There are definitely a few positives in Bing(over Google/Yahoo) and so some of the Bing usage would HAVE TO be attributed to that.
Assuming that people are 'unwittingly' forced to search on Bing, are they staying and continuing to use Bing or are they going back to Google Search. That is the million-dollar question
Apple: Three Battles Won, Nicely Positioned for the Fourth [View article]
Thanks for the comments,Moon.
All I'm saying is that Apple is among the select few companies which can claim that all their major business lines are successful and more profitable than peers at that. I feel that iTunes will shortly become their fourth.
I disagree that its one sided stock hyping for there was never a argument to buy Apple stock but the argument was to admire Apple for the way it has built its businesses. And when they look set to build another business into significant size, why not highlight that?
If you actually wanted to disagree that Apple doesn't have all that great business lines, then the cost-cutting and other arguments that you put forth are not relevant. Can I see Apple making profits in all these product/business lines even after 3-4 years? Yes I do. Will they make more money that they do now? I don't know and I never wanted to answer that in the article.
On Apr 24 03:53 AM Moon Kil Woong wrote:
> My take. According to filings Apple dropped its employees 10% from > 15,600 to 14,000 and is currently under consolidation. It's margins > rose due to cost cutting and a revenue mix shifting from hardware > sales to software which means less market share gains. > > Looking at Apple to total PC shipments make more sense than comparing > them with HP and Dell which they are loosing market share. This makes > sense since Apple sells at a premium and we are in a recession.<br/> > > One can see positives as well as negatives in this filing. Cost cutting > is not bad if management is honest about it. Expanding into China > this year is a positive if Apple is honest about it combating expected > domestic sales. Choosing not to get into Net books is fine if you > think it undermines your value proposition with 13" Macbooks and > iPhones around that price and functionality area. Dissing netbooks > for no good reason isn't so intelligent. Apple should be happy it's > computers sell for a premium and commit to those price points even > if it looses market share. Jobs was always clear it was not his intention > to try to become 20 or 30% of marketshare. > > The fact that Apple sells its iPods in Wal-Mart is unsettling for > a few reasons 1) it doesn't fit their demographic niche, 2) it doesn't > ring brand value, 3) it sounds like a good place to dump, and 4) > shows Jobs is utterly absent in making corporate decisions there > anymore. > > So yes, Apple had a nice quarter but it doesn't smell like victory > to me. > > I don't own or short Apple. I'm a fan of their products but don't > like one sided stock hyping.
Apple: Three Battles Won, Nicely Positioned for the Fourth [View article]
Thanks for the comments,Moon.
All I'm saying is that Apple is among the select few companies which can claim that all their major business lines are successful and more profitable than peers at that. I feel that iTunes will shortly become their fourth.
I disagree that its one sided stock hyping for there was never a argument to buy Apple stock but the argument was to admire Apple for the way it has built its businesses. And when they look set to build another business into significant size, why not highlight that?
If you actually wanted to disagree that Apple doesn't have all that great business lines, then the cost-cutting and other arguments that you put forth are not relevant. Can I see Apple making profits in all these product/business lines even after 3-4 years? Yes I do. Will they make more money that they do now? I don't know and I never wanted to answer that in the article.
On Apr 24 03:53 AM Moon Kil Woong wrote:
> My take. According to filings Apple dropped its employees 10% from > 15,600 to 14,000 and is currently under consolidation. It's margins > rose due to cost cutting and a revenue mix shifting from hardware > sales to software which means less market share gains. > > Looking at Apple to total PC shipments make more sense than comparing > them with HP and Dell which they are loosing market share. This makes > sense since Apple sells at a premium and we are in a recession.<br/> > > One can see positives as well as negatives in this filing. Cost cutting > is not bad if management is honest about it. Expanding into China > this year is a positive if Apple is honest about it combating expected > domestic sales. Choosing not to get into Net books is fine if you > think it undermines your value proposition with 13" Macbooks and > iPhones around that price and functionality area. Dissing netbooks > for no good reason isn't so intelligent. Apple should be happy it's > computers sell for a premium and commit to those price points even > if it looses market share. Jobs was always clear it was not his intention > to try to become 20 or 30% of marketshare. > > The fact that Apple sells its iPods in Wal-Mart is unsettling for > a few reasons 1) it doesn't fit their demographic niche, 2) it doesn't > ring brand value, 3) it sounds like a good place to dump, and 4) > shows Jobs is utterly absent in making corporate decisions there > anymore. > > So yes, Apple had a nice quarter but it doesn't smell like victory > to me. > > I don't own or short Apple. I'm a fan of their products but don't > like one sided stock hyping.
