From Tickerspy via Yahoo Finance:
Shares of hard disk drive maker Seagate Technology (NASDAQ: STX - News) are plunging 17% after the company said rising rare earths prices will result in a 200-basis point margin headwind in the second half of this year. California-based rival Western Digital (NYSE: WDC - News), which reports earnings after the close of U.S. markets today, is following suit with a decline of 8%.
Not surprisingly, the Seagate news is weighing on the Data Storage Stocks Index, which is lower by 1.1%. Research firm Brean Murray said Western Digital will probably feel a more muted impact from rising rare earths prices than Seagate, but that the latter will feel a pinch nonetheless. Rare earths prices have been soaring over the past year as China, which controls 95% of the global export market for the 17 elements used to produce an array of high-tech gadgets, has consistently pared its export quotas. The news may be having a positive affect on the Rare Earths Stocks Index, which up 1.2% today. Shares of Molycorp (NYSE: MCP - News), the largest U.S. rare earths miner, are trading flat on the day....MORE
