Category Archives: apple

Apple Suppliers Broadcom, Qualcomm Could Battle For Xilinx: Analyst

Apple ( AAPL ) suppliers Broadcom ( AVGO ) and Qualcomm ( QCOM ) were pitted Tuesday in a theoretical battle to acquire Xilinx ( XLNX ) which, late Wednesday, is expected to report flat fiscal fourth-quarter sales along with down earnings. Xilinx stock was up 1.3% to 46.38 on the stock market today . It split the difference between gains by fellow takeover candidates Cavium ( CAVM ) and Marvell Technology Group ( MRVL ), up 3.4% and 0.75%, respectively. MKM analyst Ian Ing lists the trio among small- and medium-size fabless firms subject to acquisition as semiconductor companies scramble to serve the top 20 customers: Apple, Samsung, Cisco Systems ( CSCO ), Nokia ( NOK ), Ericsson ( ERIC ) and China’s Huawei, among others. “Customers prefer the fewest suppliers while preserving multi-sourcing choice,” Ing wrote in a research report. “Fabless companies can improve their operating models with more scale in manufacturing and operations.” Field-programmable gate array (FPGA) makers are proving attractive targets. In December, Intel ( INTC ) completed its acquisition of Altera, an FPGA-maker. For Broadcom, the technology would round out its networking and communications equipment needs. Qualcomm needs to diversify from its core mobile business which is threatened by chipsets and disagreements with licensees in China, Ing wrote. Ing expects Xilinx to tack on $3 earnings per share to 2017 run rates, “should a large acquirer apply scale benefits.” He rates Xilinx stock a neutral and has a 46 price target, noting it’s coming off a 2015 data center and communications trough. For Q4, which ended in December, Xilinx is expected to report flat sales of $566.2 million and adjusted earnings per share of 52 cents, down 10% year over year. For fiscal 2016, the consensus of 21 analysts models $2.2 billion and $2.03, down a respective 7% and 16.5%.

How Much Did iPhone Sales Fall In Apple’s March Quarter?

Apple ( AAPL ) investors are bracing for bad news in the company’s fiscal second-quarter report due out after the market close Tuesday. Apple executives have already signaled that iPhone unit sales will fall on a year-over-year basis for the first time ever in Q2. The big money questions are: How much will iPhone sales fall and how will the product fare ahead of the fall launch of the iPhone 7? Wall Street analysts on average expect Apple to report fiscal Q2 iPhone sales of about 50 million units. That compares with 61.17 million units in the same quarter last year. “Given that Apple is nearing the end of the iPhone 6-series cycle and facing difficult iPhone comparisons, we are modeling a year-over-year decline in sales, profits and iPhone units in Q2,” Drexel Hamilton analyst Brian White said in a research note Monday. He remains positive on the stock because of the potential for upgrades around the iPhone 7 as well as an enhanced capital return program for shareholders expected to be announced Tuesday. White rates Apple stock a buy, with a price target of 200. Apple shares fell 0.7% to 104.35 on the stock market today , closing just above its 50-day moving average. White is modeling for Apple to sell 48.05 million iPhones in Q2, down 21%. He predicts that Apple will sell 39.05 million iPhones in fiscal Q3 and 42.05 million in fiscal Q4, down 18% and 12%, respectively. RBC Capital Markets analyst Amit Daryanani on Sunday reiterated his outperform rating on Apple stock with a price target of 130. He predicts that Apple sold 48.3 million iPhones in the March quarter. Cowen analyst Timothy Arcuri on Sunday maintained his outperform rating on Apple stock with a price target of 135. Arcuri is modeling for Apple to sell 47 million iPhones in fiscal Q2. He is looking for Apple to sell 44.5 million units in Q3 and 50.5 million units in Q4, down 6% and up 5%, respectively. BMO Capital Markets analyst Tim Long estimates that Apple sold 52 million iPhones in the March quarter, down 15%. For the June quarter, he sees 44 million iPhone sales, down 7%. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect Apple to earn $2 a share on sales of $51.97 billion in the March quarter. On a year-over-year basis, earnings per share are forecast to fall 14% with sales down 10%. It would mark the company’s first quarterly decline in EPS in nearly three years and first drop in sales since 2003. For the current quarter, Wall Street is modeling Apple to earn $1.76 a share, down 5%, on sales of $47.32 billion, also down 5%. Image provided by Shutterstock . RELATED: Apple Q2 Earnings To Clash With New Cash Return Plan

America’s Retirement Crisis: Financial Advisors’ Daily Digest

SA Dividends, Income & Retirement Editor Robyn Conti here, subbing in for Gil, who’s observing Passover this week. I’ll do my best to fill his very talented and knowledgeable shoes and continue to keep you up to date daily on the latest FA analysis and news here on Seeking Alpha. It’s no secret that America’s retirement system is in crisis. We are well aware that Social Security and Medicare need shoring up, and that workers today aren’t saving enough to create the financially secure and comfortable retirements most of us dream about. SA contributor Kevin Wilson presents a rather gloomy picture of how truly dire the circumstances of our nation’s retirees and near-retirees are in Of Mice And Men: The Retirement Crisis In America . He aptly points out that traditional retirement planning assumptions have broken down over the past few years, and that savers can no longer rely on tried-and-true investment methods like asset allocation because expected returns across all asset classes are bunk due to central banks’ insistence on ZIRP and NIRP policies across the globe. So what does that mean for the best laid plans of retirees and near-retirees? Wilson writes: The crux of the problem then is the low expected returns on all types of investments, as discussed briefly above and mentioned by many other analysts. As a consequence, the average person must either withdraw much less from their investments in retirement than they actually will need (i.e., accept a lower standard of living), or as mentioned above, retire significantly later than planned or save a multiple of what was assumed above. National data suggest that the average investor has been chasing yield in a vain attempt to make up the difference through investment magic. Unfortunately, yield chasing doesn’t end well historically, and there are already signs that it is failing now… Wilson then goes on to cite programs that desperately need reform at the government level, i.e., Social Security and Medicare — which he calls the “bedrock” of retirement planning — and discusses strategies for addressing the problem of low investment returns. It’s an interesting read, and Wilson makes several valid points that, in this author’s humble opinion, hold a lot of water, and are definitely worthy of consideration by our lawmakers and others with the power to affect the changes we all want to see in the retirement world. In defiance of reliance on Social Security and Medicare, self-proclaimed “geezer” George Schneider summons the wisdom of the Oracle of Omaha Warren Buffett in his piece, How Greedy Retirees Steal Candy From Fearful Babies , touting the old adage investors know so well: “be greedy when others are fearful.” Schneider touts interest rate-sensitive stocks, especially REITs, advising that now is the time for the income-oriented and dividend-hungry to jump in while prices are down and investors are fearful, to reap those profits when markets “normalize.” Here are a few more posts from the day that contain items of interest for financial advisors: What are your thoughts? Are recession fears overblown? Comment below.