Author Archives: Scalper1

Apple Supplier NXP Semiconductors Earnings Top Ahead Of Apple Report

Apple ( AAPL ) supplier NXP Semiconductors ( NXPI ) late Monday reported first-quarter earnings that fell a little less than estimates, a day before Apple itself is expected to report declining profit and a sharp drop in iPhone sales. NXP Semi gave guidance that was in line to slightly above forecasts. Earnings per share fell nearly 16% to $1.14 a share excluding various items vs. $1.35 a year earlier. Revenue, fueled by acquisitions, climbed about 52% to $2.224 billion from $1.467 billion a year earlier. Economists had expected EPS of $1.09 and sales of $2.21 billion. Comparable revenue fell 11% vs. a year earlier, NXP said, citing “semiconductor industry weakness that accelerated throughout the second half of 2015.” For Q2, NXP Semiconductors sees revenue of $2.295 billion to $2.395 billion, with the midpoint at $2.345 billion. It expects EPS of $1.30-$1.40, with the midpoint at $1.35. Analysts expected EPS of $1.32 and revenue of $2.34 billion. NXP Semiconductors is a leading chip supplier for the Apple iPhone and Samsung smartphones. But it’s also a major supplier of chips for the auto industry, especially after its recent acquisition of Freescale Semiconductor. Auto-related chip sales hit $805 million, up 167% vs. a year earlier on a reported basis, or just 1% with Freescale’s year-earlier results included. But auto-related sales should rise in the “mid- to high-single digit” percentages in Q2, NXP said in its Tuesday morning conference call. NXP is aiming for a long-term gross profit margin of 51%-55 and an operating margin above 30%. In Q1, NXP’s gross profit was 26.8% on a GAAP basis and 50% non-GAAP. Operating profit was -21.2%, or 23.3% non-GAAP. NXP shares jumped 5.3% to 87.75 in morning trade on the stock market today after rising as high as 89.79. Shares closed down 1.2% to 83.34 on Monday, closing just above the 200-day line, where NXP has been finding support lately. Apple fell 0.5% to 104.51 intraday, after falling below its 50-day line intraday. The stock retreated 0.6% to 105.08 on Monday. Analysts expect Apple earnings to fall 14% to $2 a share and sales 10% to $51.97 billion, with iPhone unit sales down 21%. On Monday, NXP investors reacted to news that its chips are not in the latest Apple Retina MacBook, according to an iFixit teardown , after having several chips in the 2015 model. Broadcom ( AVGO ) and Texas Instruments ( TXN ) remain big chip suppliers. Texas Instruments reports earnings on Wednesday. Texas Instruments rose 0.5% Tuesday morning while Broadcom climbed 1.4%.

Verizon Spills Beans On Go90 Video Service, Yahoo, To Analysts

Verizon Communications ( VZ ) aims to expand its ad-supported Go90 mobile video service to multiple video streaming platforms starting by mid-2016, say sell-side analysts briefed at a meeting on Monday. Verizon’s analyst meeting came after Verizon reported Q1 revenue on April 21 that missed estimates . On Monday, Verizon executives discussed a broad range of market opportunities, including offering 5G wireless broadband services by 2020. Verizon has not disclosed how many subscribers it has for Go90, which targets millennials (ages 18 to 34) and Gen Zers (teens). Verizon launched the Go90 service in September. Verizon plans to “extend Go90 from a mobile app to a multiscreen platform in an attempt to drive scale and distribution of advertising from Verizon’s owned content,” said Paul de Sa, an analyst at Bernstein Research, in a report. Go90 provides a mix of original Web TV series, live sports, concert streaming, prime-time TV and more. “By midyear, Go90 will leverage (Verizon-owned) AOL and be available on multiple platforms,” said Macquarie analyst Amy Yong in a research report. Verizon management told analysts that the company plans to expand its digital media strategy with or without Web portal Yahoo ( YHOO ). Verizon, which acquired AOL for $4.4 billion in 2015, has stated its interest in buying part or all of Yahoo. The Internet firm is reviewing offers from Verizon, private equity firms and other entities. By acquiring AOL, Verizon gained both online content and advertising technology . With AOL’s “programmatic” ad technology, Verizon aims to provide advertisers with tools to target users with the most relevant ads based on anonymous subscriber data. Verizon last year also snapped up online ad firm Millennial Media for a reported $250 million. Alphabet ’s ( GOOGL ) Google and Facebook ( FB ) now reap the lion’s share of mobile advertising revenue. Verizon says that the mobile ad market is growing fast, providing room for many companies to grow, and that it doesn’t need Google’s scale to succeed. Verizon told analysts that it does need to “out-google Google,” said Colby Synesael, a Cowen & Co. analyst, in a report. Verizon has around 100 million wireless phone subscribers to target, Synesael said.

