Semtech Bid Lower on Q3 Earnings Results
by Insider Scoop - November 30th, 2011 4:58 pm
Courtesy of Benzinga.
Shares of Semtech (NASDAQ: SMTC) are trading lower in the after-hours following the release of the company’s Q3 earnings results. Currently, shares are bid $22.15, at $22.69; they ended the regular session higher by 7.11%, at $23.20.
Semtech reported Q3 non-GAAP EPS of $0.52 on revenues of $123.9 million; revenues increased 0.7% year over year and decreased 4.8% sequentially. Non-GAAP gross profit margin for the third quarter of fiscal year 2012 was 59.4%.
Mohan Maheswaran, Semtech’s President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “During the third quarter of fiscal year 2012, we posted revenue in line with our prior expectations and carefully managed expenses in light of the overall softness in orders. In Q3 we posted a record number of design wins and released 25 new products which are positive indicators for future growth.”
“As we enter our seasonally weakest quarter, we see continued macro-economic uncertainty. In addition we also expect our Q4 results to be adversely impacted by the recent floods in Thailand.”
Semtech’s board also authorized a $50 million increase to the company’s stock buyback program.
Semtech Corporation is a supplier of analog and mixed-signal semiconductor products.
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DiggJDA Will Use Bonds, Cash, Insurance to Pay in Litigation Settlement with Dillard’s
by Insider Scoop - November 30th, 2011 4:56 pm
Courtesy of Benzinga.
JDA Software Group (NASDAQ: JDAS) today announced that it has entered into a settlement agreement with Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE: DDS) which brings to conclusion a litigation matter related to a software license and service agreement between i2 Technologies, and Dillard’s that originated in 2000. JDA acquired i2 in January of 2010.
For more Benzinga, visit Benzinga Professional Service, Value Investor, and Stocks Under $5.
Nigel Farage Slams Supposedly-Austere EU For Bribing Croatia To Join The ‘Bent, Corrupt, And Distorted’ Party
by Zero Hedge - November 30th, 2011 4:52 pm
Courtesy of ZeroHedge. View original post here.
Submitted by Tyler Durden.
As the central bankers and political leaders of the ‘supposedly-developed’ world sit back in their chaise-longues sipping mojitos at a job-well-done for today’s mindless rally on the back of a slightly lower cost of funds in a facility that already existed but was hardly utilized, perhaps they will cough a little at Nigel Farage‘s (the cantankerously correct MEP from The UK) comments today. Describing the process of ‘bribing’ Croatia to join the EU as a ‘bent, corrupt, and distorted’ effort, he remarks that he has never seen this kind of pressure. It is remarkable, he notes in an undeniably intelligent-sounding English accent, that after only 20 years out of the former Yugoslavia, after such a long period of seeking independence, they are now voting to rejoin a ‘new Yugoslavia’ – a failing political experiment. Perhaps, Van Rompuy and friends would be better spending the money on more mojitos for their friends at the Fed and PBOC?
New Energy Systems Group Sells Declining E’Jenie and NewPower Battery Components and Li-ion Battery Business
by Insider Scoop - November 30th, 2011 4:45 pm
Courtesy of Benzinga.
ew Energy Systems Group (NYSE: NEWN) today announced its Board of Directors and Management team have finalized the sale of its E’Jenie and NewPower battery and battery components business to a group of employees in each business unit for approximately $13.4 million. After suspending guidance in August 2011, the Company has also provided a detail to its revised guidance for the full year of 2011.
“As discussed on our third quarter conference call, we have continued to witness a decline in our E’Jenie and NewPower business units in an increasingly competitive marketplace in China,” began Chairman and CEO, Weihe “Jack” Yu. “A recent product return of approximately $1.7 million of NewPower batteries from a customer and large impairment charges we reported in the third quarter related to those two respective business units further confirmed our decision to exit these declining businesses. We are confident this move will enable us to focus on our more promising Anytone® and Kim Fai solar businesses in the coming year and improve our overall financial results.”
For more Benzinga, visit Benzinga Professional Service, Value Investor, and Stocks Under $5.
Yes, Virginia. The banks really were bailed out.
by ilene - November 30th, 2011 4:42 pm
Yes, Virginia. The banks really were bailed out.
