 2014 EBITDAS to be positive.
4:07PM Cypress Semi raises Q1 revenue guidance to $169-171 mln from prior range of $161-168 mln which is above consensus; announced Brad Buss, Executive VP & CFO is retiring (CY) 10.34 +0.04 :
Co issues raised guidance for Q1 (Mar), sees Q1 (Mar) revs of $169-171 mln from prior guidance of $161-168 mln vs. $165.04 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
Co announced that Brad Buss, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, is retiring from Cypress after eight years of service. He will remain EVP and CFO through June 1, 2014, after which Thad Trent, currently Vice President of Finance, will assume the role of EVP and CFO. Buss will then continue on a part-time basis, assisting in the transition through September 1, 2014, after which he will become a non-employee advisor to the Board and the CEO through April 30, 2015. Trent joined Cypress in 2005 and has been Vice President of Finance since 2010.
4:05PM ON Semiconductor to acquire Truesense Imaging for ~$92 mln in cash; expected to be immediately accretive to margins and earnings (ONNN) 9.50 +0.05 : ONNN signed a definitive agreement to acquire Truesense Imaging, a provider of high-performance image sensor devices addressing a wide range of industrial end-markets including machine vision, surveillance, traffic monitoring, medical and scientific imaging, and photography. The acquisition of Truesense Imaging complements ON Semiconductor's image-sensor business by vastly expanding its technology portfolio and adding more than 200 new customers.
Expands ON Semiconductor's presence in the high-margin industrial end-market
Establishes ON Semiconductor as a leading provider for a broad range of high-performance image sensors for applications in the industrial end-market
ON Semiconductor will pay approximately $92 million in cash to acquire Truesense Imaging, Inc. and the acquisition will be funded by cash on its balance sheet
Transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to margins and earnings.
4:01PM IRobot announces $50 mln stock repurchase program (IRBT) 42.82 +1.15 : IRBT announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program.
Under the program, iRobot may purchase up to $50 million of its common stock beginning May 1, 2014 and ending April 30, 2015.
As of March 31, 2014, iRobot had 29,435,149 shares of common stock outstanding.
3:30PM Dataram signs strategic sales agreement with Elysium Europe LTD to expand penetration of AMD products internationally (DRAM) 3.43 +0.27 : Co announced that it has signed an Agreement with Elysium Europe Ltd., based out of the United Kingdom, to expand sales penetration in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Under this Agreement, Elysium is authorized to sell AMD Radeon Consumer and Server Memory as well as AMD Radeon RAMDisk software. Elysium is focusing on etailers, retailers, system builders and distributors. Sales orders have already been received and shipped by Elysium and Dataram under this Agreement. Dataram is continuing to roll out plans to further expand international availability and sales of AMD Radeon memory and RAMDisk products.
2:24PM Nokia introduces three Lumia smartphones for MSFT Windows Phone 8.1 (NOK) 7.59 +0.04 : Co announced three Lumia smartphones based on Microsoft (MSFT) Windows Phone 8.1 and a series of exclusive Nokia features. Nokia confirmed that Windows Phone 8.1 is scheduled to be available across the entire Lumia Windows Phone 8 portfolio as an over-the-air update this summer following testing and partner approvals.
1:46PM Riverbed Technology: Silver Peak confirmed it won patent infringement jury verdict against Riverbed; plans to seek permanent injunction (RVBD) 20.08 +0.20 : Silver Peak intends to seek a permanent injunction against the features of Riverbed's RiOS and Steelhead devices covered by the Silver Peak patents - "SDR-Adaptive," as well as "Enhanced Auto-Discovery" when used in combination with "Full Transparency."
12:56PM Midday Market Summary: Stocks Hold Modest Midday Gains (WRAPX) : The major averages hold slim midday gains after spending the first half of the session inside narrow ranges. The S&P 500 trades higher by 0.2% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.1%) and Nasdaq Composite (+0.1%) follow not far behind.
