Tag Archives: request

EU Probe Of Google Phone Deals Follows French Scrutiny Of Apple

The European Union antitrust chief is probing Alphabet ( GOOGL )-owned Google’s contracts with mobile phone makers as well as wireless service providers that sell devices using Android software. The EU is already investigating whether Google favors its own shopping service in Internet searches. Now it’s taking a close look at phone deals. “Our concern is that, by requiring phone makers and operators to pre-load a set of Google apps, rather than letting them decide for themselves which apps to load, Google might have cut off one of the main ways that new apps can reach customers,” said EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Monday at a regulatory conference in the Netherlands. Alphabet, which reports earnings on Thursday, rose fractionally just past midday on stock market today . IBD’s Take: How healthy is Alphabet stock heading into earnings? Find out at IBD Stock Checkup The European Union’s probe into Alphabet-Google’s carrier deals follows regulatory action in France involving Apple ( AAPL ). French regulators are reportedly seeking more than $55 million from Apple over claims the company wields too much power over wireless firms. Apple’s contracts require allegedly require mobile operators to order a minimum number of iPhones over three years, and to contribute to marketing campaigns managed by Apple, according to French regulators. The European Commission in 2013 sent a questionnaire to operators regarding allegations that Apple forces them to accept strict terms. Apple stock fell 1.5% in early-afternoon trade, after breaking below its 200-day line on Friday. Related: Amazon, Alphabet Extend Breakouts Ahead Of Earnings

Intel Expected To Swipe 30-40 Million Apple iPhone 7s From Qualcomm

Apple ( AAPL ) will tap No. 1 chipmaker Intel ( INTC ) to source 30-40 million iPhone 7 modems, but rival Qualcomm ( QCOM ) will remain top dog, Canaccord analyst T. Michael Walkley predicts. Meanwhile, Qualcomm’s Chinese-licensing recovery is under way despite a $100 million quarterly dispute with South Korean LG, he wrote in a research report. Walkley reiterated his buy rating and 65 price target on Qualcomm stock. For fiscal Q2 ended March 27, the consensus of 35 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect Qualcomm to report 96 cents EPS minus items on $5.34 billion in sales, down 33% and 23%, respectively, vs. the year-earlier quarter. Three months ago, Qualcomm guided to $4.9 billion to $5.7 billion in sales and 90 cents to $1 EPS ex items. Then, Qualcomm outlined its improving Chinese negotiations which included four re-signed government-approved contracts. “With the recently signed Lenovo deal, we believe Qualcomm now has the top four Chinese (smartphone makers) licensed for 3-mode and all 3G/4G devices,” Walkley wrote in a research report. He expects licensing sales to buoy in the latter half of 2016. Licensing sales toppled 20% sequentially back in fiscal Q3, ended last June 28, to just short of $2 billion amid the negotiations. Since then, the unit has seen 7%-8% sequential declines. No more, Credit Suisse analyst Kulbinder Garcha says. For Q2, Garcha expects $2.2 billion in licensing sales, up 36% sequentially and down 10% vs. the year-earlier quarter. He expects $7.5 billion in total 2016 licensing revenue growing to $7.6 billion in 2017. But Qualcomm’s chip sales could get snagged in headwinds, Garcha says. Qualcomm quintupled its content in the Samsung Galaxy S7 , teardowns show, but it will likely lose some iPhone 7 share to Intel even as Apple shipments lag. Garcha retained his outperform rating and 67 price target on Qualcomm stock, which is trading near 51, up about 3 percent in 2016.

3 Medical Stocks Hitting New Highs, With Earnings Due This Week

The medical industry has a lot to prove in the upcoming Q1 earnings season, as the last round of earnings and guidance didn’t do much to reassure investors who were already nervous for other reasons. However, some major stocks in the sector have been hitting new highs lately, especially on the hardware side of the group. Here are three such companies reporting earnings this week: • Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ) takes its traditional place at the head of the line as it reports its earnings early Tuesday, the first of the big drug companies to report in this cycle. Its growth is expected to be modest, due to both its gigantic size and the foreign-exchange headwinds that have been dragging on global companies’ earnings this year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimate that Q1 revenue rose 0.7% over the year-earlier quarter to $17.5 billion. Earnings are estimated at $1.66 a share, up 6%. Despite its muted growth, Johnson & Johnson stock hit a record high of 110.40 in trading Friday (closing the day at 110.18, up a fraction), and has maintained an IBD Relative Strength Rating in the 80s for the last six weeks. The mood on Wall Street going into the quarter seems bullish. Late Thursday, RBC Capital Markets analyst Glenn Novarro raised his estimates based on his reading of drug-prescription and foreign-exchange trends. “ IMS ( IMS ) script trends for several key drugs suggest another strong pharma quarter in 1Q (+9% year-over-year ex-FX and Olysio),” Novarro wrote. (Olysio is a hepatitis C treatment.) “Additionally, our analysis of currency movements since the beginning of the year suggests the negative FX impact on full-year results should be less than initially expected.” Novarro noted that one likely topic of conversation on the conference call will be this month’s FDA approval of Pfizer ’s ( PFE ) Inflectra, a biosimilar version of J&J’s blockbuster immunology drug Remicade. • Robotic-surgery specialist Intuitive Surgical ( ISRG ) is due to report after the close Tuesday. Analysts estimate that its Q1 earnings rose 21% over last year’s Q1 to $4.33 a share, with sales up 11.5% to $593 million. Intuitive Surgical has also been a top-performing stock lately, as the company has been making a comeback financially with the rollout of its da Vinci Xi surgical system and improving procedure growth. Intuitive Surgical stock hit a new high of 630.67 on Wednesday, up more than 15% this year, and boasts an excellent IBD Composite Rating of 98. It closed Friday at 624.22. “Heading into 1Q, the key question for investors is whether the stock is baking in too much optimism or is this the start of a new product cycle,” Evercore ISI analyst Vijay Kumar wrote in an email to clients Friday. “We expect procedure volumes to be healthy, with growth in general surgery leading the way (extra day from leap year should also help).” • Similar concerns about an over-optimistic market seem to be dogging orthopedics giant Stryker ( SYK ), which is due to report after the close Wednesday. The stock has also been on a roll, on Wednesday hitting a new high of 110.40 that was 19% above where it wound up last year. Shares closed Friday at 109.80. Stryker stock kept climbing last week even though Robert W. Baird downgraded it to neutral and Barclays resumed coverage at underweight. The latter wrote that Stryker’s valuation appears to be full going into its Q1 and that it’s facing more competition from a rejuvenated Zimmer Biomet ( ZBH ). Analysts covering Stryker estimate that sales rose 3.9% in the quarter to $2.47 billion, with earnings up 8% to $1.20 a share.