STEC: Shareholder Lawsuits Point to Larger Problems [View article]
Augusto Solar,
You have some very valid points but I do differ on certain points.
1.STEC was not just a $100M company till mid-2009. Please check its market caps in 2007/08 and even in 2003(prior to and after its previous secondary offering) and its no where close to the $100M that you claim. Also to remind you, STEC has been listed for a decade now and is not a recent IPO . So your numbers itself are wrong.
2.As per Reuters estimates, consensus for Q4 revenue estimate was$107M while they guided for $101-103(median of 102 is 5% lower). So even if you are referring to a different set of estimates, I'm not sure it was not below estimates(please quote your source and what was the estimate). Else even this claim of not being below estimates is wrong.
Some other numbers which could also be useful to form an opinion on 4Q09 revenues for STEC(all numbers from the company's own filings):
3.They have already billed $54M in 3Q to EMC as part of this $120M agreement(refer Nov09 10Q). So that leaves around $76M to bill as per this agreement in 4Q09 as the agreement was for 2H09. This means that if STEC supplies EMC as per plan, ~75% of its revenue would have come from a single customer in the next quarter-4Q09. The revenue concentration of EMC will therefore increase from 54% in 3Q09(again refer Nov10Q) to 75% in 4Q09(if things go as per the EMC agreement). Back-calculating from this, non-EMC customers gave ~$44M rev in 3Q09($98 of total rev-$54M from EMC). In 4Q09, that is expected to drop to $ 27 M if we go by their guidance ($103M is upper end of rev guidance-76M is expected contribution from EMC ). So is that good or bad? If as per the Nov con. call, EMC is on track, what happened to other customers then? why is their "absolute" billings from STEC going down from 3Q to 4Q?
I'm happy to have a fact based discussion as that increases everybody's understanding of STEC as a company
STEC: Shareholder Lawsuits Point to Larger Problems [View article]
Mark,
There were no questions raised on Dan. Rather the Chariman/CEO should be worried that they have had no new board appointments and the only two new appointments for a long time were due to the previous board members resigning for less than pleasant reasons. A regular churn of 'external' directors(and not an insider becoming a non-executive director) is good for a company that aspires to be in the top league.
With regards to the SEC correspondence, I don't accept STEC's argument that the EMC contract is not material. It is a $120M contract for a company which $228M in revenues in 2008. And STEC had mentioned that most of this contract was to be fulfilled in second half of 2009 as the title of its press-release on its own website suggests:
"STEC Signs a $120 Million Supply Agreement for ZeusIOPS SSDs for 2H 2009 and Now Forecasts Sales of ZeusIOPS SSDs to Exceed $220 Million in 2009"(PR dt.July 16,2009)
On Dec 30 03:00 PM MarkLSmith wrote:
> It's amazing that the author would slam Dan Moses in a fashion like > this. The guy worked at STEC longer than anyone outside of the three > founders. To imply that there's some level of deception dating back > to 1992 is completely ludicrous. > > Also, you might want to read the SEC correspondence dated Oct. 13th, > 2009. It's a much better explanation of the EMC disclosure issue > from the company's perspective: > www.sec.gov/Archives/e...
STEC: Shareholder Lawsuits Point to Larger Problems [View article]
To All Readers, I have highlighted certain 'areas' of concern in STEC and at the same time clearly mentioned that financial performance has been good and compares favorably with the best of Tech small-caps. This by no means is a recommendation(good or bad).
Some additional information that I gathered on STEC:
1.STEC (called SimpleTech 2-3 years ago) had a secondary offering in Oct 15,2003( see link here : studio-5.financialcont...) where STEC offered 10M shares of which the company management(selling shareholders) was offering 2.5M shares(excluding underwriter options). In Oct2003, STEC shares were at or close to their life-time high of $10 at that point and shares in this secondary sale were priced at $7. For the better part of 2003, STEC shares were in the $3-5 range. But we have to admit that STEC was in a volatile market then(memory) and so wild swings in stock prices could be expected. However, their timing for the secondary offering was spot-on then and even now!!!
