Tag Archives: aapl

PayPal Venmo Stacks Up Well Vs. Apple Pay, Google’s Android Pay

Based on a survey of 1,000 PayPal ( PYPL ) customers, an analyst says that the company isn’t getting enough credit for the potential impact of its peer-to-peer payments app, Venmo. According to Jefferies analyst Jason Kupferberg, investor concerns over the  Apple ( AAPL ) Pay competitor are exaggerated — PayPal’s mobile sales continue to grow and have, in fact, accelerated since Apple released its payments app, he says in a research note. Venmo is a mobile app that enables friends and family to share expenses such as rent, meals and cab fare. Google, a unit of Alphabet ( GOOGL ), also competes in the payments game with its Android Pay. Though PayPal executives continue to emphasize the firm’s “platform agnostic” approach — it isn’t tied to an operating system or platform — and say that neither Apple nor Google is a real threat, some industry watchers disagree. Alex Rampell, a general partner at noted VC firm Andreesseen Horowitz, likened the prospects of either Apple or Google taking a bigger interest in payments to the Death Star — the planet-destroying battle station in “Star Wars” — approaching for all other rivals. “This isn’t the ‘Empire Strikes Back,’ ” Rampell has told IBD in the past. “This is the Death Star coming.” Kupferberg wrote in a research note Monday that PayPal earnings will accelerate due to transactions conducted with the Venmo app. Venmo is free for now, but PayPal executives say that they plan to monetize the app, which is popular with millennials. They say that PayPal plans to allow selected PayPal merchants to accept payment via the Venmo app — and PayPal would charge its typical transaction fee (2.9%, according to Fortune magazine) in the process. According to Kupferberg, 67% of Venmo users would use the Pay With Venmo feature one or twice a month, with 44% using it three to five times a month, and 19% using it six to 10 times per month. Kupferberg says that Pay With Venmo transactions will yield larger profit margins because Venmo customers typically fund their accounts with debit cards, bank accounts and stored balances — the result of others sending cash. PayPal stock was up more than 2%, near 38, in afternoon trading on the stock market today . The San Jose-based company has an IBD Composite Rating of 91, where 99 is the highest. The stock has had a choppy few months since its spin-off from eBay ( EBAY ) in July. It hit its high of 42.55 during its first trading session on Nasdaq and has plunged to as low as about 30 on several occasions. At least one analyst says that the sell-off has been too hasty . Kupferberg’s price target for PayPal stock is 44. PayPal has recently settled a lawsuit over a perennial issue that the company faces: locked accounts.

Apple Going Small With Spring Product Announcements

Apple ( AAPL ) is thinking small with its upcoming products, including a new, small-screen iPhone and smaller-screen iPad Pro, according to media reports. The Cupertino, Calif.-based consumer electronics giant hasn’t announced a date for its spring product rollout, but several news outlets now say that Apple has chosen March 21 for that media event. Apple is widely expected to unveil a 4-inch smartphone called the iPhone SE and 9.7-inch iPad Pro tablet, Mashable reported Sunday . KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the iPhone SE will look like the iPhone 5S, released in September 2013, but will have internal components much like the iPhone 6S, released last September, MacRumors reported Friday . The iPhone SE will sport an A9 chip, NFC technology to enable Apple Pay and a 12-megapixel, rear-facing camera, Kuo said. The 4-inch handset likely will come in one version with storage capability of 16 gigabytes and another with 64 GB. But it won’t have a pressure-sensitive 3D touch screen like the latest iPhones, he said. Kuo says that the iPhone SE will sell for $400 to $500 and that Apple will slash the price of the iPhone 5S by 50%. The 16 GB model iPhone 5S will sell for $225, down from $450 today. By comparison, the 4.7-inch iPhone 6S starts at $649. Apple will target the handsets to emerging markets such as China and India. Apple is also expected to unveil a 9.7-inch iPad Pro tablet at the March event, 9to5Mac reported last week . The current iPad Pro has a 12.9-inch display. The smaller iPad Pro will have the same internal components as its big brother. It will support accessories like the Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard. At the March event, Apple also is seen offering new Apple Watch wristbands and perhaps a software update, but no second-generation hardware.  

Amazon Seen Prepping Cable-TV-Like Web Service, Live Content

Amazon.com ( AMZN ) is moving closer to launching a live TV streaming service to complement its Prime video service, which offers movies and on-demand content, analysts speculate in the wake of media companies’ earnings calls. In the pay-TV industry, “virtual MVPD” (multi-channel video programming distributor) is a term for a cable-TV-like service delivered via the Internet. “Amazon appears most likely to launch a virtual MVPD in 2016,” Pacific Crest Securities analyst Andy Hargreaves said in a research report. “Amazon was hinted at multiple times throughout the quarter as being in negotiations with content providers in the hopes of launching a video product in the future.” AMC Networks ( AMCX ) referred to ongoing “experimentation” at Amazon on its Q4 earnings call on Feb. 25. Walt Disney ( DIS ), meanwhile, mentioned Amazon while discussing ESPN’s streaming strategy on Feb. 17. Satellite TV broadcaster Dish Network ( DISH ) has more than 500,000 subscribers to its “Sling” Web TV service, launched in early 2015, analysts estimate. However, Sling does not offer live content from the four major broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC). Bloomberg reported in October that Amazon was in talks with Comcast ’s ( CMCSA ) NBCUniversal, CBS ( CBS ) and others. Amazon’s challenge would be aggregating content licensed from major programming networks. Apple ( AAPL ) reportedly has, for now, broken off talks with the broadcast networks for a Web TV service. If Amazon’s offers live content, it would set itself apart from Netflix ( NFLX ) and Hulu, both of which do not. Amazon, like Netflix, has already moved into producing original content. One Amazon strategy could be licensing content for current seasons of popular programming now available mainly from pay-TV companies. Federal regulators are probing the influence of cable TV companies over content deals, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday. In a report in mid-February, Jefferies noted that Amazon’s Prime video service offers the most content from CBS, including “Vegas.” Its on-demand shows, though, are from prior broadcast seasons. “Relative to Netflix and Hulu, Amazon Prime carries significantly less network programming,” said the Jefferies report. “Overall, the platform only carries nine fall shows aired between 2012 and 2015, six of which aired on CBS.” Amazon in 2015  licensed season-one episodes from NBCUniversal’s hit, “Mr. Robot,” which airs on the USA Network. Amazon also signed content deals with AMC Networks and Time Warner ( TWX ) for six seasons of HBO’s “Sex and the City.”