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SolarCity Burns On ‘Alarmingly Weak’ Q1; Vivint Joins SunEd Case

IBD’s 20-company Energy-Solar industry group hit a three-year low Tuesday after No. 1 residential installer SolarCity ( SCTY ) cut its 2016 guidance on slow Q1 bookings and rival Vivint Solar ( VSLR ) missed quarterly views on growing losses. Late Monday, Vivint Solar said it would participate in the bankruptcy case against ex-acquirer SunEdison “to maximize the recovery from claims against SunEdison.” Vivint scrapped the sale four months before SunEd filed for bankruptcy, an expected move. Midday on the stock market today , SolarCity stock crashed 25.2%, leading an industrywide 5.5% dip. Shares of top rivals Sunrun ( RUN ) and Vivint Solar trailed, down 7.4% and 6.7%, respectively. Yieldco TerraForm Power ( TERP ) stock slid 2.6%. SolarCity Q1 Booking Topple 33% For Q1, SolarCity reported $123 million in sales, up 82% vs. the year-earlier quarter, and topping the consensus for $108.4 million. But losses per-share minus items deepened to $2.56 vs. $1.53 in the year-ago period and analyst views for $2.31. Installations grew 40% year over year to 214 megawatts, topping guidance for 180 MW, but 160 MW in bookings fell 33% vs. the year-earlier quarter, SolarCity said Monday. For Q2, SolarCity expects 185 MW in installations, down 2% year over year. Current-quarter losses guidance for $2.70-$2.80 per-share ex items missed the consensus for $2.13 and would widen from $1.61 in the year-earlier quarter. SolarCity also cut its 2016 guidance to a range of 1 gigawatt to 1.1 GW in installations vs. earlier views for 1.25 GW, citing slow Q1 bookings related to Nevada’s decision to cut net-metering payments to solar customers. The Nevada decision spooked potential customers, SolarCity said. Vivint Solar Bookings Growth Tops SolarCity Credit Suisse analyst Patrick Jobin cut his price target on SolarCity stock to 38 from 62, but reiterated an outperform rating. SolarCity’s “alarmingly weak bookings (will) derail 40% growth outlook,” he wrote in a research report. “SolarCity seems to be faced with reproving the merits of their business model each quarter — facing either operational, regulatory, capital or competitive challenges — in addition to painfully, yet gradually, transitioning the strategy more toward value than growth,” he wrote. Jobin lowered his 2016 installation view to 16% MW growth. Also late Monday, Vivint Solar reported $16.6 million in Q1 sales on a 65-cent per-share loss minus items, missing Wall Street views for $17.6 million and a 61-cent loss. Sales grew 93% year over year, but losses deepened from 61 cents in the year-ago quarter. But, Vivint’s Q1 bookings grew 33% year over year to 66 MW, leading 19% growth in installations to 55 MW.

How Facebook, Amazon Are Propping Up The ‘FANG’ Name

Facebook ( FB ), Amazon ( AMZN ), Netflix ( NFLX ) and Google owner Alphabet ( GOOGL ) are some of the hottest names in the stock market right now, but they are not all performing too hot at this time. Only one of the “FANG” stocks has achieved a significant gain so far this year, and that’s Facebook. The social networking giant has seen three straight quarters of faster bottom line growth as it continues to capture more ad sales and grab more active users. Reasons To ‘Like’ Facebook Facebook has risen 14% so far this year, through Monday’s close. The stock is now looking to close above the 120 price level for the first time ever as it climbs 0.5% to 119.80 intraday. Shares are still trading in buy range after gapping up on the latest quarterly report. Amazon Extended From Breakout Though Amazon has only gained less than 1% for the year through Monday, it’s on a hot streak. Shares presented a buying opportunity ahead of the e-commerce giant’s most recent quarterly earnings and the stock is now extended 16% from the pivot as it hits a new all-time high Tuesday with a 2.7% intraday gain. Amazon announced Tuesday that it’s launching Amazon Video Direct, a rival to Alphabet’s YouTube. Can Netflix Regain Composure? Netflix is down 21% for the year amid steep costs to fuel its international expansion. Netflix also issued weak guidance for subscriber additions in the second quarter. Shares gapped down after the report, and are now trading below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Netflix is 31% below its all-time high reached in early December, but is up more than 1% Tuesday as the overall market rallies. Alphabet Sees Upward Momentum Alphabet is down 6% for the year through Monday, but the stock is seeing upward momentum as it looks to notch its fifth consecutive gain. On Friday, shares were able to retake the 200-day line. The stock is now nearing its 50-day line, which it dropped below after issuing its quarterly report. Alphabet is 9% below its all-time high reached in February, but up 1% Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq has fallen a little over 5% in the same time period while the S&P 500 has risen less than 1%. And Apple ( AAPL ), still the biggest company by market cap, is down 11% for the year. Late last month, Apple missed quarterly estimates and logged its first ever decline in iPhone sales. Apple edged higher Tuesday but is near a 2-year low.

Apple Must Step Up In ‘Bots’ As Facebook, Microsoft Advance, Says UBS

Apple ( AAPL ) needs to jump into “bot” platform development or its app-based software ecosystem will be threatened, says a UBS report. Facebook ( FB ) recently introduced “chatbots” built into its messaging service while  Microsoft ( MSFT ) launched its “Bot Framework” software tools for developers, putting pressure on Apple to respond, says the UBS report. Alphabet ’s ( GOOGL ) Google, like Apple, has lagged amid a flurry of bot announcements. But Google plans a bigger push into artificial intelligence , its CEO recently said. A bot is software that automates tasks. Consumer applications for bots include buying movie tickets or making hotel reservations. Businesses are using bots to handle things such as customer service or scheduling meetings. Chatbots, meanwhile, are software programs that simulate conversation about a range of topics. The UBS report is based on a meeting with Bruce Wilcox, director of natural language strategy at Kore, a startup developing bots for enterprise platforms such as Salesforce.com ( CRM ). Apple has been moving into the enterprise market — large companies and government agencies — by partnering with IBM ( IBM ). According to Wilcox, bots will displace apps in many tasks if using them is made simple. “Do I think that Apple’s in trouble if it doesn’t do something in a bot’s world? Sure, because why would you want to download and install all sorts of apps from the App Store when you can get access to bots effectively through one app?,” Wilcox told UBS. “ iPhones have had a charisma of a better user experience,” he added. “Bots are going to be wiping out user interface distinctions. The App Store will sell fewer things. People will have less reason to buy an iPhone. So yes, Apple’s going to have to do something.” Apple may be able to use its Siri voice recognition technology along with artificial intelligence to catch up in bots, says the UBS report. Amazon.com ( AMZN ) is expected to forge ahead with its virtual assistant, called Alexa. “Apple’s Siri is a question/answer bot. You ask it a question, it gives you an answer. End of discussion. She finds the answer to questions but does not control the world. Bot platforms try to do both,” said Wilcox. “Alexa is sort of a bot platform. You can route your requests through her to some specific bot effectively. So it is a bot platform. Facebook is in a good position because they have a dominant messaging platform. Facebook has zillions of users. Developers have a strong incentive to get that user base available to themselves.”