MARKET CURRENTS
real-time news and commentary for investors
MARKET CURRENTS
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Friday, May 24, 2013
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5:15 PM Google (GOOG) is developing plans to build a wireless network in emerging markets such as Africa and southeast Asia, seeking to target major cities currently lacking wired service, WSJ reports. GOOG plans to team with local companies to develop the networks and formulate business models to support them, but it's unclear whether GOOG already has lined up such deals or alliances. 2 Comments
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4:26 PM After rising nearly 13% at the open following better than expected Q1 revenues with a jump in subscribers to its premium service, Pandora (P -4.2%) shares moved too far too fast before falling amid questions about the quality of its results. "Pandora needs to show further monetization gains in order to reach sustainable profitabilty," Dougherty's Steven Frankel says. "The mission is far from complete." 13 Comments
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3:16 PM There's no bounce today for Facebook (FB -3.5%) whose slide today takes the stock to a new YTD low. The only news of note is Google's (GOOG) rumored entry into the Waze bidding amid reports Waze isn't interested in Facebook's desire to have part of the team move to Silicon Valley. Adding Waze would make Google Maps an even more robust product while keeping Facebook off of its territory. 4 Comments
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3:12 PM Yahoo (YHOO +1.7%) throws its name into the Hulu hat to join a number of P-E firms as well as DirecTV and Time Warner Cable in the hunt. Owners Disney (DIS +0.1%), Comcast (CMCSA +0.2%), and News Corp (NWS, NWSA) will weigh the best offer, but will also want to position themselves on the content side to be protected. (Previous on Hulu-mania) 7 Comments
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1:40 PM Add KKR and Silver Lake Management to the list of bidders for Hulu (CMCSA, DIS, NWS), according to Bloomberg. Earlier reports indicated Time Warner Cable (TWC -0.8%), Guggenheim Digital, and DirecTV (DTV -0.6%) are in the hunt. What to watch: Some analysts think Hulu could evolve into a payment authentication system for the cable industry, while others bet that a single media/tech company will snap up the firm to create a unique position for itself in video - either as a premium streaming service or an ad-supported content monster. Either way Netflix (NFLX -0.5%) is watching. 1 Comment
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1:27 PM American Superconductor (AMSC -2.2%) slides after saying earlier that China's Supreme People's Court has scheduled a hearing for May 29 to review the jurisdiction of the company's software copyright infringement cases against Sinovel Wind Group and Guotong Electric. These are just two of the four legal cases that AMSC filed against Sinovel regarding its alleged contractual breaches and alleged discovery of intellectual property theft by Sinovel. AMSC is seeking a cease and desist order and damages totaling $6M. Comment!
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12:47 PM Radcom (RDCM +1.3%) recovers from nearly a 3% drop in early trading after the company announced that it's cancelled its extraordinary general meeting of shareholders scheduled for Wednesday, June 5, and whil hold its annual shareholders meeting June 30 instead. The agenda of the meeting includes the re-election of Board Members, approval of compensation, and a discussion of its auditors' report, as well as other company business. Comment!
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12:21 PM Solar stocks (TAN +0.8%; KWT +1.5%) wrap up a banner week, as Chinese solar panel makers begin to shift emphasis from their overcrowded home market in favor of lucrative exports. The rally was sparked by JA Solar's better than expected shipments, but analysts call for caution: The stocks are addicted to momentum, and stock moves are often disconnected from dire market prospects most of the companies face. Comment!
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10:47 AM Marvell's (MRVL +0.3%) price target is lifted $2 to $15 by RBC's Doug Freedman post-earnings, noting the low-end of FQ2 guidance is above both his and Street estimates. Needham ups its PT $3 to $15. Both maintain Buy ratings. Something didn't sit well with JMP Securities which cuts to Sell with $8 PT. Perhaps the stock's 57% YTD run has priced the good news in. Shares have given up big premarket gains. Comment!
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10:32 AM Salesforce.com (CRM -7.8%) is cut to Hold with price target reduced $9 to $42 at Wedbush post-earnings. Analyst Steve Koenig views "deferred commission expenditures" as the best indicator of new sales activity, and they fell 46% Y/Y. Asked about it on the CC (transcript), CFO Graham Smith suggests a tough comp as the reason for the big dip. Needham's Mike Huang reiterates his Buy and $50 PT: "We don't detect any meaningful deterioration of sales cycles or close rates." 6 Comments
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10:20 AM Pandora (P +6.2%) gets a couple of more sell side boosts post-earnings, with Wells Fargo maintaining a Buy and upping its price target to $20-$22 from $15-$17. "Conversion of consumers impacted by mobile cap exceeded company estimates." Needham ups its FY14 EPS estimate a penny to $0.05 and reiterates its Buy and $20 PT. Comment!
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9:51 AM Microsoft (MSFT -0.3%) and other publishers will take a cut of every sale on pre-owned Xbox One games, according to gaming website MCV. Under a new arrangement, retailers will tap into Microsoft's cloud servers for a transfer of rights on sales of pre-owned games. Though the games can be sold at any price the retailers wish, estimates on the percentage of the sale they can keep are drifting steadily lower. Shares of GameStop (GME -2.4%) are lower on the day. Comment!
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9:31 AM "Apple's (AAPL) sorta cheap," says Jeff Gundlach, admitting he's now long the stock he famously shorted 100-200 points ago. He doesn't seem terribly excited about the company's business prospects, but - selling for 7x earnings (excluding cash) - a hot new product isn't necessary to make the investment profitable. "(Apple) can keep selling a whole bunch of expensive new phones and iPads, and they'll be a cash cow." 20 Comments
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8:36 AM Yingli Green Energy (YGE) +13.5% premarket after announcing it will supply 10.269 MW of multicrystalline photovoltaic modules to Amcorp Power in Malaysia in what the company calls the country's largest single site PV power plant. The plant will be able to generate ~13.6M kWh of clean electricity per year. 1 Comment
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8:21 AM Speculation over Google (GOOG) making a bid for Waze doesn't ring true to TechCrunch with its sources indicating no plans of a Google acquisition of the sat-nav smartphone app are in the works. If anything, TechCrunch ponders if Waze investors aren't trying to leverage more out of talks with Facebook. 1 Comment
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8:11 AM Canaccord Genuity downgrades Cirrus Logic (CRUS) to Hold from Buy and lowers its price target to $18 from $25. For clarification, the gross margin forecast of "mid- 40s" from yesterday's investor conference disappointed those expecting 50-52% and Stifel downgraded the shares to Hold from Buy ($32 price target removed), citing customer AAPL's "significant challenges [and] headwinds." Nevertheless, investors (perhaps sensing a buying opportunity) have bid the stock up 1.3% premarket. Comment!
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7:12 AM Pandora (P) gets a post-earnings upgrade to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC. "Is there something now that makes you think … you'll have a more subscription mix in the model going forward [considering] the increase in that Pandora One revenue?" analyst Mark Mahaney asks on the call. "From a product perspective it doesn’t change," CFO Michael Herring says, but "we will always look into optimizing our business and finding that balance between how much we want to emphasize the subscribers versus focus on ad sales." Price target to $24 from $16. Shares +11.6% premarket. (earnings summary, CC transcript) Comment!
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