Author Archives: Scalper1

Sony Undercuts Virtual Reality Rivals With $399 VR Headset

Sony ( SNE ) will be the last of the big three virtual-reality headset makers to hit the market this year, but its product will be the cheapest and have the broadest software support. Sony late Tuesday detailed its launch plans for the PlayStation VR, a virtual reality headset that connects to its PlayStation 4 video game console. PlayStation VR will go on sale in October in Asia, Europe and North America. It will be priced at $399 in the U.S., the company announced at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Sony pushed back the release date to ensure that it could deliver enough devices and have a wide variety of game titles available at launch, Andrew House, president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, said in a statement . “PlayStation VR represents a transformative experience in gaming, and we wanted to take the time needed to launch with a broad variety of content and a sufficient supply of hardware,” House said. “We are beyond excited to deliver to consumers the amazing experience that PS VR offers.” Sony expects to have more than 50 games available for its PlayStation VR by the end of the year. Sony will offer a free download of six games called “Playroom VR” to owners of PlayStation VR to demonstrate the virtual reality gaming experience. Among the most anticipated VR games in development is an all-new “Star Wars Battlefront” from Electronic Arts ( EA ). In addition to games, the PlayStation VR headset can act as a virtual large screen TV for watching movies. Facebook ( FB ) will be first to market with a high-end virtual reality headset, the Oculus Rift. It is set to ship on March 28 in 20 countries, including the U.S. The Oculus Rift will cost $599 and require a high-end PC with a graphics card. Bundles of the Oculus Rift headset and “Oculus-ready” PCs start at $1,499. Another VR headset, the HTC Vive, is due to go on sale April 5 and cost $799. Like the Oculus Rift, Vive requires a high-end PC with a dedicated graphics processor. Vive is a collaboration between smartphone maker HTC and video game developer Valve. While PlayStation VR doesn’t need a PC to operate, it does require the PS4 game console, which currently retails for about $350. Also, some games will require PlayStation Move and camera accessories to track your movements. RELATED: Apple iPhone To Be Dragged Into Virtual Reality Market

Building Bases In The Building Products Group

The building construction products group has some highly rated stocks building bases. Could an improving housing market be the catalyst for breakouts? Fortune Brands Home & Security ( FBHS ) made a 2% gain for the day closing at 52.89. The stock has been hovering around a 51.73 buy point from a cup with handle, but there hasn’t been any volume behind its move above the buy point. The company is involved in products for the homebuilding market, including cabinets, plumbing, doors and security. Cabinets provide 48% of the revenue, followed by plumbing, including the Moen brand, at 30%. According to Fortune Brands’ analysis, the housing market is halfway through its recovery that started in 2012 and they expect to see full recovery back to a steady state by 2018. Housing starts have increased on a seasonally adjusted annual rate, from a low of 600,000 to just over 1 million. They see housing starts picking up to 1.5 million, the historic average since 1965, by the end of the recovery. Masco ( MAS ) is also in the cabinets and plumbing area. It’s largest source of revenue is from plumbing, led by their Delta Faucet brand. Their next largest segment is from their Behr paint brand, which benefits from a strong partnership with Home Depot ( HD ). That’s rounded out by their cabinets and windows. The stock is in its sixth consecutive week up as it forms the right side of a cup. Volume, however, has dwindled below average for all except the first week off the bottom. While that isn’t encouraging, the up/down volume ratio is still neutral at 1.0 and the Accumulation/Distribution Rating is at a B-, suggesting that there wasn’t that much selling to overcome. The base is currently looking at a 30.71 buy point. Acuity Brands ( AYI ) looks to be working on a handle in a cup with handle. The buy point is at 222.95. Acuity Brands was one of the biggest winners featured on IBD’s Leaderboard in 2015. Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting has been the big growth factor for Acuity, accounting for 46% of sales and 57% of annual growth for fiscal 2015. Commercial and outdoor lighting accounted for 56% of revenue while 18% came from residential. The company benefits not only from new construction but also renovation and retrofitting, with energy efficiency offering a long-term incentive for consumers. While the company gets the bulk of its revenue from its lighting products, it is also looking to grow its Building Automation Systems as a higher-tier level of service. Rather than just a product focus, integrated solutions would focus on how products can work together to create smart homes, smart buildings and even smart cities. One such pilot project is with Simon Property Group ( SPG ) in its malls at Lenox Square in Atlanta and Florida Mall in Orlando. In February, the companies announced a joint program using existing Acuity Brands lighting fixtures and additional sensors in the pilot parking lots. The program will create heat maps to visually represent where parking is most dense and where parking is available. The expectation is to eventually create an app for consumers, available in select shopping centers, by the end of 2016.

Amazon.com Vs. FedEx And UPS Not Any Budding Rivalry — Yet

A new report from RBC Capital Markets asks the ever more pressing question about Amazon.com ( AMZN ) and its deliveries ambitions: Does the transportation sector have a problem? The short answer is no — at least not yet, according to RBC analyst John Barnes. The crux of the issue for the e-commerce leader is that its shipping costs soared 32% to $11.5 billion in 2015, while sales rose about 20%. That, says Barnes, suggests that Amazon might have trouble ahead if it continues on course. As a result, Amazon has been taking more of the shipping task into its own hands. RBC emphasizes, though, that Amazon isn’t anywhere near able to separate itself from shipping partners such as UPS ( UPS ) and FedEx ( FDX ). But the company will incrementally begin to do so, the report says, at least in certain areas. In prior years — though not in 2015 — both UPS and FedEx have stumbled during the critical holiday season. Packages not being delivered on time, Barnes says, is like Amazon being closed on random days without warning. Amazon’s massive distribution network is as complex as it is large. It includes a growing trucking operation and the recently disclosed air transport and ocean shipping components. Ocean shipping is where Barnes suspects the company will attack first. “We believe Amazon will take over large swaths of its ocean freight supply chain, as the move can lower its own shipping costs, drive third-party sellers to the platform and eventually turn into a profit center,” Barnes wrote in the report, released late Monday. As IBD has reported, industry experts estimate that the ocean shipping business has the potential to be worth millions in free cash flow for Amazon, mostly from selling capacity to third parties. Analysts says that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos might not go after the free cash flow but instead drive the value back to consumers in some fashion, such as still-lower prices. But the ocean shipping industry is vast, and Barnes estimates that the Seattle-based company would grab only between $200 million and $400 million in business. It could, though, affect shippers such as Expeditors International of Washington ( EXPD ) as well as UPS and FedEx. The ocean shipping grab isn’t without precedent, either. Wal-Mart ( WMT ) has been taking possession of suppliers’ goods in China and doing its own shipping for years. Amazon’s growing air network is one area where the company will be content to work with third parties, Barnes said. Amazon’s recently announced deal with Air Transport Services Group ( ATSG ) to lease 220 767 jets highlights this point. As part of the deal, Amazon will be able to purchase about 20% of ATSG’s common shares over a five-year period. Meanwhile, Barnes says that UPS and FedEx are both fighting Amazon’s long-term onslaught. UPS now provides 30% of Amazon’s parcel needs, netting $2.2 billion in revenue, and FedEx hauls in $1.5 billion, or about 20%. Those figures translate to about 8% and 10% of ground revenue, respectively, for the shipping companies.