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Will Buffett Stand In Verizon’s Way, Snatching Up Yahoo?

Will Warren Buffett stand in the way of  Verizon Communications ( VZ ) snatching up Web portal Yahoo ( YHOO )? That scenario looms amid reports that Berkshire Hathawa y ( BRKB ) Chairman Buffett is backing a consortium  vying for Yahoo’s Internet assets. Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert is said to be pursuing Yahoo, with Buffett providing financial backing. Some former Yahoo executives have been advising Gilbert’s group  on a bid, tech news website Re/Code reported. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway made its biggest-ever acquisition in 2015, buying Precision Castparts, a maker of aerospace components, for $37 billion. However, Buffett has not been a big investor in tech companies, with his large stake in IBM ( IBM ) a notable exception. Berkshire, however, just disclosed that it’s taken a nearly $900 million investment in Apple ( AAPL ) shares. “I’m an enormous admirer of Dan and what he has accomplished in Quicken Loans‎,” Buffett told CNBC . “Yahoo is not the type of thing I’d ever be an equity partner in. I don’t know the business and wouldn’t know how to evaluate it, but if Dan needed financing, with proper terms and protections, we would be a possible financing help.” Others in the hunt for Yahoo include big private equity firm TPG Capital and a group comprised of investment firms Bain Capital and Vista Equity Partners. Telecom and wireless services giant Verizon has been viewed as the front-runner for acquiring all or part of Yahoo. Verizon, which bought AOL in 2015 for $4.4 billion, aims to morph into a digital media company that garners more advertising revenue, as wireless data competition mounts. Yahoo recently added four new independent directors to its board under pressure by activist investor Starboard Value. While Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is in talks with possible buyers, a second round of bidding for Yahoo may not wind up until early June, according to various reports.

Amazon, Etsy, Wayfair Gain, Despite A Brutal Week For Retail

Data on Friday showed retail sales rose 1.3% in April, their fastest clip in more than a year. You would never know it from looking at the week’s results among retail stocks. Earnings misses sent Fossil ( FOSL ) to a 31% loss. Nordstrom ( JWN ) tanked 17%.  Macy’s ( M ) fell 15%. J.C. Penney ( JCP ) dropped 8%. All of that followed Tuesday’s news that antitrust concerns led Office Depot ( ODP ) and Staples ( SPLS ) to call off their proposed $6 billion merger. Staples ended the week with a 19% loss. Office Depot crashed 41%. Among IBD’s industry rankings, retail groups started the week on already-crumbling feet of clay. They ended the week much where they started, holding five of the 10 worst rankings among 197 groups tracked by IBD. Specialty-retail and dollar-store chains were the clear exception, both ending the week in the top 10. But one of the strongest moves among any industry last week came from the Internet retailers group. The 32-stock group rose 4% for the week, the third-best gain among IBD industries. This was primarily due to a healthy week for Amazon.com ( AMZN ). It rose more than 5% — its sixth gain in the past eight weeks. That hoisted the stock to a new high and well past a 603.34 buy point. The company on Tuesday announced a new, YouTube-like self-service streaming video platform called Amazon Video Direct. In addition, Sanford Bernstein upped its price target on the stock to 1,000 — 40% above where the stock was trading on Friday. Several other stocks in the group also posted gains: Etsy ( ETSY ) rose 4%. Wayfair ( W ) climbed 6%. Netherlands-based Cnova ( CNV ), a low-priced, thinly traded stock, had an outsize effect, surging 48% Thursday after France’s Casino Guichard announced it would take the company, a unit that it had spun off in 2014, private in a deal valued at $196 million, about $5.50 a share. China-based e-tailers sold off hard during the week. Alibaba Group Holding ( BABA ) eased a mere 2% for the week, leaving its cup-with-handle pattern intact.  But JD.com ( JD ) — a juggernaut with nearly $29 billion in 2015 revenue — ended down 10% for its fourth straight weekly decline. Vipshop Holding ( VIPS ) slumped 5%. Jumei International ( JMEI ) stumbled 13%. E-Commerce China Dangdang ( DANG ) caved 16%. The three remain in deep declines. There were also some brutal reversals by U.S.-based companies. Stamps.com ( STMP ) surged 23% on a strong Q1 report, then reversed to a 1% loss. PetMed Express ( PETS ) spiked 24% following an apparently solid fiscal Q4 report. It reversed to a fractional loss for the week. On the stronger side, Shutterfly ( SFLY ) stood its ground, posting a flat week as it continues to trade sideways just above a cup-base buy point of 46.93. Company earnings are projected to spike 257% this year and 92% in 2017, despite expectations for losses in the next two quarters. Argentina’s MercadoLibre ( MELI ) also stood tough, ceding only a fraction. The stock showed little response, good or bad, to the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff in Brazil, MercadoLibre’s largest market.                  

Activision Blizzard Ready To Rack Up Points From E-Sports

Video game publisher Activision Blizzard ( ATVI ) is taking steps to capitalize on the growing e-sports trend. On Thursday, Activision announced the launch of its e-sports broadcast network, as part of the recently acquired Major League Gaming platform. It also revealed new content and broadcast experiences, as well as a distribution partnership with Facebook ( FB ). “This marks an important step given Activision’s broader ambitions as a media/entertainment company, and is a natural evolution of the Major League Gaming assets acquired early this year,” Baird analyst Colin Sebastian said in a research report Thursday. “E-sports is still in its infancy (think fantasy football 20 years ago) and represents significant near- and long-term incremental monetization opportunities given Activision Blizzard’s portfolio of owned-IP.” Sebastian rates Activision stock as outperform, with a price target of 42. Activision stock rose 1% to 38.29 on the stock market today , more than 9% extended from a 34.76 buy point, touched April 13, out of a cup-with-handle base. The Santa Monica, Calif.-based company presented its Activision Blizzard Media Network plan for advertisers at the IAB Digital Content NewFronts 2016 conference in New York. ABMN will launch the new content and broadcast experiences during the MLG Anaheim Open, a two-day “Call of Duty: Black Ops 3” tournament beginning on June 10. It will be available for live streaming through Facebook. “E-sports could become a meaningful revenue and profit contributor to Activision within 2-3 years, as the company monetizes its IP (intellectual property) and product portfolio across alternative distribution channels,” Sebastian said. Baird predicts the e-sports industry will grow from $200 million last year to $1 billion in 2018 and $1.8 billion in 2020. “We see a significant opportunity with tournaments, advertising/sponsorship, broadcasting, and fantasy/wagering, contributing incrementally to game publisher revenues and earnings,” Sebastian said. Other companies pursuing e-sports initiatives include Time Warner ’s ( TWX ) Turner Sports and talent management agency WME-IMG, which have partnered on E-League, a “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive” league. On Wednesday, Turner and WME-IMG announced the first group of brands to join E-League as official marketing partners. They include Arby’s, Credit Karma and Buffalo Wild Wings ( BWLD ). The inaugural season of E-League starts on May 24. Meanwhile, Walt Disney ( DIS )-owned ESPN has teamed with Activision on “Heroes of the Dorm,” a tournament for the game “Heroes of the Storm.” RELATED: Disney’s Exit From Toys-To-Life Video Games Could Boost Activision