Category Archives: stocks

Why Apple’s Stock Chart Action Is So Significant

Apple ’s ( AAPL ) second-quarter earnings miss is sending shares way below a critical level. Its ecosystem of suppliers is feeling some heat but holding up relatively well if not rising. The consumer tech giant’s EPS fell 19% to $1.90 while revenue dropped 13% to $50.6 billion. Both missed Wall Street views; so did Apple’s Q3 revenue outlook. Apple reported its first-ever year-over-year iPhone sales decline , a 16% drop to a little over 51 million units. The stock is plunging 6% in giant volume in the stock market today , breaching the key downward-sloping 50-day moving average as it gaps way down. After trending lower for several months, the 50-day line began to move higher along with Apple shares, until recently. Shares are now trading 27% below their all-time high, reached a year ago. IBD’s Take: How healthy is Apple stock? Find out at IBD Stock Checkup Meanwhile, Apple supplier Broadcom ( AVGO ) fell to its 50-day line, briefly moved higher but is down fractionally. Skyworks Solutions ( SWKS ) fell 2% after briefly turning higher. Skyworks looks to have hit resistance at its 50-day line. Qualcomm ( QCOM ) is down fractionally after paring its losses. Qualcomm is trading in between its 50-day and 200-day lines and is about 26% below its 52-week high. Meanwhile, Cirrus Logic ( CRUS ) was down as much as 5.5% in premarket trade but quickly reversed higher for a 6% intraday gain, back above its 50-day line, as it beat quarterly results late Tuesday. Cirrus Logic’s current-quarter revenue guidance was light.

AT&T Postpaid Phone Subscriber Losing Streak Hits Six Quarters

Telecom conglomerate AT&T ( T ) reported Q1 earnings late Tuesday that topped expectations and in-line revenue, as it had a net loss of postpaid phone subscribers — those billed monthly — for the sixth quarter in a row amid fierce wireless competition. AT&T lost 363,000 postpaid phone customers, who are considered more lucrative than prepaid customers who buy minutes as needed. AT&T stock was down 1% in premarket trading Wednesday. T-Mobile US ( TMUS ) on Monday said it added  877,000 postpaid phone lines in Q1, while Verizon Communications ( VZ ) on Thursday reported a loss of 8,000. “AT&T has been a share donor for six consecutive quarters in postpaid handsets, which have by far the highest customer lifetime value,” said Paul de Sa, analyst at Bernstein Research, in a research note. Including tablet users, AT&T added 129,000 postpaid subscribers overall, also below Wall Street estimates. AT&T has focused on selling consumers  product bundles of wireless and DirecTV video services. T-Mobile, meanwhile, has thrived with its Uncarrier-branded promotions, while Sprint ( S ) continues to compete aggressively on price, analysts say. Sprint had been losing postpaid phone subscribers for several years before recently reversing the trend. “Postpaid net adds came in light at 129,000 as AT&T simply refuses to aggressively compete and instead focus on profitability and other areas of the business,” said Colby Synesael, analyst at Cowen & Co., in a report. AT&T said Q1 earnings rose 11% to 72 cents per share, excluding items, topping analysts’ estimate of 69 cents. Including the acquisition of satellite broadcaster DirecTV, AT&T said revenue rose 24% to $40.53 billion, in line with views. AT&T said it lost 382,000 landline  U-verse TV customers while DirecTV gained 328,000, up from 60,000 in the year-earlier period. AT&T had a net loss of 54,000 video subscribers in the March quarter.

Comcast Q1 Earnings Beats, Adds Video Users Amid DreamWorks Talks

Comcast ( CMCSA ), reportedly in talks to buy DreamWorks Animation ( DWA ), early Wednesday posted Q1 earnings and revenue that topped views, as the cable TV firm added 53,000 video subscribers. Revenue at NBCUniversal’s film unit slipped from Q1 2015 due to a weaker slate of movies. Comcast is in talks to pay $3 billion , roughly $34 to $35 per share for DreamWorks, Bloomberg and others have reported . DreamWorks has been pursued in the past by Hasbro ( HAS ) and Japan’s SoftBank. DreamWorks owns AwesomenessTV, which provides content for young adults. Verizon Communications ( VZ ) in early April acquired a 24.5% stake in AwesomenessTV for $159 million. Both Comcast and Verizon have been pursuing original content for millennials, a demographic coveted by advertisers. Comcast said Q1 earnings, excluding items, rose 7% from the year-earlier quarter to 87 cents per share, while revenue increased 5.3% to $18.8 billion. Analyst had modeled EPS of 79 cents and revenue of 18.64 billion. Comcast’s video customer additions represent a swing from a loss of 8,000 in Q1 2015. It marked its most video subscriber additions in nine years. Comcast added 438,000 broadband subscribers, up from 407,000 in Q1 2015. Comcast said cable TV revenue climbed 6.7% to $12.2 billion, while NBCU revenue rose 3.9% to $6.86 billion. Filmed entertainment revenue fell 4.3% to $1.38 billion. In the year-earlier period, Universal Film released “Fifty Shades of Grey.” Comcast stock was up more than 1.5% in premarket trading Wednesday, following its earnings release.