Category Archives: oud

GoPro Finds Woe In High Action-Camera Inventories

Beleaguered GoPro ( GPRO ) saw its shares tank anew on Monday on a report that unsold Hero action cameras are piling up at retail. GoPro stock fell 8.3% to 12.82 on the stock market today . Key supplier Ambarella ( AMBA ), which makes image-processing chips, saw its shares slide 5.9% to 41.96. Pacific Crest Securities analyst Brad Erickson said his firm’s U.S. retail checks showed GoPro’s days of inventory nearing all-time highs. “Channel inventory is again too high,” Erickson said in a report Sunday. “Our checks detected days of inventory at roughly three weeks consistently over the past month, and we estimate aggregate sell-through in the United States was down nearly 40% year-over-year in Q1.” He predicted continued “action camera softness” and expressed doubts about whether GoPro’s planned Karma drone could turn things around for the company. He rates GoPro stock as sector weight, with a fair value of 9 to 10. GoPro’s Hero action cameras are “a compelling device for a small niche of buyers,” but the company needs to improve ease of use to expand the market, Erickson said. GoPro is expected to launch its flying camera drone toward the end of the second quarter. The device could double GoPro’s total addressable market, he said. “We believe the stock has gotten some recent lift anticipating Karma, which could persist depending on how it is initially perceived by investors,” Erickson said. There are many unknowns about Karma including price, functionality and how it will compare to competitors like DJI. Erickson estimates that 5 million to 6 million consumer, camera-enabled drones will ship this year worldwide, roughly equivalent to the action camera market. RELATED: GoPro Rockets After Hiring Key Apple Designer

SunEdison Bankruptcy May Torch $20.9 Mil Owed Trina Solar, JA Solar

SunEdison’s bankruptcy could incinerate $20.9 million owed to Chinese suppliers JA Solar ( JASO ) and Trina Solar ( TSL ), Credit Suisse analyst Patrick Jobin noted Monday, as the U.S. Bankruptcy Court granted SunEd some relief. Under SunEd’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy , filed Thursday, the solar developer will be allowed to pay employees wages and benefits, work on continuing projects and make “certain vendor payments,” SunEd said in a press release. But the ruling doesn’t specify whether SunEdison will make payments on about $322 million owed to trade suppliers, ranging from polysilicon production to cell/module suppliers. In total, SunEdison owed $11.7 billion as of Sept. 30, the company’s last financial filing. JA Solar and Trina Solar are among SunEd’s suppliers of solar cells and solar modules. SunEdison owes the duo $10.4 million and $10.5 million, respectively, Jobin wrote in a research report. “These are not trivial amounts, potentially impacting full-year earnings 6.6%-11.8% in a ‘worst case’ scenario of not receiving payments,” he wrote. He estimated Trina Solar’s earnings per share could drop nearly 9 cents to 32 cents from 41 cents, and JA Solar could lose 18 cents on its earnings, falling to 43 cents from 61 cents. JA Solar and Trina Solar stocks split Monday on Wall Street. JA Solar stock closed up a fraction, with Trina Solar stock slipping a fraction.

How Much Will 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 fell 0.6% to 105.08 on the stock market today . 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