Tag Archives: amzn

Amazon’s Irony: Stock Shows Bullish And Bearish Traits At Same Time

Loading the player… Amazon ( AMZN ) is currently trading about 18% off of its high, reached at the end of last year; a weak Q4 earnings report in late January dragged it down. And now reports say that a rival, Alphabet ( GOOGL )-owned Google, is winning some big cloud service clients, including Disney ( DIS ), Home Depot ( HD ), Apple ( AAPL ) and Spotify. The Google platform competes against the e-commerce giant’s Amazon Web Services cloud service. Amazon shares are finding support at a key area today, but the technicals are also flashing a potentially bearish sign. The stock rose 1.6% in light trade Wednesday, finding support at its 50-day and 200-day lines as it works on a consolidation pattern. But those lines could soon cross, an action that’s bearish and signals short-term underperformance. Meanwhile, Alphabet is working on a cup base with an 810.45 buy point. Alphabet shares are currently trading 6% below that pivot point and fell 0.3% Wednesday. And speaking of widely held tech stocks, Facebook ( FB ) is working on a cup base with a 118.69 buy point. The stock is trading 4% below its buy zone. Facebook shares edged up 0.3% Wednesday. Microsoft ( MSFT ) is shaping a consolidation base with a 56.85 buy point and is trading 5% below the pivot. Microsoft shares dipped 0.2% Wednesday. And Apple has been in a consolidation pattern since last April. It’s trading 21% below its high, reached about 11 months ago. Apple shares lost 0.6%.

Apple Music Rival Pandora Spending More To Boost Its ‘Lean Forward’

Pandora Media ( P )  is spending big as it digests its $75 million purchase of Web-streaming service Rdio, said investment bank Needham, which on Wednesday significantly lowered its 2016 EBITDA estimate for the No. 1 music streaming service. Pandora stock has sagged since the June launch of Apple ( AAPL ) Music — a service combining paid subscription music streaming with a 24/7 live global Internet radio station. While Pandora remains the Internet streaming leader, its market share is falling as competition grows. Pandora stock was down almost 3%, below 10, in late-afternoon trading in the stock market today . Besides Apple Music, Pandora is also in a heated battle with rivals including Spotify, iHeartRadio, Amazon.com ‘s ( AMZN ) Amazon Prime Music and Google Play Music from Alphabet ( GOOGL ). Needham analyst Laura Martin cut her 2016 EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) estimate for Pandora to “negative $70 million” from her prior positive $50 million. “The gap downward is largely due to $50 million extra research-and-development spending for a new on-demand service, $30 million for Rdio employees (mostly engineers) and $40 million to market/launch a new on-demand service,” Martin wrote in a research note. “By implication, about $90 million of spending might get pushed into next year if Pandora can’t complete agreements with all record labels by Q3 2016.” Pandora posted an EBITDA loss of $31.1 million in 2015, according to Needham, down 57% from $72.5 million in 2014. “Recall that today Pandora competes in the 80% of the market that is ‘lean back,’ ” said Martin, referring to curated versions where the music-streaming service picks the tunes listeners hear. The remaining 20% is “lean forward,” she said, a term referring to more personalized music that “Pandora is investing in during fiscal year 2016 in order to create an on-demand service similar to Spotify.” Needham maintained a buy rating and 12 price target on Pandora stock. Pandora bought Ticketfly for $450 million in October, vaulting the online music-streaming leader into the live-event and ticket sales business. The company completed its purchase of Rdio in December. Overseas expansion will likely take center stage in 2016, analysts say. Pandora’s biggest rival outside the U.S. is Spotify, which is in more than 60 markets. Besides the U.S., Pandora operates only in Australia and New Zealand, launching in those markets in 2012. Pandora must pay to acquire music rights country by country, which can significantly add to its already heavy spending on music-acquisition costs. Pandora reported a fourth-quarter earnings miss in February, as its active listener base fell and acquisitions and other costs took a toll.

Inphi Rockets Speedy Digital Drone To Rival Apple, Amazon, Facebook

Inphi ( IPHI ) and Microsoft ‘s ( MSFT ) 100-gigabit “drone” — likely to rival infrastructures by Apple ( AAPL ), Facebook ( FB ) and Amazon.com ( AMZN ) — earned chipmaker Inphi at least three price-target hikes Wednesday, as shares rocketed to a record high. Midday on the stock market today , Inphi shares were up more than 6%, near 32.50, after earlier flying as much as nearly 8% to an all-time high above 33. Shares outperformed a lazy Wall Street on Wednesday that saw the S&P 500, Nasdaq composite and Dow Jones industrial average all down. Deutsche Bank analyst Ross Seymore upgraded Inphi stock to a buy rating from hold and upped his price target to 40 from 30, acknowledging the pricey entry point. Analysts with Northland and Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price targets on Inphi stock to 36 from 31, and to 40 from 38, respectively. “We have long acknowledged Inphi’s solid execution and technology position but have maintained a hold rating awaiting an opportunistic entry point,” Seymore wrote in a research report. But “the size and diversity of the growth drivers the company is addressing are too compelling to ignore.” On Tuesday, Inphi unveiled its 100G “drone,” capable of connecting multiple data centers within 80 kilometers (about 50 miles). The current industry solution is for a much slower 10G platform, says Jeff Cox, Microsoft senior director of network architecture. Microsoft sought out Inphi in 2013 to solve its data center problem, Cox told IBD. The 100G “long-haul” solution was too costly, power-consumptive and required excess space for metropolitan data transfers. But the 10G “drone” solution wasn’t fast enough. So the duo developed ColorZ, which is an industry first, according to Inphi CEO Ford Tamer. ColorZ is slated to deploy in Q3. Seymore expects Microsoft to account for 5% of Inphi’s Q4 and 2017 sales. The new product will drive growth, Seymore wrote. Linking data centers to amass cloud size — and speed — is becoming increasingly necessary. Cloud users like Apple, Alphabet ( GOOGL ), Amazon and Facebook have all expanded their online operations, Cox said. Chipmakers such as  Intel ( INTC ), Qualcomm ( QCOM ), Broadcom ( AVGO ), Nvidia ( NVDA ) and Integrated Device Technology ( IDTI ) have redoubled their data-center efforts in the past year to increase share. But Tamer says they’re at least 18 months behind Inphi. Seymore increased his 2016 estimates for Inphi to $300 million in sales and $1.37 earnings per share ex items, up 34% and 33%, respectively, vs. 2015 metrics. For 2017, he now expects $370 million and $1.70. The consensus of 12 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecasts $290.7 million and $1.26 for 2016, and $357.7 million and $1.62 for 2017.