>>> What to look at today - 04/04/2014

US MArket closed lower, small caps leading the move, Tech started the day on positive trend helped by GOOG split(2:1),
Discretionary was a notable laggard, Energy managed to hold all day...volume were below average @ 647mil shares... VIX @ 13.37 +2.14%...Big eco data today, NFP, Unemployment rate...will be the focus today...AA reporting on Tue. after the close...and JPM next Fri....Asian Market are holding ahead of US data today...National Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) requested that banks better manage their NPL ratios. The call comes on the heels of a large increase in bad loans unveiled by China's top-5 lenders in 2013. Separately, we've seen some chatter of a
denial of press reports that China city of Changshain Hunan Province may scale back on the home purchasing curb measures. Recall that report earlier this week led to some rather impressive gains among the Chinese property names...Nikkei -0.10%...HS-0.26%...Shanghai+0.35%

Eur$ 1.3706 S&P Fut+0.16% European Fut +0.23%

Macro
- Italy PM Padoan: 2014 GDP growth seen at 0.8% with deficit to GDP ratio at 2.6%

Keep an eye on :
- AB1 GY : Air Berlin-Etihad relationship under examination by European Commission
- ADEN VX : BlackRock discloses participation in Adecco above 5%
- AIR FP : Delta May Buy Up to 50 New Widebody Jets: WSJ
- BARC LN : Barclays explores potential sale of its business in Spain
- BLT LN : BHP Says Coal Price Drop Squeezing Everyone, Sees More Cost Cuts, Secures Tax Breaks for Mooted Asset Spin-Off, AFR Says
- BMPS IM : Monte Paschi Foundation Says It Sold Further Shrs In Recent Days
- BP IM : BlackRock Owned 6.9% of Banco Popolare as of March 31: Consob
- CRST LN : Crest Nicholson shares gain on talk of takeover interest from Barratt and Persimmon- Daily Mail
- OLE SM : Deoleo gets offers from CVC, PAI Partners, Carlyle, Rhone and IQ
- EIT IM : Mediaser selling 25% of EI Towers, Shrs Offered at EU40.15 to Mkt in Placing
- FRE GY : Fresenius Medical Care Sees $300 Mln Savings Run Rate by 2017, see $3b M&A spending through 2020
- GSZ FP : GDF Suez Refinances EU5b of Loans In Accord With 25 Banks
- JLH LN : John Lewis Weekly Sales Fall 3.4% to GBP211.3m
- MEDAA SS : Mylan weighs move for Swedish rival Meda - WSJ/FT
- POP SM : Popular Close to Buying Citi Spain Retail Bank Unit: Expansion
- RCO FP : Brown-Forman Using Advisers to Consider Remy Bid: Betaville
- RDSA NA : Shell faces probe over Alaska rig accident - FT
- ROG VX : UK Agency Reverses Ruling on Roche’s Tarceva: Reuters Link
- SAABB SS : Saab CEO Buskhe Says Interest in Gripen Jet Never Been Bigger, Sweden Seeks More Gripen Jets Amid Russia Concern, TT Reports
- SAB SM : Sabadell plans to spin off Solvia by the end of 2015; could offer up to 20% stake to a partner
- SU FP : Schneider Electric in Talks With Carlyle, PAI Over Sensor Unit
- TNTE NA : CFO Rsigned
- VIV FP : Vivendi Free to Choose Its Preferred SFR Bid, board autonmous, CDC’s Jouyet Says
- VIV FP : French CDC's Jouyet Says Supported Bouygues Bid for SFR
- WPP LN : WPP CEO Sees 15% of Revenue Coming From Latin America: Reuters

>>> Brokers Upgrades & Downgrades - 04/04/2014

>>> Up
*MUNICH RE RAISED TO MARKET PERFORM VS UNDERPERFORM AT BERNSTEIN
*RENAULT RAISED TO BUY VS NEUTRAL AT UBS
*SCOR RAISED TO OVERWEIGHT VS NEUTRAL AT JPMORGAN
*STERIA RAISED TO BUY VS HOLD AT BERENBERG
*TALANX RAISED TO OVERWEIGHT VS NEUTRAL AT JPMORGAN