Courtesy of Steve Randy Waldman of Interfluidity
I find it really depressing that I have to write this. But it seems I have to write it.
Substantially all of the TARP funds advanced to banks have been paid back, with interest and sometimes even with a profit from sales of warrants. Most of the (much larger) extraordinary liquidity facilities advanced by the Fed have also been wound down without credit losses. So there really was no bailout, right? The banks took loans and paid them back.
Bullshit.
Suppose you buy fire insurance from Inflammable Insurance. You pay $1000 for a year of insurance. There is no fire, so you make no claim. Next year, you find a different provider offering a better price, and you switch.
Soon after your relationship has ended, you discover that Inflammable failed to pay any claims at all during the year you were insured, because all customer premiums were diverted to the Cayman Islands and then spent on kiddy porn and Pez. Were you defrauded? Do you have any cause for complaint? After all, ex post your cash flows turned out to be the same as if you had been dealt with fairly.
Of course you have been defrauded. You did not get what you had paid for. You had paid for Inflammable to bear risk on your behalf. It did not do so. The money you paid was simply stolen.
In financial markets, risk-bearing is the ultimate commodity. It is what financial market participants buy and sell. As a financial speculator, I spend exorbitant amounts of money buying out-of-the-money options to limit my downside risk. The vast majority of those options expire worthless, just like the vast majority of fire insurance policies end with no claims paid. If only someone would give me all those options for free, or sell them to me for half the market price, or reimburse the cost of the options that I never end up using, I would be rich. Seriously, given the years I’ve been in this game, I’d be pretty set if I had my option premiums back. It doesn’t seem fair at all that I am confined to a modest middle-class life because I had to buy all this insurance I never used.
Cash is not king in financial markets. Risk is. The government bailed out major banks by assuming
…
OpenTable Announces $50 Million Share Repurchase Program
by Insider Scoop - November 30th, 2011 4:32 pm
Courtesy of Benzinga.
OpenTable, Inc. (Nasdaq: OPEN), today announced that its Board of Directors has approved a $50 million share repurchase program.
Under the share repurchase program, OpenTable is authorized to repurchase up to $50 million of its outstanding shares of common stock. Any share repurchases made pursuant to the program will be made from time to time in the open market, in privately negotiated transactions or otherwise. The timing and amount of any shares repurchases will be determined by the Company’s management based on its evaluation of market conditions, the trading price of the stock, regulatory requirements and other factors. The Company expects to fund the share repurchase program through cash and short-term investments. The share repurchase program may be suspended, modified or discontinued at any time at the Company’s discretion without prior notice.
For more Benzinga, visit Benzinga Professional Service, Value Investor, and Stocks Under $5.
Finisar Falls on Poor Guidance
by Insider Scoop - November 30th, 2011 4:18 pm
Courtesy of Benzinga.
Shares of Finisar (NASDAQ: FNSR) are trading lower in the after-hours following the release of the company’s Q2 earnings results. Currently, shares are lower by 3.25%, trading at $17.84; they ended the regular session higher by 7.77%, at $18.44.
Finisar reported Q2 EPS of $0.23 on revenues of $241.5 million; revenues increased 0.2% year over year.
“We continued to execute well on our product development plan and have delivered to customers a number of innovative products in the WSS and pluggable product lines during the second quarter,” said Eitan Gertel, Finisar’s Chief Executive Officer.
“Production of our tunable XFP transceiver products began to ramp during the second quarter of fiscal 2012. Tunable XFPs were qualified at several additional customers during the second quarter and we expect more qualifications in the third quarter. In addition, we have qualified our next generation edge or access WSS modules with multiple customers and expect revenue from these products to continue to ramp in the first half of calendar 2012.”
The company sees Q3 EPS in the range of $0.20-0.24 on revenues of $235-250 million; the Street was at $0.26 per share on revenues of $250.02 million. Finisar Corporation is a provider of optical subsystems and components that interconnect equipment in short-distance local area networks, storage area networks, longer distance metropolitan area networks, fiber-to-the-home networks, cable television networks and wide area networks.
For more Benzinga, visit Benzinga Professional Service, Value Investor, and Stocks Under $5.
Whatever Happened to The…Aluminum ETF?
by Insider Scoop - November 30th, 2011 4:17 pm
Courtesy of Benzinga.
