DECEMBER 23, 2015
US futures add to yesterday’s rally as world market traded mostly in the green heading into the final countdown before the holiday break. On tap for today, traders will get a look at durable goods data as well as home sales and consumer sentiment. Overnight, oil traded higher into EIA Petroleum Inventories due to be reported at 10:30AM EST.
NEWS:
- CVX:Chevron slashes 1200 jobs from Gorgon LNG project in Western Australia, reports the Guardian
- AZN: FDA clears AstraZeneca’s gout drug Zurampic
- UPS: FDX: US Postal Service Is on Track to Gain Larger Share of Holiday Deliveries, reports the WSJ
- UPS: Amazon Seeks to Ease Ties With UPS, reports the WSJ
- GOOG: GOOGL:Google developing intelligent messaging app, reports the WSJ
- PM: RAI: MO: The European Court of Justice has issued a preliminary ruling against Philip Morris and British American Tobacco , stating that the EU Tobacco Products Directive of 2014 is valid
- ACRX: AcelRx receives EMA notice of eligibility for centralized review of ARX-0
THE ECONOMIC CALENDAR:
- 7AM: MBA Mortgage Applications
- 8:30AM: Durable Goods
- 10AM: New Home Sales
- 10AM: Reuters/UofM Consumer Sentiment
- 10:30AM: EIA Petroleum Inventories
- 11:30AM: $13B, 2 Year FRN Auction
SOME NOTABLE EARNINGS REPORTED YESTERDAY AFTER THE CLOSE:
- NKE:FQ2 EPS of $0.90 beats by $0.04: revenue of $7.69B misses by $120M: revenue +4.2% y/y: solid guidance
- MU:FQ1 EPS of $0.24 beats by $0.01.Revenue of $3.35B (-26.7% Y/Y) misses by $110M: revenue -26.7 y/y: light guidance
- CAMP:FQ3 EPS of $0.31 beats by $0.02: revenue of $74.7M beats by $0.9M: revenue +18.2% y/y
ONE NOTABLE EARNINGS TO BE REPORTED TODAY AFTER THE CLOSE:
- CALM
ANALYSTS’ RATINGS CHANGES:
UPGRADES:
- FINL: upgraded: hold to buy: Brean Capital: $23
- PII: upgrade: underperform to neutral: Longbow
- DLPH: upgrade: neutral to buy: Sterne Agee: $120
- EEFT: upgrade: neutral to buy: Monness Crespi & Hardt: $86
- SLF: upgrade: hold to buy: Argus: $37
DOWNGRADES:
- MU: downgrade: strong buy to outperform: Raymond James: pt cut from $26 to $17
- SCS: downgrade: outperform to market perform: Raymond James
INITIATIONS:
- ONCE: initiated: neutral: Chardan Capital: $45
- EYEG: initiated: buy: Chardan Capital: $6
- NXRT: initiated: buy: DA Davidson: $16
- NRX: initiated: outperform: JMP Securities: $!5
- CUI: initiated: buy: Rodman & Renshaw: $12
- AMBA: initiated: buy: Craig-Hellum: $80
PRICE TARGET CHANGES:
- NKE: pt raised from $142 to $144: Telsey Advisory Group
- GE: pt raised from $34 to $36: Argus
- AAPL: pt cut from $175 to $150: FBR Capital
- BBBY: pt cut from $65 to $52: Telsey Advisory Group
- MACK: pt cut from $16 to $13: Mizuho
- ACAT: pt cut from $27 to $22: KeyBanc
- VIAB: pt cut from $49 to $45: Topeka Capital
- MU: pt cut from $19 to $16: Topeka Capital
- MU: pt cut from $24 to $44: Cowen