>>> Down
*DELHAIZE CUT TO NEUTRAL VS BUY AT NOMURA
*MARKS & SPENCERCUT TO CONVICTION SELL LIST FROM SELL AT GOLDMAN
*SWISS RE CUT TO EQUALWEIGHT VS OVERWEIGHT AT BARCLAYS
*TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS CUT TO NEUTRAL AT JPMORGAN
*VODAFONE CUT TO NEUTRAL VS BUY AT NOMURA
*YARA CUT TO EQUALWEIGHT VS OVERWEIGHT AT BARCLAYS
*YARA INTERNATIONAL CUT AT BMO CAPITAL MARKETS

>>> PT Changes
*Pirelli PT Raised to EU12 vs EU11 at Deutsche Bank

>>> Initiation
*COMPASS REINITIATED AT HOLD AT KEPLER CHEUVREUX; PT 930P
*ROYAL MAIL RATED NEW HOLD AT DEUTSCHE BANK; PT 587P
*SODEXO REINITIATED AT BUY AT KEPLER CHEUVREUX; PT EU85

>>> Call
>> Stock
*MARKS & SPENCER ADDED TO CONVICTION SELL LIST AT GOLDMAN
*Citi Adds to European Key List : Electrolux, Kuoni, Mediolanum
•Citi Removes from European Key Lsit : Davide Campari, Enagas, Red Electrica

FT : Shell faces probe over Alaska rig accident

Shell faces probe over Alaska rig accident

A US Coast Guard admiral has promised a thorough investigation into potential breaches of the law and safety regulations when a drilling rig that had been working for Royal Dutch Shell in the Arctic ran aground off Alaska on New Year’s eve 2012.
Rear-admiral Joseph Servidio highlighted what he called the “inadequate assessment and management of risks by the parties involved” as the most significant cause of the accident, adding that he was “most troubled” by “the significant number and nature” of the potential violations.

In a statement published with the Coast Guard’s official report on the grounding of the Kulluk drilling rig, Rear-admiral Servido also drew attention to the importance of the safety management systems used by the crews of the ships involved and the operating company running the project, which was Shell.
“If the potential violations of law and regulations noted in the report actually occurred, far greater levels of oversight will be required,” he wrote.
The report is another blow for Shell’s hopes of drilling in the Arctic waters north of Alaska, where it believes it has the potential to discover large new oilfields.
The exploration campaign, which has been dogged by protests and legal challenges from environmentalists, as well as extreme technical difficulties, was estimated last year to have already cost about $5bn, before the company had drilled into a single oil-bearing rock.
Shell was forced to abandon a plan to drill in the Arctic this year after a successful legal challenge to its licences, and Ben van Beurden, the group’s new chief executive, has been non-committal about whether it will try again next year.
The Kulluk was a rig with an unusual conical design, suitable for withstanding icy Arctic waters but hard to transport. It had no propulsion of its own and had to be towed into position.


Shell planned to move it to Seattle in December 2012 for repairs, in part to save millions of dollars in Alaskan tax that would have been payable if it had remained in the state’s waters on January 1 2013.
Its towing cable snapped in rough seas, however, and after attempts to retrieve the rig failed, it ran aground on an island off Alaska’s south coast on December 31.
Much of the Coast Guard report focuses on the decisions taken on board the Aiviq, the tug towing the rig, which was owned by Edison Chouest Offshore, a marine transport company.
The report concluded that the Aiviq’s master, chief engineer, and third mate may all have been negligent at certain points during the incident.
It said there was “evidence that a violation of law or regulation may have occurred on the part of Edison Chouest Offshore in that they failed to report . . . numerous marine casualties and safety related vessel issues”.
It added: “This matter should be turned over to the cognizant civil penalty authority for consideration.”


Ed Markey, a Democratic senator who is a longstanding critic of Shell’s Arctic drilling programme, said the company “should be held accountable for its reckless behaviour.”
He added: “This report shows that Shell ran through every single safety and common sense red light in moving this rig because of financial considerations. This kind of behaviour should raise major red flags for any future Arctic drilling plans”.
Lisa Murkowski, the Republican senator from Alaska, said the Coast Guard had made good recommendations to improve the safety of Arctic drilling in the future.
“I believe that we can safely develop our energy resources in the Arctic, but it requires that we adhere to world-class safety standards,” she said.
Shell said it was reviewing the report, adding: “Already, we have implemented lessons learnt from our internal review of our 2012 operations. Those improvements will be measured against the findings in the USCG report as well as recommendations from the US Department of Interior.”
It said last year that the Kulluk would be scrapped.
Edison Chouest did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

FT : Mylan weighs move for Swedish rival Meda

Mylan weighs move for Swedish rival Meda

Mylan Inc, the US generic drug producer, is eyeing the takeover of Swedish rival Meda in a deal that would create a $23bn-plus pharmaceutical business as the US healthcare industry goes through one of the largest shake-ups in its history.
Pennsylvania-based Mylan has appointed advisers to help it put together a deal for Meda, according to people familiar with the situation. The process is at a preliminary stage, however, and no deal is certain.