2.Another issue with the Board composition was more related to 'how' independent were the non-executive directors. Granted that Mr.Dan Moses is a non-executive director as of now. But even in the past(again in 2003-04), a independent director, Mr.Thomas Beaver became a executive to run a division(Xirian) which was subsequently closed and the investment of ~$3.5M written off. In fact after the stock offering in Oct03, in Jun04, it announced the closure of Xirian and also lowered revenue guidance which resulted in the stock tanking again to the $3-4 range. The next trigger was in third quarter of 2006 where it again reached double digits after it announced a stock repurchase program and revenues also picked up.
EMC's Data Domain Acquisition: A Sign of Desperation [View article]
I agree. But making expensive acquisitions is not the way out,especially during a downturn. So, my argument is that EMC should acquire -but not at any cost.
On Jul 28 08:55 AM tkane90 wrote:
> This analysis needs to be done in a way that compares other players > in the industry over the same time period. For the past twelve months > we've been in a gobal recession (hello!) and most companies in the > tech sector are struggling regardless of the business strategy. > The real question is about how well placed EMC is today versus competitors > to take advantage of a spending upswing when the economy rebounds. > Any thoughts on that? > -tk
Infosys Earnings Preview: Expect a Comfortable Earnings Beat [View article]
Results are out and here's the tally:
My Projections Actuals
Revenues $1.27-28B $1.29B Op. Profit $370M $390M Profit Before Tax $440M $445M Net Income atleast $347M $349M EPS 0.62-0.64 0.61
Guidance of 16-18% revenue growth in FY11 is as expected. Surely growth is back for IT services and we can expect a good FY2011 for Indian IT services.
They have announced nothing in terms of special dividends etc and the annual dividend is minuscule,in my view. The cash pile is becoming bigger with cash and marketable securities at $3.5B. Wonder if this is not reducing shareholder value or does INFY believe that it can act as the shareholder's cash manager!!!
Are Semiconductor Valuations Peaking? [View article]
Yes. but even the operating margins considered should not be the latest but an average. typically most firms will have cycles of impairment/restructuring charges in this industry group and latest margins might be skewed as a result(same goes for P/E as well)
Are Semiconductor Valuations Peaking? [View article]
Burnintoo,
Historical Mcap/sales ratios cannot be compared directly with current Mcap/sales ratio simply because for these companies, revenues and Mcap will be very volatile, which is why I have taken average sales during 2005-09 to compute the ratio. Also my other argument is that grow in sales/profits in this cycle(2009-2013/14) will not match the average profits/sales during 2005-09 and so these stocks cannot be viewed as growth stocks( which can have a Mcap/average sales ratio of 3.0). Stable or cyclical stocks, in my opinion should have Mcap/sales ratio of 2, and so AMAT could be more attractive compared to others in the table.
Synopsys Guidance Indicates Unlikely Growth in IC Design Starts [View article]
MENT(Mentor) had a change of Fiscal year in 2008 and so comparable fiscal data and historical quarterly data was not readily available.Else, I would have surely taken Mentor data for comparison.
Anyway the idea was to compare to a few peers and not ALL. There are other competitors like Ansys(by virtue of its Ansoft acquisition) too but getting EDA specific revenues was difficult in such cases.
Yes. Not all Tech stocks are good and for stock-picking company fundamentals are important in the current scenario of expensive valuations. Please see my earlier article on STEC and the interesting comments on the article : seekingalpha.com/artic...
Leverage and China's Property Market [View article]
Very Interesting read. Ultimately to me the realization is that when supply>>>dema... demand and not speculative demand) and Price increases in this scenario it is a bubble. This goes for apartments, commodities or even stock. The dot-com bubble was created because at some point the supply of paper(equity) was far greater than demand(Investor appetite) and yet people kept buying such stocks at higher and higher values with no botheration of demand/supply and relative supply(companies in other sectors with much much better cash flows) at far cheaper valuations. The seller kept 'marketing' a scenario of limited supply and as long buyers believed it, they bought.
