FOMC and OPEC in focus | Morning News

FEBRUARY 17. 2016
US futures point to a higher opening following Europe into the green as investors await a plethora of economic data this morning including PPI and industrial production numbers, as well as E-commerce retail sales. This afternoon minutes from the FOMC meeting will be announced at 2PM EST.  Adding fuel to the rally, late yesterday, voting Fed member, Rosengren, commented that "monetary policy normalization should be unhurried". Overnight, crude found support as the commodity remains volatile into the OPEC meeting later today.

NEWS:

• KMI: Berkshire Hathaway reports a new 26.5M share stake in Kinder Morgan
• CCE: raises quarterly dividend 7.1% to $0.30
• ADI: raises quarterly dividend 5% to $0.42
• CMI: files automatic securities shelf
• QRVO: announces $500M accelerated buyback authorization
• STJ: announces FDA approval of a new treatment therapy for patients suffering from chronic intractable pain
• OCUL: announces late stage development plan of OTX-TP with a lower efficacy bar
• FLXN: reports successful results in phase 3 clinical trial assessing lead product candidate, FX006 
• MDT: FDA approves Metronic DBS for people with Parkinson's Disease with recent onset of motor complications, reports nasdaq
• RGLS: HCV candidate shows 97% cure rate after eight weeks in mid-stage study
• EGN: files to sell 12M shares of common stock
• TEX: Zoomlion confirms offer to buy US crane maker Terex for $30/share
• INO: DNA vaccine for Zika Virus demonstrated potential, shows response in mice
• XON: Wunderlich sees Zika as an opportunity for Intrexon
• BA: in a $1.3B deal, Okay Airlines commits for twelve 737s, pending Chinese government approval 
• BA: says 787 production will ramp to 12 per month by summer, reports reuters
• MAT: Stifel out positive on Mattel on new product lines 
• WIX: City Football Group and Wix.com announce formation of a global partnership
• AZN: bladder cancer drug, durvalumab, granted breakthough designation 
• SCTY: Elon Musk raises stake in Solar City from 21.7% to 22.6%

THE ECONOMIC CALENDAR:

• 7AM: MBA Mortgage Applications
• 8:30AM: Producer Price Index
• 8:30AM: Housing Starts
• 8:55AM: Redbook Chain Store Sales
• 9:15AM: Industrial Production
• 9:15AM: Capacity Utilization
• 10AM: Atlanta Fed's Business Inflation Expectations
• 10AM: E-Commerce Retail Sales
• 2PM: FOMC minutes

SOME NOTABLE EARNINGS REPORTED YESTERDAY AFTER THE CLOSE:

• FTI: Q4 EPS of $0.46 misses by $0.02: revenue of $1.43B misses by $120M: revenue -33.8% y/y
• NBR: Q4 EPS of -$0.35 beats by $0.03: revenue of $739M beats by $6.11M: revenue -58.5% y/y
• FE: Q4 EPS of $0.58 beats by $0.01: revenue of $3.5B misses by $420M: revenue +0.6% y/y: guides Q1 operating EPS $0.75-$0.85 vs consensus $0.72
• TRU: Q4 EPS of $0.31 beats by $0.07: revenue of $386M beats by $16.85M: revenue +15.0% y/y:: guides Q1 adjusted EPS $0.26-$0.27 vs consensus $0.25
• CVA: Q4 EPS of $0.03 may not be comparable to  $0.11: revenue of $432M beats by $18.67M: revenue -0.7% y/y
• DVN: Q4 EPS of $0.77 beats by $0.06: revenue of $2.9B misses by $730M: revenue -51.7% y/y: cuts quarterly dividend 75% to $0.06: guides FY16 top line core production down 6% 
• CAKE: Q4 EPS of $0.54 beats by $0.02: revenue of $526.84M misses by $2.28M: revenue +5.4% y/y: reaffirms FY16 EPS guidance $2.56-$2.68 vs consensus $2.64
• FANG: Q4 EPS of $0.58 beats by $0.14: revenue of $114.3M misses by $20.89M: revenue -13.1% y/y
• FOSL: Q4 EPS of $1.46 beats by $0.16: revenue of $992.5M beats by $68.64M: revenue -6.4% y/y: guides FY16 EPS $2.80-$3.60 vs consensus $3.18
• RAX: Q4 EPS of $0.31 beats by $0.08: revenue of $522.8M beats by $1.41M: revenue +10.7% y/y: guides Q1 and FY16 revenue below consensus
• EEP: Q4 EPS of $0.11 misses by $0.11: revenue of $1.14B misses by $270M: revenue -44.9% y/y
• ESRX: Q4 EPS of $1.56 in-line: revenue of $26.2B misses by $380M: revenue -0.4% y/y: guides Q1 EPS below consensus
• A: FG1 EPS of $0.46 beats by $0.03: revenue of $1.03B beats by $10M: revenue flat y/y: lowers FY16 EPS guidance to $1.81-$1.87 from $1.85-$1.91 vs consensus $1.89
• CERN: Q4 EPS of $0.61 beats by $0.04: revenue of $1.18B beats by $10M: revenue +27.4% y/y: guides FY16 adjusted EPS $2.30-$2.40 vs consensus $2.36

SOME NOTABLE EARNINGS REPORTED TODAY BEFORE THE OPENING:

• SPNS: Q4 EPS of $0.13 beats by $0.01: revenue of $48.7M beats by $0.52M: revenue +16.6% y/y: guides FY16 revenue above consensus
• NBL: Q4 EPS of $0.44 beats by $0.48: revenue of $846M misses by $194M: revenue -20.9% y/y: guides FY16 CapEx $1.5B, down 50% y/y
• ADI: FQ1 EPS of $0.56 beats by $0.03: revenue of $769M beats by $8M: revenue -0.4% y/y: 
• DPS: Q4 core EPS of $1.00 beats by $0.02: revenue of $1.55B beats by $20M: revenue +2.6% y/y:  guides FY16 core EPS $4.20-$4.30 vs consensus $4.33 
• ATHM: Q4 EPS of RUB2.86 beats by RUB-.60: revenue of RUB1.08B beats by RUB90.42M: revenue +46.1% y/y: guides Q1 revenue above consensus
• HST:  Q4 FFO of $0.39 beats by $0.04: revenue of $1.33B misses by $20M: revenue +0.8% y/y: guides FY16 adjusted FFO $1.65-$1.60 vs consensus $1.63
• GEO: Q4 FFO of $0.80 beats by $0.02: revenue of $500.1M misses by $13.69M:revenue +16.9% y/y: guides FY16 adjusted FFO $3.52-$3.62 vs consensus $3.38
• BLMN: Q4 EPS of $0.30 beats by $0.01: revenue of $1.05B misses by $10M: revenue -5.4% y/y: announces $250M share repurchase program authorization: guides FY16 adjusted EPS growth of at least 10%
• SHOP: Q4 adjusted EPS -$0.01 beats by $0.04: revenue of $70.2M beats by $8.79M: revenue +99.5% y/y:   guides FY16 revenue $320M-$330M vs consensus $286.66M
• PCLN: Q4 EPS of $12.63 beats by $0.83: revenue of $2B beats by $40M: revenue +8.7% y/y:  guides Q1 EPS $9.00-$9.60 vs consensus $9.60: gross travel bookings rose 12.7%
• CLMT: Q4 EPS of -$0.74 may not be comparable to consensus of $0.02: revenue$898M misses by $36.84M: revenue -33.0% y/y
• SCOR: Q4 adjusted EPS $0.48 may not be comparable to consensus of $0.03: revenue of $97.67M misses by $1.27M: revenue +8.4% y/y: guides Q1 revenue $105M-$111M vs consensus $101.45M: guides FY16 revenue $508M-$532M vs consensus $434.25M
• GRMN: Q4 EPS of $0.74 beats by $0.26: revenue of $781M beats by $20.92M: revenue -2.8% y/y: guides FY15 pro forma EPS $2.25 vs consensus $2.30

SOME NOTABLE EARNINGS TO BE REPORTED TODAY AFTER THE CLOSE:

• ABX, ALB, BEAT, BRCD, CF, CHE, CIM , CLD, CPA, DENN, ELNK, EQC, GDDY, GPOR, HOS, HY, JACK, JIVE, KAR, KEG, LOPE, LZB, MANT, MAR, MRO, NEM, NGD, NTAP, NVDA, NVMI, OGS, OIS, PKD, QDEL, SNPS, SPRT, SPWR, SSS, STR, SWM, TEP, TYL, UNTD, VMI, WMB

