Tag Archives: amzn

Apple Leads 3 Big-Name Tech Stocks Making Moves In Internet Space

Loading the player… A lot is going on in the Internet space Thursday, from Apple ( AAPL ) to Yahoo ( YHOO ). Here’s a roundup: Apple is reportedly working to include Apple Pay in its Safari browser in time for holiday shopping in the fourth quarter. The move would simplify the mobile online checkout process for iPhone users, which could be a threat to similar offerings from PayPal ( PYPL ) and Amazon ( AMZN ). Apple shares are testing support at their 10-day line, sliding 0.5% intraday. Apple is trading about 21% below its all-time high, reached 11 months ago. Meanwhile, PayPal was down 3.8% Thursday while Amazon was up 1.6%. Google Going Live Alphabet ( GOOGL )-owned Google has been building its answer to Facebook ( FB ) Live and Twitter ’s ( TWTR ) Periscope with its own live-streaming app, YouTube Connect, according to VentureBeat . The timeline for launch isn’t clear, but a release before Google’s developer conference in May is possible. Alphabet is on track for its third straight loss, falling 0.8% intraday, but the losses have been fractional and volume has been light. Shares are working on a cup base with an 810.35 buy point and are currently trading 7% below that level. Facebook dipped 0.3% Thursday while Twitter lost 0.8%. Yahoo Proxy Fight And the pressure for a shakeup at Yahoo is mounting, with activist investor Starboard Value launching a proxy fight to remove the entire Yahoo board. The proxy battle comes as Yahoo has plans for an auction to sell its core Internet businesses. Yahoo shares were little changed midday, finding support near the downward-sloping 200-day line. The stock is trading 24% below its 52-week high. Image provided by Shutterstock .

Akamai Web Security Bet May Help Offset Apple, Facebook Issues

Akamai Technologies ’ ( AKAM ) push into cloud and security services could offset challenges in its media business related to Apple ( AAPL ), Facebook ( FB ), Amazon.com ( AMZN ) and Microsoft ( MSFT ), says RBC Capital, which initiated coverage with a sector perform, or neutral, rating. RBC analyst Mark Mahaney set a price target of 62. Akamai stock was down a fraction, near 55, in midday trading in the stock market today . Shares have edged up about 4% in 2016 but are down 24% in the past 12 months. Cambridge, Mass.-based Akamai is the No. 1 provider of content delivery network (CDN) services to media and entertainment companies. Akamai’s CDN technology speeds up e-commerce transactions, business software downloads and video streaming to mobile devices. Akamai has expanded into higher-margin cloud infrastructure services and security, aiming to offset price cuts in the CDN business. “We believe the company can continue to see double-digit revenue and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) growth driven primarily by cloud security and Web performance,” wrote Mahaney in a research report. “Excluding the company’s two largest media customers (presumably Apple and Facebook), we expect media delivery to remain in the very low double digits/very high single digits. “Given deceleration in revenue contribution from Akamai’s top two media customers (Apple and Facebook) in 2016, our estimates call for 9% year-over-year topline growth in 2016.  The company would need to grow 20% over the next four years to reach its $5 billion target. This would be impressive acceleration. Management has pointed to (Internet video) volumes, international revenue and strategic M&A as the key levers to support this growth inflection.” Amazon Web Services, part of the e-commerce leader, is not yet a serious rival to Akamai, while Microsoft has partnered with Akamai, noted Mahaney. Microsoft and Amazon are Akamai customers, though both also  operate commercial CDNs. “Microsoft and Akamai recently announced a partnership whereby (Microsoft’s) Azure CDN would leverage Akamai’s platform. Microsoft already uses Akamai for delivering software updates to the Xbox platform as well as updates to Office products, such as Windows 10 and Office 365,” Mahaney wrote. “Amazon’s use of Akamai is unknown, but since the company’s commercial CDN, AWS CloudFront, targets the low end of the market, we suspect Amazon leverages Akamai for large applications that have a high-performance standard and are delivered globally.” On Apple, Mahaney added: “We believe Akamai’s material OTT (over-the-top video) investments in 2015 targeted a potential Apple TV launch in Q4 2015 that never materialized. If Apple can make the economics work and moves forward with a new OTT offering, we expect Akamai will deliver a portion of this content.” IBD’s Internet-Network Solutions group ranks No. 88 out of 197 industry groups that IBD tracks. Akamai has a composite rating of 67 out of a possible 99. Image provided by Shutterstock .

Apple Gains In Morgan Stanley Online Video Survey, Netflix Tops

Most cord-cutters still replace cable TV services with Netflix ( NFLX ) — no surprise there — but Apple TV gained in an annual Morgan Stanley survey of consumers who watch Internet video. Apple ( AAPL ) rolled out its fourth-generation TV hardware in late 2015, but it has shelved plans, at least temporarily, for a Web-based TV service amid stalled negotiations with programmers. The Apple TV streaming device costs from $149 to $199. Apple customers can subscribe to Netflix, HBO and full-season sports subscriptions as well as watch movies and TV shows served up from the iTunes store. Among those planning to cancel pay TV subscriptions, some 35% of the 2,500 consumers surveyed say they are most likely to switch to Netflix, says Morgan Stanley.  That’s down from about 40.7% in the year-earlier study. Apple TV moved up to 23%, from about 17% a year earlier. YouTube, the video website of Alphabet ( GOOGL )-owned Google figures two ways in the survey, in which respondents could give more than one answer. Some 20% of respondents said they might replace pay TV with YouTube Red, the new subscription service, while 29% cited the free, ad-supported version of YouTube. Amazon.com ’s ( AMZN ) online video service and Hulu were tied at 27%, with Time Warner ’s ( TWX ) HBO Now service right behind, with 25% of pay TV subscribers saying they were likely to switch to the service. “Among those without a pay TV subscription, Netflix usage is meaningfully higher (47%) vs. Amazon Instant Video (21%), suggesting Netflix is viewed as more of a replacement service to traditional pay TV,” said the Morgan Stanley report. “Netflix remains the leading online video platform for TV/film content in the US, with 40% of respondents saying that they use the service, still well ahead of YouTube (33%), Amazon Instant Video (22%) and Hulu Plus (14%).” Hulu is a joint venture of 21 st Century Fox Entertainment ( FOXA ), Walt Disney ( DIS ) and Comcast ( CMCSA ).