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PayPal Credit Expanding Across The Pond

In a bid to capture even more of the world’s digital wallet, the company has announced the first overseas expansion of its PayPal ( PYPL ) Credit business — essentially lending money to consumers at checkout. The move, announced Wednesday, will add pressure in the United Kingdom (where the feature was rolled out) to other payments options — such as Amazon.com ( AMZN ) and its offering. PayPal Credit will offer 0% interest during the first four months for purchase amounts of 150 British pounds and higher, afterward subject to the standard variable interest rate, which is 17.9% at publication time. Limits will depend on each person’s credit, which will take about 10 minutes. PayPal also faces competitive pressures from relatively new entrants into the digital wallet sector, Google with its Android Pay, and Apple ( AAPL ) Pay. Google is a unit of Alphabet ( GOOGL ). PayPal stock fell a fraction to 38.64 on the stock market today . The stock is finding support at its 50-day moving average, a positive move just when the stock needed one. Volume, though, has been lackluster as shares bounce back. The stock is still below a potential buy point. The company has an IBD Composite Rating of 93, where 99 is the highest. The U.K. is PayPal’s second largest market outside of the U.S., according to Mashable , which notes that of nearly 180 million active customer accounts, 22 million are located in the United Kingdom. The program began in 2014 as a pilot with limited availability. The marketing messaging the company is using — “ the future of money ” — is consistent with its global advertising push after its spinoff from eBay ( EBAY ) in 2015. Thus far the campaign has included the firm’s first-ever Super Bowl ad.

Europe About To Formally Open A New Front In Its War On Google

The European Union raced ahead with its antitrust probe against Google’s Android mobile-phone operating system, a sign that it’s poised to send out a formal complaint within days. EU regulators have given Google’s critics deadlines as short as 24 hours to remove business secrets from evidence that could be used in the case — a step seen as a sure sign that a statement of objections is on its way, according to two people, who asked not to be named because the process is private. Alphabet, Microsoft Join Amazon As Market Leaders; Breakout Soon? Alphabet ( GOOGL ) unit Google is one of the most high-profile targets for EU Antitrust Commissioner Margrethe Vestager. The EU’s speeding up of the Android probe follows the same pattern as last year’s escalation of a separate case targeting the company’s comparison shopping-search service. Google received antitrust objections just weeks after rivals got similar EU requests to declassify documents. Google’s advertising business and tax arrangements are also being reviewed by the EU. “In some markets Android has become very very big and we have had people coming to us with concerns,” Vestager told CNBC last week. The probe is “a high priority because these are fast-moving markets.” Two Google spokespeople didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. The European Commission declined to comment because the investigation is ongoing. EU officials still need to meet with Google for so-called state of play talks — where companies are usually informed of regulators’ concerns before formal objections are sent. More than five years after the EU opened the search probe, it’s still weighing whether to fine Google or order it to change its business practices. In previous antitrust cases, the EU has forced Microsoft ( MSFT )  and Intel ( INTC ) to pay billions of euros in fines. The Android software for mobile phones has been in the EU’s sights since 2013 after it got a complaint from an industry group backed by Microsoft and Nokia ( NOK ). The EU opened a formal probe last year, examining Google’s agreements with smartphone and tablet manufacturers that make devices sold with Google apps already installed. The EU has been concerned in the past by Google’s bundling of apps such as Maps, YouTube and Chrome software with Android, questioning whether the practice harms independent developers of competing apps. The EU is also looking at whether Mountain View, California-based Google has stopped manufacturers developing and marketing their own versions of Android.  

Could ‘Hidden Assets’ At Yahoo Push Up Its Bidding Price?

Yahoo ( YHOO ) has “hidden assets” that could drive up the bidding price for the struggling Web portal, says SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. “Perpetual” royalties from Yahoo Japan, thousands of patents and plentiful real estate could boost Yahoo’s bids, wrote SunTrust analyst Robert Peck in an industry report Wednesday. Those three critical aspects of the company’s valuation “are not well understood and could have material upside to bids, potentially driving them higher than our $6 billion to $8 billion published range,” wrote Peck. SunTrust raised its price target on Yahoo stock to 44 from 40 while maintaining a buy rating on the company. Yahoo stock was down a fraction in afternoon trading in the stock market today , near 37. While the company could bring in $6 billion net after taxes, Peck said, “Investors should expect bids in Round 1 (due Monday) to start lower than this, as bidders aim to bid just enough at first to make it into the next round. In Round 2, the bidding could become more intense and rise to the high end of our range, as we think there are several very qualified buyers.” The royalty stream from Yahoo Japan “is in perpetuity and represents 30% of Yahoo’s core advertising EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) in 2016,” Peck wrote. He also said that Yahoo has more than 6,000 patents, “which could be worth more than the $1 billion to $3 billion range the company has cited.” The patents include deriving a user profile from questions and creating a system for customizing a website, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. And, Peck said, Yahoo owns more than 1 million square feet of building space and real estate that could be worth $1 billion. The company is reportedly is looking to sell a large parcel of undeveloped land near its Sunnyvale, Calif., headquarters that had been slated for possible development, signaling that it has now scrapped the building plan. Yahoo Bids Reportedly Due Monday Yahoo sent a letter to possible buyers last month, asking them to submit bids. Some buyers might be interested in all or part of Yahoo’s core Web business, while others might want Yahoo’s stakes in China e-commerce Alibaba Group ( BABA ) or Yahoo Japan. Yahoo has reportedly set an April 18 deadline for first round bids. 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. An estimated 40 groups have expressed interest in buying all or part of the financially wilting Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Web portal. News site Re/Code said last week 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 is axing 15% of its workforce, or about 1,600 jobs. Rumored bidders for Yahoo include the Daily Mail, the British tabloid newspaper that on Monday reportedly confirmed its interest, attracted to Yahoo’s popular news and media properties. The Daily Mail is in preliminary talks with other investors to launch a bid for Yahoo, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday, confirming a previous WSJ report out Sunday. Google reportedly is considering a bid for Yahoo’s core business, as is Verizon Communications ( VZ ). In 2011, Alibaba CEO Jack Ma publicly declared his interest in acquiring Yahoo.