Markets Up at Midday on Greek Deal and Positive Jobless Claims Data

Published on Thursday, 09 February 2012 14:02 Written by J Hawk

New York, February 9^th (TradersHuddle.com) – U.S. stocks opened slightly lower this morning, as Greece announced that the country had reached an agreement to receive the next bailout package from the EU/IMF/ECB troika. Trading was limited to a tight range, which took the Dow up almost 40 points and down 25 points after the opening. At midday, stocks were mostly higher from yesterday’s close.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up +26 points or -0.2 percent at midday to 12,910, with the S&P 500 Index better by +2  or +0.1 percent to 1,352, while the NASDAQ composite Index tacked on +10  or +0.3% to 2,926. 

In U.S. economic numbers, Initial Jobless claims continue to show progress, dropping to 358K from a revised 373K the previous week. The results were better than the analyst consensus of 369K. Initial Jobless Claims have been steadily declining over the past few weeks, indicating the employment picture in the United States is showing improvement.

U.S. Stocks in the News

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) stock was unchanged at midday to 20.42 per share, after the San Jose, CA based technology giant reported a second quarter earnings of 47 cents per share on revenue of $11.5 billion. The results compare to a profit of 37 cents per share on revenue of$ 10.4 billion for the same period one year ago.  The analyst consensus for earnings was for 43 cents per share on revenue of $11.23 billion. According to Cisco’s CEO John Chambers, “We delivered strong performance this quarter with record revenue and earnings per share,” Chambers continued saying, “We are executing well on our three-year plan to drive earnings faster than revenue.” Cisco also projected 2012 revenues to rise between five and ten percent.

PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) stock was down -2.36 or -3.54 percent at midday to $64.38 per share,  after the company reported net income for the fourth quarter of 2011 was $1.42 billion or $1.15 per share, excluding some items.  The analyst consensus for Pepsi’s fourth quarter earnings was for $1.13 per share. In addition, the company also reported it would be cutting its work force or 800,000 by 3% or 8,700 jobs to offset the higher cost of ingredients and higher advertising and marketing expenses in the United States. PepsiCo expects the job cuts will result in savings of up to $1.5 billion by 2014. 

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ: AKAM) stock was up +3.24 or +9.41% midday to 37.68 per share after the company beat analyst expectations reporting fourth quarter GAAP net income had increased by 42 percent quarter on quarter and 14 percent year on year to $60 million or 33 cents per diluted share. For the year, GAAP net income rose 17 percent to $201 million or $1.07 per diluted share.  The Cambridge MA based company streams video over the Internet and recently streamed the Superbowl over the Akamai HD Network in partnership with NBC Sports.  Akamai expects first quarter 2012 revenue between $305 million and $313 million, with earnings of 36 to 39 cents per share.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) stock was +15.95 or + 3.35% to $492.63 after posting a new all-time high of $496.75 on speculation the company will launch its iPad 3 in early March. Mizuho Initiated coverage on the stock with a Buy and a target price of $635, while Needham raised its target price to $620 from $520, citing the push the company is doing in the business market with its iPad and the halo effect it could have on Mac sales. Additionally, Canaccord Genuity bumped its target price to $665 from $650 on strong iPhone sales momentum.