Equity indices began the trading day on a quiet note, and that is also how the first half of today's session has unfolded. The S&P 500 has notched a fresh intraday record high at 1890.85 while the Dow tried, but was unable, to turn positive for the year.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite has held a slim gain through the first half, but has been subjected to some whipsaw action due to the underperformance of the technology space (-0.1%) and continued volatility in biotechnology. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 241.05, -0.60) hovers below its flat line after starting the session with a solid gain. For its part, the broader health care sector (+0.2%) follows not far behind the broader market.
Similar to health care, two other top-weighted sectors can be found among the laggards. Financials (+0.1%) display a modest gain while technology hovers in the red. Large cap components are responsible for the relative weakness as Cisco Systems (CSCO 22.86, -0.24), Oracle (ORCL 41.12, -0.37), and Intel (INTC 25.73, -0.26) trade with losses close to 1.0% apiece.
Even though the top three sectors lag, the fourth largest group-consumer discretionary (+0.7%)-trades well ahead of the broader market. Homebuilders sport modest gains (ITB +0.6%) while retailers trade broadly higher with the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 86.51, +1.01) up 1.2%.
Treasuries hover near their lows after retreating steadily since this morning. The benchmark 10-yr yield is higher by five basis points at 2.80%.
Today's economic data was limited to two reports:
According to the ADP National Employment Report for March, employment in the nonfarm private business sector rose by 191K, which was below the increase of 215K expected by the Briefing.com consensus. The February reading was revised up to 178,000 from 139,000.
Factory orders increased 1.6% in February after falling a downwardly revised 1.0% (from -0.7%) in January. The Briefing.com consensus expected an increase of 1.1%. The upside surprise in factory orders was a result of stronger-than-expected nondurable goods orders. Nondurable goods orders increased 1.0% in February, which more than offset the 0.7% decline in January. Durable goods orders were unrevised from the advance report, up 2.2% in February after falling 1.4% in January. Excluding transportation, durable goods orders increased 0.1% in February, down from an originally reported 0.2% gain in the advance report.
12:06PM 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
ISRG (513.5 +4.03%): Target raised to $525 from $450 at WallachBeth; upgraded to Market Outperform from Market Underperform at JMP Securities; target raised to $550 at BofA/Merrill; Upgraded to Outperform at JMP Securities, target $700
ABX (18.58 +3.86%): Strength in large cap gold companies: NEM, GG also higher
DOV (85.26 +3.05%): Upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse
Large Cap Losers
MT (15.9 -2.57%): Downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse, target lowered to $17 from $20
AGU (95.41 -2.16%): Sees Q1 EPS of "just above breakeven" vs estimate of $0.53; co's Carseland nitrogen facility experienced a failure in the auxiliary boiler on March 22, 2014, shutdown expected to lower product availability of urea by ~100k tonnes and ammonia by ~20k tonnes in Q2
EIX (55.94 -1.20%): Downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus on valuation
Mid Cap Gainers
MYGN (39.53 +12.45%): Announced updated pricing for the sequencing of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes: Total reimbursement amount for integrated BRACAnalysis of $2,767 vs previous pricing of $2,021
GTAT (18.5 +6.44%): Mentioned positively at Goldman; also seeing favorable blog mention