The exact value of a takeover could not be ascertained, but a person familiar with the matter said Mylan would likely pay a “significant” premium to Meda’s market value, which stood at SKr29.5bn ($4.5bn) at the end of Thursday trading. Mylan’s market value is $18.5bn.
An acquisition, which is likely to be largely paid for with stock, would slash Mylan’s tax bill. The prospect reflects the trend among US businesses of doing so-called “inversions”, whereby a company uses an overseas acquisition to relocate its headquarters, thus avoiding US corporate tax obligations.
The practice of inversions has come under fire recently, with President Barack Obama outlining proposals in March’s budget that would all but end the tax switch. The existing rules allow a US company to forgo its domestic tax status if it acquires a company in a deal that transfers more than 20 per cent of the shares to foreign owners.
Under the Obama administration’s new proposal, that share ownership threshold would be raised to 50 per cent, meaning a US company would have to buy a company larger than itself to meet the criteria.
Pharmaceutical companies have been among the most active users of inversions because they typically have operations and income spread over many countries, which allows them to keep their profits outside the US once they move headquarters.
Mylan, which posted $6.8bn of revenue in the year to December 31, employs 20,000 people across 140 countries and generates less than half of its sales in the US.
Meda’s former chief executive officer, Anders Lönner, stepped down after 14 years last October and was succeeded by Jörg-Thomas Dierks, the company’s former chief operating officer.
The Swedish’s group’s portfolio includes respiratory, allergy and erectile dysfunction products. Mylan’s products range from generic pharmaceuticals and brand medications to antiretroviral therapies for the treatment of HIV/Aids.
US drugmakers, hospitals, insurers and doctors are battling to find new ways to secure their business models as Mr Obama pushes through sweeping reforms to the country’s healthcare system.
Mylan had no comment. Meda could not immediately be reached.

>>> Asian Update

Asian Market Update: China regulators urge banks to conduct better management of NPLs after recent rise in bad loans

***Economic Data*** - (PH) PHILIPPINES MAR CPI M/M: -0.1% V +0.2%E; Y/Y: 3.9% V 4.1%E; CORE CPI Y/Y: 2.8% V 3.0%

Market Snapshot (as of 03:30 GMT): - Nikkei225 +0.1%, S&P/ASX flat, Kospi -0.1%, Shanghai Composite +0.3%, Hang Seng -0.1%, Jun S&P500 +0.1% at 1,885, Jun gold 0.1% at $1,286, May crude oil flat at $100.33/brl

***Highlights/Observations/Insights*** - Asian indices and USD majors are in a holding pattern ahead of the critical US non-farm payrolls data - the first print since the spring thaw has presumably unshackled economic data from the drag of the polar vortex. Consensus is calling for about 200K jobs which would be a 4-month high, even though leading employment indicators have been somewhat conflicting. Today's ISM services employment component was very strong, while the most recent publication of Online Conference Board job listings data was suspiciously underwhelming.

- Most notable regional developments are in China, where the national Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) requested that banks better manage their NPL ratios. The call comes on the heels of a large increase in bad loans unveiled by China's top-5 lenders in 2013. Separately, we've seen some chatter of a denial of press reports that China city of Changshain Hunan Province may scale back on the home purchasing curb measures. Recall that report earlier this week led to some rather impressive gains among the Chinese property names.

***Fixed Income/Commodities/Currencies*** - (US) Weekly Fed Balance Sheet Total Assets Week ending April 2nd: $4.24T v $4.23T prior; Reserve Bank Credit: $4.19T v $4.18T prior; M1: -$15.7B (3rd straight decline) v -$54.3B prior; M2: +$20.0B v +$12.2B prior; M1 y/y change: 10.0% (7-month high) v 9.9% w/w; M2 y/y change: 5.8% v 5.8% w/w - (JP) BOJ offers to buy ¥110B in 1-yr and under JGB, ¥250B in 1-3yr JGB, ¥250B in 3-5yr JGB, and ¥1.5T in T-bills - (AU) Australia MoF (AOFM) sells A$700M in 2016 Bonds; Avg yield 2.8621%, bid-to-cover 5.79x - SLV: iShares Silver Trust ETF daily holdings rise to 10,229 tonnes from 10,208 tonnes prior(highest since Dec 6th, 2013) - (CN) China Qinhuangdao coal price flat at CNY525-535/t (remains at multi-month low) - USD/CNY: (CN) PBoC sets yuan mid point at 6.1557 v 6.1520 prior setting (2nd consecutive weaker setting; Weakest setting since Sept 18th)

- USD majors are locked into tight ranges ahead of the non-farm payrolls. USD/JPY remains capped at the ¥104 mark, EUR/USD is supported above $1.37, while AUD/USD and NZD/USD are only up about 10pips respectively above 0.9230 and $0.8550.

***Equities*** US markets: - MRCY: Boeing said to be considering bid for the company as MRCY continues to explore sale process - financial press; +16.0% afterhours - SNX: Reports Q1 $1.25 v $0.94e, R$3.02B v $2.75Be; +15.7% afterhours - MU: Reports Q2 $0.85 v $0.61e, R$4.11B v $3.99Be; +1.5% afterhours - MYL: Said to be considering deal for Meda - FT; +0.2% afterhours

Notable movers by sector: - Financials: Country Garden Holdings 2007.HK -2.7% (Mar sales results) - Materials: St Barbara Ltd SBM.AU flat (operation halted due to heavy rain) - Energy: Santos Ltd STO.AU +1.8% (started environmental approval for coal seam gas project) - Industrials: China Shipping Development 1138.HK +4.1% (Q1 guidance); Shanghai Zhixin Electric 600517.CN -0.4% (FY13 results); Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport 600004.CN -0.1% (FY13 results) - Technology: BOE Technology Group 000725.CN +1.3% (private placement plan)

WSJ: Mylan Looking at Takeover of Swedish Drug Maker Meda AB

Mylan Looking at Takeover of Swedish Drug Maker Meda AB

Mylan Inc. MYL -1.79% is looking at buying Swedish drug maker Meda MEDA-A.SK -0.67% AB, according to people familiar with the matter, in what would be the pharmaceutical industry's latest tie-up that could lower a U.S. company's taxes.

Executives at Mylan, which has a $18.5 billion market capitalization, have been open about doing a big acquisition. When announcing its fourth-quarter earnings in February, the company said it expected to do a "substantial deal" this year.

Canonsburg, Pa.-based Mylan has been working with advisers on the possible deal, one of the people said. Mylan's interest in Meda, with a market capitalization of about $4.5 billion, was first reported by the Financial Times.

Last year, Mylan had $6.9 billion in sales. Many of Mylan's products are generic versions of brand-name drugs. But it is best known for its own branded product EpiPen, an emergency treatment for allergic reactions.

Pharmaceutical companies like Mylan have been heavily acquisitive in recent years amid heightened competition, pricing pressures and fewer brand-name blockbuster drugs losing U.S. patent protection. And investors have rewarded deals, most recently Actavis ACT -0.86% PLC's $25 billion deal to buy Forest Laboratories Inc. FRX -0.57%

In recent years, several companies, including Actavis, Perrigo Co. PRGO -2.82% PLC and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., VRX.T -3.68% have bought companies in countries with lower tax rates than the U.S., such as Ireland.

Mylan estimated a tax rate of 24% to 26% this year. U.S.-based Perrigo said it could lower its rate to 17% within 12 to 18 months after closing its $8.6 billion deal to buy Ireland-based Elan, according to Moody's Investors Service.

Meda sells a variety of drugs, including treatments for rheumatoid arthritis, women's health conditions and respiratory disorders.

WSJ Globalfoundries candidate to buy IBM chip plants

Globalfoundries Emerges as Lead Candidate to Buy IBM Chip Plants Taiwan Semiconductor Said to Have Dropped Out of Talks

Globalfoundries Inc. has emerged as the lead candidate to buy International Business Machines Corp.'s semiconductor manufacturing operations, people familiar with the matter said. IBM has also held talks with chip makers Intel Corp. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., these people said. TSMC has dropped out of the talks, the people said. Intel is still involved, but Globalfoundries appears to have a stronger interest, these people said. Talks between IBM and Globalfoundries are ongoing and a deal isn't imminent, these people said. The transaction involves thorny issues, including control of intellectual property and terms under which the ultimate buyer of the facilities may keep manufacturing chips for IBM computers, they added. Price is also another sticking point, with IBM initially asking for more than $2 billion and bidders coming in north of $1 billion, the people said. The price may fluctuate higher or lower, though, depending on structure of the deal, said one of the people. To the extent that IBM includes chip-intellectual property in the deal, the price could go lower, this person said. The situation is fluid and another bidder could ultimately prevail, one of the people said. A spokeswoman for TSMC said the company has studied the IBM chip plant and that it has no current plan to add a new plant in an overseas market. Representatives from IBM, Globalfoundries and Intel declined to comment. A sale of the chip-manufacturing operations, if completed, would represent IBM's most significant strategic shift since the company got out of the PC business in 2004. IBM has repeatedly exited low-margin businesses where it couldn't find a competitive edge, like PCs. Chip manufacturing, by contrast, is a field involving fundamental research and development, a longtime foundation for IBM hardware that has also helped drive innovation in the broader semiconductor industry. IBM factories make computer chips for its own high-end server systems as well as for external customers. Shedding those capital-intensive operations could help boost IBM's profitability, and dovetail with recent moves by the company to reduce its reliance on selling computer hardware. IBM recently struck a deal to sell its low-end server business to Lenovo Group Ltd. IBM still makes mainframes and high-end servers based on internally designed chips, though sales of servers that use the Unix operating system have been tumbling in recent quarters. IBM wants to maintain control over as much semiconductor research and development as possible, but Globalfoundries is also interested in gaining more ownership of that expertise and intellectual property, said the people. As part of the deal, Globalfoundries also wants to secure an agreement to be IBM's main chip supplier, but IBM has concerns over whether the company can be a reliable supplier, said the people. "IBM wants to control what quality comes out and have the option of getting out of the deal," said one of the people. "[Globalfoundries] thinks it's nice to have the manufacturing if we can also get the R&D and be your supplier." TSMC dropped out of the talks because it only wanted the R&D operation and wasn't interested in adding more chip-making capacity, said the people. Over the past decade, IBM has transferred much of its chip-making R&D and prototyping from its own facilities to the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering at the State University of New York in Albany. IBM and other chip makers send engineers to the campus, which is hosting research in areas that include development of larger semiconductor wafers to boost manufacturing productivity. Globalfoundries, which is based in Santa Clara, Calif., is backed by the government of Abu Dhabi. The company was founded in 2009 from the former manufacturing operations of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. In addition to operating former AMD factories in Germany, Globalfoundries has built a large factory near Albany and runs factories in Asia that were once part of Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd. The company makes chips for AMD, which competes with Intel in selling chips for personal computers. On Tuesday, AMD said it expects to pay Globalfoundries about $1.2 billion in 2014 for work that includes making some chips for game consoles that are now exclusively made by TSMC. IBM's factories made chips used in the last generation of videogame consoles from Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp. But both companies shifted their latest machines to chips from AMD. IBM still makes chips used in Nintendo Co.'s Wii system. Toni Sacconaghi, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, said in a recent interview that IBM has less of an economic rationale for its own chip manufacturing plants as the company focuses less on servers. IBM is also making fewer chips for external customers, giving it more of a reason to jettison the unit, he said. Last year, sales of IBM's chip-making unit declined about 7% to $1.46 billion. Sales of the business that provides circuit design and manufacturing consulting services fell 38% to $215 million.

>>> US Close Dow-0,45% S&P-0,11% Nasdaq-0,91%

The stock market finished the Thursday session on a lower note with small caps leading the weakness. The Russell 2000 (-1.0%) and Nasdaq (-0.9%) posted comparable losses while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (unch) and S&P 500 (-0.1%) finished little changed after climbing off their lows during the last hour of action.

Equity indices began the day with modest gains, but were quick to slip into the red, where they remained for the rest of the session. Of the major averages, the Nasdaq faced the most aggressive selling due to the daylong weakness in biotechnology and an afternoon slump in the technology sector (-0.6%).

Biotechnology spent the entire session in a steady retreat that pressured the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 234.71, -6.89) back below its 100-day moving average (238.12). The biotech ETF lost 2.9% while the broader health care sector lost 0.3%.

