US futures following the rest of the world markets deep into the red at this 7AM hour as traders turn their attention to the jobs report due out today at 8:30AM EST. Chinese markets remained closed and US markets will close on Monday for the holiday bringing some caution to trading today.
NEWS:
- TWTR:Twitter will open a service development center in Japan, the first such operation outside the U.S, reports nikkei
- AMZN: NFLX: Amazon ‘squarely in’ media production after deal, says Piper Jaffray, reports flyonthewall
- AAPL: Apple applies for patent for fuel cell system that could power a MacBook “for days or even weeks”, reports 9to5mac
- HAS: DIS: TGT: WMT: Force Friday: A Star Wars bonanza for toy makers, retailers, reports fortune
- NVS: announces FDA approval for Farydak
ON THE ECONOMIC CALENDAR:
- 8:30AM: Non-farm Payrolls: expectation 213K
- 8:30AM: Unemployment Rate: expectation 5.2%
- 8:30AM: Average Hourly Earnings: expectation +0.2%
RECAP OF SOME NOTABLE AFTER THE CLOSE YESTERDAY:
- COO: FQ3 EPS of $1.97 beats by $0.02: revenue of $461.68M misses by $2.44M: soft revenue guidance
- PAY: FQ3 EPS of $0.47 beats by $0.01: revenue of $510M beats by $9.21M: guides below consensus
- ESL: FQ3 EPS of $1.33 misses by $0.09: revenue of $496.21M misses by $34.78M: lowers guidance
- BLOX: FQ4 EPS of $0.12 beats by $0.02: revenue of $87M beats by $6.43M: revenue +34.0% Y/Y: mixed guidance
ANALYST’ RATINGS CHANGES:
UPGRADES:
- SKYW: upgrade: market perform to outperform: Cowen: pt raised from $16 to $19
- PSA: upgrade: market perform to outperform: Raymond James: $220
- BOFI: upgrade: outperform to strong buy: Raymond James: $145
- DLTR: upgrade: neutral to buy: BofA/Merrill: $88
- BGS: upgrade: equal weight to overweight: Stephens: pt raised from $31 to $39
- LPX: upgrade: sector perform to outperform: RBC Capital: pt raised from $16 to $19
- FTI: upgrade: underperform to neutral: Credit Suisse: $29
DOWNGRADES:
- CAT: downgrade: outperform to neutral: Baird: $77
- CAM: downgrade: overweight to equal weight: Barclays: $75
- SSS: downgrade: outperform to market perform: Raymond James:
- BP: downgrade: neutral to underperform: BofA/Merrill
- FBNK: downgrade: outperform to market perform: Keefe, Bruyette: $17.50
INITIATIONS:
- SUBK: initiated: buy: Maxim Group: $31
- VTVT: initiated: buy: Canaccord: $15
- VC: initiated: outperform: Baird: $123
PRICE TARGET CHANGES:
- LB: pt raised from $82 to $85: FBR Capital
- PFE: pt raised from $48 to $51: Piper Jaffray
- NCS: pt cut from $24 to $20: FBR Capital
- VTR: pt cut from $85 to $64: Mizuho