Tag Archives: technology

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.”

Tesla Partner Nvidia, Samsung Call Truce On Mobile-Chip Lawsuits

Tesla Motors ( TSLA ) partner Nvidia ( NVDA ) and Samsung called a cease-fire Monday on a nearly two-year battle over their mobile tech patents, the companies said in a joint statement hours before a decision was due in Samsung’s suit against Nvidia. Under the settlement, Nvidia and Samsung will license “a small number of patents by each company to each other,” but won’t allow for “broad cross-licensing of patents or other compensation,” they said. Nvidia fired the first shot in late 2014, claiming Samsung and Apple ( AAPL ) supplier Qualcomm ( QCOM ) had violated its patents on graphics processing chips. Samsung retaliated with a lawsuit that alleged Nvidia had violated its patents. Both sought to have some rival components banned from sale in the U.S. In December, a judge upheld an earlier ruling that Samsung and Qualcomm had not violated Nvidia’s patents. Monday’s decision would have wrapped Samsung’s case. In afternoon trading on the stock market today , Nvidia stock was up more than 1%, near 36. Shares are on a nearly three-month run, up 42% since a Feb. 11 bottom this year, likely helped along by the release of the Facebook ( FB ) Oculus Rift virtual-reality headset. The Oculus recommends use of devices that have graphics chips — graphics processing units — from Nvidia or Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ).