Author Archives: Scalper1

Visa Expands Apple Pay Tokenization Tech Into Car-Commerce

When you think of e-commerce, Amazon.com ( AMZN ) comes to mind. With m-commerce, or mobile commerce, maybe Starbucks ( SBUX ), with its smartphone payment system. C-commerce, or car-commerce, could be down the road, and Visa ( V ) aims to make a name for itself by partnering with auto makers. At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Visa announced a partnership with Honda as well as ParkWhiz. Visa, as well as MasterCard ( MA ), has developed security technology that replaces the 16-digit account numbers in credit cards. Tokens are essentially electronic security keys. Mobile payment systems generate a one-time, random digital code during transactions, instead of transmitting 16-digit credit card numbers. Apple Pay uses tokens. Visa launched the service on Apple ( AAPL ) devices in October, 2014. Visa has also been working with online retailers. With the Visa Checkout Service, transactions are also tokenized. With car-based commerce, Visa expects applications such as automatic payment for parking spaces, gas at service stations or fast-food at drive-in establishments. Visa first talked about car commerce at the WMC in 2015 and followed up Monday with the Honda deal. “Eliminating the need for drivers to take tickets or check out at pay boxes is a giant step toward a frictionless experience and a big win for drivers,” said Aashish Dalal, CEO of ParkWhiz, in a release .

Strong Video, Instagram Sales Outlook Boost Confidence In Facebook

Citing higher expectations of revenue growth from video ads and Instagram ads at Facebook ( FB ), Rosenblatt Securities on Tuesday reiterated its buy rating on the social networking leader. Rosenblatt analyst Martin Pyykkonen also maintained a price target of 125 on Facebook stock, which was down 1%, near 106, in midday trading on the stock market today . Facebook is off 10% from its all-time high of 117.59, set on Feb. 2. Facebook’s revenue-growth visibility should increase this year, Pyykkonen wrote in his research note. By year-end, he estimates, Instagram will account for about $1 billion in revenue, or about 10% of Facebook’s total revenue. He says that Facebook will also benefit long term from growth for its Oculus Rift virtual-reality headset business. “Facebook is introducing better analytics and measurement guidelines for advertisers, which we think is a healthy and natural evolution in the business to drive higher return on investment for large brand and performance-based advertisers,” Pyykkonen wrote. “Our positive outlook for video ads across Facebook’s core platform (and increasingly on Instagram with the wider upcoming ad-selling rollout) is based mostly on volume growth.” This month, Facebook doubled the length of video ads on Instagram to 60 seconds. Many Virtual-Reality Rivals For Facebook Pyykkonen also says that Facebook’s virtual-reality business is broader than just the high-end gaming market. He sees Facebook’s Oculus Rift headset and controllers as positioned for the mass market. Facebook this month said that PCs optimized for its Oculus Rift headset are around the corner . Alphabet ( GOOGL ), meanwhile, is working on VR eyewear through its Google Glass platform. Alphabet already offers a virtual-reality experience through its Cardboard VR headset, designed mainly as a companion for YouTube videos. Apple ( AAPL ), too, is getting its VR game primed via acquisitions, most recently of Flyby Media, an image-recognition company. Apple has not yet announced a VR device, but it has filed a patent for a head-mounted display apparatus. Microsoft ( MSFT ) also is pursuing virtual reality with its HoloLens headset. Microsoft HoloLens enables holographic computing that can be used for applications from creating movie creatures to designing cars. Facebook last week continued to show that it’s king of social media, posting  fourth-quarter earnings that soundly beat expectations on booming mobile ad revenue. Facebook reported ad revenue of $5.84 billion, up 52% from Q4 2014. And mobile advertising revenue shot up 69%, accounting for 80% of total ad revenue. It marked Facebook’s strongest revenue growth in five quarters.

Fitbit Face-Plants After Giving Weak Q1 Guidance, User Numbers

Fitbit ( FIT ) stock fell off the treadmill Tuesday, a day after the maker of wearable fitness devices reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results, but guided Wall Street much lower than expected for the current quarter. Fitbit shares were down 19%, near 13.40, in midday trading on the stock market today , and at least five investment banks downgraded their rating on the company. Fitbit stock hit its all-time low of 12.90 on Feb. 11, after the company went public in June at 20 a share and peaked in August near 52. Several analysts downgraded the stock or cut their price targets after the San Francisco-based company late Monday posted Q4 earnings and gave Q1 and full-year 2016 guidance. In Q4, Fitbit earned 35 cents a share, excluding items, on sales of $712 million. Non-GAAP earnings per share rose 67%, and sales jumped 92% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected 25 cents ex items on sales of $648 million. But for the current quarter, Fitbit is targeting non-GAAP earnings per share of 1 cent on sales of $430 million, at the midpoint of its guidance range. Analysts were modeling 23 cents and $485 million. Fitbit’s New Products Out In March Fitbit Chief Financial Officer Bill Zerella said Q1 is a product transition quarter, with the launch of the Fitbit Blaze smart fitness watch and Alta fitness wristband in March, as well as the discontinuation of the Fitbit Charge. Fitbit expects to incur higher sales and marketing expenses because of the global product launches, plus additional manufacturing expenses to maximize production of the new products. Piper Jaffray analyst Erinn Murphy downgraded Fitbit stock to neutral from overweight and slashed her price target to 14 from 24. The outlook for Fitbit’s new products is cloudy, and the company faces tough year-over-year comparisons in the second half of the year, she said in a research report. Pacific Crest Securities analyst Brad Erickson downgraded Fitbit stock to sector weight from overweight. He cited the risk of hardware commoditization and poor user metrics as reasons for the change. “We see little likelihood of dispelling anytime soon the longer-term bear thesis of slowing growth, pricing pressure and longer-term commoditization,” he said in a report. Fitbit is looking like the next GoPro ( GPRO ), a hardware company facing market saturation, slowing growth and margin and earnings erosion, he said. Erickson is also concerned about active-user trends. Fitbit added 18 million new registered device users in 2015, of which 13 million, or 72%, were active users at year-end. Erickson says Fitbit stock has a fair value of 14. Cowen analyst John Kernan reiterated his market perform rating on Fitbit stock but axed his price target to 19 from 41. FBN Securities analyst Shebly Seyrafi maintained his outperform rating but cleaved his price target to 25 from 50. Sterne Agee CRT analyst Rob Cihra kept his neutral rating on Fitbit and price target of 18. To turn things around, Fitbit needs to show leverage in the corporate wellness market, improve customer retention, and come out with new products with breakthrough sensors. Despite shipping over 30 million devices in the past two years, Fitbit ended 2015 with 16.9 million active users. “This kind of ‘churn’ is likely just natural and systemic to the health/fitness market, as some Fitbits ending up in drawers seems comparable to well-intentioned health club memberships that don’t get used,” Cihra said in a report. Fitbit faces competition from makers of dedicated fitness products such as Garmin ( GRMN ) and Under Armour ( UA ), but also from makers of smartwatches with fitness features such as Apple ‘s ( AAPL ) Apple Watch.