Oil eyes $50 | Morning News

OCTOBER 07, 2015

US futures poised to open higher at this 8AM hour as world markets trade positive led by the energy sector. Ahead of the kickoff of earnings seasons tomorrow, traders have a light day on the economic calendar with no major data expected and no Fed speeches announced. Overnight, crude gained more ground following a near 5% jump in the previous session. The commodity’s strength is being triggered by data from the API showing a 1.2M barrel decrease in crude stocks last week and comments by OPEC chief el-Badri anticipating big cuts to oil investment. All eyes will be on EIA Petroleum Inventories slated to be announced at 10:30AM EST.

NEWS:

BABA: China’s Meituan (owned in part by Alibaba) and Dianping agree to $15B merger
LMNX: FDA approves Luminex’s ARIES System and HSV 1&2 Assay
WYNN: LVS: MPEL: MGM: Golden Week viewed as positive
AAPL: UBS raises Sept quarter iPhone estimate to 50M units
SUNE: announces that they will not complete $700M buyout of Latin America Power, reports wsj
ADBE: issues weak guidance for FY16: revenue of $5.7B and EPS of $2.70, below a consensus of $5.93B and $3.19
NUS: issues announcement that Q3 revenues will be flat due to currency headwinds and lower than expected sales in China
REGN: SNY: AMGN: Express Scripts to cover both new expensive cholesterol drugs
ATI: announces weaker guidance for Q3 earnings, -$0.27-$0.32 vs consensus -0.25
SBUX: appoints first Chief Technology Officer in the company’s history
ADXS: FDA puts the company’s axalimogene filolisbac IND on clinical hold
FNV: TCK: SHP: Franco-Nevada to acquire silver stream on Antamina Mine from Teck Resources
GNCA: Genocea Bio’s GEN-003 achieves primary endpoint in mid-stage genital herpes trial
MSFT: unveils new notebook with claims that it’s 50% faster than Apple MacBook
GBX: Greenbrier Announces Order from Saudi Railway Company for 1,200 Railcars

ON THE ECONOMIC CALENDAR:

7AM: MBA Mortgage Applications: ACTUAL: composite index +25.5% vs -6.7% last week
8:30AM: Gallup US Job Creation Index
10:30AM: EIA Petroleum Inventories
1PM: $21B, 10 Year Note Auction
3PM: Consumer Credit

EARNINGS REPORTED AFTER THE CLOSE YESTERDAY:

YUM: FQ3 EPS of $1.00 misses by $0.07: revenue of $3.43B misses by $250M: revenue +2.4% Y/Y: guidance lowered

EARNINGS REPORTED BEFORE THE OPENING TODAY:

MON: FQ4 EPS of -$0.19 misses by $0.17: revenue of $2.4B misses by $0.6B: weak guidance, FY16 EPS $5.10-$5.60 vs consensus $6.20: announces buy back of $3B in shares in new accelerated program: to cut 2600 jobs in the next 18.24 months
GPN:FQ1 EPS of $1.57 beats by $0.14: revenue of $536.95M beats by $6.42M: revenue +8.4% Y/Y: announces 2-for-1 stock split: raises FY16 EPS guidance
STZ:FQ2 EPS of $1.56 beats by $0.24: revenue of $1.73B in-line: revenue +7.5% Y/Y: guides higher, raising FY16 EPS to $5.00-$5.20 vs. consensus $4.98
RPM: FQ1 EPS of $0.82 beats by $0.01: revenue of $1.24B misses by $30M: revenue +3.3% Y/Y: lowers FY16 guidance
PKE: FQ2 EPS of $0.23 misses by $0.07: revenue of $37.95M misses by $3.8M: revenue +10.4% Y/Y

SOME NOTABLE EARNINGS AFTER THE CLOSE TODAY:

ANALYSTS’ RATINGS CHANGES:

UPGRADES:

ABT: upgrade: equal weight to overweight: Barclays: pt cut from $55 to $52
MPC: upgrade: market perform to outperform: Wells Fargo: pt range raised from $57-61 to $58-61
MJN: upgrade: neutral to buy: Nomura: $93
HFC: upgrade: hold to buy: Deutsche Bank:
RIO: upgrade: equal weight to overweight: Morgan Stanley:
BHP: upgrade: equal weight to overweight: Morgan Stanley
CTRP: upgrade: hold to buy: BofA/Merrill
MS: upgrade: market perform to outperform: RBC Capital: $39

DOWNGRADES:

TSLA: downgrade: buy to neutral: Baird: $282
PKY: downgrade: outperform to market perform: Wells Fargo: pt range cut from $18-21 to $17-19
POT: downgrade: buy to hold: HSBC: pt cut from $37.75 to $24.75
NUS: downgrade: hold to sell: Stifel: $35
CLD: downgrade: overweight to equal weight: Morgan Stanley: $5

INITIATIONS: