Category Archives: apple

Investing Action Plan For Wednesday: Tesla, Fitbit, Priceline, Shale

Here’s your Investing Action plan for Wednesday: What you need to know as an investor for the coming day. Tesla Motors ( TSLA ), Fitbit ( FIT ),  Priceline ( PCLN ), Whole Foods Market ( WFM ) and several shale energy companies report earnings on Wednesday. Investors should also pay attention to U.S. oil inventory and production data as well as economic reports on productivity, service sector activity and jobs. Tesla Motors Luxury electric vehicle maker Tesla Motors will report first-quarter financial results after the market closes Wednesday. The consensus estimate on revenue is $1.59 billion, up 45% year over year. The consensus is for a per-share losses of 58 cents, worse than to loss of 36 cents, as polled by Thomson Reuters. Investors will be looking for management comments on Tesla’s delivery targets, as production of the Model X ramps up. Tesla stock hit a seven-month high of 269.34 earlier this month following upbeat Model 3 preorders. But shares have pulled back, falling 3.9% on the stock market today to 232.32, approaching its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Mobileye ( MBLY ), which provides advanced driver assistance systems for Tesla and several other automakers, reports Thursday morning. Mobileye stock fell 2% Tuesday. Priceline Priceline is expected to report double-digit Q1 sales and earnings growth when it reports before the market open Wednesday. The consensus is for revenue of $2.12 billion, up 15% year over year, and EPS of $9.65, up 19%. A week ago CEO Darren Huston tendered his resignation over an inappropriate-at-work relationship. Priceline stock fell 0.15% to 1354.64. It’s close to a buy point at 1,361.73. Fitbit Fitbit ( FIT ) reports after the close Wednesday. The consensus is for revenue of $443 million , up 32% year over year but the third quarter in a row of deceleration. EPS is pegged at 3 cents, a plunge from a profit of 27 cents a year ago. The maker of wearable fitness devices beat Wall Street’s sales and earnings targets for the holiday quarter, but its guidance for the current quarter fell well short of expectations. Fitbit stock tumbled 6.5% Tuesday to 17.18. Shares have rallied since late February but are still far below their August 2015 peak of 51.90. Whole Foods Market Whole Foods Market is expected to report fiscal Q2 revenue of $3.75 billion, up 3%, and EPS of 41 cents, down 5%. The stock fell 1% Tuesday. Meanwhile, natural foods products grocery rival  Sprouts Farmers Market ( SFM ) reports earnings Thursday morning. Sprouts slid 3.4%. Shale Earnings While a few shale companies have already reported, some of the leaders are coming up, as crude prices rebound to the highest levels since November. Results will be grim, but investors will be looking to see if shale producers plan to slash capital spending even further, or announce plans to step up drilling. Continental Resources ( CLR ) on Wednesday is expected to report a per-share loss that widens to 37 cents from a 9-cent-loss a year ago. Revenue is seen falling 24.5% to $440 million, marking a fifth straight decline. Carrizo Oil and Gas ( CRZO ) and Noble Energy ( NBL ) will announce quarterly results before the market opens Wednesday. Oil Inventories The Energy Information Administration at 1:30 p.m. ET will release U.S. petroleum inventories and production levels. Supplies are near record highs, but U.S. crude output has been falling as shale companies slash drilling. Late Tuesday the American Petroleum Institute estimated that weekly crude inventories rose by 1.3 million barrels, while gasoline stockpiles slid 1.2 million barrels. Economic Reports Employment: ADP will release its estimate of private-sector payrolls for April, ahead of the Labor Department’s big employment report on Friday. Economists expect ADP to report a gain of 193,000 jobs. Productivity: The Labor Department releases nonfarm productivity figures for Q1. Economists expect a 1.2% annualized decline after Q4’s 2.2% drop. Trade deficit: The Commerce Department releases U.S. trade figures for March. The trade gap likely shrank to $41.4 billion vs. February’s $47.1 billion. Service sector: ISM releases its nonmanufacturing index for April. Economists expect the service-sector gauge to show a reading of 54.7, little changed from the solid gain of 54.5.  

‘Apple Fallout’ Likely To Tug Qorvo’s June View, But iPhone 7 Nears

Apple ‘s ( AAPL ) iPhone drag will seize another victim Wednesday, a Goldman Sachs analyst suggested Tuesday, ahead of Qorvo ‘s ( QRVO ) quarterly earnings report, with Wall Street forecasting the chipmaker’s first year-over-year sales decline in eight quarters. But the Apple trough will likely resolve in the second half of the year, when the iPhone 7 ramps, Goldman Sachs analyst Toshiya Hari wrote in a research report. He expects radio-frequency chip rivals Qorvo, Broadcom ( AVGO ) and Skyworks Solutions ( SWKS ) to see growth from the release of the iPhone 7, expected in September. “While unit headwinds and inventory burn at Apple could weigh on results, we believe we are at the trough of the cycle and expect RF fundamental to improve,” Hari wrote. “The RF content growth story is still fully intact.” First, though, heavily-Apple-exposed Qorvo has to survive the March quarter, for which Apple reported its first-ever year-over-year decline in smartphone sales. For Qorvo’s fiscal Q4, the consensus of 20 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters models $599.2 million in sales and 92 cents earnings per share minus items, down a respective 6% and 17% vs. the year-earlier quarter. Qorvo reports after the close Wednesday. Three months ago, Qorvo guided to $600 million in sales and 90-95 cents EPS ex items. Qorvo’s sales and EPS have decelerated for the past three and four quarters, respectively. Last quarter, EPS fell for the first time since September 2012. For the fiscal year, Qorvo is expected to report 52% sales growth, to $2.6 billion. But analyst consensus calls for a 10% decline in EPS ex items, to $4.26. In the stock market today , Qorvo stock rose a fraction to 45.04, while Broadcom fell 2% and Skyworks fell a fraction. Last week, Skyworks’ fiscal Q2 metrics topped analysts’ consensus, but Q3 guidance missed. Then, Skyworks stock dropped 6.9%. Hari says Qorvo stock could experience a similar dip. But Qorvo shares are already down 12% over the past 12 months, and “weakness may not be as pronounced,” he wrote. Hari cut his price target on Qorvo stock to 44 from 47 but kept his neutral rating. He trimmed his Broadcom stock price target to 171 from 175, but he still rates it and Skyworks both a buy. Among the three, Qorvo is the most Apple-exposed, Hari wrote. “We expect investors to focus on its (fiscal Q1) guide (impact of Apple fallout) and execution (share gains at Samsung),” he wrote.

Google Inks Driverless Car Pact With Fiat Chrysler

Alphabet ’s ( GOOGL ) Google and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles ( FCAU ) have inked a deal to collaborate, with Fiat Chrysler putting Google’s self-driving car technology into 100 of its Pacifica minivans, the companies announced Tuesday afternoon. The Google Self-Driving Car Project and FCA called it a first-of-its-kind collaboration  that will expand Google’s existing self-driving test program. This marks the first time that Google has worked directly with an automaker to integrate its self-driving system, including its sensors and software, into a passenger vehicle, the companies said. The Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans will be used later this year for Google’s self-driving testing, more than doubling Google’s current fleet of self-driving test vehicles, according to the press release. The said both companies will co-locate part of their engineering teams at a facility in southeastern Michigan to accelerate the design, testing and manufacturing of the self-driving Chrysler Pacifica.   The agreement, reportedly non-exclusive, had been expected. Speculation over a Google-Fiat Chrysler deal  had surfaced late last month. Google had earlier been in negotiations with General Motors ( GM ), but those talks reportedly stalled. GM has invested in Lyft as part of an alliance that involves autonomous efforts with the ride-hailing service. Other companies in the autonomous car race include Tesla Motors ( TSLA ), Apple ( AAPL ), Toyota ( TM ) and Ford ( F ). Apple has yet to confirm any car plans, though its intentions are seen as an open secret. In April, the company hired Chris Porritt, who had been Tesla’s vice president of vehicle engineering. He will work on Titan, Apple’s car project, say reports. A German newspaper last month said a potential Apple partner is Magna Steyr, the world’s largest contract automaker.