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Apple iPhone 7 Ramp In July Will Stoke Q4 Sales: Analog Devices

Apple ( AAPL ) iPhone 7 demand could falter, but 3D Touch supplier Analog Devices ( ADI ) expects a strong fiscal Q4 on boosted dollar-content in Apple’s newest flagship smartphone, likely to be released in September. But that ramp won’t be apparent in Q3. Wednesday, Analog Devices reported  sales fell 5% year over year for its fiscal Q2 ended April 30, and guided to another 5% dip in Q3. Over the past two years, Analog Devices has grown an average 13.5% during its July quarter. This year, Analog Devices’ second-generation 3D Touch will ramp in timing with chips from other Apple suppliers, Analog Devices CFO Dave Zinsner told analysts during the company’s Q2 earnings conference call. “And really that means that we really don’t see the demand pick up until the July time frame,” he said. “So, it’s probably going to be more of the end of Q3 and more into Q4 this time vs. last year where it was more of a ramp in Q3.” Analog Devices’ Q3 will be back-end loaded on Apple’s iPhone 7, Edward Jones analyst Bill Kreher told IBD. More encouraging, the company is seeing stable demand within its automotive and industrial segments, he says. “The outlook suggests the company is weathering the near-term softness in Apple,” he said. “And, as it relates to Apple, the company indicated this would be a trough in terms of orders. They expect to see sequential growth, and from that perspective it is encouraging because there will be a ramping in orders.” MKM analyst Ian Ing reiterated a neutral rating and 56 price target on Analog Devices stock. In morning trading on the stock market today , Analog Devices stock was down more than 1%, near 55, after rising nearly 1% on Wednesday. Despite Zinsner’s expectations for boosted dollar-content in the iPhone 7, Ing sees average sales prices for the second-generation 3D to fall 10% from $1.75. Consumer sales account for 10% of Analog Devices’ revenue and fell 27% vs. the year-earlier quarter in Q2. But Ing doesn’t expect much of a Q3 boost for Analog Devices’ bread-and-butter business-to-business segments, which account for the other 90% of sales. Those segments grew 9% sequentially in Q2 to $698.7 million, but fell 2% vs. the year-earlier quarter. Analog Devices guided to mid-to-high single-digit year-over-year growth for those segments in Q3. For Q4, the company expects greater operating leverage, a full quarter of portables shipments, higher factory utilizations and better automotive seasonality, Ing wrote. But lower factory utilizations in Q3 suggests “little visibility or confidence in the overall demand environment,” Ing wrote. Analog Devices guided down to 60%-range utilizations for Q3 vs. 70% in the year-earlier quarter. The goal is to cut down on inventory, the company says. “The macro environment for Analog Devices business-to-business segments remains mixed at best,” Ing wrote.

Hedge Funds Dump Apple, Buy Facebook In Q1

Hedge funds fled equities in the first quarter, with Apple ( AAPL ) and PepsiCo ( PEP ) the most-sold stocks, S&P Global Market Intelligence said in a report Wednesday . The top 10 hedge funds managed about $141 billion in equity holdings in Q1, down more than $18 billion from Q4 2015. The funds decreased the total number of stock positions held from 427 to 408, the fewest stock positions held since S&P Global Market Intelligence began tracking such data in 2014. It was the second consecutive quarter of equity sell-off by the large funds. Consumer discretionary and information technology stocks led the sell-off, with Apple ranked seeing the most selling for an individual stock last quarter. The major hedge funds sold $5.4 billion worth of Apple stock in Q1. Other top sells included PepsiCo ($1.8 billion), Amazon.com ( AMZN ) ($1.4 billion), Priceline ( PCLN ) ($1 billion) and Walgreen Boots Alliance ( WBA ) ($1 billion). The highest volume of buying among the top hedge funds occurred in Facebook ( FB ) stock, with a total of $2.3 billion in buys in the first quarter, S&P said. Other top buys included Broadcom ( AVGO ) ($1.5 billion), Alphabet ( GOOGL ) ($945 million), Eli Lilly ( LLY ) ($892 million) and Willis Towers Watson ( WLTW ) ($884 million). RELATED: As Growth Investors Flee Apple, Warren Buffett Sees Value Startup Bubble Bursting, Valuations Due For Reset, Analyst Says .

Apple Rival Xiaomi Coming To U.S. With Android Set-Top TV Box

Xiaomi, Apple ’s ( AAPL ) Chinese smartphone rival, this year plans to launch a 4K TV streaming device in the U.S. featuring Google’s Android software. Xiaomi made the announcement at Alphabet ‘s ( GOOGL ) Google I/O developer’s conference on Wednesday. The item will compete with Roku, Amazon.com ’s ( AMZN ) Fire TV devices, Apple’s set-top box and Google’s own Chromecast streaming sticks, as well as Web-connected TV sets featuring Google’s Android software. Xiaomi’s Android-based TV system will be its first hardware product sold in the U.S. Xiaomi’s online store so far has sold only accessories in the U.S. However, Xiaomi has sold set-top TV boxes in Asia that stream HD-quality video. Hugo Barra, vice president for global at Xiaomi, joined the company in 2013 after leaving Google, where he had worked on mobile products and the Android mobile operating system. “This is a significant milestone for Xiaomi,” Barra said in a statement released at Google I/O . Xiaomi’s 4K streaming device will provide apps such as Netflix ( NFLX ) and YouTube, as well as Dish Network ’s ( DISH ) Sling Web TV service. In China, Xiaomi will be one of the first smartphone makers to feature virtual-reality technology that Google has put into Android N, the new version of its mobile operating system. Samsung and HTC also plan to sell Android-based mobile phones with the VR mode. Xiaomi was the top smartphone seller in China in Q4, followed closely by China’s Huawei, with Apple down at No. 3.