Tag Archives: avgo

Will Apple Supplier Skyworks Kick Off 2016 Chip M&A With Maxim Buy?

Apple ( AAPL ) supplier Skyworks Solutions ( SWKS ) ought to acquire Maxim Integrated Products ( MXIM ) to diversify from the slowing smartphone and radio-frequency market, Pacific Crest analyst Michael McConnell suggested Thursday. Maxim has long been takeover bait with sharks Analog Devices ( ADI ) and Texas Instruments ( TXN ) reportedly eyeing the $10.5 billion-market-cap chipmaker in October. But sources told Bloomberg that Maxim might not sell without a high premium. Skyworks could provide that premium, McConnell wrote in a research report. Maxim stock rose a fraction Thursday, to 36.78. Skyworks was flat. An offer of $44 per share would be a 20% premium to Maxim stock, McConnell points out. Acquiring Maxim would help Skyworks diversify beyond its 80% exposure to the struggling mobile market, McConnell wrote. Maxim has ties to the data center and automotive markets. Though Maxim makes the most sense — McConnell rates both a buy — Skyworks could also diversify by acquiring Macom Technology Solutions ( MTSI ) or Silicon Laboratories ( SLAB ), McConnell wrote. Is The RF Market Maturing? RF, Skyworks’ bread and butter, is slated for a compound annual growth rate of 11% over the next several years vs. historical 18% growth, McConnell wrote. Skyworks competes in the RF ring with Broadcom ( AVGO ) and Qorvo ( QRVO ), both Apple suppliers. The number of bands — a spectrum of RF — rocketed between 2005 and 2015, Brent Dietz, Qorvo director of corporate communications, told IBD. In 2005, there were two bands. By 2015, there were 43. McConnell sees little opportunity for continued band acceleration. And Dietz offered a similar growth view for the RF market — a $10 billion market opportunity with a 10%-15% growth rate. But Dietz notes that the RF content in smartphones has gapped up this century. Less complex 2G phones had about 80 cents worth of RF content. Today, most smartphones have about $16 worth of RF. To that point, Broadcom’s mobile RF content grows in excess of 20% every year, CEO Hock Tan said during the company’s Q1 earnings conference call. He expects 2016 to be no different. This year, Qorvo and Skyworks offered similar views of growing dollar content in marquee smartphones. Recent teardowns show that Samsung completely replaced three Skyworks chips in its Galaxy S7 and that Qorvo twice replaced Broadcom.

March Madness: ‘Final Four’ IBD 50 Stock Performers This Month

After college basketball teams duked it out all month long during “March Madness,” the four best performing teams will compete at the NCAA Final Four this weekend. Here’s a look at the IBD 50’s “Final Four” performers this month: Inphi ( IPHI ), Broadcom ( AVGO ),   Ulta Beauty ( ULTA ) and AMN Health ( AHS ). Inphi Leads IBD 50 Pack Inphi is up 33% in March. The chipmaker received bullish analyst commentary this month, including an upgrade to buy from Deutsche Bank, as Inphi announced new products. Shares cleared a double-bottom base buy point on March 17, and gapped up to clear a secondary entry just a few sessions later. The stock is now trading near all-time highs, down 1.4% Thursday. Apple Supplier Climbs On Earnings Apple ( AAPL ) supplier Broadcom has gained 17% this month, fueled by a first-quarter earnings beat and estimate-topping second-quarter guidance. Shares cleared a double-bottom base buy point on March 4 and climbed out of an 8-month-long consolidation less than two weeks later. The stock set another all-time high intraday, turning down 0.9% in the afternoon. Meanwhile, Apple fell fractionally Thursday. Ulta Gains Look Good Ulta Beauty also gained 17% for the month. Nearly all of those gains came on March 11, after the beauty products retailer issued a view-topping quarterly report the prior evening. The move helped the stock break out of a consolidation base with a 188.58 buy point. The stock has traded in a tight range since, and is still in buy range as it dipped 0.4% Thursday. Health Care Stock AMN Powers Higher AMN Healthcare jumped 19% in March, building on gains from the health care staffing firm’s better-than-expected earnings report in February. Shares reclaimed their 200-day line near the start of the month and have been able to find support above that level as they continued to climb higher. The stock hit a six-month high on Thursday, up 0.6% in afternoon trading, and is trading 9% below its high reached last September. Where Are Facebook, Alphabet? The IBD 50 list also sports names like Facebook ( FB ) and Google owner Alphabet ( GOOGL ), which have racked up modest gains this month. Facebook has risen 7% and Alphabet has also gained 7%. Both are working on the right side of consolidations, with Facebook particularly close to a buy point. Facebook and Alphabet shares fell fractionally Thursday afternoon. Image provided by Shutterstock .

Yahoo CEO Mayer Gets A Bigger Golden Parachute If The Company Sells

Yahoo ( YHOO ) CEO Marissa Mayer has a bit of extra incentive to sell the ailing Internet company, which is facing a proxy fight. According to CNN Money, Mayer gets $37 million if she’s fired after selling the Sunnyvale-based company, under the terms of her employment contract . But she’ll be paid only $12.5 million if she’s let go without a sale. In that case, Mayer would take home $1 million in salary, a $2 million cash bonus and $9.5 million in stock that would vest in 2016, the report says . But being ousted after a sale significantly ups the ante by triggering “the release of all her stock awards. In virtually any other scenario, Mayer would have needed to stay at Yahoo for a certain period of time in order to cash out those rewards,” said CNN Money. In either scenario, her golden parachute will be worth significantly less now than it was a year ago, since the price of Yahoo stock has fallen 18% over the past 12 months. On Wednesday, Yahoo stock rose a fraction, to 36.56. A year ago, Mayer would have taken home $110 million had she lost her job because of Yahoo’s sale and $26 million if she was let go without a sale, the report said. Mayer, who joined Yahoo in 2012, earned $42 million in cash and stocks in 2014, CNN Money said. Her 2015 compensation is expected to be reported next month. Sale or not, Yahoo is facing rough waters. Last week, in a letter charging the current board of Yahoo with failing to deliver results for its shareholders, activist investor Starboard Value announced that it wants to sweep out all of the ailing Web company’s nine directors and replace them with its own slate during Yahoo’s 2016 shareholder meeting. The letter — from Starboard Value managing member Jeffrey Smith, one of Starboard’s slate of Yahoo board nominees — indicates that Starboard also doesn’t trust Yahoo’s current directors to perform in terms of either the strategic review of Yahoo’s core search and display-ad business or with the eventual fate of Yahoo’s 15% stake in China e-commerce giant Alibaba Group ( BABA ) and its holdings in Yahoo Japan. Yahoo this month appointed two members to its board, Catherine Friedman, a former managing director at Morgan Stanley ( MS ), and Eric Brandt, a former chief financial officer of Broadcom ( AVGO ). Yahoo’s revenue growth has stalled for nearly a decade as ad dollars continue to slip away to rivals including Facebook ( FB ), Netflix ( NFLX ), Alphabet ( GOOGL )-unit Google, and others that include high-profile startups Snapchat and Pinterest. Yahoo has reportedly gotten interest from as many as 40 groups who have until April 11 to submit preliminary bids for its core business and Asian operations.