Tag Archives: request

Twitter Stock Sinks To An All-Time Low, As Facebook, Google Grow

Well on its way toward a fifth straight day of declines, Twitter ( TWTR ) stock hit an all-time low Tuesday, a collapse that began after it posted Q1 earnings on April 26 which included revenue that missed Wall Street targets, as did its sales guidance for the current quarter. The stock fell 16% the following day, as Twitter collected a wave of price-target cuts and ratings downgrades amid the company’s struggles to add more users. Twitter stock fell as low as 13.90 Tuesday, a penny below its previous all-time low of 13.91, touched on Feb. 11. In the stock market today , Twitter stock closed at 14.01, down 2.7%. The microblog has seen its user growth steadily slow while failing to make many inroads in digital ad growth against juggernauts Facebook ( FB ) and Alphabet ‘s ( GOOGL ) Google. Twitter has gained little ground in social media advertising, Michael Nathanson, an analyst at MoffettNathanson, wrote in a new research report that says Facebook and Google dominate digital ads like no other media marketplace. In November, Twitter brought back company co-founder Jack Dorsey as CEO in a bid to revive the company. Twitter stock is down nearly 40% this year.

‘Apple Fallout’ Likely To Tug Qorvo’s June View, But iPhone 7 Nears

Apple ‘s ( AAPL ) iPhone drag will seize another victim Wednesday, a Goldman Sachs analyst suggested Tuesday, ahead of Qorvo ‘s ( QRVO ) quarterly earnings report, with Wall Street forecasting the chipmaker’s first year-over-year sales decline in eight quarters. But the Apple trough will likely resolve in the second half of the year, when the iPhone 7 ramps, Goldman Sachs analyst Toshiya Hari wrote in a research report. He expects radio-frequency chip rivals Qorvo, Broadcom ( AVGO ) and Skyworks Solutions ( SWKS ) to see growth from the release of the iPhone 7, expected in September. “While unit headwinds and inventory burn at Apple could weigh on results, we believe we are at the trough of the cycle and expect RF fundamental to improve,” Hari wrote. “The RF content growth story is still fully intact.” First, though, heavily-Apple-exposed Qorvo has to survive the March quarter, for which Apple reported its first-ever year-over-year decline in smartphone sales. For Qorvo’s fiscal Q4, the consensus of 20 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters models $599.2 million in sales and 92 cents earnings per share minus items, down a respective 6% and 17% vs. the year-earlier quarter. Qorvo reports after the close Wednesday. Three months ago, Qorvo guided to $600 million in sales and 90-95 cents EPS ex items. Qorvo’s sales and EPS have decelerated for the past three and four quarters, respectively. Last quarter, EPS fell for the first time since September 2012. For the fiscal year, Qorvo is expected to report 52% sales growth, to $2.6 billion. But analyst consensus calls for a 10% decline in EPS ex items, to $4.26. In the stock market today , Qorvo stock rose a fraction to 45.04, while Broadcom fell 2% and Skyworks fell a fraction. Last week, Skyworks’ fiscal Q2 metrics topped analysts’ consensus, but Q3 guidance missed. Then, Skyworks stock dropped 6.9%. Hari says Qorvo stock could experience a similar dip. But Qorvo shares are already down 12% over the past 12 months, and “weakness may not be as pronounced,” he wrote. Hari cut his price target on Qorvo stock to 44 from 47 but kept his neutral rating. He trimmed his Broadcom stock price target to 171 from 175, but he still rates it and Skyworks both a buy. Among the three, Qorvo is the most Apple-exposed, Hari wrote. “We expect investors to focus on its (fiscal Q1) guide (impact of Apple fallout) and execution (share gains at Samsung),” he wrote.

Caterpillar, Joy Global Up This Year, But The China Question Lingers

Caterpillar ( CAT ) is billing it as the age of Smart Iron, a joining of iron age durability with high-tech capability. The branding is fresh, but the combination is nothing new. Earth moving equipment has, for many years been guided by satellite-using GPS equipment. For nearly as long, massive mining trucks have been evolving toward hybrid diesel-electric technology that use direct current motors for both locomotion and braking. Caterpillar’s new wrinkle is technology allowing operators to monitor the productivity of each vehicle in their fleet, and to diagnose mechanical status and receive automated readouts on upcoming maintenance. The company expects to make early announcements on the new vehicles at the Las Vegas industry show early next year. In the meantime, analysts generally remain cautious. The consensus view expects Caterpillar earnings to continue to decline this year, with a flat EPS outlook for 2017. The company last fall announced it would layoff 10,000 workers and shutter up to 20 manufacturing facilities worldwide in the next two years. But it has fought to keep up its R & D spending, preparing for the day when demand for heavy equipment – particularly from China – returns. The Peoria, Ill., mover and shaker’s Q1 results reported Friday showed earnings down 68%, below estimates in a fourth straight decline. Revenue slid 26%, a sixth straight quarter of accelerating contraction. Still, Caterpillar remains a dividend darling with a 4% yield. Its shares on Tuesday were up 36% from a January low. That leaves the stock still deep in a 22-month correction, but at a place where a legitimate base could form. As a group, construction and mining equipment makers were ahead 40% over the same period. Astec Industries ( ASTE ) climbed 45%.  Terex ( TEX ) rose 73%. Joy Global ( JOY ) took a 140% gain. Astec and Joy show particularly strong recent accumulation by institutional investors. Their Relative Price Strength Ratings are also high, in the mid-90s, vs. a 77 for Caterpillar. But Astec is thinly traded, which knocks it off the CAN SLIM radar screen. Joy Global’s earnings have declined in the past 12 quarters, sending it to a loss in its fiscal Q1, ended in January. Revenue has declined for 12 straight quarters. Analyst consensus expects Joy Global’s losses to continue this year, but turn up sharply next year for a 161% earnings gain and a 0.3% gain in sales. Caterpillar and Joy Global received a boost on April 25, when Goldman Sachs upgraded the pair to neutral, from sell. The note cited firming demand in China’s construction sector, and rising iron ore prices, which could stir mining demand. But analysts also note that a large share of global mining equipment is parked. As demand rises, a healthy portion of that equipment will need to come back into service before the demand trickles through to new equipment buys.