Another interesting point is the importance of 'cash flows' rather than just plain asset value which can be misleading to an investor as has happened in the real estate bubble.
Success Factors: Going for Break-Even Rather than Revenue Growth? [View article]
In my opinion, it is definitely an acquisition candidate...but not necessarily for the big players(IBM/HP/Cisco etc) only. It would be a nice fit even for IT services folks like Accenture/Infosys as a productized service is a good fit for pure-play IT services
On Dec 20 01:15 AM User 381292 wrote:
> I like the article and all the points made. > Question- is SFSF a qood acquisition candidate for any of the big > players?
The Great Bing Scam [View article]
Assuming that people are 'unwittingly' forced to search on Bing, are they staying and continuing to use Bing or are they going back to Google Search. That is the million-dollar question
Apple: Three Battles Won, Nicely Positioned for the Fourth [View article]
All I'm saying is that Apple is among the select few companies which can claim that all their major business lines are successful and more profitable than peers at that. I feel that iTunes will shortly become their fourth.
I disagree that its one sided stock hyping for there was never a argument to buy Apple stock but the argument was to admire Apple for the way it has built its businesses. And when they look set to build another business into significant size, why not highlight that?
If you actually wanted to disagree that Apple doesn't have all that great business lines, then the cost-cutting and other arguments that you put forth are not relevant. Can I see Apple making profits in all these product/business lines even after 3-4 years? Yes I do. Will they make more money that they do now? I don't know and I never wanted to answer that in the article.
On Apr 24 03:53 AM Moon Kil Woong wrote:
> My take. According to filings Apple dropped its employees 10% from
> 15,600 to 14,000 and is currently under consolidation. It's margins
> rose due to cost cutting and a revenue mix shifting from hardware
> sales to software which means less market share gains.
>
> Looking at Apple to total PC shipments make more sense than comparing
> them with HP and Dell which they are loosing market share. This makes
> sense since Apple sells at a premium and we are in a recession.<br/>
>
> One can see positives as well as negatives in this filing. Cost cutting
> is not bad if management is honest about it. Expanding into China
> this year is a positive if Apple is honest about it combating expected
> domestic sales. Choosing not to get into Net books is fine if you
> think it undermines your value proposition with 13" Macbooks and
> iPhones around that price and functionality area. Dissing netbooks
> for no good reason isn't so intelligent. Apple should be happy it's
> computers sell for a premium and commit to those price points even
> if it looses market share. Jobs was always clear it was not his intention
> to try to become 20 or 30% of marketshare.
>
> The fact that Apple sells its iPods in Wal-Mart is unsettling for
> a few reasons 1) it doesn't fit their demographic niche, 2) it doesn't
> ring brand value, 3) it sounds like a good place to dump, and 4)
> shows Jobs is utterly absent in making corporate decisions there
> anymore.
>
> So yes, Apple had a nice quarter but it doesn't smell like victory
> to me.
>
> I don't own or short Apple. I'm a fan of their products but don't
> like one sided stock hyping.
Apple: Three Battles Won, Nicely Positioned for the Fourth [View article]
All I'm saying is that Apple is among the select few companies which can claim that all their major business lines are successful and more profitable than peers at that. I feel that iTunes will shortly become their fourth.
I disagree that its one sided stock hyping for there was never a argument to buy Apple stock but the argument was to admire Apple for the way it has built its businesses. And when they look set to build another business into significant size, why not highlight that?
If you actually wanted to disagree that Apple doesn't have all that great business lines, then the cost-cutting and other arguments that you put forth are not relevant. Can I see Apple making profits in all these product/business lines even after 3-4 years? Yes I do. Will they make more money that they do now? I don't know and I never wanted to answer that in the article.
On Apr 24 03:53 AM Moon Kil Woong wrote:
> My take. According to filings Apple dropped its employees 10% from
> 15,600 to 14,000 and is currently under consolidation. It's margins
> rose due to cost cutting and a revenue mix shifting from hardware
> sales to software which means less market share gains.
