AllThingsD » Tiernan Ray

Netflix Down on Report of Verizon Video Streaming Plans

Tiernan Ray — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 20:45:10 +0000

Shares of Netflix are down are down $1.58, or 2 percent, at $68.54, and traded as low as $66.81, in an otherwise rising market, perhaps in part because Verizon Communications is planning to offer its own streaming video service on the Internet, according to a report by Reuters’s Yinka Adegoke and Sinead Carew this afternoon, citing multiple anonymous sources.

The service will have limited programming, will operate outside of where Verizon offers its FIOS video service, and is being put together in conjunction with television operators, the authors report.

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Japan: Bismaleimide Shortage Lurks, Says FBR

Tiernan Ray — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 22:20:45 +0000

FBR Capital’s Craig Berger today reiterated his positive view on several semiconductor makers, despite what he sees as a likely hit to the electronics supply chain from the disaster in Japan, including a potential shortage of image sensors, NAND flash memory chips, and touch-screen displays that could be bad enough to slow production of Apple’s iPad 2.

But the most intriguing part of Berger’s note is his report that Asian sources indicate a compound called “Bismaleimide Triazine Resin,” which is used in the packaging of many chips, could be constrained given that most of the supply comes from Japan’s Mitsubishi Gas Chemical. A shortage of BT resin would hurt Xilinx, which is “50 percent exposed,” he writes, Altera, which has 40 percent exposure, and Qualcomm which has 30 percent exposure.

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INTC: Piper Sees Change Of Guard In Tech Wave

Tiernan Ray — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 21:07:57 +0000

A team of technology analysts at Piper Jaffray today offered a rather sweeping note positing that technology is becoming a force again to a degree not seen since the ’90s.

The rise of mobile technology, especially mobile phones, is threatening to displace the personal computer and to create new technology leaders, they write, with Qualcomm, for example, surpassing Intel in importance.

“Intel is in peril as it is trapped in the old paradigm that will be cannibalized as the new paradigm accelerates,” the authors write.

“In the 4th wave, connectivity is king and QCOM and the carriers such as AT&T and Verizon Communications are positioned to benefit as are tower companies like American Tower.”

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Motorola: Detwiler Sees Xoom Struggling

Tiernan Ray — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 21:50:46 +0000

Analysts at Detwiler Fenton this morning write that Motorola Mobility’s “Xoom” tablet, which went on sale last week at Verizon Communications’ Verizon Wireless, may be having a rough first go of it.

The tablet computer debuted last week to fairly favorable reviews from, among others, The New York Times’s David Pogue, with The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg calling it the first real competitor to Apple’s iPad.

“After almost one week on the market, it appears that the sell through of Motorola’s Xoom has been extremely light,” reports the firm, without specifying sources for the information. Detwiler attributes the apparent lackluster results to “its high price, lack of consumer applications and the anticipation for today’s expected Apple iPad 2 announcement” this afternoon.

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MSFT's $2.3B Bond Sale: 'Year Of The Shareholder,' Says Bloomberg

Tiernan Ray — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 11:58:29 +0000

In response to Microsoft’s plan to sell $2.25 billion of bonds in maturities of 2015, 2020, and 2040, Bloomberg’s Sapna Maheshwari and John Detrixhe this afternoon write that the offering signals 2011 is, “more the year of the shareholder than the year of the bondholder,” citing money manager Tom Murphy with Columbia Management, based in Minneapolis.

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Source: Disney Not Interested In Buying Imax

Tiernan Ray — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 19:43:27 +0000

In response to rumors today in a couple of media outlets saying Walt Disney was among media titans interested in buying Imax, perhaps for as much as $40 per share, a source close to Disney this afternoon tells me that, “the rumors today of the company’s interest in Imax are pure fiction.”

The other party that has been rumored to be interested is Sony.

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Apple: Where Are The TV Apps, Asks Kaufman

Tiernan Ray — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 17:46:52 +0000

Kaufman Brothers analyst Shaw Wu this morning responds to Apple’s announcement yesterday it was closing in on one million units sold of the Apple TV, writing that the company should add support for its iOS apps on the device.

