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Why Right Now Is The Perfect Time To Buy Facebook Stock

Loading the player… After Facebook ’s ( FB ) stellar quarterly report Wednesday evening, the social networking giant’s stock is trading in buy range in the stock market today . The breakout comes as other big names have recently neared buying opportunities but crumbled on their quarterly results, including Google owner Alphabet ( GOOGL ), Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Starbucks ( SBUX ). Facebook’s earnings jumped 83%, while sales grew 52%. Both topped views and marked a third straight quarter of accelerating growth for the top and bottom lines. Shares jumped 8% in huge volume, hitting a new all-time high in intraday trade and breaking out of a cup-with-handle base with a 117.09 buy point. Shares are in buy range to 122.94. But the stock is now trading at the lower end of the day’s range, about 50 cents above the buy point. Facebook earns an IBD Composite Rating of 95 out of 99, meaning its shares outperform 95% of all stocks in the market, based on fundamental and technical factors. IBD’s Take: How healthy are the shares of Facebook and its rivals? Find out at IBD Stock Checkup Alphabet gapped below its 50-day line after its report last week. Shares tested support at the 200-day line in Wednesday’s session and are breaching that level today. Alphabet is now trading 12% below its February high, down 1.4% in intraday trade. Microsoft also gapped below its 50-day line in the wake of its results last week. Shares are breaking below their 200-day line in intraday trade Thursday, falling 1.6%, and are about 11% below their December peak. Starbucks is now trading below its 50-day and 200-day lines, and hit a new two-month low in intraday trade as it fell a fraction. Shares are 11% below their October high. And while Apple ( AAPL ) wasn’t near buy range ahead of its report Tuesday night, shares gapped down to a two-month low on disappointing results. Apple is 27% below its high, reached exactly one year ago today, with shares down 1.8%. Meanwhile, Amazon ( AMZN ) is trading in buy range ahead of its quarterly report after the close. Amazon risked dropping back below the buy zone in Wednesday’s session, but shares are trading up 1% today in anticipation of the report.

Texas Instruments Beats Q1 Views Despite Apple iPhone ‘Shortfall’

Texas Instruments ( TXN ) joined NXP Semiconductors ( NXPI ) and Cirrus Logic ( CRUS ) late Wednesday, weathering an  Apple ( AAPL ) iPhone shipment dip by bolstering embedded-processing sales to top Wall Street’s first-quarter expectations. On Thursday, at least eight analysts boosted their price targets on Texas Instruments stock. On the stock market today , Texas Instruments shares were up a fraction intraday. The stock has been on a run since Jan. 15, climbing 25% after a two-week fall. NXP and Cirrus Logic stocks split the difference in Thursday trading, up 0.2% and down 2.1%, respectively. Skyworks Solutions ( SWKS ) and Qorvo ( QRVO ) were up 1.6% and 0.3%, respectively, after Apple reported its first ever year-over-year iPhone shipment decline late Tuesday. For the first quarter, Texas Instruments reported $3.01 billion in sales and 65 cents earnings per share, down 5% and up 7%, respectively, vs. the year-earlier quarter. Both measures topped the consensus of 36 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters for $2.98 billion and 62 cents. Analog sales — which includes power management chips used in the iPhone 6S — declined 8% year over year to $1.88 billion. The drop was expected MKM analyst Ian Ing wrote in a research report. Apple comprised 15% of Texas Instruments’ 2015 sales. “While the year-over-year shortfall in smartphones was $150 million, the inclusion of (a) weak PC (segment) results in an even greater shortfall,” he wrote in a research report. “The year-over-year revenue gap is expected to decline somewhat in June, but still be significant.” Embedded-processing revenue grew 8% vs. the year-earlier quarter to $729 million in sales. Sales of custom integrated circuits drove a 10% year-over-year decline in Texas Instruments’ other sales. Texas Instruments’ current-quarter guidance for $3.07 billion to $3.33 billion in sales and 67 cents to 77 cents EPS would be flat and down 1%, respectively, on a year-over-year basis. But that outlook topped analyst views for $3.18 billion and 71 cents at the midpoints. Credit Suisse analyst John Pitzer noted that Texas Instruments is “consistently executing on consistent execution.” He boosted his price target on Texas Instruments stock to 65 from 60, but reiterated his neutral rating. During Q1, Texas Instruments hit a record 60.6% gross margin. Pitzer and RBC analyst Amit Daryanani expect that to continue, driven by better manufacturing gains, improved mix and impressive execution. Daryanani upped his price target on Texas Instruments stock to 68 from 65, but kept his outperform rating.