STE (51.42 +5.35%): Continued strength following acquisition of Integrated Medical Systems; hearing upgraded at boutique firm
Mid Cap Losers
APOL (32.15 -8.57%): Beat quarterly EPS by $0.09 ($0.28 ex items vs $0.19 estimate), revs fell 18.6% yoy to $679.1 mln vs $689.02 mln estimate; reaffirmed FY14 rev guidance of $3.0-3.1 bln vs $3.06 bln estimate; University of Phoenix degree enrollment declined 16.8% yoy to 250,300
YELP (77.66 -3.14%): Weakness attributed to release of March 18, 2014 Freedom of Information request from the FTC
ICPT (326.36 -2.34%): Announced proposed public offering of 1 mln shares of common stock: 600k sold by Intercept, 400k being sold by institutional selling stockholders
11:51AM Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New highs (220) outpacing new lows (17) (SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: ABFS, ABG, AEY, ALGT, ALK, ALV, AMAT, AMKR, AN, ARW, AVA, AVAV, AVT, AXDX, BAH, BAM, BBW, BCPC, BEAV, BFAM, BHI, BKU, BMI, BMRC, BOH, BPL, BRCD, BUD, BWA, BWEN, CAR, CAT, CBI, CBSH, CBT, CCK, CFR, CHE, CHFC, CLD, CNQ, CODE, COMM, CPF, CRD.B, CRI, CRK, CRR, CSTM, CTS, CYT, DAL, DAN, DD, DHIL, DLPH, DMLP, DORM, DOV, DV, DVCR, DVN, DXYN, EMCI, EMES, ENVI, ENZ, EPD, EQM, ESS, ETE, FLIR, FLXS, FNB, FNHC, FSL, FWLT, FWRD, GBX, GGAL, GLOG, GLW, GPOR, GPRE, GSAT, GSIG, H, HAS, HBAN, HCLP, HF, HIL, HOLI, HP, HPQ, HTLD, IBTX, IFN, ISIL, ITRN, IVAC, IVZ, JW.A, JWN, JXSB, KED, KEG, KEP, KFY, KLAC, KNX, KWR, LBY, LDL, LLL, LLTC, LNG, LSCC, LUV, LVLT, LXK, M, MCS, MED, MGA, MINI, MLR, MMP, MPAA, MRCY, MSFT, MTRX, MXIM, MYGN, NBCB, NEWM, NGL, NGLS, NHC, NOC, NP, NSH, NSIT, NVDQ, NXPI, OILT, ORBK, OSK, PAGP, PAM, PBI, PDS, PEIX, PJC, PKOH, PLCM, PLL, PNFP, PRSC, QLGC, R, RCL, REMY, RFMD, RMBS, ROK, ROL, RRMS, RTRX, RYAAY, SEM, SGU, SHLM, SIG, SKX, SLCA, SLGN, SOHO, SPB, SPIL, ST, STE, SUBK, SUP, SXC, SYX, TAX, TBI, TECD, TEL, TEVA, TFX, THG, THRM, TLMR, TOWR, TRGP, TSEM, TTGT, TTM, TV, TWTC, UNT, UPL, USEG, USMO, UTX, VAC, VC, VLP, VMW, VPG, VSEC, VVC, WBC, WDC, WDR, WFT, WGP, WLB
Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: ANAD, AVEO, AVNW, CHCI, CSBK, DRNA, INFI, LQDT, NEWL, ORCT, OTEL, SDT, SPEX, STLY, STRL, TBAC, VTUS
ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: DIG, DVY, EIS, GULF, IEO, IGE, IHF, IHI, IOO, IXC, IYE, IYT, IYZ, PIN, SDY, SMH, SOXX, XES, XLE, XLK
ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: VXZ
7:05AM Freescale & Broadcom (BRCM) extend ADAS surround-view automotive cameras beyond luxury models and into the mainstream (FSL) 25.17 : Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) are quickly growing in popularity among consumers, driven in large part by a strong affinity for the functionality enabled by surround view cameras such as park assist and blind spot detection. According to ABI Research, Inc, the global ADAS market is forecast to reach US$261 billion by 2020, establishing ADAS as one of the fastest growing segments in the automotive sector.
In response to this growing market trend, Freescale Semiconductor and Broadcom Corporation have partnered to create Freescale's Qorivva MPC5606E -- the industry's first fully-integrated, packaged microcontroller (MCU) and physical layer transceiver (PHY) solution for use in 360 degree camera systems.
Camera size is increasingly important to automotive OEMS, as manufacturers prefer peripheral cameras to be miniaturized and unobtrusive to maintain vehicle aesthetics. Smaller cameras can be more easily hidden within design features of the car, such as a front grill, bumper or wing mirror. Featuring a compact 8x8mm package, the Qorivva MPC5606E device is designed to reduce the size of automotive camera modules by up to 50 percent, while helping speed time to market and reduce the overall bill-of-material.
