>>> Sally Beauty beats by $0.03, reports revs in-line; sees FY 19 EPS in-line

Sally Beauty beats by $0.03, reports revs in-line; sees FY 19 EPS in-line
  • Reports Q4 (Sep) earnings of $0.51 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the S&P Capital IQ Consensus of $0.48; revenues fell 0.8% year/year to $966 mln vs the $965.98 mln S&P Capital IQ Consensus. Consolidated same store sales decreased 0.2% in the quarter.
    • Adjusted operating earnings and operating margin (excluding charges related to the Company's transformation efforts in both years) were $112.2 million and 11.6%, respectively, compared to $120.2 million and 12.3%, respectively, in the prior year.
Fiscal Year 2019 Guidance
  • The Company expects full year consolidated same store sales to be approximately flat.
  • Full year gross margin is expected to be approximately flat compared to the prior year.
  • Full year adjusted operating earnings and operating margin are expected to decline slightly as compared to the prior year, driven primarily by an improvement in same store sales offset by the slightly higher adjusted selling, general and administrative expenses referred to above.
    • Current estimate is for FY 19 adj. EPS of $2.11

>>> Nomad Foods beats by $0.03, beats on revs; guides FY18 EPS below consensus

Nomad Foods beats by $0.03, beats on revs; guides FY18 EPS below consensus
  • Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of €0.26 per share, €0.03 better than the S&P Capital IQ Consensus of €0.23; revenues rose 15.7% year/year to €531 mln vs the €514.37 mln S&P Capital IQ Consensus.
  • Adjusted EBITDA increased 7% to €84 million.
  • Adjusted gross margin declined 190 basis points to 28.4% as positive mix was offset by an unfavorable harvest and the inclusion of the recently acquired acquisitions.
  • Co issues downside guidance for FY18, sees EPS of 1.14-1.17 vs. €1.18 S&P Capital IQ Consensus. Raises Adj. EBITDA guidance to upper end of prior guidance range of EUR365-370 mln

>>> Houghton Mifflin Harcourt beats by $0.15, beats on revs; reaffirms FY18 guid

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt beats by $0.15, beats on revs; reaffirms FY18 guidance
  • Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.70 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.15 better than the single analyst estimate of $0.55; revenues rose 3.9% year/year to $536.3 mln vs the $507.37 mln S&P Capital IQ Consensus.
  • Billings: HMH reported billings of $1,108 million for the first nine months of 2018, a slight decline compared to the same period of 2017. Education and Trade Publishing segment billings for the first nine months of 2018 were $967 million and $141 million, respectively, compared with $979 million and $129 million, respectively, for the same periods in 2017.
  • Guidance Reaffirmed: Co sees billings to be in the range of $1.285 to $1.365 billion. Content development spend for 2018 is expected to be in the range of $117 to $142 million, with total capital expenditures including non-plate capital expenditures in the range of $174 to $199 million. HMH continues to expect 2018 free cash flow from continuing operations to be negative (but improved from 2017 free cash flow from continuing operations) at the midpoint of the revised billings guidance range

DIGITIMES : Global heavyweight clients touting adoption of TSMC 7nm node

Global heavyweight clients touting adoption of TSMC 7nm node

Global heavyweight customers of TSMC are rushing to highlight the foundry giant's 7nm process support as a major booster for their new products, the latest case being AMD announcing the adoption of foundry house's 7nm node for fabricating its new-generation EPYC server processors, at its Next Horizon event held on November 7.

At the event, AMD CEO Lisa Su and other ranking executives repeatedly stressed that the firm's second-generation EPYC server processor is the world's first CPU fabricated on 7nm process at TSMC, and that its Radeon Instinct MI60 and MI50 accelerators designed for AI and machine learning are also built on 7nm node.

Earlier, China smartphone vendor Huawei, when releasing its Mate 20 model at 2018 IFA held early September in Berlin, also highlighted that the new model features the latest Kirin 980 SoC fabricated on TSMC's 7nm process enabling high-performance AI computing capability and low power consumption.

In launching new iPhones in mid-September, Apple also made a rare revelation of the spec of the A12 chip, which was touted as the world's fastest chip produced on 7nm process at TSMC.

Also, Xilinx has reiterated that its new-generation Versal APACs to be in full supply in the second half of 2019 will adopt TSMC's latest 7nm FinFET process, while China's crypto mining ASIC makers Canaan and Bitmain have also disclosed that their latest products will be fabricated by TSMC with 7nm node.

Optimism for 2019

TSMC is still quite optimistic about its business prospects for 2019 despite the US-China trade war, thanks to its leadership in advanced processes.

Samsung and Intel have yet to release clear timetables for the progress of advanced process technologies, but TSMC is estimated to complete over 50 tape-outs for 7nm process by the end of 2018, and the figure will expand to 100 by the end of 2019.

Meanwhile, TSMC's revenue ratio for 7nm process is estimated to surpass 20% in the fourth quarter of 2018, and soar further for the whole 2019. TSMC's 7nm capacity is expected to be fully utilized to fulfill massive orders from Apple, Huawei/HiSilicon, Qualcomm, Nvidia, AMD, Xilinx, and other AI chipmakers in 2019.

Besides leading in the development of advanced fabrication processes, TSMC is capable of rendering integrated services covering foundry, packaging and complete platform ecosystem, allowing the company to win high trust from global customers and far outperforming Samsung in winning orders.

>>> Commscope misses by $0.07, misses on revs; guides Q4 EPS below consensus, re

Commscope misses by $0.07, misses on revs; guides Q4 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus
  • Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.59 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.07 worse than the S&P Capital IQ Consensus of $0.66; revenues rose 1.9% year/year to $1.15 bln vs the $1.22 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus.
    • Sales increased 2 percent year over year as growth in the North America and the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regions more than offset lower sales in the Asia-Pacific region. Double-digit Outdoor Network Solutions growth, was partially offset by a decline in Indoor Copper.
    • Third quarter Connectivity Solutions segment sales increased 3 percent year over year to $732 million driven primarily by strength in North America as well as the EMEA region, partially offset by a decline in the Asia-Pacific region.
  • Co issues downside guidance for Q4, sees EPS of $0.34-0.39, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.59 S&P Capital IQ Consensus; sees Q4 revs of $1.015-1.065 bln vs. $1.17 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus.
  • Co states, "Excluding the impact of the ARRIS acquisition, we expect modest growth in 2019 and relatively stable year-over-year results, reflecting the impact of adverse spending patterns at large North American operators. Looking ahead, we expect that the ARRIS transaction will enable CommScope to achieve significant EPS accretion, execute on additional cost savings opportunities and unlock high-growth segments to deliver strong shareholder returns over the longer term.

>>> Perrigo beats by $0.05, misses on revs; cuts FY18 EPS, revs guidance

Perrigo beats by $0.05, misses on revs; cuts FY18 EPS, revs guidance
  • Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $1.09 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.05 better than the S&P Capital IQ Consensus of $1.04; revenues fell 8.0% year/year to $1.13 bln vs the $1.17 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus.
  • Co lowers guidance for FY18, sees EPS of $4.45-4.65 (Prior $4.75-4.95), excluding non-recurring items, vs. $4.86 S&P Capital IQ Consensus; sees FY18 revs of ~$4.72 bln (Prior $4.8-4.9 bln) vs. $4.87 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus.
    • The company made the adjustment primarily due to revised expectation in the RX segment. In addition, reduced margin expectations in the CHC Americas segment are expected to be partially offset by improved margin expectations in the CHC International segment

Reuters - Activists call for nationwide protests to protect Mueller investigatio

Activists call for nationwide protests to protect Mueller investigation

ATLANTA (Reuters) - U.S. progressive groups will stage hundreds of protests nationwide on Thursday to demand that President Donald Trump do nothing to hinder an ongoing investigation into Russian meddling to help him win the 2016 U.S. election.

The protests, operating under the banner “Nobody is Above the Law” and led by the activist group MoveOn, called for people to gather in cities at 5 p.m. on Thursday in an effort to protect the investigation led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

The action was spurred by Trump’s move on Wednesday to replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions with Sessions’ chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker, as acting attorney general. Sessions had recused himself from overseeing the Russia investigation, while Whitaker has called for it to be scaled down.

Trump announced the move the day after a Congressional election that saw his Republicans lose control of the House of Representatives but gain seats in the Senate.

“Donald Trump has installed a crony to oversee the special counsel’s Trump-Russia investigation,” MoveOn said on its website. It pledged that at least one rally would be held in each state.

Mueller has indicted a number of Russian individuals and firms for meddling in the election to help Trump win, and is investigating whether anyone on the Trump campaign collaborated with them. Trump denies collusion and calls the investigation a partisan witch hunt.

The Justice Department is separately investigating payments that were made during the campaign to women who said they had affairs with Trump to bar them from speaking.

Sessions has long drawn Trump’s ire for recusing himself from the Russia investigation.