Tag Archives: amzn

Microsoft Stock Oversold, Gets Upgrade On Cloud Prospects

Microsoft ( MSFT ) stock is “underappreciated” by investors who are overlooking the company’s long-term prospects in cloud computing services, Cowen analyst Gregg Moskowitz said Tuesday. Moskowitz upgraded his rating on Microsoft stock to outperform from market perform, with a price target of 58. Microsoft was up over 2%, above 51, in morning trading on the stock market today . “With shares down 10% year to date on account of disappointing fiscal Q3 earnings, the market has overreacted, with an undue focus on the short term,” Moskowitz said in a research report. He sees Office 365 revenue accelerating and long-term success for Azure cloud infrastructure services. Microsoft’s Office productivity software has reached a turning point in its transition to a subscription service from licensed software, he said. Office sales returned to growth last quarter after a series of declines during the transition, Moskowitz said. Meanwhile, Azure is poised to gain higher capacity workloads from corporate customers as IT resources shift to the public cloud, he said. Cowen’s recent survey of over 300 public cloud customers gives it confidence in Microsoft’s cloud prospects, Moskowitz said. “The survey results were clearly positive for Azure, particularly at the enterprise level,” Moskowitz said. “Among those respondents who are looking to add a new public cloud service, 59% are considering Azure, which was higher than any other offering. “Further, when restricting the data to enterprise customers, Azure held a commanding 10-point advantage over the next closest vendor (53% vs. 43% for IBM ( IBM ) SoftLayer), making it the clear preference within this category of customer.” Other competitors include Alphabet ’s ( GOOGL ) Google Cloud Platform and Amazon.com ’s ( AMZN ) Amazon Web Services. RELATED: Microsoft Sheds Low-End Mobile Phone Business Microsoft Stock Rated Hold, Seen Near Full Value In Choppy Market .

Netflix Shows Signs Of Life While Facebook, Amazon Breach Key Levels

Loading the player… The “FANG” stocks are showing some compelling chart action today, with Netflix ( NFLX ) seeing some signs of life and Facebook ( FB ) dropping back below buy range. Meanwhile, Amazon ( AMZN ) is breaching a short-term support level and Google owner Alphabet ( GOOGL ) is hitting resistance at a long-term measure. Netflix Netflix rose 2.6% in average volume to hit its highest level in a month. The stock is now nearing its 50-day line, an area it breached after issuing disappointing quarterly results. If Netflix can retake that level it would be bullish. Shares are 28% below their all-time high reached in December. Facebook Facebook once again fell back below buy range from a cup-with-handle base it initially cleared on the heels of its view-topping quarterly earnings report about a month ago, losing 1.2%. Despite the negative action, volume was lighter than average and the stock is only 4% below its all-time high. It’s also still holding above its 50-day line and sell territory. Amazon Amazon fell below its 10-day line, sliding 0.9%, after finding support there in the past four sessions. But the stock is just 3% below its high and is extended 16% past a cup-with-handle base buy point it cleared ahead of the company’s estimate-beating earnings report. Alphabet Alphabet continued to hit resistance at its 200-day line for a third session, dropping 0.6%. Shares tried to break out of a cup-with-handle base ahead of its latest quarterly report, but breached their key moving averages in the wake of the results. Alphabet is now trading 11% below its high reached in February.

Netflix Gaining In Europe, But Faces Regulatory Mandates

Netflix ( NFLX ) is successfully fending off a host of rivals in Europe thanks to its mix of Hollywood and local content, analysts say. After examining the online video markets in the U.K., Germany, France, Italy and Spain, investment bank UBS concluded that Netflix is well positioned for growth. “We think Netflix is doing quite well across Europe despite intense focus from local competitors in each market, not to mention competition with Amazon ( AMZN ), who was earlier to enter the U.K. and Germany,” UBS analyst Doug Mitchelson said in a research report Sunday. Mitchelson reiterated his buy rating on Netflix stock, with a 12-month price target of 141. Netflix stock was up 2%, near 94.50, in afternoon trading on the stock market today , but it has been trading below its 50-day moving average since posting disappointing earnings last month. Netflix’s early success in foreign markets comes as the company is ramping up production of original shows in local languages. “Management continues to suggest that only about 20% of international viewing is from local content and that U.S. content continues to travel well everywhere, including in the rest of world markets launched this year,” Mitchelson said. “Thus, we expect Netflix to continue to focus the majority of its content budget on U.S. content, though increasingly originals and almost exclusively content with global rights.” Europe Seeking More Local Content From Video Services Last week, the Financial Times reported that Netflix and other on-demand video services could be forced to devote at least 20% of their catalogs to European movies and TV shows as part of an overhaul of the EU’s broadcasting rules. The services also would be required to prominently display European content. Streaming video services currently are not covered by laws that require national broadcasters to ensure that the majority of their content is European. Those same regulations force broadcasters to contribute financially to the production of European films and TV shows. Netflix has opposed the proposed regulations, the FT reported. Investors are increasingly focused on Netflix’s international growth, as its service nears the saturation point in the U.S., Piper Jaffray analyst Michael Olson said in a report Monday. He rates Netflix stock as overweight, with a price target of 122. “While in calendar year 2016 we expect international will account for 35% of revenue, we are modeling 50% by 2020,” Olson said. RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Mahaney on Sunday maintained his outperform rating on Netflix stock, with a price target of 140. RBC’s recent surveys of online users found strong usage and high satisfaction for Netflix in the U.S. and rising demand in France and Germany, Mahaney said. RELATED: Netflix Signs Programming Deal With Hispanic TV Leader Univision