ANALYSTS' RATINGS CHANGES:

UPGRADES:

• CG: upgrade: equal weight to overweight: Morgan Stanley: $22
• ICE: upgrade: hold to buy: Argus: $270
• DISH: upgrade: sell to hold: Wunderlich: $48
• TYL: upgrade: neutral to buy: B Riley: $150
• JUNO: upgrade: neutral to buy: Guggenheim
• AR: upgrade: reduce to neutral: SunTrust:pt raised from $21 to $26
• SEMI: upgrade: sell to neutral: Goldman: $3.80
• SUM: upgrade: neutral to buy: Citi
• TSN: upgrade: equal weight to overweight: Stephens
• HSTM: upgrade: hold to buy: Needham: $26

DOWNGRADES:

• RAX: downgrade: outperform to neutral: Credit Suisse: $22
• RAX: downgrade: buy to hold: Stifel
• RAX: downgrade: overweight to equal weight: Barclays: pt cut from $35 to $21
• HRL: downgrade: buy to hold: Jefferies: $43
• CERN: downgrade: buy to hold: Evercore: pt cut from $68 to $52
• SCCO: downgrade: overweight to neutral: JP Morgan: $28
• BTU: downgrade: buy to neutral: Sterne Agee
• GPC: downgrade: outperform to neutral: Wedbush: pt cut from $93 to $91
• CCO: downgrade: buy to sell: Topeka Capital: pt cut from $11 to $2
• KKR: downgrade: overweight to equal weight: Morgan Stanley: $14
• CTAS: downgrade: equal weight to underweight: Morgan Stanley: $79
• ENLC: downgrade: neutral to underperform: BofA/Merrill: pt cut from $18 to $10
• ADT: downgrade: outperform to in-line: Imperial Capital: pt raised from $40 to $42

INITIATIONS:

• WFM: initiated: market perform: Wells Fargo: pt range $27-$28
• CNXR: initiated: equal weight: First Analysis Sec: $8
• TZOO: initiated: speculative buy: WBB Securities: $11
• OXM: initiated: buy: B Riley: $82
• EVOK: resumed: outperform: FBR Capital: $17
• MRTX: assumed: buy: Jefferies: $33

PRICE TARGET CHANGES:

• FOSL: pt raised from $30 to $36: Mizuho
• FOSL: pt raised from $35 to $40: Telsey Advisory Group
• BYD: pt raised from $23 to $24; Telsey Advisory Group
• CAKE: pt raised from $55 to $56: Telsey Advisory Group
• NNN: pt raised from $40 to $43: Wunderlich
• SO: pt raised from $50 to $54: Argus
• LBTYA: pt raised from $52 to $55: RBC Capital
• TRU: pt raised from $28 to $29: RBC Capital
• QSR: pt raised from $36 to $38: RBC Capital
• O: pt raised from $51 to $58: RBC Capital
• AAV: pt raised from $8 to $9: RBC Capital
• BXMT: pt cut from $33 to $29: FBR Capital
• ASNA: pt cut from $20 to $18: FBR Capital
• VTR: pt cut from $70 to $62: RBC Capital
• VAR: pt cut from $86 to $84: RBC Capital
• ADS: pt cut from $287 to $275: RBC Capital
• RAX: pt cut from $31 to $26: RBC Capital
• RAX: pt cut from $52 to $36: Cowen
• INTC: pt cut from $33 to $31: RBC Capital
• CYH: pt cut from $45 to $18: RBC Capital
• CYH: pt cut from $27 to $18: Wedbush
• CASY: pt cut from $134 to $124: RBC Capital
• DIOD: pt cut from $25 to $22: Topeka Capital
• XEC: pt cut from $95 to $85: Topeka Capital
• FANG: pt cut from $90 to $85: Topeka Capital
• CERN: pt cut from $75 to $68: UBS
• WY: pt cut from $43 to $28: Argus
• NTAP: pt cut from $45 to $43: Maxim Group
• WDAY; pt cut from $90 to $60: Stephens
• FOSL: pt cut from $52 to $38: Stephens