Tag Archives: googl

EU Probe Of Google Phone Deals Follows French Scrutiny Of Apple

The European Union antitrust chief is probing Alphabet ( GOOGL )-owned Google’s contracts with mobile phone makers as well as wireless service providers that sell devices using Android software. The EU is already investigating whether Google favors its own shopping service in Internet searches. Now it’s taking a close look at phone deals. “Our concern is that, by requiring phone makers and operators to pre-load a set of Google apps, rather than letting them decide for themselves which apps to load, Google might have cut off one of the main ways that new apps can reach customers,” said EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Monday at a regulatory conference in the Netherlands. Alphabet, which reports earnings on Thursday, rose fractionally just past midday on stock market today . IBD’s Take: How healthy is Alphabet stock heading into earnings? Find out at IBD Stock Checkup The European Union’s probe into Alphabet-Google’s carrier deals follows regulatory action in France involving Apple ( AAPL ). French regulators are reportedly seeking more than $55 million from Apple over claims the company wields too much power over wireless firms. Apple’s contracts require allegedly require mobile operators to order a minimum number of iPhones over three years, and to contribute to marketing campaigns managed by Apple, according to French regulators. The European Commission in 2013 sent a questionnaire to operators regarding allegations that Apple forces them to accept strict terms. Apple stock fell 1.5% in early-afternoon trade, after breaking below its 200-day line on Friday. Related: Amazon, Alphabet Extend Breakouts Ahead Of Earnings

Yahoo Q1 Preview: Flaming Financials, Bidding Rumors, Hidden Assets

Yahoo ( YHOO ) approaching its Q1 earnings release, scheduled for after the close Tuesday, amid flaming financials and rampant speculation about which companies might bid for the wilting Web portal. First-round bids reportedly are due Monday. “At an operational level, Yahoo’s situation has gone from bad to worse in recent quarters, with poor choices at both the board and senior management levels compounding bad luck. At this point, virtually any change could help to unlock value,” wrote Pivotal analyst Brian Wieser in an April 11 research note. Yet, Yahoo has received two price-target boosts in the past week. Pivotal raised its price target on Yahoo stock to 40 from 35, primarily due to the higher current trading price of Alibaba Group ( BABA ). Most of Yahoo’s value comes from its 15% stake in the China e-commerce titan. Yahoo’s total market cap is $35.19 billion. Yahoo stock is trading near 37. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect Yahoo’s Q1 revenue to fall 12% year over year to $1.07 billion. Yahoo is guiding Q1 revenue at $1.05 billion to $1.09 billion, down 14% to 11%. FactSet expects Yahoo to report revenue ex-TAC of $847 million, down 18%. TAC, or traffic acquisition costs, refer to fees Yahoo pays other sites to carry its ads. Yahoo TAC spending has climbed during each quarter of 2015. Analyst consensus calls for Yahoo’s EPS ex items to plunge 53% to 7 cents. But on Wednesday, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey gave Yahoo stock a boost, raising its price target to 44 from 40. SunTrust also maintained its buy rating on Yahoo stock and cited “hidden assets” that could drive up the bidding price for the struggling Web portal. Royalties from Yahoo Japan, thousands of patents and plentiful real estate could boost Yahoo’s bids, wrote SunTrust analyst Robert Peck in a research report. Minus a “potential upside” from those assets, SunTrust expects Yahoo to fetch bids in the $6 billion to $8 billion range for its core business. Yahoo ‘Stickiness Factor’ Lags Google, Microsoft Yahoo sent a letter to possible buyers last month, asking them to submit bids, which reportedly are due Monday. Some buyers might be interested in all or part of Yahoo’s core Web business, while others might want Yahoo’s stakes in Alibaba or Yahoo Japan. Some reports estimate that as many as 40 groups have expressed interest in the wilting Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Web portal, although Fortune said in a report on Friday that number was too high. Either way, news site Re/code said that documents Yahoo provided to potential bidders predict that the Web portal’s 2016 revenue will drop by close to 15% and its earnings by more than 20%. Yahoo stock has more than doubled since the company hired Marissa Mayer, who had been a top executive at Alphabet ’s ( GOOGL ) Google, as CEO in July 2012. But she’s been unable to spark significant earnings and revenue growth, and Yahoo has struggled to build online-ad and mobile-ad revenue vs. rivals Google and Facebook ( FB ), among others. In the meantime, the company faces a proxy fight from activist investor Starboard Value, which wants to oust Yahoo’s entire board. A study by Verto Analytics found that 229 million users accessed one of Yahoo’s online services at least once during March 2016 in the U.S., which puts Yahoo’s net reach in the U.S. at 92.5%. But, Verto said, the average 122.6 million users who access Yahoo’s services on a daily basis gives Yahoo a “stickiness factor” of 54%, much lower than Google’s 86% and Microsoft ’s ( MSFT ) 68%. In February, Yahoo announced that it will cut 15% of its workforce — roughly 1,600 jobs — and look to sell noncore divisions and assets, such as patents and real estate, as part of a strategic plan to return the company to what it forecasts as modest-though-accelerating growth in 2017 and 2018. Mayer’s turnaround plan includes continued investment in what the company calls “Mavens” — Yahoo’s mobile, video, native and social businesses — where its ad revenue is growing. Mayer said that Yahoo’s consumer products division will consist of three global platforms — search, mail and Tumblr — and that it will focus on four vertical markets: news, sports, finance and lifestyle.

Noted Tech Editor Swisher Vows To Run For Mayor Of San Francisco

Re/code executive editor Kara Swisher has declared her intention to run for mayor in her home city of San Francisco. She says her 2023 bid for the position currently held by the embattled Edwin Lee — his 2016 inauguration was interrupted by protesters, for example — is sparked by a desire to shake up the political establishment. And she hopes to tackle the seemingly inexorable issue that Baghdad by the Bay struggles with: the divide between tech and the rest of the city. “Also this whole election cycle has struck a chord in me that I have always thought about, related to professional politicians and how we need to shift thinking about who should serve and the duty of citizens to be, you know, citizens,” she wrote in an email message to the San Francisco Chronicle. “There is an important and necessary role for good government and I hate this wholesale tearing down of it. “Also the increasing divide between tech sector and the city is something that I think a lot about. Not that I have solutions as yet.” She insisted to the Chronicle that her bid was serious — but doesn’t plan to run until 2023. The Re/code editor declined to comment to IBD. @chernandburn No! Podcasts and then my kid’s 11th birthday. Passel o’ tweens takes full attention (also why I would be a good mayor) — Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) April 15, 2016 Swisher is a longtime and one of the best-known Silicon Valley and tech journalists, providing definitive coverage of Yahoo ( YHOO ), among other firms. She began covering digital issues in 1997 for the Wall Street Journal. Her longtime spouse, Megan Smith — they are now separated — was once a high-ranking executive at Google, which is a unit of Alphabet ( GOOGL ), and is now the U.S. chief technology officer for the Obama administration.