Fundamental to the size and performance advantages of the Qorivva MPC5606E is the incorporation of Broadcom's BroadR-Reach automotive Ethernet PHY. The integrated Ethernet solution enables compact vision compression and rapid transmission of video data throughout the vehicle.
Integrated Device Technology (IDTI) announced mass production of its DDR4 chipset that is compliant to the JEDEC 1.0 specifications for use in DDR4 registered dual in-line memory modules and load-reduced dual in-line memory modules
6:40AM BlackBerry ends T-Mobile (TMUS) licensing agreement (BBRY) 8.10 : Co announced that it will not renew the T-Mobile U.S. (TMUS) license to sell BlackBerry products when it expires on April 25, 2014. BlackBerry customers on the T-Mobile network should not see any difference in their service or support. BlackBerry will work closely with T-Mobile to provide the best possible customer service to any customer remaining on the T-Mobile U.S. network or to any customer purchasing devices from T-Mobile's existing inventory.
Micron Technology (MU) announced it is ramping production of DDR4 memory to support upcoming Intel CPU launches.
Advanced Driver Assistance Systems are quickly growing in popularity among consumers. In response to this growing market trend, Freescale Semiconductor (FSL) and Broadcom Corporation (BRCM) have partnered to create Freescale's Qorivva MPC5606E -- the industry's first fully-integrated, packaged microcontrollerand physical layer transceiver solution for use in 360 degree camera systems. Camera size is increasingly important to automotive OEMS, as manufacturers prefer peripheral cameras to be miniaturized and unobtrusive to maintain vehicle aesthetics. Smaller cameras can be more easily hidden within design features of the car, such as a front grill, bumper or wing mirror. Featuring a compact 8x8mm package, the Qorivva MPC5606E device is designed to reduce the size of automotive camera modules by up to 50 percent, while helping speed time to market and reduce the overall bill-of-material. Fundamental to the size and performance advantages of the Qorivva MPC5606E is the incorporation of Broadcom's BroadR-Reach automotive Ethernet PHY. The integrated Ethernet solution enables compact vision compression and rapid transmission of video data throughout the vehicle.
BlackBerry (BBRY) announced that it will not renew the T-Mobile U.S. (TMUS) license to sell BlackBerry products when it expires on April 25, 2014. BlackBerry customers on the T-Mobile network should not see any difference in their service or support. BlackBerry will work closely with T-Mobile to provide the best possible customer service to any customer remaining on the T-Mobile U.S. network or to any customer purchasing devices from T-Mobile's existing inventory.
Vistaprint (VPRT) announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Pixartprinting Srl for a base purchase price of approximately 127 million, resulting in Vistaprint ownership of 97 percent of Pixartprinting, and 3 percent retained ownership by Pixartprinting's founder. As part of the transaction, Vistaprint will assume 100 percent of the majority stake in Pixartprinting that is currently held by private equity firm Alcedo SGR. The agreement also includes a sliding-scale earn-out of up to EUR 10 million for Pixartprinting, subject to the achievement of revenue and EBITDA performance targets for calendar year 2014. Vistaprint expects Pixartprinting will have a net debt position of EUR 18 million at the close of the transaction. Based in Quarto D'Altino, Veneto, Italy with approximately 330 employees, Pixartprinting is a web-to-print business serving over 100,000 customers. The company's revenue primarily comes from graphic design agencies, print resellers and local printers that in turn serve small and medium businesses for flyers, brochures, decorated apparel, business cards, signs, banners, labels, textiles and other printed products. Consideration for the transaction will be in cash, using Vistaprint's existing debt facility. Vistaprint expects this transaction to be accretive to our fiscal 2014 revenue and operating cash flow, but dilutive to GAAP EPS due to transaction costs and expected amortization expense for acquisition-related intangible assets. On a non-GAAP EPS basis, which excludes amortization expense for acquisition-related intangible assets, the transaction is expected to have a neutral impact in fiscal 2014. In fiscal 2015, we expect the transaction to be dilutive to GAAP EPS, but accretive on a non-GAAP basis. Vistaprint will provide updated detailed guidance in the next quarterly earnings announcement following the close of the transaction.
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