Mid-Day Market Update: Noodles Slips On Downbeat Results; inContact Shares Climb

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.08 percent to 18,000.92 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.09 percent to 4,928.76. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.06 percent to 2,096.10.

Leading and Lagging Sectors
In trading on Friday, industrial shares gained by 0.12 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. CCRN, up 8 percent, and Barnes Group Inc. B, up 6 percent.
Utilities shares fell by 0.69 percent on Friday. Top losers in the sector included Consolidated Edison, Inc. ED, down 3 percent, SJW Corp. SJW, off 3 percent.

Top Headline
Deere & Co. DE reported stronger-than-expected earnings for the fiscal first quarter. However, the company cut its equipment sales forecast for fiscal 2015.
The Moline, Illinois-based company posted quarterly earnings of $386.8 million, or $1.12 per share, compared to $681.1 million, or $1.81 per share, in the year-ago quarter. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.83 per share. Its equipment sales shrank 19% to $5.61 billion, versus analysts’ estimates of $5.53 billion.
For the year, Deere now projects equipment sales to decline 17% year-over-year, versus its earlier forecast of a 15% drop. The company now expects FY15 net income of about $1.8 billion.
Equities Trading UP
inContact, Inc. SAAS shares shot up 15 percent to $11.24 after the company reported a narrower-than-expected Q4 loss. Benchmark upgraded inContact from Hold to Buy and raised the price target from $9.00 to $11.00.
Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. ANET got a boost, shooting up 5 percent to $71.35 after the company reported better-than-expected Q4 results.
Intuit Inc. INTU shares were also up, gaining 5 percent to $95.99 after the company announced a narrower-than-expected loss for the second quarter.

Equities Trading DOWN

Noodles & Company NDLS shares tumbled 28 percent to $19.98 after the company reported weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter results and issued a weak 2015 profit forecast. Baird downgraded Noodles from Outperform to Neutral and lowered the price target from $31.00 to $21.00.
Shares of Rocket Fuel Inc. FUEL were down 26 percent to $10.96. Rocket Fuel reported a Q4 loss of $0.18 per share on revenue of $139.5 million. Oppenheimer downgraded Rocket Fuel from Outperform to Perform.
Acacia Research Corporation ACTG was down, falling 6 percent to $12.42 after the company reported weaker-than-expected Q4 results.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 1.06 percent to $50.62, while gold traded down 0.07 percent to $1,206.80.
Silver traded down 0.22 percent Friday to $16.35, while copper fell 0.86 percent to $2.59.

Euro zone
European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.23 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index slipped 0.29 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.24 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX climbed 0.44 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.05 percent while UK shares rose 0.38 percent.

Economics
The flash reading of the Markit manufacturing PMI rose to 54.30 in February, versus a prior reading of 53.90. However, economists were expecting a reading of 53.60.