Stock Futures Flat amid Earnings. Stocks to Watch: AAPL, BAC, COST, GMCR, LVS, MRK, QCOM, WYNN

Published on Thursday, 02 February 2012 07:45 Written by Christopher Lynn

New York, February 2^nd (TradersHuddle.com) – Stock futures were pointing to a flat open as participants take a breather amid a flurry of earnings reports and ahead of fresh economic data, which will provide the latest glimpse of the labor market before the key non-farm payrolls report due out tomorrow.

In Asia, stocks gained, as global growth concerns eased. Improved manufacturing data points around the world helped calmed concerns that the euro zone debt crisis would cause a recession in the global economy. In Japan, the Nikkei posted gains for the third straight day; electronics were not favored, with Sharp plunging near 16% after forecasting a record annual loss. After the close, Sony (NYSE: SNE) warned of a worse than expected annual loss. And in China, the Shanghai Composite rallied close to 2%, boosted by banking shares. Chinese banks received a lift from measures unveiled by the Chinese government aimed to alleviate funding strains for small and medium-sized enterprises and boost the money supply of the nation's top banks.

In Europe, equity markets were struggling after yesterday’s sharp upside move that took equities to a 6-month high. Unilever weaker than expected earnings were weighing on sentiment. The move higher had come after increased optimism Greece will wrap up a deal with its private creditors this week that will avoid a messy default.

The euro was falling 0.20% against the Dollar, trading above the $1.31 level. Crude oil was losing 0.51% to $97.11 per barrel. Also in the energy complex, natural gas was jumping 1.5%, but still trading below $2.50 per MMBtu. Gold was adding 0.05% to $1750.30 an ounce and silver was dropping 0.41% to $33.64 an ounce. Meanwhile, copper was retreating 0.59. %.

On economic news at 8:30 am, the Labor Department will release its Weekly Jobless Claims report, with economists expecting initial claims of 377,000. At the same time Fourth quarter productivity data and unit labor costs will be available. At 10 am, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will start its testimony. And through out the morning we expect to receive the same store sales figures from national chain retailers.

Today’s Stocks to watch: Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW), Green Mountain Coffee (NASDAQ: GMCR), Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS), Merck (NYSE: MRK), Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM), and Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN).

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), the maker of iPads and iPhones, was trading flat in pre-market. In the prior session the stock posted a fresh all-time high of $458.99, still riding upside momentum from its record shattering results in January. Electronic rival Sony continues to struggle to operate in a highly competitive environment, in which its products continue to be challenge by Apple products. Earlier in the week, a bullish research note from Morgan Stanley helped the stock outperform. The firm speculated the tech giant could sell 40 million iPhones in China during 2013. Morgan Stanley said that it sees $10 per share upside to Apple’s profit in calendar 2013, as the company adds China Telecom and China Mobile to the existing iPhone carrier China Unicom

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) was unchanged in pre-market after a sharp 3% gain in the prior session. The stock is now trading between its calculated support at $7.02 and resistance at $7.50. Bank of America Merrill Lynch landed underwriting roles in the highly anticipated Facebook IPO. Year to date, BofA has jumped 32.4%.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST), the owner and operator of wholesale membership warehouses, will be in focus after it reported better than expected January same store sales figures. The retailer said that sales jumped 8% versus consensus for a 6% increase. Costco said net sales for January jumped 11% year over year to $7 billion, as comparable sales climbed 9% domestically and 6% internationally. Earlier in the year, Costco was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Bernstein. Year to date, Costco shares have practically remain flat, sliding 0.12%.

Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW), the diversified chemical company, was tumbling 3.36% after $32.80 in pre-market after missing on both the top and bottom lines. The company missed earnings expectations by $0.05 per share on revenues that climbed 2.4% year over year to $14.10 billion. According to its CEO, headwinds from Europe and input costs, particularly ethane, weighed on results during the fourth quarter.

Green Mountain Coffee (NASDAQ: GMCR), the specialty coffee company with an innovative brewing technology and socially responsible business practices, was surging 21.5% to $65.20 in pre-market after the company handily beat earnings expectations on revenues that were above estimates, which sparked a short squeeze. Green Mountain said it earned $0.60 per share, $0.22 per share, on revenues that doubled year over year to $1.16 billion. The company issued downside guidance for the current quarter, while reaffirmed its full 2012 guidance. The stock had been heavily shorted and it was punishing shorts following the quarterly results, breaking above its 200day exponential moving average on the $62.50 area.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS), the owner and operator of casino resorts and convention centers in the U.S., Macau, and Singapore, was falling 1.85% to $49.25 after the company reported inline earnings on revenues that were above consensus. Las Vegas Sands also declared an initial quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share. In Macao, the company reached record EBITDA of $434.2 million and in Singapore, EBITDA also reached a record of $429 million, while in Las Vegas, The Venetian and Palazzo generated $80.9 million in adjusted property EBITDA during the quarter, slightly ahead of the fourth quarter last year. Yesterday, Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau reported January gross gaming revenue that jumped 34.8% year over year to 25 billion patacas, the second highest monthly figure ever. Las Vegas generated about 46% of fourth quarter EBITDA.

Rival Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN), the luxury casino operator, will be in focus following the earnings results and as the company is scheduled to report its quarterly results after the closing bell, with analysts on average expecting a profit of $1.29 per share on revenues of $1.36 billion. Wynn Resorts generated 73% of its third quarter net revenues and 78% of its third quarter adjusted-EBITDA in Macau.

Merck (NYSE: MRK), the maker of Singulair and Zocor, was trading flat in pre-market on initial reaction to its quarterly results. Merck posted better than expected earnings on revenues that missed estimates. The company also provided inline guidance for fiscal 2012. Merck said it earned $0.97 per share, $0.02 better than consensus, on revenues that climbed 1.7% year over year to $12.29 billion.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM), the maker of integrated CDMA chipsets for wireless products, was rallying 4.77% to $62.40, trading above its 52-week high of $59.84, after the company posted better than expected earnings on revenues that were higher than consensus. The company also issued upside guidance for the current quarter, while for fiscal 2012, Qualcomm expects inline EPS on revenues above consensus. The company said it earned $0.97 per share, $0.07 better than consensus, on revenues that jumped nearly 40% year over year to $4.68 billion. FBR Capital raised its target price on the stock to $77 from $75, while Piper Jaffray bumped its target price to $75 from $70.