If new ETFs are considered to be those funds that are less than a year old, than the Global X Aluminum ETF (NYSE: ALUM) fits the bill as a “new ETF.” It may seem like ages ago, but the Global X Aluminum ETF came to market on Jan. 4, 2011, marking the introduction of the first equity-based aluminum ETF. No rivals have followed.
To be sure, ALUM is actually a decent idea among sector funds. Aluminum’s status as an industrial metal makes it worth watching as a tell on the strength of the global economy and equities have traditionally been the best way to gain aluminum exposure.
To say ALUM has been a victim of bad timing is accurate. Aluminum prices on the London Metals Exchange were flirting with $1.30 a pound early this year. Today, they rest around 90 cents per pound. We all know the story: Europe, China and the U.S. have issues that are not conducive to soaring aluminum prices…for the moment.
The result is predictably ugly for ALUM. Heading into the start of trading today, ALUM was down about 40% on a year-to-date basis. Wednesday’s almost 6% gain helps, but the ETF has a long road ahead of it.
That’s obvious, but what isn’t readily apparent to the naked eye is there is opportunity with ALUM. Frankly, the ETF’s almost 17% allocation to Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO) makes it worth a look. No other U.S.-listed ETF offers that much of a weight to the world’s third-largest mining company. Dow component Alcoa (NYSE: AA) is next with a weight of almost 10%.
So rather than sit around with Alcoa and weight for Rio to buy that company (a frequent rumor), a savvy investor can use ALUM to play that possibility while getting a no-expiration call option on a rebound in aluminum prices.
A move above $10 would mean ALUM has cracked a downtrend line. A move above $11 means significant horizontal resistance has been broken. After that, a run to $13 is possible. So there you have it. At below $10, so this unheralded ETF is chock full of upside potential. Roughly 30% worth.
Bull case: Simply put, global economies…
Kaiser Federal Financial Group, Inc. Announces Stock Repurchase Program of Up to 5% of Company Stock
by Insider Scoop - November 30th, 2011 4:15 pm
Courtesy of Benzinga.
Kaiser Federal Financial Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: KFFG), the holding company for Kaiser Federal Bank, announced today that on November 29, 2011 its Board of Directors authorized a stock repurchase program pursuant to which the Company intends to repurchase up to 5% of its issued and outstanding shares, or up to approximately 480,257 shares. The timing of the repurchases will depend on certain factors, including but not limited to, market conditions and prices, the Company’s liquidity requirements and alternative uses of capital.
For more Benzinga, visit Benzinga Professional Service, Value Investor, and Stocks Under $5.
Guess? Falls Following Q3 Earnings Release
by Insider Scoop - November 30th, 2011 4:13 pm
Courtesy of Benzinga.
Shares of Guess? (NYSE: GES) are trading lower in the after-hours following the release of the company’s Q3 earnings results. Currently, shares are lower by 3.27%, trading at $27.20; they ended the regular session higher by 4.19%, at $28.12.
Guess? reported Q3 EPS of $0.71 on revenues of $642.8 million; revenues increased 4.7% year over year. In constant dollars, total net revenue increased 1.9%. North American Retail revenues increased 5%, while European revenues increased 2% in US dollars and decreased 4% in local currency terms.
Paul Marciano, Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We are pleased to deliver third quarter earnings consistent with our expectations, even as economic pressures have intensified and are affecting consumer confidence in many of our markets, particularly in Europe. During the quarter, we made good progress on many key strategic initiatives.”
“Our efforts to elevate our brand in North America are yielding significant improvements in profitability. We enjoy momentum in Asia and the newer markets in Europe where our brand is well known but where our business is still under-penetrated. And we are focusing on sound execution, managing our inventories, expenses and capital prudently.”
The company sees FY2012 EPS in the range of $3.04-3.10 on an adjusted basis; GAAP diluted earnings per share is expected to be between $2.85 and $2.91.
Guess?, Inc. designs, markets, distributes and licenses apparel and accessories for men, women and children.
For more Benzinga, visit Benzinga Professional Service, Value Investor, and Stocks Under $5.
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Philip R. Davis is a founder Phil's Stock World, a stock and options trading site that teaches the art of options trading to newcomers and devises advanced strategies for expert traders...
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