- Reports Q2 (Sep) earnings of JPY3.84 per share, JPY10.05 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus of JPY13.89; revenues fell 10.8% year/year to JPY1688.9 bln vs the JPY1770.77 bln Capital IQ Consensus.
- This decrease in revs was mainly due to the impact of foreign exchange rates. On a constant currency basis, sales were essentially flat year-on-year, due to a
decrease in Mobile Communications segment sales reflecting a significant decrease in smartphone unit sales, substantially offset by an increase in revenues in the Financial Services segment due to an improvement in investment performance in the separate account at Sony Life Insurance Co, as well as an increase in sales in the Pictures segment.
- This decrease in revs was mainly due to the impact of foreign exchange rates. On a constant currency basis, sales were essentially flat year-on-year, due to a
- Co reaffirms guidance for FY17, sees FY17 revs of JPY7.4 trln vs. JPY7630.55 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
- Recall, co lowered its FY17 forecast yesterday
- Related to the planned transfer of its battery business, Sony expects to record an impairment charge of ~JPY33.0 billion as an operating loss in the Components segment and JPY4.5 bln is expected to be recorded in income taxes during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2017 (April 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017). As a result, a loss of ~JPY37.5 billion is expected to be recorded in net income attributable to Sony Corporation's shareholders for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2017.
- Co lowered FY17 net income of JPY60 bln, down from JPY80 bln prior (per yesterday's release)
After Hours Summary: RYAM +11%, CGNX +8%, AMKR +6% following earnings/guidance, OCLS +70% on asset sale news... INST -18.5%, NLS -9.9%, RAIL -9.1%, THC -8.7%, TEX -5.8%, LB -5.6% following earnings/guidanceAfter Hours Gainers:
Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: RYAM +10.6%, CGNX +7.8%, AMKR +6.3%, AEIS +3.7% (ticking higher), LMNX +3.3%, ORC +2.6%, IDTI +2.1%
Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: OCLS +70% (sells its Latin American-related assets to Invekra S.A.P.I. de C.V. of Mexico for $19.5 mln in cash), DRYS +25.8% (sold five of its Panamax vessels for an aggregate gross price of $29.4 million), LION +2.4% (ticking higher - Fidelity Southern will replace Monster Worldwide in the S&P SmallCap 600 after the close of trading on November 2), DLNG +2% (Dynagas LNG Partners enters charter agreement with Gazprom Marketing & Trading Singapore for the employment of the 150k cubic meter steam turbine LNG carrier Clean Energy), BBRY +1.6% (BlackBerry signs agreement with Ford Motor Company for expanded use of BlackBerry's QNX and Security Software), VRX +1% (following late sell-off on reports that former exec might be under criminal investigation; co confirms has been fully cooperating with authorities throughout the investigation and in frequent contact/continue to cooperate with US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York), CBR +1% (light volume- Board has engaged a strategic adviser to assist in exploring strategic alternatives)
After Hours Losers:
Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: INST -18.5%, NLS -9.9%, RAIL -9.1%, THC -8.7%, STRL -7.3%, TEX -5.8%, LB -5.6%, (lowers Q3 EPS guidance ahead of its Investor Update Meeting; sees October same store sales +1% vs +LSD growth guidance), MPWR -2.9% (ticking lower), APC -2.4%, DKL -2.4%, OFIX -1.8%
Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: EFC -2.3% (ticking lower, announces third quarter dividend of $0.45 per share, down from prior $0.50/share), M -0.3% (sells five stores to General Growth Properties)
Closing Market Summary: Averages End Flat, Locking in Monthly LossesThe major averages finished the month on a flat note, settling with monthly losses across the board. Participants preferred a cautious approach at the beginning of the week as a glut of earnings reports and economic data remained in sight. The Nasdaq Composite was little changed, ending October down 2.3%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 also settled flat, finishing the month lower by 1.9%.
Equity indices briefly rose at the start of the session as a recent wave of M&A chatter culminated in some weekend deals. CenturyLink (CTL 26.58, -3.81, -12.5%) agreed to acquire Level 3 (LVLT 56.15, +2.10, +3.9%), offering $66.50 per share, or approximately $25 billion. Meanwhile, General Electric (GE 29.10, -0.12, -0.4%) reached a deal to combine its oil and gas business with Baker Hughes (BHI 55.40, -3.72, -6.3%).
