From Briefing.com: 4:44PM Integrated Silicon reports Q2 results (ISSI) 5.95 +0.00 : Reports Q2 (Mar) earnings of $0.07 per share, including credit for the reversal of previously accrued liabilities; may not compare to First Call consensus of $0.02; revenues fell 8.4% year/year to $58 mln vs the $58.1 mln consensus.
4:31PM Pixelworks beats by $0.05, beats on revs; guides Q2 EPS below consensus (PXLW) 0.73 +0.03 : Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $0.08 per share, $0.05 better than the First Call consensus of $0.03; revenues fell 10.8% year/year to $24 mln vs the $23.5 mln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q2, sees EPS of (0.05) -0.02 vs. $0.04 consensus.
4:28PM Micrel beats by $0.03, beats on revs (MCRL) 9.67 +0.22 : Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $0.13 per share, $0.03 better than the First Call consensus of $0.10; revenues rose 4.8% year/year to $66.1 mln vs the $63 mln consensus. Co issues guidance for Q2, sees GAAP EPS of $0.10-0.11, after taking into account expenses associated with the ongoing proxy contest, which are projected to reduce Q2 GAAP earnings $0.02-0.03, may not be comparable to $0.11 consensus. Based on increased order rates, the co's beginning Q2 backlog is higher than at the same time in the first quarter. For the Q2 of 2008, the co estimates revenues will increase by 2-7% compared to Q1. To achieve the high end of the projected revenue range requires ~50% turns-fill, which is 10% less than was recorded in the first quarter.
4:19PM Microsemi reports EPS in-line, revs in-line; guides Q3 EPS in-line, revs in-line (MSCC) 23.74 +0.18 : Reports Q2 (Mar) earnings of $0.32 per share, in-line with the First Call consensus of $0.32; revenues rose 18.9% year/year to $126.7 mln vs the $126.9 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.33-0.35 vs. $0.33 consensus; sees Q3 revs of $126.7-131.8 mln vs. $131.26 mln consensus.
4:13PM Power Integrations misses by $0.01, misses on revs; guides Q2 revs in-line (POWI) 31.84 : Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $0.33 per share, $0.01 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.34; revenues rose 14.3% year/year to $51.8 mln vs the $52.4 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q2, sees Q2 revs of $53-56 mln vs. $53.67 mln consensus.
4:13PM Cohu beats by $0.01, misses on revs (COHU) 17.49 +0.60 : Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $0.08 per share, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.07; revenues rose 9.4% year/year to $58.4 mln vs the $63 mln consensus.
4:13PM MEMC Elec misses by $0.01, reports revs in-line; guides Q2 revs in-line (WFR) 75.35 +2.15 : Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $0.84 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.85; revenues rose 13.9% year/year to $501.4 mln vs the $500.8 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q2, sees Q2 revs of $540-570 vs. $565.76 mln consensus. "In addition, we are targeting gross margin of approximately 54%-55%, with operating expenses of less than $40 mln... Regarding our polysilicon expansion, we are currently targeting to achieve mechanical completion of Unit 4 (silane unit) in our Pasadena facility before the end of the second quarter, as well as additional polysilicon reactor capacity in the third quarter. This combination will mark the mechanical completion of our 8,000 metric tons of capacity which was originally targeted for the end of 2008. Depending on the output ramp of the different units, this improved installation schedule may allow us to make good progress toward achieving our annual financial targets in the second half of 2008. We will provide more specific guidance at our semi-annual update in July."
4:07PM Semitool reports EPS in-line, beats on revs; guides Q3 revs above consensus; reaffirms FY08 revs guidance (SMTL) 9.00 +0.05 : Reports Q2 (Mar) earnings of $0.07 per share, in-line with the First Call consensus of $0.07; revenues rose 17.8% year/year to $63 mln vs the $59.5 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q3, sees Q3 revs of $64-67 mln vs. $62.50 mln consensus. Co reaffirms guidance for FY08, sees FY08 revs of $230-250 mln vs. $237.09 mln consensus.
4:07PM Power Integrations announces departure of CFO (POWI) 31.84 -0.16 : The co announces that its chief financial officer, Rafael Torres, will be leaving the co. Mr. Torres has served as the company's CFO since 2006. He has agreed to remain in his role for the next several months while the company conducts a search for his replacement.
4:20 pm : Stocks concluded Thursday's trading with a healthy gain. Selling pressure had kept the stock market in negative territory for the majority of the morning, but sentiment turned positive when buyers returned to the fold to lift stocks into the green.
Large-cap tech names helped the Nasdaq outperform the Dow Jones and S&P 500. Apple (AAPL 168.94, +6.05) and Qualcomm (QCOM 43.16, +1.27) both provided soft earnings outlooks after yesterday's close, but still attracted buyers. The strength of the two names helped lift the Nasdaq nearly 1.0%.
However, financials (+3.8%) led the market for the entire session. At its session high, the sector climbed more than 4%. American International Group (AIG 46.97, +3.11) and Citigroup (C 25.76, +1.13) were the strongest performers in both the financial sector and the S&P 500.
Dow Jones component 3M (MMM 79.13, -1.50) trailed the broader market and concluded the session lower, despite announcing better than expected first quarter earnings results.
Also underperforming the broader market, Starbucks (SBUX 15.99, -1.86) finished the session with a substantial loss after the company guided its earnings outlook below that of the consensus forecast.
The dollar rallied 1.0% against a basket of leading world currencies. The greenback's gain helped put downward pressure on oil, which closed $2.22 lower at $116.09 per barrel on the Nymex. Oil's pullback helped fuel buying interest in stocks, though the energy sector suffered a 2.2% loss.
New home sales totaled 526,000 during March, declining 8.5% month-over-month. On average, economists expected sales of 580,000 units for the month. Sales in the prior month declined 5.3% month-over-month to a revised 575,000 units.
Durable goods orders for March slipped 0.3%, but climbed 1.5% when excluding transportation. Economists forecast orders would go unchanged for the month. Excluding transportation, economists predicted orders during March would climb by 0.5%. February's orders were revised from a decline of 1.7% to a decline of 0.9%. Excluding transportation, February's orders were revised from a 2.6% downturn to a less severe 2.1% downturn.
Jobless claims came in at 342,000 for the week ending April 19, which is below the 375,000 claims economists came to expect. Claims for the prior week were revised up from 372,000 to 375,000. Continuing claims for the week ending April 12 totaled 2.93 million; economists were expecting 2.99 million continuing claims.DJ30 +85.73 NASDAQ +23.71 NQ100 +0.9% R2K +1.3% SP400 +0.8% SP500 +8.89 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1015/1828/2.32 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1146/1993/1.45 bln
1:42 pm Motorola (MOT)
A sharp drop in mobile device sales caused Motorola (MOT 9.24, -0.31) to post a first quarter loss, although it was less than analysts expected. The company issued a disappointing second quarter outlook and said its market share of handsets declined, causing its stock to come under selling pressure even as other tech stocks show strength.
The Illinois-based communication equipment company lost $0.05 per share, excluding one-time items, which was better than the expected loss of $0.07. Motorola lost $0.09 per share when including special items, primarily due to charges related to a previously announced workforce reduction.
Mobile device sales fell 39% compared to one year ago, with Motorola's market share of handsets falling to 9.5%. Motorola had a market share of more than 23% at the end of 2006, according to Reuters. Weakness in mobile devices has a significant effect on Motorola's top and bottom lines, as it accounts for roughly 50% of total revenue.
The declines in mobile device sales are nothing new, with mobile device revenue falling 33% from 2006 to 2007. After sales of its popular RAZR phone dwindled, the company failed to catch consumers attention with a new innovative product while competitors Apple (APPL 167.68, +4.79) and Research In Motion (RIMM 123.88, +3.05) stole the limelight.
As a result, shares of Motorola have been under pressure since 2006, falling 64%. In an attempt to revitalize its business -- and due to pressure from activist investor Carl Ichan -- Motorola announced on March 26 it is splitting itself into two independent publicly-traded companies. In its conference call today, the company said the split of mobile devices is a top priority and it expects the transition to be complete sometime in 2009.
While its difficult tell if the split will manage to reverse the company's flagging fortunes, the market is not showing much enthusiasm. Since the announcement of the split shares are down 2%, compared to the stock market's 3.9% rise.
Motorola will continue to struggle in the near term. Its management expects to lose between $0.02 and $0.04 per share in the second quarter, which is larger than the expected loss of $0.01.
08:40 am Qualcomm (QCOM)
Communication equipment manufacturer Qualcomm (QCOM 41.89) reported better than expected earnings for its most recent quarter, but its outlook has investors in a sour mood.
Qualcomm reported earnings of $0.54, which topped estimates by two cents. Revenues rose 17.5% to $2.61 billion, also beating expectations. The company said an acceleration in worldwide adoption of 3G CDMA-based products aided in the company's performance.
Its full year guidance, however, failed to live up to expectations. The company expects to earn between $2.04 and $2.09 per share in 2008, which barely includes the consensus estimate of $2.09.
As a result, shares are trading more than 2% lower in premarket activity.
08:13 am Apple (AAPL)
Apple (AAPL 162.89) reported a hefty 43% increase in revenue thanks to strong demand for its computers, but investors are showing some concern after the company provided conservative earnings guidance.
For its latest quarter Apple earned $1.16 per share, which was nine cents better than the consensus estimate of $1.07. This marked a more than 30% increase in profit over its earnings per share of $0.87 one year ago.
Apple's results were bolstered by a strong 37% increase in desktop computer unit sales, and a 61% increase in laptops. Meanwhile iPhone sales accounted for $378 million in revenue, which is a 57% increase since the previous quarter. International sales were strong, with a 43% increase in Europe and a 50% advance in Japan. Sales in the Americas also grew at a hefty 32%, which is impressive given the U.S. economic slowdown.
The earnings report did leave some areas of concern. Unit sales for the iPod only increased by 1% as MP3 player demand wanes. Meanwhile, gross margin shrunk to 32.9% from 35.1% in the previous year. In addition, a portion of the better than expected earnings results was due to a lower than expected tax rate of 29% that may be unsustainable. The company expects a 31% tax rate for the remainder of the year.
Looking ahead, Apple expects to earn $1.00 per share in the third quarter, which falls short of the consensus estimate of $1.10 per share. The company typically provides conservative guidance, but the outlook is keeping buying interest in check.
Apple's stock has had a nice run leading up to this report. Its shares have rebounded 41% since February, although they are still down 20% from their 52-week high.
7:49AM MKS Instruments beats by $0.08, beats on revs; guides Q2 EPS below consensus, revs in-line (MKSI) 22.07 : Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $0.39 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.08 better than the First Call consensus of $0.31; revenues rose 5.1% year/year to $193.4 mln vs the $184 mln consensus. Co issues guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $0.20-0.27, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.28 consensus; sees Q2 revs of $170-180 mln vs. $179.38 mln consensus.
7:09AM Motorola beats by $0.02, misses on revs; guides Q2 EPS down (MOT) 9.55 +0.40 : Reports Q1 (Mar) loss of $0.05 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.07). Co issues downside guidance for Q2, sees EPS of (0.02)-(0.04) vs. ($0.01) consensus. The Q1 net loss from continuing operations includes net charges of $0.04 per share from highlighted items, primarily related to a charge associated with workforce reductions. Mobile Devices segment sales were $3.3 billion, down 39 percent compared to the year-ago quarter.
7:06AM Benchmark Elec reports EPS in-line, misses on revs; guides Q2 EPS in-line, revs below consensus (BHE) : Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $0.34 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the First Call consensus of $0.34; revenues fell 9.0% year/year to $684 mln vs the $716.1 mln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $0.35-0.41 vs. $0.38 consensus; sees Q2 revs of $715-750 mln vs. $767.28 mln consensus. For 2008, co now expects revs to grow at a more moderated pace of 2-5%, which will come primarily from the ramp of new programs. At the same time, co maintains EPS growth in the range of 15-20%.
6:52AM Celestica beats by $0.07, reports revs in-line; guides Q2 EPS above consensus, revs in-line (CLS) 6.75 : Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $0.15 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.07 better than the First Call consensus of $0.08; revenues fell 0.3% year/year to $1.84 bln vs the $1.83 bln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $0.13-0.19, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.11 consensus; sees Q2 revs of $1.8-2.0 bln vs. $1.95 bln consensus.
6:45AM Cabot Micro misses by $0.06, beats on revs (CCMP) 32.75 : Reports Q2 (Mar) earnings of $0.34 per share, $0.06 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.40; revenues rose 22.7% year/year to $94.5 mln vs the $90.1 mln consensus.
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