How Facebook Reached A Blowout Quarter And Why It Will Continue

Analysts raised their price targets and heaped praise on Faceboo k ( FB ) following its first-quarter earnings report after the close Wednesday that exceeded all expectations. Among stats analysts pointed to was booming growth in mobile advertising. Mobile accounted for 82% of ad revenue at Facebook, up from 80% in Q4 and up from 73% in Q1 2015. During a tough earnings season for tech companies like Apple ( AAPL ), Alphabet ( GOOGL ), and Twitter ( TWTR ), Facebook stood out from the pack. The social-networking leader’s Q1 revenue jumped 52% year over year to $5.38 billion. Earnings per share minus items surged 83% to 77 cents. Growth in the top and bottom lines accelerated for the third consecutive quarter. “Ad growth remains explosive,” wrote Nomura analyst Anthony DiClemente, who raised his price target to 145 from 135. Facebook stock was up 8.5%, near 118, in afternoon trading in the stock market today , and earlier hit a new all-time high above 120. With robust results across all major advertising platforms, Facebook now has 3 million active advertisers, up from 2.5 million in its last update, and has 200,000 on Instagram. Facebook Has ‘Many Growth Levers Left To Pull’ RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Mahaney raised his price target to 165 from 160. “Facebook continues to generate very high and very profitable growth, an extremely rare combination,” Mahaney wrote. “And we see in Facebook plenty of strong, secular platform growth ahead, with many growth levers left to pull.” Monthly active users at Faceboook grew 15% year over year to 1.65 billion, the fastest growth rate in two years and accelerating from 14% growth in Q4. “This overall growth rate remains impressive, given Facebook’s massive size,” Mahaney wrote. He noted Facebook’s 1.65 billion users do not include Instagram’s 400 million users, or the 1 billion monthly active users on its WhatsApp messaging platform. Alphabet is the only other global media company with properties above 1 billion, he wrote. FBN Securities analyst Shebly Seyrafi raised his price target on Facebook to 155 from 135. “Having succeeded very well on its transition to mobile, Facebook has many growth drivers ahead,” Seyrafi wrote. This includes Instagram, Messenger, video and its Oculus Rift virtual reality business, with WhatsApp further down the road. Cowen analyst John Blackledge raised his price target on Facebook to 145 from 140. Jefferies analyst Brian Pitz raised his price target to 160 from 145. The Word From Facebook CEO Zuckerberg: Bold In the company’s earnings conference call with analysts, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg touched on some of the opportunities ahead. “Facebook has been built by a series of bold moves,” Zuckeberg said. “And when I look out at the future, I see more bold moves ahead. “A lot of what we’re building today in areas like connectivity, artificial intelligence and virtual and augmented reality may not pay off for years. But they’re important to our mission of connecting the world, and I’m committed to seeing this mission through and to leading Facebook there over the long term,” Zuckerberg said. Among social networking stocks, Facebook earnings towered above those of Twitter. The micro-blog site posted a Q1 revenue miss and gave Q2 revenue guidance well below expectations. Twitter said monthly active users rose to 310 million, up 3% year over year and up from 305 million in Q4. But that marked the ninth straight quarter of slowing year-over-year user growth. LinkedIn ( LNKD ), the networking site for professionals, reports earnings after the close Thursday. LinkedIn saw its stock bomb 44% to a three-year low after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings on Feb. 5, as its Q1 guidance widely missed estimates. The Q1 consensus estimate for LinkedIn is revenue of $828.5 million, up 30% year over year.