Amazon Is Not The Only Name In Online Retail

When investors think about online retail stocks, certainly the first name that comes to mind is retail behemoth Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN ). Not only has it surpassed brick-and-mortar competitor Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT ) as the largest global retailer, but in the growing world of online retail, it holds approximately a quarter of the market share . Amazon will report its first quarter earnings on April 28th after the close. Amazon had a streak going of beating earnings until last quarter when it missed analyst expectations by 38%. Going into this quarter, it faces many of the same issues. The company is heavily reinvesting into business: partnering with Air Transport Services Group (NASDAQ: ATSG ) to boost shipping and logistics, buying content for its newly announced stand-alone streaming video service, and investing in new devices such as the Echo. Despite its position as a market leader and its bright growth prospects, as an investment, Amazon stock is down more than 8.5% YTD versus a positive return of 2.5% for the S&P 500 Index. Thanks to an uncertain earnings outlook coupled with a premium P/E ratio of more than 500X earnings, Amazon has failed to beat the market this year. Fortunately, Amazon is not the only name to play in the online retail space. EQM Indexes launched its Online Retail Index ((IBUYXT)) on December 1, 2015. The Index is now being tracked by the Amplify Online Retail ETF (NASDAQ: IBUY ), which launched on April 20 of this year. The index is comprised of a basket of global companies involved in three primary market segments: online retail, online marketplace, and online travel. The index is NOT capitalization weighted which allows equal exposure to other companies in the industry. The Investment Case for Online Retail Almost everyone has purchased merchandise online. Ecommerce is the fastest growing segment of retail sales. Global online sales are expected to grow 117% by 2018 . So as an investment theme, you can make a strong argument that online retail is a good place to have exposure. Online retail exhibits strong growth characteristics, continues to gain market share relative to brick-and-mortar retail, and is expanding globally. Thanks to advantages such as competitive pricing, shopping convenience, greater product selection, and rapid delivery, online commerce appears to be a disruptive technology that is here to stay. The mall isn’t dead, it has just moved online! Other Names in Online Retail Looking at the year-to-date performance of the stocks within the EQM Online Retail Index, Amazon is not even among the top-ten performers. Indeed, many of the top-performing names are companies that 1) US investors only have limited access to, OR 2) are names that they may not be familiar with. Let’s start with the top-performing name in the Index this year aptly named Start Today ( OTCPK:SATLF ), a Japanese e-commerce apparel retailer. The stock, which trades locally in Japan, but also as a U.S. ADR, is up more than 29% on a US dollar basis this year. Online retailer Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK ) is also up more than 24% this year, after posting strong Q4 results in February. Also up in excess of 23% this year is Canadian-based Shopify (NYSE: SHOP ), a leading cloud-based commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Clearly, Amazon stock is not the only game in town! Online retail offers a diverse and global set of opportunities. Indeed, retail is not the only industry that has been transformed by online commerce. Online travel has almost put travel agencies out of business by democratizing the price and availability of travel and vacation options. Besides U.S. names in the online travel space such as Priceline (NASDAQ: PCLN ), Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE ), and TripAdvisor (NASDAQ: TRIP ), there are many global players that have delivered strong growth and investment performance. Makemytrip Ltd. (NASDAQ: MMYT ) is an India-based online travel retailer that allows travelers to research and plan trips. One of the key strengths of online commerce is that it is not limited by geographic boundaries. While Makemytrip may cater to specific demographics, its offerings are available around the globe. The stock is up 8.9% YTD. So just like ecommerce offers broad access to all types of merchandise, owning a basket of names in online retail offers diversified exposure to this attractive thematic opportunity. That is not to say that all performance is rosy in online-retail land. Chinese online beauty retailer Jumei International (NYSE: JMEI ), online jewelry retailer Blue Nile (NASDAQ: NILE ), and UK food delivery service Just Eat Plc ( OTC:JSTLF ) are all down in excess of 20% this year as they have struggled to execute. Expect more consolidation in the online retail industry, especially in online travel, as the stronger players gobble up their smaller competitors. Expedia acquired competitor Home Away last December in the online travel space. And Japanese travel booking site Ikyu was purchased by Yahoo! Japan in a deal that closed in February . What about other retail ETFs? Interestingly, while other retail sector ETFs offer broad exposure to traditional retail, their exposure to ecommerce and virtual retail is extremely limited. Look at the limited exposure among retail and internet ETF offerings. ETF Ticker # of Online Retail Stocks % Weight AMZN % Weight Non-US? Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SDPR Fund XLY 5 17.17 11.25 N SPDR S&P Retail ETF XRT 12 11.35 1.17 N PowerShares Dynamic Retail Portfolio PMR 1 3.03 0.00 N Market Vectors Retail ETF RTH 2 19.50 14.95 Y First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund FDN 7 30.55 10.18 N as of 12/31/15 Furthermore, most of these ETFs are U.S. focused and fail to offer exposure to the many non-U.S. companies that are innovators in the space. Conclusion In summary, there are many reasons investors should want exposure to a globally diverse basket of stocks focused on online retail sales, rather than owning just a name or two: Get diversified investment exposure to the fastest growing global segments of online commerce: online retail, online marketplace, and online travel Participate in the accelerating growth potential being fueled by trends such as mobile growth and user-interface innovation Gain access to online retail growth opportunities outside the U.S. At the end of the day, the universe of opportunities is broader and more diverse than just Amazon. Disclosure It is not possible to invest directly in an index. Exposure to an asset class represented by an index is available through investable instruments based on that index. EQM Indexes does not sponsor, endorse, sell, promote or manage any investment fund or other investment vehicle that is offered by third parties and that seeks to provide an investment return based on the performance of any index. EQM Indexes makes no assurance that investment products based on the Index will accurately track index performance or provide positive investment returns. EQM Indexes is not an investment advisor, and makes no representation regarding the advisability of investing in any such investment fund or other investment vehicle. A decision to invest in any such investment fund or other investment vehicle should not be made in reliance on any of the statements set forth on this website. Prospective investors are advised to make an investment in any such fund or other vehicle only after carefully considering the risks associated with investing in such funds, as detailed in an offering memorandum or similar document that is prepared by or on behalf of the issuer of the investment fund or other vehicle. Inclusion of a security within an index is not a recommendation by EQM Indexes to buy, sell, or hold such security, nor is it considered to be investment advice. Disclosure: I am/we are long IBUY. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. Editor’s Note: This article discusses one or more securities that do not trade on a major U.S. exchange. Please be aware of the risks associated with these stocks.