Tag Archives: request

Ebix London Invasion Sends Stock Gapping Up To Record High

Ebix ( EBIX ), a provider of software for the insurance industry, saw its shares surge Friday after the company announced that it had signed a new contract to launch a single insurance exchange in London. The deal means that Ebix will deploy a single platform that will facilitate the payment of insurance, as well as capturing and processing risks electronically. In a press release , Ebix said that the new contract will generate more than $75 million over the next five years, or about $15 million per year. Ebix posted 2015 revenue of $265 million, up 24%, its biggest rise in four years. “It is the first time in the world that a single exchange platform is being deployed to facilitate electronic placement of insurance across a market comprised of all the constituents,” Ebix CEO Robin Raina said in the release. “That it is being done by the largest insurance marketplace in the world — London — makes this a particularly significant event in the global insurance market.” Frenzied investors drove the stock up as much as 13% Friday to an all-time high of 45.84, topping its former high, which dates to 1988. Ebix stock was up 11% in early afternoon trading on the stock market today , still above 45. Ebix stock broke out of a cup base at 38.36 on March 1, and in the past few days shares have cleared resistance they saw around 42.

Super Micro Computer Stock Dives, Breakout Fails After Profit Warning

Highly rated small cap Super Micro Computer ( SMCI ) lowered its third-quarter estimates after the close Thursday and then watched its stock crash Friday. Super Micro stock plunged nearly 19% in heavy afternoon trading in the  stock market today , near 27. The stock had made a breakout at 33.89 from a cup-with-handle base, but that breakout has now failed. Scheduled to announce Q3 earnings after the close April 28, Super Micro founder and CEO Charles Liang said late Thursday in a preannouncement that the quarter ended March 31 turned out “weaker than forecast due to weaker demand with some large customers and the channel than we anticipated. January and February were particularly soft, while March showed improved momentum. Storage and data center continued to grow.” Except for the reference to March, there was “little detail on going-forward expectations,” Needham analyst Richard Kugele said in a Thursday research note. “We see great risk to the company’s goal of 20%-plus annual revenue growth and expect the stock will return to the penalty box, at least until further clarity is provided on the April 28 call.” IBD’s Take: Super Micro had been hot, but a breakout failed. How does the stock stack up? Find out at IBD Stock Checkup Kugele, though, said he still likes the company in the long term and that it’s outpacing the broader server/storage market. He reiterated his buy rating and 36 price target on Super Micro. Super Micro said Q3 revenue will come in at $530 million to $533 million instead of $530 million to $580 million. It now sees non-GAAP EPS of 33 cents to 35 cents vs. earlier guidance of 43 cents to 53 cents. Wall Street consensus had been 49 cents minus items, up 4% from the year-earlier quarter, and sales of $557 million, up 18%, Kugele said. Thomson Reuters on Friday cited consensus of six analysts on non-GAAP EPS of 46 cents and of seven analysts on revenue of $552 million. The preannouncement offered no guidance. Thomson Reuters put consensus on the current fiscal Q4 EPS minus items at 66 cents on revenue of $650 million vs. 57 cents on $574 million a year earlier. With an IBD Composite Rating of 98, Super Micro Computer ranks the best among all members of IBD’s Computer-Hardware/Peripherals industry group. But it’s also one of the smallest, with a market cap of $1.35 billion. The largest, Canon ( CAJ ), with a $32.68 billion market cap, carries a 37 CR, followed by newly reorganized HP Inc. ( HPQ ), with a $21.9 7 billion market value and a 47 CR. Canon stock was down a fraction intradayFriday, while HP stock was up a fraction. Image provided by Shutterstock .

Obama Backs Set-Top TV Change; Critics Say It’s Too Google-Friendly

Phone and cable TV companies slammed the White House after President Obama signaled his support for a regulatory proposal to open up the set-top box market to more competition, a move that critics say is too friendly for companies such as  Alphabet ’s ( GOOGL ) Google and  Apple ( AAPL ), benefiting them at the expense of pay-TV providers. AT&T ( T ), Comcast ( CMCSA ) and other pay-TV players have opposed the proposal. Tom Wheeler, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, says he plans to make it easier for consumers to switch from pay-TV companies’ set-top boxes leased monthly to new devices sold on a retail basis by consumer electronics or Internet companies. “Instead of spending nearly $1,000 over four years to lease a set of behind-the-times boxes, American families will have options to own a device for much less money that will integrate everything they want,” said the White House Council of Economic Advisers in a blog post . Obama is expected to file comments with the FCC supporting Wheeler’s proposal. “The Google proposal the White House endorsed today will box consumers into yesterday’s technology and impede the innovation consumers so desperately want,” said the Future of TV Coalition, a lobbying group formed by cable TV companies, programmers and others. The FCC has three Democratic and two Republican members. Walter McCormick, president of the USTelecom industry trade group, said in a statement: “The legitimacy of this rule-making proceeding has now been irreparably compromised.” Potential new suppliers such as Apple ,  Google or Amazon.com ( AMZN ) would likely provide their own programming guide to consumers, analysts say. One worry for pay-TV firms is losing the ability to collect viewership data, the key for targeted advertising . Google, critics say, aims to swap its own advertising for the local ads sold by cable TV companies. Under the new set-top rules, the FCC says that only pay-TV subscribers will gain access to programming, and that copyright protections will be preserved. The FCC could clear a path for Apple, which reportedly shelved plans for an Internet video service after negotiations with programmers stalled.