The one million units is in line with his forecast, and a bit ho-hum given it equals just $400 million annually in revenue on an $88 billion top line. The units might be “significantly higher” if Apple TV had access to the 300,000 apps in the Apple App Store, writes Wu.

“One questions many investors have asked us is how does Apple add multi-touch capability to a TV?” writes Wu. “Our answer is the ability to connect the Magic Trackpad, similar to adding multi-touch to its desktop macs including iMac, Mac Mini, and Mac Pro.”

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Groupon: At Last, A CFO! Amazon Vet Tapped.

Tiernan Ray — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 19:15:04 +0000

Groupon, the coupon site that Google was reportedly looking to purchase for $6 billion, has hired Jason Child as its CFO, formerly the finance chief of Amazon.com’s International business, serving as worldwide corporate controller.

Child, a 12-year Amazon vet and a 7-year Arthur Anderson vet, calls Groupon the “most amazing business I have ever seen.”

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Q4 Laptop Market Better Than Feared, Says Sterne Agee

Tiernan Ray — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 16:00:20 +0000

The PC notebook market seems to be doing better than expected, to judge by recent shipment data, writes Sterne Agee analyst Vijay Rakesh writes in a note to clients this morning.

For example, Rakesh sees Taiwanese notebook assembler Compal’s notebook shipments this quarter up perhaps as much as five percent from last quarter, which is ahead of Intel’s notebook projection for the industry of just three percent growth.

Various original device manufacturers are mentioning a decline in PC shipments of just five percent, and say shipments could actually be flat with last quarter. That’s better than Intel’s projection for a six percent decline, and better than the seasonal expectation for a 10 to 15 percent decline.

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Apple's 3-D Tech Is Watching You

Tiernan Ray — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 16:44:41 +0000

Apple has been awarded a patent on a display technology that would produce a 3-D image without a user wearing special glasses, and without their needing to stay in one place.

U.S. patent 7,843,449, filed September 20, 2006, describes how “autostereoscopic displays,” meaning ones that don’t require headgear, either require the audience to remain in one spot, or require high degrees of processing power for holograms.

“Thus, a need still remains for highly effective, practical, efficient, uncomplicated, and inexpensive autostereoscopic 3D displays that allow the observer complete and unencumbered freedom of movement.”

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Nokia: Buy, Says Morgan Stanley; N8's A Hit!

Tiernan Ray — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 22:17:27 +0000

Countering a hefty degree of skepticism on the Street about Nokia, Morgan Stanley’s Patrick Standaert this afternoon writes that the company’s N8 smartphone–which has been labeled a dud by some, and had trouble turning on–is a hit.

He advises buying the stock in advance of “catalysts” coming in the first half of next year, especially given a share price that represents just 9 times estimated 2011 earnings per share, backing out the company’s cash.

A Morgan Stanley survey of 150 handset retailers in five countries in Europe shows N8 sell-through of one for every six Apple iPhones that are sold, notes Standaert.

That may not sound so hot, but expectations are so low that sales of 2.5 million N8s in the current quarter, and 9 million in 2011, would be better than the Street is expecting, writes Standaert. And it would be enough to keep the company’s market share at about 35 percent.

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Apple: Bigger Than Wal-Mart?

Tiernan Ray — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:19:54 +0000

Apple (AAPL), which had a market cap of several billion a decade ago, is today flirting with $200 billion, fifth in line among U.S. publicly-listed stocks behind Wal-Mart Stores (WMT), Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A), Microsoft (MSFT) and Exxon Mobil (XOM). Apple stock is up $8.63, or 4 percent, at $219.30, giving it a market cap of $198.88 billion. Wal-Mart today has a market cap of roughly $206 billion.

