Last week ended with a string of results from some of the biggest companies in the tech sector. Positive results continued with earnings beats from Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL), and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT). AMZN and GOOG also beat revenue estimates, but MSFT came up shy of Wall Street’s top-line estimates. Tech earnings continue this week with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) reporting fiscal Q2 results after market close tomorrow.
AAPL is expected to report earnings of $2.01 per share, up from $1.90 in the same period last year, on revenue of $52.61 billion, according to consensus third-party analyst estimates. In the last quarter, AAPL reported all-time record quarterly revenue on strong holiday results, with international sales accounting for 64% of the quarter’s revenue, according to its earnings press release.
The big focus this quarter is on the company’s flagship smartphone products. iPhone sales are expected to increase 4.3% from a year ago, according to Wall Street estimates. In the last quarter, AAPL benefited from a rise in average selling prices, jumping to $695 from $619 in fiscal Q4. The company attributed the increase to a “very strong product mix and the amazing success of iPhone 7 Plus” on its earnings call.
Hot High Tech Stocks To Watch Right Now: Envision Healthcare Holdings, Inc.(EVHC)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Even on a day like today, somebody had to be the worst performer in the S&P 500, and today that somebody is Envision Healthcare (EVHC), which missed earnings forecasts last night.
- [By Lisa Levin]
Envision Healthcare Holdings Inc (NYSE: EVHC) shares shot up 211 percent to $70.15. Envision Healthcare and Amsurg Corp (NASDAQ: AMSG) reported the completion of their merger.
- [By Paul Ausick]
Envision Healthcare Corp. (NYSE: EVHC) dropped about 9.3% Tuesday to post a new 52-week low of $43.22 after closing Monday at $47.67. The 52-week high is $74.75. Volume of around 10 million shares traded was about six times the daily average. The company had no specific news.
Hot High Tech Stocks To Watch Right Now: Ashford Hospitality Trust Inc(AHT)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Lisa Levin] Related AHT 25 Biggest Mid-Day Gainers For Friday Mid-Day Market Update: Hortonworks Drops Following Weak Results; Freshpet Shares Spike Higher Ashford Hospitality Trust's (AHT) CEO Montgomery Bennet on Q2 2016 Results – Earnings Call Transcript (Seeking Alpha)
Related NEWS Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Micron To Lower Jobs Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; Broadcom Profit Beats Expectations NewStar Financial's (NEWS) CEO Tim Conway on Q2 2016 Results – Earnings Call Transcript (Seeking Alpha)
Hot High Tech Stocks To Watch Right Now: Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc.(MDRX)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Benzinga News Desk]
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) has at least one billion reasons to hope President Trump’s paring back of Dodd-Frank will include the Volcker Rule: Link
ECONOMIC DATA
10:30 a.m. Dallas Fed Manufacturing Business Index
11:30 a.m. 6-Month Bill Auction
11:30 a.m. 3-Month Bill Auction
1 p.m. 2-Year Note Auction
1:15 p.m. Chicago Fed President Evans Speaks
6:30 p.m. FOMC Member Kaplan Speaks
ANALYST RATINGS
Piper Jaffray upgraded Best Buy Co (NYSE: BBY) from Neutral to Overweight
Wells Fargo upgraded Allscripts Healthcare (NASDAQ: MDRX) from Market Perform to Outperform
Mizuho upgraded Universal Health Service (NYSE: UHS) from Neutral to Buy
Piper Jaffray downgraded The Michaels Companies (NASDAQ: MIK) from Overweight to Neutral
JMP Securities downgraded KB Home (NYSE: KBH) from Market Outperform to Market Perform
Raymond James downgraded Sierra Wireless Inc. (NASDAQ: SWIR) from Outperform to Market Perform
This is a tool used by the Benzinga News Desk each trading day — it's a look at everything happening in the market, in five minutes. To get the full version of this note every morning, click here or email minutes@benzinga.com.
- [By Monica Gerson]
Benzinga's newsdesk monitors options activity to notice unusual patterns. These large volume (and often out of the money) trades were initially published intraday in Benzinga Professional . These trades were placed during Friday's regular session.
Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ: TXN) Fri 7/1 62.0 Puts (Wkly) Sweep: 1426 @ ASK $1.24: 1426 traded vs 0 OI: Earnings 7/27 $61.86 Ref
Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc (NASDAQ: MDRX) Jul16 13.0 Puts Sweep: 500 @ ASK $0.45: 500 traded vs 0 OI: Earnings 8/2 $13.07 Ref
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) Jul16 30.0 Puts: 7500 @ ASK $0.26: 7658 traded vs 47k OI: Earnings 7/20 $32.07 Ref
Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCC) Dec16 16.0 Puts Sweep: 963 @ ASK $2.75: 974 traded vs 18 OI: Earnings 8/2 $14.45 Ref
LinkedIn Corp (NYSE: LNKD) Aug16 115 Puts: 600 @ ASK $4.05: 615 traded vs 386 OI: $132.12 Ref
Posted-In: Unusual Put OptionsNews Options Markets
Hot High Tech Stocks To Watch Right Now: Snap Inc. (SNAP)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Jack Delaney]
Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP) is about to pay $200 million to this little-known Chinese company, and its all part of a plan to revolutionize how people share photos and videos…
- [By Evan Niu, CFA]
Shares of freshly public Snapchat operator Snap (NYSE:SNAP) are rebounding today, up by 7% as of 3:15 p.m. EST, after short-selling activity from the past few days mitigated.
- [By Andrew Tonner]
Mark Twain’s observation that “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme,” serves as something of a cautionary tale for those thinking about investing in Snap’s (NYSE:SNAP) upcoming blockbuster IPO.
- [By Craig Jones]
Speaking on CNBC's "Fast Money Halftime Report", Jon Najarian said he noticed unusual bullish options activity in Snap Inc (NYSE: SNAP). Traders bought around 11,000 contracts of the August 15.50 calls in the first half of the session. They also bought the August 15 calls. Najarian has a long position in the name and he is planning to hold it for a week.
- [By Evan Niu, CFA]
Just days after going public, Snapchat parent company Snap (NYSE:SNAP) is already getting the cold shoulder from Wall Street. After jumping 44% and 11% on their first and second trading days, respectively, Snap shares are now down about 8% as the market starts to sober up from the IPO hype. That’s likely because a handful of Street analysts have now picked up coverage and issued ratings, and they’re not good.
- [By Kumar Abhishek]
Snapchat IPO has grabbed theattention of most investors and traders for some time now, especially after making a stellar debut, gaining more than 44% on the first day of listing. Though the Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP) stock has lost the crown of the most successful IPO of the year since then to Mulesoft Inc (NYSE:MULE), the stock still continues to attract significant interest from investors and traders alike. Like most stocks whose valuations is based on ‘vision’ and ‘story’, SNAP stock remains a very contentious stock with asharp division within analysts and the investing community.
