Jobs Data in Focus | Morning News

FEBRUARY 05. 2016
US futures struggling at the flatline at this 7AM hour ahead of important jobs data to be released this morning at 8:30AM EST. Traders will pay close attention to which industries are adding workers as well as the size of the labor force. European shares giving back some of its earlier gains as markets trade mixed. Overnight, Asian markets also traded mixed with the Shanghai and Nikkei closing in negative territory. Fundamentally weak crude up modestly with the weakness in the US$ adding some support as investors await the Baker-Hughes rig count to be announced at 1PM EST.

NEWS:

• EW: enters into an accelerated share repurchase agreement to buy back $325M common stock
• ZBH: to repurchase $250M of stock
• WYNN: LVS: MGM: MPEL: traffic into Macau from Mainland China into the Chinese New Year rose 11% over last year 
• AMGN: Repatha, cholesterol lowering drug, met is co-primary endpoints in another phase 3 study
• MDT: announces FDA approval for MRI CRT-D
• VRTX: FDA cannot approve KALYDECO NDA in present form, reports business wire
• CHTR: issuing $1.7B in senior notes, due 2024, at an interest rate of 5.875%/year
• MFLX: China firm DSBJ announces purchase of MFLX for $610M ($23.95/share)

THE ECONOMIC CALENDAR:

• 8:30AM: Non-Farm Payrolls
• 8:30AM: Unemployment Rate
• 8:30AM: Average Hourly Earnings
• 8:30AM: Trade Deficit
• 1PM: Baker-Hughes Rig Count
• 3PM: Consumer Credit

SOME NOTABLE EARNINGS REPORTED YESTERDAY AFTER THE CLOSE:

• POST:  FQ1 EPS of $0.52 beats by $0.16: revenue of $1.25B misses by $80M: revenue +16.8% y/y: raises EITDA guidance
• LNKD: Q4 EPS of $0.94 beats by $0.16: revenue of $861.9M beats by $4.31M: revenue +34.9% y/y: guides below estimates: field sales growth expected to slow
• DATA: Q4 EPS of $0.33 beats by $0.17: revenue of $202.8M beats by $2.03M: revenue +41.9% y/y: weak FQ1 and FY16 guidance
• TEAM: FQ2 EPS of $0.11 beats by $0.07: revenue of $109.7M beats by $7.03M: revenue +44.7% y/y: guides above consensus
• CTRL: Q4 EPS of $0.07 in-line: revenue of $42.9M beats by $0.23M: revenue +4.2% y/y:  strong guidance
• UBNT: FQ2 EOS of $0.58 beats by $0.07: revenue of $161.9M beats by $6.82M: revenue +5.7% y/y: guides FQ3 above consensus
• QRVO: FQ3 EPS of $1.03 beats by $0.09: revenue of $619.7M miss by $0.64: revenue -16.5% y/y: soft revenue guidance: $750M left on the latest buyback authorization
• HBI: Q4 EPS of $0.44 misses by $0.02: revenue of $1.41B misses by $120M: revenue -7.2% y/y: guides revenue below consensus
• ATHN: Q4 EPS of $0.45 beats by $0.04: revenue of $257.53 in-line: revenue +20.8% y/y: guides in-line
• SWIR: Q4 EPS of $0.08 misses by $0.02: revenue of $144.85M miss by $4.5M: revenue-2.8% y/y: guides FY16 and FQ1 below consensus: announces authorization to buy back up to 3.4M shares of common stock
• PKI: Q4 EPS of $0.86 misses by $0.01: reenue of $608.1M misses by $9.42M: revenue -0.1% y/y: guides FY15 below consensus
• ELY:Q4 EPS of -$0.03 beats by $0.03: revenue of $153.31m beats by $4.95M: revenue +13.9% y/y:  weak guidance
• DECK: FQ3 EPS of $4.78 beats by $0.03: revenue of $795.9M misses by $36.09M; revenue +1.4% y/y: guides below consensus: announces restructuring plan
• NTGR:Q4 EPS of $0.83 beats by $0.17: revenue of $360.9M beats by $15.37M: revenue +2.2% y;y: soft guidance

SOME NOTABLE EARNINGS REPORTED TODAY BEFORE THE OPENING:

• WY: Q4 EPS of $0.24 in-line: revenue of $1.7B: revenue -3.4% y/y
• AME: Q4 EPS of $0.63 in-line: revenue of $988M misses by $22M: revenue -3.1% y/y: weak guidance: announces plans to acquire Brookfield Engineering Laboratories and ESP/SurgeX
• EL: Q2 EPS of $1.19 beats by $0.08: revenue of $3.12B beats by $40M: revenue +2.6% y/y: guides Q3 and FY16 below consensus
• AON: Q5 EPS of $2.27 beats by $0.18: revenue of $3.29B misses by $40M: revenue -0.3% y/y
• ATR: Q4 EPS of $0.67 beats by $0.02: revenue of $546.77M misses by $10.84M: revenue -8.7% y.y
• CME: Q4 EPS of $0.92 beats by $0.02: revenue of $814M beats by $3.23M: revenue -3.2% y/y: Q4 average daily volume down 11% to 13.2M contracts
• MCO: Q4 EPS of $1.09 beats by $0.04: revenue of $865.9M beats by $10.01M; revenue -1.3% y/y: guides FY16 EPS $4.75-$4.85 vs consensus $5.01
• CIGI: Q4 EPS of $1.06 beats by $0.10: revenue of $556.1M misses by $42.72M: revenue +2.7% y/y
• TSN: FQ1 EPS of $1.15 beats by $0.26: revenue of $9.16B misses by $940M: revenue -15.3% y/y: raises FY16 EPS above consensus: increases share repurchase authorization by 50M shares
• UFS: Q4 EPS of $1.11 beats by $0.31: revenue of $1.31B misses by $20M: revenue -5.1% y/y

ANALYSTS' RATINGS CHANGES:

UPGRADES:

• UBNT: upgrade: hold to buy: Wunderlich: $40
• FLDM: upgrade: neutral to buy: Mizuho: $8
• GS: upgrade: neutral to buy: UBS: pt raised from $165 to $185
• UNFI: upgrade: sector perform to outperform: RBC Capital: pt cut from $42 to $35
• ALL: upgrade: neutral to buy: Citi: pt raised from $64 to $72
• LPLA: upgrade: negative to neutral: Susquehanna
• SPH: upgrade: neutral to buy: Citi: $29
• KONA: upgrade: market perform to outperform: Telsey Advisory
• KEY: upgrade: neutral to buy: UBS: $14
• SYY: upgrade: hold to buy: Argus: $50
• ABT: upgrade: hold to buy: Argus: $50
• KO: upgrade: negative to neutral: Susquehanna
• CCE: upgrade: negative to neutral: Susquehanna
• CMCSA: upgrade: hold to buy: Argus
• JPM: upgrade: neutral to buy: UBS
• WFT: upgrade: market perform to strong buy: Raymond James
• LVLT: upgrade: equal weight to overweight: Stephens
• RFP: upgrade: sector perform to outperform: RBC Capital: pt cut from $8 to $7
• WFM: upgrade: underperform to neutral: Leerink

DOWNGRADES:

• RL: downgrade: buy to neutral: Credit Suisse: $102
• RL: downgrade; neutral to underperform: BofA/Merrill
• DECK: downgrade: buy to neutral: BofA/Merrill: pt cut from $68 to $54
• CREE: downgrade: overweight to neutral: JP Morgan: $30
• ESL: downgrade: buy to hold: Canaccord: pt cut from $100 to $75
• ESL: downgrade: outperform to market perform: Wells Fargo: pt range cut from $88-$92 to $65-$70
• PPL: downgrade: buy to hold: Deutsche Bank: $37
• QRVO: downgrade: neutral to sell: Citi: pt cut from $45 to $35
• WEC: downgrade: buy to hold: Deutsche Bank: pt raised from $56 to $57
• OUTR: downgrade: overweight to neutral: Piper Jaffray: pt cut from $57 to $32
• OUTR: downgrade: neutral to sell: Roth Capital: $23.50
• LNKD: downgrade: outperform to sector perform: RBC Capital: pt cut from $300 to $156
• LNKD: downgrade: buy to neutral: SunTrust: pt cut from $250 to $155
• LNKD: downgrade: buy to neutral: Mizuho: pt cut from $258 to $150
• LNKD: downgrade: overweight to neutral: JP Morgan: pt cut from $300 to $186 
• LNKD: downgrade: outperform to market perform: Cowen: pt cut from $272 to $140
• TBI: downgrade: outperform to market perform: BMO Capital: pt cut from $280 to $150
• KSS: downgrade: neutral to underweight: Atlantic Equities:
• GRUB: downgrade: outperform to perform: Oppenheimer:
• MPC: downgrade: overweight to neutral: JP Morgan: pt cut from $62 to $4
• LINE: downgrade: market perform to underperform: Raymond James
• PMT: downgrade: overweight to equal weight: Barcalys: pt cut from $21 to $13

INITIATIONS and RESUMED:

• ABBV: initiated: outperform: Blair: $76
• VRTX: resumed: outperform: Leerink: $131
• MDVN: resumed: market perform: Leerink: $41
• CELG: resumed: market perform: Leerink: $129
• BIIB: resumed: market perform: Leerink: $335
• AMGN: resumed: market perform: Leerink: $179
• ALXN: resumed: outperform: Leerink: $217
• GILD: resumed: outperform: Leerink: $125
• REGN: resumed: outperform: Leerink: $534
• PBH: initiated: overweight: Piper Jaffray: $58
• RUBI: initiated: outperform: Boenning & Scattergood: $21 
• LHCG: initiated: buy: Jefferies: $45
• TWX: initiated: outperform: Telsey Advisory: $89

PRICE TARGET CHANGES:

• PACB: pt raised from $8 to $15: Stephens
• MPWR: pt raised from $65 to $80: Pacific Crest
• LNKD: pt cut from $271 to $194: Citi
• LNKD: pt cut from $287 to $175: Piper Jaffray
• LNKD: pt cut from $270 to $170: UBS
• DATA: pt cut from $92 to $65: Jefferies
• DATA: pt cut from $119 to $70: JP Morgan
• DATA: pt cut from $124 to $75: UBS
• AFSI: pt cut from $70 to $35: Compass Point
• PENN: pt cut from $27 to $25: Telsey Advisory Group
• DLPH: pt cut from $84 to $76: RBC Capital
• COP: pt cut from $61 to $50: RBC Capital
• CF: pt cut from $45 to $35: RBC Capital
• ABC: pt cut from $120 to $100: RBC Capital
• AGU: pt cut from $105 to $100: RBC Capital
• DV: pt cut from $28 to $18: Compass Point
• HBI: pt cut from $42 to $35: UBS
• DECK: pt cut from $56 to $55: Brean Capital
• GRUB: pt cut from $40 to $35: Canaccord