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Cray: DARPA Concern Overblown

Tiernan Ray — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:45:14 +0000

Shares of Cray (CRAY) continue to trade down today as they have for the last month or so, prompting a note from Thomas Weisel analyst Doug Reid this morning reiterating his “Overweight” rating on the shares. Cray’s stock is being held back by concerns the company won’t get its full reimbursement from the U.S. Defense Advance Research Projects Agency for R&D expenses on work it’s done for the agency. Investors’ concerns are ill-placed, Reid writes.

Though there’s a delay in reimbursement, Cray likely won’t have to take a lower rate on future reimbursement from DARPA, he believes.

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Microsoft Losing Consumer Battle?

Tiernan Ray — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:55:57 +0000

Microsoft (MSFT) has lost the war for consumers’ hearts, most particularly in the smartphone category, argues influential newsletter publisher Mark Anderson, who pens the Strategic News Service, as New York Times columnist Steve Lohr writes in the Bits blog late last night. Anderson says aside from the Xbox gaming franchise, “it’s game over” for Microsoft in consumer categories of products.

“Microsoft doesn’t have consumer DNA,” Mr. Anderson told Lohr at a dinner last night, the journalist writes.

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Novell: SCO May Settle Unix Suit

Tiernan Ray — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:16:25 +0000

Beleaguered software vendor Novell (NOVL), which has been fighting a lawsuit by bankrupt SCO Group for the last several years, could see a silver lining, writes Ladenburg Thalmann analyst Aaron Schwartz in a note this morning. He says SCO may settle with Novell in its claim of infringement of intellectual property SCO holds with respect to the Unix operating system, rather than proceed to a jury trial against Novell.

Schwartz notes that the incoming court-appointed bankruptcy trustee for SCO Group fired Darl McBride, the CEO, on Monday. McBride had made himself a vilain in the world of Linux and open source software by suing numerous parties reselling or distributing the Linux operating system, including IBM (IBM), but also Daimler (DAI), claiming Linux infringes on Unix operating system rights that SCO acquired several years back.

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Analyst: Swap Comcast for Time Warner

Tiernan Ray — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 20:42:11 +0000

Collins Stewart analyst Thomas Eagan thinks you may be swapping your Comcast (CMCSA) shares for Time Warner Cable (TWC) sometime soon.

In a note to clients this morning, Eagan writes that investors may rotate out of Comcast if the company decides to invest $12 billion to $14 billion for a stake in GE’s (GE) NBC-Universal, as rumored. The latest buzz on that deal is that it has a 50/50 chance of happening, according to a piece in the Wall Street Journal this morning.

If Comcast were to take a 51 percent stake in NBC-U, Comcast’s revenue from content would jump from 4.5% of the firm’s total sales to 30 percent, writes Eagan.

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Report: Solar Stocks' Aggressive Accounting Raises Red Flags

Tiernan Ray — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 23:36:04 +0000

The solar technology industry may report a stronger-than-expected third quarter but could face disappointment in subsequent quarters, warns Hapoalim Securities analyst Gordon Johnson in a note to clients today. Johnson says that his checks suggest demand for photovoltaic modules in Germany has been better than expected, raising the prospect that solar tech makers could demonstrate better sales growth and margins than expiated when they report the September quarter.

The longer term quality of the industry’s growth may be questionable, however. When growth slows for industries, notes Johnson, the participants often resort to what he calls financial chicanery to hide the slowdown, and that’s what he expects from solar tech companies.

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Sina-Focus Media Deal Collapses

Tiernan Ray — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 21:00:14 +0000

Chinese Web portal and mobile phone content provider Sina’s (SINA) deal to acquire the billboard operations in China of Focus Media Holding (FMCN) has collapsed today, almost ten months after it was first announced. The deal had been a thorn in Sina’s side since it was announced on December 22 last year, and has been the subject of intense scrutiny among sell-side analysts in the past week. Focus Media shares rose 20 percent from Monday to Friday last week on expectations that terms would be restructured to allow the sale to go ahead.

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Barclay’s Raises Cisco to Overweight; Target $28

Tiernan Ray — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:36:21 +0000

Raising estimates on expectations of stronger spending by telephone companies, Barclay’s Capital analyst Jeff Kvaal today raised his rating on Cisco Systems (CSCO) to “Overweight” from “Equal Weight” and raised his price target to $28 from $24. Cisco shares are up $1.12, or 5%, at $23.75.

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Xerox Pays $6.4B for ACS in Cash and Stock; Share Price Down 12 Percent

Tiernan Ray — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:17:24 +0000

Xerox (XRX) shares are coming under heavy pressure this morning after the company announced it would acquire computer services firm Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) for $63.11 per share in a combination of cash and stock. Xerox said in a press release the deal will make the combined company a $22 billion “global enterprise for document technology” and will advance Xerox in the “$150 billion market for business process outsourcing,” often known as “BPO.”

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Amazon: Little Threat From Target, Says JP Morgan

Tiernan Ray — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 21:37:30 +0000

Target’s (TGT) decision today to build out its e-commerce infrastructure won’t likely hurt Amazon.com (AMZN), writes J.P. Morgan (JPM) analyst Imran Khan in a note to clients. In fact, it could help.

Target announced today it would construct its own order-fulfillment services for its online sales, which totaled $1.8 billion last year, according to Khan’s estimate, signalling the end of its use of Amazon’s back-office fulfillment services, for which Amazon receives a fee.

“To deliver a customized multi-channel experience for Target’s guests, we believe it is in Target’s best interest going forward to assume full control over the design and management of Target’s e-commerce technology platform, fulfillment and guest services operations,” said Target president Steve Eastman in a prepared statement.

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Palm: Pali Sees Pre Uptick, Credits Brief Price Cut to $99

Tiernan Ray — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:37:02 +0000

Sales of the Palm (PALM) Pre smartphone may be creeping up to 30,000 a week this week versus a prior trend of 25,000, writes Pali Capital analyst Walter Piecyk in a blog post this morning. (Free registration required to view the post.) Piecyk observes the Pre was available for $99 briefly this week through online orders, but that Sprint (S), which has the exclusive on the Pre, also stepped up a print campaign targeting AT&T (T) customers who may be interested in moving from the Apple (AAPL) iPhone at the end of their contract.

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Liberty Media Jumps 10 Percent as Q2 Sales, Ebitda Beat

Tiernan Ray — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 15:12:49 +0000

Shares of John Malone’s Liberty Media Interactive (LINTA), owner of “QVC,” are up sharply this morning after the company beat Q2 expectations for revenue and operating profit.

Revenue fell, year over year, to $1.9 billion, the company reported, yielding adjusted Ebitda of $412 million. Still, that was ahead of the $1.834 billion and $345 million average estimate of analysts.

Revenue at QVC, which is most of the business, fell 4 percent to $1.7 billion, though that was an improvement from prior quarters, said QVC president and CEO Mike George.

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Leap Into the Abyss: Stock Off 17 Percent on Q2 Rev Miss; Ratchets Down Subscriber Forecast as Churn Rises

Tiernan Ray — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 03:06:50 +0000

San Diego-based prepaid cellular operator Leap Wireless (LEAP) wrapped up a horrendous day for budget calling that kicked off with Metro PCS’s (PCS) big miss for Q2 profit. Leap missed revenue estimates and reported a wider-than-expected loss per share for the quarter and ratcheted down its expectations for subscriber growth and profitability this year.

Revenue, excluding equipment sales, rose 30 percent, year over year, in the quarter ended in June to $541.6 million.

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PCS: Buckling Under the Weight of Sprint, Verizon

Tiernan Ray — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 23:34:17 +0000

The cut-rate prepaid cellular market, though representing fully a third of the growth in wireless in the U.S., is not always a comfortable place to be, as evidenced by the results today from Metro PCS (PCS), the discount prepaid cellular operator whose stock was cut by a third after disappointing Q2 earnings.

In a note to clients, Thomas Weisel analyst James Breen cut his rating on the stock to “Market Weight” from “Overweight” and cut his price target to $10 from $21. Ouch.

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