Top 10 News Items 12/12-12/16: Intel Cuts Q4 Guidance; Zynga IPO Hits the Market, Sinks; Best Buy Shares Plunge 15% on Q3 Results
Here is a recap of top news items from this week on Wall Street:
1. Shares of Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) fell more than 6 percent this week as the company lowered its fourth-quarter outlook amid hard disk drive supply shortages. Intel now sees sales of $13.4-$14 billion, down from prior guidance of $14.2-$15.2 billion. While Needham was the only firm to downgrade the stock, a number of analysts lowered estimates. Still, most analysts remain bullish on the stock.
2. Zynga (Nasdaq: ZNGA), the maker of Facebook's extremely popular FarmVille and CityVille social games, opened for public trading Friday. After pricing 100 million shares at $10, the stock opened for trade at $11. Investors began selling almost instantly however, taking the stock down to as low as $9. Shares closed at $9.30.
3. Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) posted third-quarter results Tuesday, sending the stock tumbling more than 15 percent. The electronics retailer reported quarterly earnings of 47 cents per share on sales of $12.1 billion. The Street was looking for EPS of 51 cents on sales of $12.14 billion. Best Buy reaffirmed its FY12 guidance.
4. RIM (Nasdaq: RIMM) shares tumbled 11 percent on Friday following a Q3 EPS beat on Thursday afternoon but a concerning Q4 outlook. The company reported Q3 EPS of $1.27, $0.08 better than the analyst estimate of $1.19. Revenue for the quarter came in at $5.2 billion versus the consensus estimate of $5.27 billion. RIM sees Q4 sales $4.6-$4.9 billion and EPS of 80-95 cents. The Street is currently looking for quarterly sales of $5.12 billion and EPS of $1.18.
5. Novellus (Nasdaq: NVLS) shares jumped 16 percent on Thursday following news Lam Research (Nasdaq: LRCX) announced it would acquire the company in an all-stock deal valued at $3.3 billion. Shares of Lam, meanwhile, fell 8 percent.
Under the terms of the agreement, Novellus stockholders will receive 1.125 shares of Lam Research common stock for each share of Novellus that they own, in a tax-free exchange.
6. First-time jobless claims fell to the lowest level in more than three years this week. Data from the Labor Department showed claims of 366,000, down 19,000 from an upwardly-revised reading of 385,000 for the prior week. The Street had been expecting about 390,000 in initial claims.
7. Crude oil fell from just under $100 per barrel to just over $94 per barrel as OPEC held its first meeting since June and decided to boost output slightly from about 29.6 million barrels per day to around 30 million barrels.
8. The Fed held rates at historic lows this week, sticking to its "exceptionally low" rate through mid-2013 language. The Fed said the economy is expanding moderately as global growth slows.
9. Adding to a more than 50 percent plunge since the beginning of September, shares of First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR) plummeted another 30 percent this week following a warning on Wednesday. The company now sees FY11 sales of $2.8-$2.9 billion on EPS of $5.75-$6. FY12 sales are expected to be in the range of $3.7-$4 billion and EPS will be around $3.75-$4.25.
10. Elsewhere on the earnings front: Joy Global (Nasdaq: JOYG), Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD), FedEx (NYSE: FDX), Adobe (Nasdaq: ADBE) and Accenture (NYSE: ACN) reported.
Get immediate access to market moving news and alerts with StreetInsider.com Premium - FREE TRIAL!
1. Shares of Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) fell more than 6 percent this week as the company lowered its fourth-quarter outlook amid hard disk drive supply shortages. Intel now sees sales of $13.4-$14 billion, down from prior guidance of $14.2-$15.2 billion. While Needham was the only firm to downgrade the stock, a number of analysts lowered estimates. Still, most analysts remain bullish on the stock.
2. Zynga (Nasdaq: ZNGA), the maker of Facebook's extremely popular FarmVille and CityVille social games, opened for public trading Friday. After pricing 100 million shares at $10, the stock opened for trade at $11. Investors began selling almost instantly however, taking the stock down to as low as $9. Shares closed at $9.30.
3. Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) posted third-quarter results Tuesday, sending the stock tumbling more than 15 percent. The electronics retailer reported quarterly earnings of 47 cents per share on sales of $12.1 billion. The Street was looking for EPS of 51 cents on sales of $12.14 billion. Best Buy reaffirmed its FY12 guidance.
4. RIM (Nasdaq: RIMM) shares tumbled 11 percent on Friday following a Q3 EPS beat on Thursday afternoon but a concerning Q4 outlook. The company reported Q3 EPS of $1.27, $0.08 better than the analyst estimate of $1.19. Revenue for the quarter came in at $5.2 billion versus the consensus estimate of $5.27 billion. RIM sees Q4 sales $4.6-$4.9 billion and EPS of 80-95 cents. The Street is currently looking for quarterly sales of $5.12 billion and EPS of $1.18.
5. Novellus (Nasdaq: NVLS) shares jumped 16 percent on Thursday following news Lam Research (Nasdaq: LRCX) announced it would acquire the company in an all-stock deal valued at $3.3 billion. Shares of Lam, meanwhile, fell 8 percent.
Under the terms of the agreement, Novellus stockholders will receive 1.125 shares of Lam Research common stock for each share of Novellus that they own, in a tax-free exchange.
6. First-time jobless claims fell to the lowest level in more than three years this week. Data from the Labor Department showed claims of 366,000, down 19,000 from an upwardly-revised reading of 385,000 for the prior week. The Street had been expecting about 390,000 in initial claims.
7. Crude oil fell from just under $100 per barrel to just over $94 per barrel as OPEC held its first meeting since June and decided to boost output slightly from about 29.6 million barrels per day to around 30 million barrels.
8. The Fed held rates at historic lows this week, sticking to its "exceptionally low" rate through mid-2013 language. The Fed said the economy is expanding moderately as global growth slows.
9. Adding to a more than 50 percent plunge since the beginning of September, shares of First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR) plummeted another 30 percent this week following a warning on Wednesday. The company now sees FY11 sales of $2.8-$2.9 billion on EPS of $5.75-$6. FY12 sales are expected to be in the range of $3.7-$4 billion and EPS will be around $3.75-$4.25.
10. Elsewhere on the earnings front: Joy Global (Nasdaq: JOYG), Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD), FedEx (NYSE: FDX), Adobe (Nasdaq: ADBE) and Accenture (NYSE: ACN) reported.
Get immediate access to market moving news and alerts with StreetInsider.com Premium - FREE TRIAL!
You May Also Be Interested In
Create E-mail Alert Related Categories
Special ReportsRelated Entities
Needham & Company, Facebook, StreetInsider.com Top 10 News Items for the Week, Crude Oil, OPEC, EarningsSign up for StreetInsider Free!
Receive full access to all new and archived articles, unlimited portfolio tracking, e-mail alerts, custom newswires and RSS feeds - and more!
