Author Archives: Scalper1

Walt Disney Company's Board Gets Another All-Star

WALT DISNEY WORLD POLO BY NIKE GOLF. IMAGE SOURCE DISNEY. Disney has added Nike CEO Mark Parker to its board of directors. He joins a star studded group, and

Why Facebook, Google, Amazon Are Best Positioned For Mobile

Loading the player… With the proliferation of smartphones has come the abundance of smartphone apps. A new report from Mizuho Securities says that Facebook ( FB ), Alphabet ( GOOGL )-owned Google and Amazon ( AMZN ) are in the best mobile positions. Among Android apps, Mizuho says that Facebook continues to lead in terms of usage, with its family of apps dominating in nearly every major continent. Following the Facebook app in usage are Google’s Chrome browser, Google Search and YouTube. And the analyst also notes that Amazon is gaining share in mobile app installations. Facebook dropped below the key 50-day line in big volume Monday as the market sold off. Shares rallied off session lows Tuesday and briefly turned higher, but closed down 0.2%. Alphabet breached its 50-day line last week. Shares reversed off of a three-and-a-half month low on Monday. After an up and down session, Alphabet stock dipped 0.45% Tuesday on higher volume. Amazon lost support at the critical 200-day line last week and is now below the 500 price level. The stock is hitting its lowest level in five and a half months in fast turnover, closing down 1.2% Tuesday. Meanwhile, the other FANG (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google) stock, Netflix ( NFLX ), rose 3.4%, gaining for a second session in heavy volume. Netflix shares broke below the 200-day line last month. Image provided by Shutterstock .

Yelp Advised To Stop ‘Spending Like It’s 2014’

Yelp ( YELP ) stock got at least four price-target cuts Tuesday after the troubled social media site late Monday gave weak Q1 guidance, lowered its 2016 earnings outlook and surprised Wall Street by announcing that its CFO was leaving the company. Yelp stock was down more than 3% in afternoon trading in the stock market today , near 15. Yelp stock, trading at its lowest price since June 2012, is down 85% from its all-time high of 101.75 brushed in early March 2014. The company late Monday did report Q4 earnings that beat analysts’ revenue and earnings forecasts. “After its Q4 report, we continue to expect slowing user growth, higher advertising spending and rapid sales force hiring. Yelp is spending like it’s 2014,” wrote Pacific Crest Securities analyst Evan Wilson in an industry note late Monday. “We continue to postulate that the environment has changed and it’s time for Yelp to focus on profitability instead of raw growth.” The company announced that its chief financial officer, Rob Krolik, will be stepping down “in the coming months.” Yelp said it will start looking for a new CFO immediately. UBS analyst Eric Sheridan wrote in an industry note that Yelp’s earnings translated to “disappointment today and uncertainty tomorrow.” Sheridan said that “with a lower-than-expected EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) guide for fiscal year 2016 and a CFO transition ahead, Yelp’s Q4 results introduced an elevated level of uncertainty around the progress and trajectory of the business.” Sheridan was sour on the company’s Q4 EBITDA miss despite a higher contribution from its higher-margin brand-advertising business. UBS cut its price target on Yelp stock to 17 from 26. Needham & Co. cut its price target on Yelp stock to 25 from 40, while Axiom Securities cut its price target to 18 from 25. Yelp is facing competition in online reviews from multiple fronts — including from Facebook ( FB ), Apple ( AAPL ), Amazon.com ( AMZN ) and Alphabet ( GOOGL )-owned Google — as other websites build or buy their own databases of user-generated reviews to attract viewers. Yelp also competes with online travel agency TripAdvisor ( TRIP ) and Priceline Group ( PCLN ), the world’s largest Web travel-service company. Thomson Reuters noted Yelp’s Q4 EBITDA as coming in light of the consensus analyst estimate: $17.54 million vs. the $21.9 million that analysts had anticipated. Yelp posted Q4 EPS ex items of 11 cents, down 40% year over year. Yelp reported that revenue rose 40% year over year to $153.7 million. That exceeded the $152.35 million that analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had wanted to see.