Tag Archives: technology

Apple Off The Hook: Has FBI Battle Been Good Or Bad For Stock?

Apple ( AAPL ) is now off the hook for helping the FBI hack into the San Bernardino terrorist’s iPhone, after the feds dropped their case late Monday. But a lot of questions remain unanswered. We don’t officially know the third party used to hack the phone, or its method. We also don’t know what information it was able to recover. One thing’s for sure: The hotly debated Apple-FBI battle has raised questions about smartphone encryption and privacy. As far as how Apple’s stock has reacted to all of this, the share price has risen about 13% since news of the case broke on Feb. 16 — but it had the help of a rally from the major indexes. Shares have been more or less in a standstill since March 16, even with new products from the consumer tech giant unveiled last week, as they try to find support around the 105 price level. The stock is rising 1.4% in above-average trade today, on track to break a three-session losing streak. Apple is up nearly 16% from its January low, but is still 20% below its all-time high of 134.54 reached last April. Silicon Valley heavyweights including Alphabet ( GOOGL )-owned Google, Facebook ( FB ), Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Amazon ( AMZN ) all backed Apple in the case, signaling that they too may put up a fight in future encryption cases. Facebook was up 1.1% Tuesday and Microsoft rallied 1.2%. Amazon gained 1.2% and Alphabet added 0.5%. Image provided by Shutterstock .

Oracle Seeks $9.3 Bil From Google Over Java Use; Trial Nears

Oracle ( ORCL ) stock slipped nearly 1% and Alphabet ( GOOGL ) stalled flat following a report that Oracle will seek as much as $9.3 billion in damages from Google Android’s use of Oracle’s iconic Java software. Oracle sued six years ago, before Google restructured into Alphabet, and is preparing for a second trial to start May 9 , according to an IDG News Service report. When it first went to trial in 2012, Android was said to be the world’s largest mobile operating system, with more than 300 million users. Today, it has more than 1.4 billion active accounts. In the first trial, the jury found that Google had used Oracle’s Java code for mobile Android but struggled over Google’s claim to limited “fair use” of Oracle’s code. “The core issue is whether the APIs (application programming interfaces) here are copyrightable, and that’s for the court to decide,” Jim Prosser, Google’s global communications manager at the time, told IBD in May 2012. “We expect to prevail on this issue and Oracle’s other claims.” Later that month, the jury ruled in favor of Google over the “fair use” question. An appellate court overruled the decision, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Google’s last appeal, essentially sending the case back to the trial court. Oracle presented the new damage total in court filings, according to IDG reports Monday, which also said that Google may have put a $100 million cap on some damages, according to an Oracle filing. Oracle fell 0.9% to 40.62 in the stock market today , 10% off a five-month June 16 high of 45.24 and 3% off a March 21 peak at 42. Google parent Alphabet closed down 0.2% to 753.28 Monday, just 7% off its Feb. 2 all-time record high of 810.35. Oracle and Google spokespeople could not immediately be reached for comment.

NetEase Sees Dip In Mobile And PC Games, Gets Hurt By Tax Change

China gaming company  NetEase ( NTES ) is being hit by declining user activity for both its PC and mobile games and an “unfavorable” tax rate change, according to an analyst. “Cross-border commerce continues to grow, but we are cautious on likely negative catalysts, including government regulations, currency exchange fluctuation and intensifying competition,” wrote ITG Investment Research analyst Henry Guo in a research note Monday. Seasonality and competition are offsetting the company’s cross-border e-commerce momentum in Q1, he said. “Longer term, we continue to see multiple potential risks to NetEase’s e-commerce efforts, considering the uncertainties related to government policy and tax regulations on cross-border commerce and increasing competition from established e-commerce players in the market,” Guo wrote. NetEase stock closed Monday at 140, down 3.1%. NetEase stock has risen 36% in the past 12 months but is down 22% since early January. Shares touched a record high above 186 near the end of 2015. Three China tech firms — Internet search leader Baidu ( BIDU ), e-commerce king Alibaba Group ( BABA ) and Tencent Holdings ( TCEHY ), China’s leader in messaging and gaming — lead the way in China’s Internet arena. NetEase is another leader on China’s Web, as is e-commerce company JD.com ( JD ). The company said that revenue from online games, its biggest segment, more than doubled in Q4, thanks to growth in its original mobile games. The company’s “Westward Journey Online” and “Fantasy Westward Journey” came in as the top two games in the Apple ( AAPL ) iOS China app store in the fourth quarter, NetEase said. While the company now has multiple mobile games in testing, Guo said, few are available for public testing. “As such, we haven’t seen a step-up in game user activity in the quarter, which we attribute to a lack of promotions or incentives,” he said. Guo said he has modeled NetEase’s ad revenue to decline 10% quarter over quarter in Q1 2016, “a significant improvement from the year-ago period’s 18% quarter-over-quarter decline, reflecting NetEase’s heightened immunity to advertising seasonality, such as the Chinese New Year.” NetEase is best known for its desktop PC games and has had a lucrative exclusive license for Activision Blizzard ( ATVI )‘s “World of Warcraft” in mainland China since 2009. The company also develops its own games, mostly the multiplayer variety played on desktop PCs and mobile devices. Apple stock closed down a fraction at 105.19, while JD.com stock fell 2% to close at 25.82. Alibaba stock rose a fraction to close at 76.48, while Baidu stock rose a fraction to 185.17.