AMAT Beats, Plus, Here Are More Potential Market Movers For Wednesday
Stocks were higher, with the
Dow and S&P making new closing highs for the year.
New highs in the Dow include ExxonMobil, McDonald’s
and DuPont.
Retail sales for January fell -0.3%; ex
auto +0.6%. Year/year, retail sales rose +7.6%. The Empire State Manufacturing
Index fell less than expected, to 19.2 in February from 20.1 in January;
economists were expecting a fall to 18.9.
Circuit City
(
CC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) received an unsolicited buyout offer from
Highfields Capital Management LP at $17. The stock
rose 16%.
After the close, Applied Materials
(
AMAT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported 0.17, beating
by a penny; revenue was $1.78 billion, also beating estimates. Network
Appliance
(
NTAP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported 0.16, in-line. The stock traded lower after
hours on disappointing guidance. Nordstrom
(
JWN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by a
penny. Nabi Biopharma
(
NABI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) missed by 0.08 and guided lower.
Tomorrow, look for earnings from the following companies (estimates follow
symbol): KO, 0.40; CMX, 0.44; IACI, 0.27; JNY, 0.29; OSI, 0.57.
Strong sectors were: Computer Hardware
(
$HWI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+1.85% Disk Drives
(
$DDX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.64% Internet
(
$GIN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+1.05%
Weak sectors were: Gold
(
$HUI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
-0.94% Brokers
(
$XBD.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
-0.44% Utilities
(
$UTY.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -0.36%.
| Dow | +45.52 | 10,836.65 |
| Nasdaq | +7.94 | 2090.85 |
| S&P 500 | +4.13 | 1210.27 |
The dollar was -0.37 at
83.59
Crude Oil was -0.27 at
47.75
Gold was +1.60 to 425.30
2 billion on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth was positive.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 1782 | Up Vol 903 |
| Declining | 1513 | Down Vol 581 |
| 1.17 | 1.55 | |
| Nasdaq |
||
| Advancing | 1514 | Up Vol 1294 |
| Declining | 1617 | Down Vol 685 |
| 1.06 | 1.89 |
Stocks in the News
Rayovac
(
ROV |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is changing its name to Spectrum Brands (SPC).
Agilent
(
A |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat estimates but guided lower.
KLA-Tencor
(
KLAC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) initiated a quarterly dividend of 12.5
cents/share; analysts feel that this will put pressure on Applied Materials
(
AMAT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) to begin a dividend.
Transocean
(
RIG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) missed by 0.04.
Medco
(
MHS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by 0.02 as quarterly profits rose.
Fresh Del Monte
(
FDP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by 0.10; Q4 profits, however, was lower
due to high fuel and transportation costs.
Teva Pharmaceuticals
(
TEVA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by 0.02; Q4 net income rose 50%.
The stock is lower pre-open.
Apple’s
(
AAPL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) price target was raised at Merrill Lynch, to $102
from $85.
Brice Wightman