MARKET CURRENTS
real-time news and commentary for investors
MARKET CURRENTS
Flip Order
-
Wednesday, June 19
-
5:57 PM Micron (MU) -2.1% AH in spite of its FQ1 beat, as investors take profits following a 120% YTD run-up. DRAM sales +23% Q/Q in FQ1, thanks to a 16% ASP increase and 6% volume growth. NAND flash sales +7%, largely due to an 8% increase in trade NAND ASPs. The ASP gains led gross margin to jump 600 bps Q/Q and 1300 bps Y/Y to 24%. Capex was $235M (10% of revenue), and free cash flow was $389M, a big improvement from FQ4's $78M and a reversal from the cash burn reported in many recent quarters. RBC notes DRAM sales were better than expected, but adds NAND shipments were light. SanDisk (SNDK) +0.8%. 4 Comments
-
5:39 PM Red Hat (RHT) guides on its FQ1 call for FQ2 EPS of $0.32-$0.33 and FY13 EPS of $1.31-$1.35, in-line with Street estimates of $0.33 and $1.34 and better than feared. Aided by strong demand from telco and cloud customers, FQ1 billings rose 14% Y/Y, a solid improvement from the 9% FQ4 growth that had disappointed some investors. Deferred revenue balance -3% Q/Q and +16% Y/Y to $1.06B, and $179M was spent on buybacks. Shares +3.9% AH, thanks in part to low expectations. (PR) (yesterday) Comment!
-
5:20 PM In tandem with its FQ3 results, Jabil (JBL) is announcing a restructuring. The contract manufacturer plans to cut an undisclosed number of jobs, and record $188M in charges (cash charges will total $140M). FQ4 guidance is for revenue of $4.55B-$4.65B and EPS of $0.50-$0.58, below a consensus of $4.59B and $0.60. Jabil sees its High Velocity manufacturing sales rising 15% Y/Y in FQ4, and its Diversified Manufacturing and Enterprise & Infrastructure sales holding steady. Shares -0.3% AH. (PR) 1 Comment
-
4:28 PM Finisar (FNSR) +8.9% AH following its FQ4 beat. FQ1 guidance is for revenue of revenue of $245M-$260M and EPS of $0.22-$0.26, mostly above a consensus of $248.9M and $0.20. A 150 bps Q/Q increase in gross margin to 32.2%, caused by a favorable mix, contributed to the EPS beat. Finisar says it's seeing strong demand for 10G/100G Ethernet components for datacom gear - 10G is being rapidly adopted in data centers, and some firms are starting to embrace 100G. Opex +4% Y/Y. a little above rev. growth of 2%. JDSU +3%, NPTN +4.3%, and CIEN +1% in sympathy. FN, OCLR, and OPLK could also rally. CC at 5PM ET (webcast). (PR) Comment!
-
4:05 PM Micron (MU): Q1 EPS of $0.04 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $2.3B beats by $0.06B. Shares -1% AH. (PR) 4 Comments
-
12:16 PM Actuant (ATU -0.2%) posts a lackluster performance today, as its FQ3 beat across the board but net profit swung into the red on a $150M write-down tied to its electrical segment. The company recently put the unit up for sale, reclassifying it as a discontinued operation as it looks to focus its growth efforts on the energy, infrastructure, farm productivity, and natural resources and sustainability areas. Sales edged up 0.3% to $344.2M, but gross margin fell to 39.8% from 40.4%. Comment!
-
10:34 AM WSI Industries (WSCI -7%) slides after reporting FQ3 net income of $106K, or $0.04 per diluted share, down from $598K, or $0.21 per diluted share, in the prior year third quarter. Sales were also lower, totaling $9.2M, down 3% from $9.5M Y/Y. The company cites declines in its energy business, and startup costs in new programs in its recreational vehicle market as well its new firearms business for the miss. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $.04 per share. Comment!
-
10:23 AM BofA/Merrill upgrades Adobe (ADBE +6.1%) to Buy in the wake of its FQ2 EPS beat and strong Creative Cloud adds: the firm is upbeat about CC into 2015, and sees Adobe converting much of its Creative Suite base. Jefferies notes CC net adds of 221K beat a consensus of ~185K. Mentioned on the earnings call: the majority of paid CC subs are individual members; Adobe is evaluating new options for CC pricing (previous); "targeted promotions" could hurt CC ARPU in the near-term; and Adobe thinks its infrastructure and analytics tools will allow Marketing Cloud to remain differentiated in the face of new competition. Ad software rival Marketo (MKTO +10.1%) is in sympathy. Comment!
-
7:43 AM More on FedEx's (FDX) FQ4: The firm says 3,600 employees will be leaving in phases under a voluntary employee separation program. As a result of more international customers selecting lower-rate services. FedEx says it will make capacity cuts for Express Shipping for its business between Asia and the U.S. FDX +0.8% premarket. (PR) Comment!
-
7:37 AM More on FedEx's (FDX) FQ4: The company improved its operating margin during the quarter by 60 bps to 9.6%. The FedEx Express segment saw revenue increase 3% to $6.98B while sales at the FedEx Ground segment were up 12% to $2.78B. FedEx freight segment sales slipped 1% to $1.39B. For FY14 the company sees EPS growth of 7% to 13%. FDX +0.9% premarket. (PR) Comment!
Other date
Latest Earnings Articles
