Volatility | Morning News

JANUARY 21, 2016

US futures, off their overnight highs, point to a weaker opening at this hour as oil and Asian markets reverse their gains with the Shanghai closing down 3.25% and the Nikkei down 2.43%. Oil still under pressure with traders awaiting the EIA Petroleum Inventories at 10:30AM EST.  European markets still positive with the ECB announcing that they have left interest rates unchanged as traders await Draghi news conference at 8:30AM EST.

NEWS:

• INTC: Intel links up with China in server-chip venture, reports the WSJ
• ALKS: Alkermes' two phase 3 studies of ALK 5461 in MDD failed to meet primary efficacy endpoint, reports Streetinsider
• GOOG: GOOGL: Google debuts "Real Time Ads" to drive live engagements and compete with twitter, reports Venture Beat
• DKS: Sports Authority misses a debt payment which could lead to store closures
• AMZN: Amazon Prime launches restaurant delivery in Chicago
• SWN: Southwestern Energy to lay off 1100 workers amid oil slump, reports reuters
• ICON: announces sale of its stake in streetwear brands to Pharrell Williams

THE ECONOMIC CALENDAR:

• 8:30AM: Weekly Jobless Claims
• 8:30AM: Philly Fed Business Outlook
• 9:45AM: Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index
• 10:30AM: EIA Natural Gas Inventory
• 11AM: EIA Petroleum Inventories
• 4:30PM: Money Supply and Fed Balance Sheet

SOME NOTABLE EARNINGS REPORTED YESTERDAY AFTER THE CLOSE:

• FFIV: FQ1 EPS of $1.73 beats by $0.13: revenue of $489.5M beats by $3.99M: revenue +5.8% y/y: soft guidance
• KMI: Q4 EPS of -$0.29 may not be comparable to consensus of $0.18: revenue of $3.64B misses by $260M: revenue -7.8% y/y
• XLNX:FQ3 EPS of $0.49 in-line: revenue of $566M beats by $11.5M: revenue -4.6% y/y: solid guidance
• LOGI: FQ3 EPS of $0.41 beats by $0.07: revenue of $621.08M misses by $13.48M: revenue +2.8% y/y

SOME NOTABLE EARNINGS REPORTED TODAY BEFORE THE OPENING:

• VZ: Q4 EPS of $0.89 beats by $0.01: revenue of $34.25B beats by $190M: revenue +3.2% y/y
• TRV: Q4 EPS of $2.90 beats by $0.25: revenue of $5.86B misses by $70M: revenue +0.3% y/y
• HBAN: Q4 EPS of $0.21 in-line: revenue of $777M beats by $15.76M: revenue +8.8% y/y: guides FY16 revenue growth 4%-6% 
• BKU: Q4 EPS of $0.52 beats by $0.03: revenue of $232.25M beats by $8.02M: revenue +21.9% y/y
• MTG: Q4 EPS of $0.26 in-line: revenue of $257.9M misses by $0.29M: revenue +7.3% y/y
• PPG: Q4 EPS of $1.23 beats by $0.01: revenue of $3.7B misses by $60M: revenue -0.3% y/y
• KEY: Q4 EPS of $0.27 may not be comparable to consensus of $0.28: revenue of $1.1B beats by $10M: revenue +1.9% y/y
• UNP: Q4 EPS of $1.31 misses by $0.11: revenue of $5.21B misses by $240M: revenue -15.3% y/y: Q4 total revenue carloads down 9%
• BK: Q4 EPS Of $0.68 beats by $0.04: revenue of $3.7B misses by $50M: revenue +1.1% y/y
• ALK: Q4 EPS of $1.46 beats by $0.06: revenue of $1.3B in-line: revenue +5.3% y/y
• LUV: Q4 EPS of $0.90 in-line: revenue of $4.98B misses by $20M: revenue +7.6% y/y: raises dividend 38%
• BBT: Q4 EPS Of $0.68 misses by $0.01: revenue of $2.56B misses by $10M: revenue +7.1% y/y

SOME NOTABLE EARNINGS TO BE REPORTED TODAY AFTER THE CLOSE:

• AXP, CE, EGHT, ETFC, HBHC, ISRG, MXIM, PBCT, RMD, SBUX, SLB, WAL

ANALYSTS' RATINGS CHANGES:

UPGRADES:

• SPWR: upgrade: neutral to buy: Janney Capital: $28
• FFIV: upgrade: sell to neutral: Citi: $95
• EW: upgrade: neutral to buy: SunTrust: $88
• FIT: upgrade: market perform to outperform: Raymond James: $25
• BIN: upgrade: sector perform to outperform: RBC Capital: pt raised from $30 to $33
• NTRS: upgrade: sector perform to outperform: RBC Capital: $75
• ZFGN: upgrade: sector perform to outperform: RBC Capital: pt raised from $7 to $21
• ZFGN: upgrade: market perform to outperform: FBR Capital: pt raised from $9 to $20
• PRA: upgrade: neutral to buy: SunTrust:$55
• WOOF: upgrade: market perform to outperform: William Blair
• KHC: upgrade: neutral to positive: Susquehanna: $98

DOWNGRADES:

• CCG: downgrade: buy to hold: Wunderlich: pt cut from $8 to $7
• OIS: downgrade: outperform to neutral: Baird: pt cut from $38 to $29
• NBR: downgrade: overweight to equal weight: Stephens: pt cut from $13 to $8

INITIATIONS:

• FLWS: initiated: buy: Wunderlich: $9
• NFX: initiated: outperform: Imperial Capital: $27
• JYNT: initiated: buy: Maxim Group: $8
• MMM: initiated: buy: Ciit: $166
• ITW: initiated: buy: Citi: $98
• IR: initiated: buy: Citi: $60
• EMR: initiated: sell: Citi: $41
• HON: initiated: buy: Citi: $122

PRICE TARGET CHANGES:

• LOCK: pt raised from $13 to $15: RBC Capital
• LULU: pt raised from $59 to $69: Susquehanna
• TIF: pt cut from $82 to $66: RBC Capital
• MS: pt cut from $28 to $35: RBC Capital
• BLK: pt cut from $384 to $367: RBC Capital
• CATY: pt cut from $36 to $33: RBC Capital
• CFR: pt cut from $74 to $60: RBC Capital
• GRUB: pt cut from $22 to $20: Cowen
• DECK: pt cut from $81 to $56: Citi
• FIT: pt cut from $60 to $35: Stifel
• TEL: pt cut from $74 to $68: Stifel
• GS: pt cut from $190 to $165: UBS