The upbeat start proved to be short-lived, however, as an extended downturn in crude oil futures drove the broader market back to its flat line. The energy component was under pressure after members of OPEC failed to solidify a proposed supply freeze agreement. The oil collective held a technical meeting over the weekend, but could not cement individual production cut allocations. WTI crude settled lower by 3.9% ($46.84/bbl; -$1.88), finishing October down 2.6%.
The broader market attempted to shrug off the move in crude oil as a pullback in bond yields and largely in-line economic data offered support.
The latest inflation reading fell largely in-line with expectations as personal income rose 0.3% (consensus +0.4%) in September while personal spending increased 0.5% (consensus +0.5%). The Core PCE Price Index ticked higher by 0.1% (consensus +0.1%), pushing year-over-year growth to 1.7%. This is the last inflation reading ahead of the Fed's November policy meeting this Wednesday.
Fed funds futures were little changed by the data with the December meeting still commanding an outsized number of rate hike bets. According to the CME's FedWatch Tool, the implied probability of a December hike is 77.8%.
Nine sectors ended in positive territory with utilities (+2.0%), real estate (+1.4%), and industrials (+0.2%) outperforming. Conversely, energy (-1.2%) and health care (-0.6%) finished in the red.
In the energy sector (-1.2%), Dow component Exxon Mobil (XOM 83.32, -1.46) ended lower by 1.7% after being removed from the "Conviction Buy List" at Goldman. However, fellow Dow component Chevron (CVX 104.75, +0.93) gained 0.9% after Goldman upgraded it to "Buy" from "Neutral" and added it to its "Conviction Buy List." The broader sector finished the month down 3.0%, ending behind the benchmark index.
Biotechnology extended its recent loss as the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 256.68, -3.81, -1.5%) ended the month lower by 11.3%. This compares to a decline of 6.6% in the broader health care sector (-0.6%). The sub-industry was under pressure as participants weighed the regulatory implications of this election cycle. On that note, McKesson (MCK 127.17, +3.06) rebounded 2.5% after falling 22.7% in the prior session.
In the industrial sector (+0.2%), Roper (ROP 173.31, +5.40) outperformed after beating bottom-line estimates for the quarter. The stock rallied 3.2% as a bottom-line beat overshadowed some cautious guidance. Dow component General Electric (GE 29.10, -0.12) ended lower by 0.4% after gaining 0.5% at the start of the session.
The Treasury complex settled on a higher note with yields pulling back across the curve. The yield on the 2-yr note slipped one basis point to 0.85% while the yield on the benchmark 10-yr note ended down two basis points (1.83%). The yield on the 10-yr note increased 23 basis points in October.
Today's trading volume was above the average of 850 million as more than one billion shares changed hands at the NYSE floor.
Economic data included Personal Income, Personal Spending, Core PCE Prices, and Chicago PMI for October:
- Personal income increased 0.3% (consensus +0.4%), personal spending increased 0.5% (consensus +0.5%), and the core PCE Price Index was up 0.1% (consensus +0.1%).
- The Personal Income and Spending report for September was mostly in-line with expectations.
- The MNI Chicago Business Barometer checked in at 50.6 for October (consensus 54.0), down from 54.2 in September and the lowest reading since May.
Tomorrow's economic data will include the 10:00 ET release of the ISM Index for October (consensus 51.9) and Construction Spending for September (consensus 0.5%). Separately, Auto and Truck Sales for October will be released throughout the day.
- Russell 2000: +4.9% YTD
- Dow Jones: +4.1% YTD
- S&P 500: +4.0% YTD
- Nasdaq Composite: +3.6% YTD
As we’ve said before at Endpoints News, this has been a rough year for Sanofi $SNY. Now that Medivation has slipped through its fingers, falling to Pfizer, CEO Olivier Brandicourt has had to answer fresh questions about its M&A strategy. What will be their next target? The answer — in their Q3 call — was cancer, immunology and rare diseases. Says the CEO: “When it comes to what is going to be our interest in the future, oncology is still part of it, if we are finding potential targets which make sense strategically and economically. But we are opening our M&A strategy to what we said last year, which is a segment where we consider that we have established, already, some good presence, but we need to strengthen that presence by inorganic growth. And so, we mentioned several things last year. We mentioned immunology, we mentioned MS. Even in the first market, if you think about it, we are in genetic rare diseases, so rare disease can be also an area.”