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Sony PlayStation 4 Chipmaker Monolithic Power Systems Tops Q1 Views

Sony ( SNE ) PlayStation 4 chip supplier Monolithic Power Systems ( MPWR ) topped Wall Street’s Q1 expectations after the close Monday and issued current-quarter sales guidance that beat the consensus at the midpoint. Monolithic Power stock rose 1.75% in Monday’s regular session to 63.51, and was flat in after-hours trading. Shares are even for the year, but have recovered from an 8% dip through mid-February. Monolithic stock broke out of a cup-with-handle based last month at 65.36, so it’s down nearly 3% from the buy point. For Q1, Monolithic Power reported $84.5 million in sales and 45 cents earnings per share minus items, up 15% and 22%, respectively, vs. the year-earlier quarter. IBD Take: Monolithic Power gets great ratings of late, as you can see from IBD Stock Checkup. Both measures topped the consensus of eight analysts polled by Thomson Reuters for $83 million and 44 cents per share, and the midpoint of Monolithic Power’s earlier sales view for $81 million to $85 million. Current-quarter sales guidance for $91 million to $95 million would be up 12%-17% and beat analysts’ model for $91.5 million at the midpoint. Monolithic Power stock has an IBD Composite Rating of 97, out of a best-possible 99, trailing Nvidia ( NVDA ), Silicon Motion Tech ( SIMO ) and Maxlinear ( MXL ). Its chips are used in Sony’s PlayStation 4, Microsoft ( MSFT ) Xbox One and Blu-ray/DVD players. It competes against tech majors like Intel ( INTC ), Texas Instruments ( TXN ) and Qualcomm ( QCOM ), all Apple ( AAPL ) suppliers.

Sprint Expected To Post Wider Loss; Could Add Postpaid Subscribers

Sprint ( S ) is expected to report a wider loss and lower revenue early Tuesday, though its postpaid wireless subscriber additions might increase. Sprint, which is majority owned by Japan-based SoftBank ( SFTBY ), will also likely provide fiscal 2016 guidance, analysts said. Sprint is expected to report a fiscal Q4 loss of 12 cents per share, widening from a 6-cent per-share loss in the year-earlier period. Revenue in the March quarter is expected to have fallen 3% to $8.05 billion, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimate. Sprint is the last of the four national wireless carriers to report March-quarter results.  T-Mobile US ( TMUS ) added 877,000 postpaid phone lines in Q1, while  Verizon Communications ( VZ ) reported a loss of 8,000.  AT&T ( T ) last week said that it lost 363,000 postpaid phone customers in Q1. Postpaid refers to customers who are billed monthly, a group that tends to spend more than prepaid customers who buy minutes as needed. AT&T has lost postpaid phone subscribers for six consecutive quarters. “We expect Sprint results will reflect a balanced focus to subscriber growth and profitability,” UBS analyst John Hodulik said in a research report. “We believe churn (customer disconnections) will tick up in Q1, and a lesser focus on volumes will drive slower, albeit positive, postpaid handset growth. This should drive some stability in service revenue declines. “We expect ongoing cost-cutting initiatives and savings from leasing uptake to provide upside to EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization). We expect management to provide fiscal 2016 guidance, including a path to total revenue stability and positive free-cash flow as the company exits the year.”

Has Apple Lost Its Mojo? Epic Stock Slide Continues For Eighth Day

Apple ( AAPL ) stock slid for the eighth straight trading session on Monday, as Wall Street analysts debated whether the consumer electronics giant has lost its mojo. Apple shares fell a fraction to 93.64 on the stock market today  and earlier were down as much as 1.4%, within pennies of a 22-month low. Apple stock has fallen in 11 of the past 12 trading sessions. Apple’s current eight-day losing streak is its longest since an eight-day losing streak ended July 28, 1998. Apple has been hammered since last Tuesday, when it reported its first year-over-year sales decline since 2003 and first-ever drop in iPhone unit sales in the March quarter. Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi on Monday reiterated his outperform rating on Apple stock with a price target of 135. In the battle of bulls and bears over the stock, the bears are currently winning, he noted in a research report. Bears say Apple has lost its marketplace mojo, and that management’s inconsistent messages are increasingly worrisome and the company’s product innovation is too slow, Sacconaghi said. They also point to declining sales in once-hot China and signs that iPhone sales and profits have peaked, he said. Bulls say the iPhone business is still healthy and should return to growth with the iPhone 7. Also, the company is getting a lift from its growing services business, Sacconaghi said. “On net, while we believe that Apple will be challenged to grow earnings longer term, we do believe that the iPhone business is still healthy today, and that accordion-like replacement cycles between full refresh and S-cycles explain the majority of the year-over-year contraction we are seeing this year,” Sacconaghi said. “With the stock trading at trough valuation levels, we continue to see risk-reward as attractive at current levels.” RBC Capital Markets analyst Amit Daryanani on Monday maintained his outperform rating on Apple stock with a price target of 120. “With $200 billion-plus in cash, we believe the stock is undervalued at these levels,” he said in a report. “From a product perspective, we believe the company can continue to gain share in both the tablet and smartphone space.” RELATED: Apple Investors Worry That Glory Days Are Over