>
> Looking at Apple to total PC shipments make more sense than comparing
> them with HP and Dell which they are loosing market share. This makes
> sense since Apple sells at a premium and we are in a recession.<br/>
>
> One can see positives as well as negatives in this filing. Cost cutting
> is not bad if management is honest about it. Expanding into China
> this year is a positive if Apple is honest about it combating expected
> domestic sales. Choosing not to get into Net books is fine if you
> think it undermines your value proposition with 13" Macbooks and
> iPhones around that price and functionality area. Dissing netbooks
> for no good reason isn't so intelligent. Apple should be happy it's
> computers sell for a premium and commit to those price points even
> if it looses market share. Jobs was always clear it was not his intention
> to try to become 20 or 30% of marketshare.
>
> The fact that Apple sells its iPods in Wal-Mart is unsettling for
> a few reasons 1) it doesn't fit their demographic niche, 2) it doesn't
> ring brand value, 3) it sounds like a good place to dump, and 4)
> shows Jobs is utterly absent in making corporate decisions there
> anymore.
>
> So yes, Apple had a nice quarter but it doesn't smell like victory
> to me.
>
> I don't own or short Apple. I'm a fan of their products but don't
> like one sided stock hyping.
STEC: Shareholder Lawsuits Point to Larger Problems [View article]
You have some very valid points but I do differ on certain points.
1.STEC was not just a $100M company till mid-2009. Please check its market caps in 2007/08 and even in 2003(prior to and after its previous secondary offering) and its no where close to the $100M that you claim. Also to remind you, STEC has been listed for a decade now and is not a recent IPO . So your numbers itself are wrong.
2.As per Reuters estimates, consensus for Q4 revenue estimate was$107M while they guided for $101-103(median of 102 is 5% lower). So even if you are referring to a different set of estimates, I'm not sure it was not below estimates(please quote your source and what was the estimate). Else even this claim of not being below estimates is wrong.
Some other numbers which could also be useful to form an opinion on 4Q09 revenues for STEC(all numbers from the company's own filings):
3.They have already billed $54M in 3Q to EMC as part of this $120M agreement(refer Nov09 10Q). So that leaves around $76M to bill as per this agreement in 4Q09 as the agreement was for 2H09. This means that if STEC supplies EMC as per plan, ~75% of its revenue would have come from a single customer in the next quarter-4Q09. The revenue concentration of EMC will therefore increase from 54% in 3Q09(again refer Nov10Q) to 75% in 4Q09(if things go as per the EMC agreement). Back-calculating from this, non-EMC customers gave ~$44M rev in 3Q09($98 of total rev-$54M from EMC). In 4Q09, that is expected to drop to $ 27 M if we go by their guidance ($103M is upper end of rev guidance-76M is expected contribution from EMC ). So is that good or bad? If as per the Nov con. call, EMC is on track, what happened to other customers then? why is their "absolute" billings from STEC going down from 3Q to 4Q?
I'm happy to have a fact based discussion as that increases everybody's understanding of STEC as a company
STEC: Shareholder Lawsuits Point to Larger Problems [View article]
There were no questions raised on Dan. Rather the Chariman/CEO should be worried that they have had no new board appointments and the only two new appointments for a long time were due to the previous board members resigning for less than pleasant reasons. A regular churn of 'external' directors(and not an insider becoming a non-executive director) is good for a company that aspires to be in the top league.
With regards to the SEC correspondence, I don't accept STEC's argument that the EMC contract is not material. It is a $120M contract for a company which $228M in revenues in 2008. And STEC had mentioned that most of this contract was to be fulfilled in second half of 2009 as the title of its press-release on its own website suggests:
"STEC Signs a $120 Million Supply Agreement for ZeusIOPS SSDs for 2H 2009 and Now Forecasts Sales of ZeusIOPS SSDs to Exceed $220 Million in 2009"(PR dt.July 16,2009)
On Dec 30 03:00 PM MarkLSmith wrote:
> It's amazing that the author would slam Dan Moses in a fashion like
> this. The guy worked at STEC longer than anyone outside of the three
> founders. To imply that there's some level of deception dating back
> to 1992 is completely ludicrous.
>
> Also, you might want to read the SEC correspondence dated Oct. 13th,
> 2009. It's a much better explanation of the EMC disclosure issue
> from the company's perspective:
> www.sec.gov/Archives/e...