For its part, the technology sector was among the early relative strength leaders before turning into a laggard during the early afternoon. It is worth mentioning the early strength was bolstered by a big gain in Google (GOOG 569.74, +2.74), which underwent a 2:1 split. The stock was up more than 3.0% in the morning before surrendering most of its gain over the course of the session. Most other large tech names finished in the red while Intel (INTC 26.41, +0.52) held a solid gain throughout the day.

Elsewhere, the discretionary sector (-0.5%) was another notable laggard after finishing among the leaders on Monday and Tuesday. Large components like Amazon.com (AMZN 333.62, -8.34), Priceline.com (PCLN 1237.45, -29.21), and Netflix (NFLX 354.69, -8.19) fell between 2.3% and 2.4% while homebuilders held up relatively well. The iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction ETF (ITB 24.71, 0.00) ended flat.

On the upside, the energy sector (+0.6%) held a solid gain throughout the session while crude oil advanced 0.7% to $100.29/bbl.

Meanwhile, the other commodity-linked sector, materials (+0.1%) posted a modest gain, thanks to a boost from Monsanto (MON 117.04, +2.62), which gained 2.3% after being upgraded to ‘Overweight' from ‘Neutral' at JP Morgan.

Treasuries ended near the middle of their range with the benchmark 10-yr yield falling two basis points to 2.79%.

Participation was below average with 647 million shares changing hands at the NYSE.

Today's economic data included three reports:
The weekly initial claims level increased to 326,000 from a revised 310,000 (from 311,000). The consensus expected the initial claims level to increase to 320,000. After several months between 330,000 and 340,000, initial claims have broken those bounds and are now trending between 315,000 and 330,000. This range is more typical of a 200,000 monthly increase in nonfarm payrolls. We would not be surprised, given the strength of the claims data in March, if payrolls top 200,000 for the first time since November 2013.
The U.S. trade deficit increased to $42.30 billion in February from a slightly upwardly revised $39.30 billion (from $39.10 billion) in January. That was the largest deficit since reaching $43.40 billion in September 2013. The consensus pegged the trade deficit at $39.30 billion. The goods deficit rose to $61.70 billion in February from $59.50 in January, an increase of $2.20 billion. The services surplus fell $800 million to $19.40 billion in February from $20.20 billion.
The ISM Non-Manufacturing Index increased to 53.1 in March from 51.6 in February while the consensus expected an increase to 53.5. The increase in the headline index was mostly the result of a recovery in employment. The Employment Index, which contracted in February, increased to 53.6 in March from 47.5.
Tomorrow's data will focus on jobs with March Nonfarm Payrolls (consensus 195K), Private Payrolls (consensus 205K), Unemployment Rate (consensus 6.6%), Hourly Earnings (consensus +0.2%), and Average Workweek (consensus 34.4) all set to cross the wires at 8:30 ET.


S&P 500 +2.2% YTD
Russell 2000 +1.6% YTD
Nasdaq Composite +1.5% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average -0.02% YTD

>>> Kellog +6% today - no specific news - Volume is 4 times Avg volume

Kellogg shares trading 6% higher in late trading today
K
Kellogg April, May and June 65 call options seeing notable interest today as well, along with relative strength/breakout in stock (64.92 +2.26)
Options Activity: K calls seeing interest with calls outpacing puts by a factor of 4.6:1; most notable are the May 65 calls (trading 3620 contracts versus open interest of 200)

>>> Micron beats by $0.09, beats on revs

Micron beats by $0.09, beats on revs 

Reports Q2 (Feb) earnings of $0.85 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.09 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.76; revenues rose 97.6% year/year to $4.11 bln vs the $4.02 bln consensus.
Revenues from sales of Trade NAND Flash products were 11 % higher in the second quarter of fiscal 2014 compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2014 primarily due to a 35 % increase in sales volume offset by an 18 % decrease in average selling prices.
Revenues from sales of DRAM products were essentially unchanged in the second quarter of fiscal 2014 compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2014 as both sales volumes and average selling prices remained stable.
The company's overall consolidated gross margin was 34 % in the second quarter of fiscal 2014 compared to 32 % in the first quarter of fiscal 2014 as a result of a higher DRAM gross margin.
Cash flows from operations for the second quarter of fiscal 2014 were $1.39 bln, while investments in capital expenditures were $565 mln. The company ended the second fiscal quarter with cash and marketable investments of $5.06 bln.