STEC: Shareholder Lawsuits Point to Larger Problems [View article]
I have highlighted certain 'areas' of concern in STEC and at the same time clearly mentioned that financial performance has been good and compares favorably with the best of Tech small-caps. This by no means is a recommendation(good or bad).
Some additional information that I gathered on STEC:
1.STEC (called SimpleTech 2-3 years ago) had a secondary offering in
Oct 15,2003( see link here : studio-5.financialcont...) where STEC offered 10M shares of which the company management(selling shareholders) was offering 2.5M shares(excluding underwriter options). In Oct2003, STEC shares were at or close to their life-time high of $10 at that point and shares in this secondary sale were priced at $7. For the better part of 2003, STEC shares were in the $3-5 range. But we have to admit that STEC was in a volatile market then(memory) and so wild swings in stock prices could be expected. However, their timing for the secondary offering was spot-on then and even now!!!
2.Another issue with the Board composition was more related to 'how' independent were the non-executive directors. Granted that Mr.Dan Moses is a non-executive director as of now. But even in the past(again in 2003-04), a independent director, Mr.Thomas Beaver became a executive to run a division(Xirian) which was subsequently closed and the investment of ~$3.5M written off. In fact after the stock offering in Oct03, in Jun04, it announced the closure of Xirian and also lowered revenue guidance which resulted in the stock tanking again to the $3-4 range. The next trigger was in third quarter of 2006 where it again reached double digits after it announced a stock repurchase program and revenues also picked up.
My Hardware Picks: More Value, Less Glamour [View article]
On Dec 14 10:21 AM TraderMark wrote:
> just fyi STAR in acqusition by CSCO
EMC's Data Domain Acquisition: A Sign of Desperation [View article]
On Jul 28 08:55 AM tkane90 wrote:
> This analysis needs to be done in a way that compares other players
> in the industry over the same time period. For the past twelve months
> we've been in a gobal recession (hello!) and most companies in the
> tech sector are struggling regardless of the business strategy.
> The real question is about how well placed EMC is today versus competitors
> to take advantage of a spending upswing when the economy rebounds.
> Any thoughts on that?
> -tk
Infosys Earnings Preview: Expect a Comfortable Earnings Beat [View article]
My Projections Actuals
Revenues $1.27-28B $1.29B
Op. Profit $370M $390M
Profit Before Tax $440M $445M
Net Income atleast $347M $349M
EPS 0.62-0.64 0.61
Guidance of 16-18% revenue growth in FY11 is as expected. Surely growth is back for IT services and we can expect a good FY2011 for Indian IT services.
They have announced nothing in terms of special dividends etc and the annual dividend is minuscule,in my view. The cash pile is becoming bigger with cash and marketable securities at $3.5B. Wonder if this is not reducing shareholder value or does INFY believe that it can act as the shareholder's cash manager!!!
Are Semiconductor Valuations Peaking? [View article]
Are Semiconductor Valuations Peaking? [View article]
Historical Mcap/sales ratios cannot be compared directly with current Mcap/sales ratio simply because for these companies, revenues and Mcap will be very volatile, which is why I have taken average sales during 2005-09 to compute the ratio. Also my other argument is that grow in sales/profits in this cycle(2009-2013/14) will not match the average profits/sales during 2005-09 and so these stocks cannot be viewed as growth stocks( which can have a Mcap/average sales ratio of 3.0). Stable or cyclical stocks, in my opinion should have Mcap/sales ratio of 2, and so AMAT could be more attractive compared to others in the table.
Synopsys Guidance Indicates Unlikely Growth in IC Design Starts [View article]
Anyway the idea was to compare to a few peers and not ALL. There are other competitors like Ansys(by virtue of its Ansoft acquisition) too but getting EDA specific revenues was difficult in such cases.
Tech Profits Zoom [View article]
Leverage and China's Property Market [View article]
Another interesting point is the importance of 'cash flows' rather than just plain asset value which can be misleading to an investor as has happened in the real estate bubble.
Success Factors: Going for Break-Even Rather than Revenue Growth? [View article]
On Dec 20 01:15 AM User 381292 wrote:
> I like the article and all the points made.
> Question- is SFSF a qood acquisition candidate for any of the big
> players?