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Amazon.com Gets Physical, Plans To Open A Bookstore In San Diego

E-commerce leader  Amazon.com ( AMZN ) is taking another step on the road to establishing a brick-and-mortar presence in books. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Saturday that the company plans to open a second physical bookstore — the first is in its home city of Seattle — at the Westfield UTC shopping mall, adjacent to  Tesla ( TSLA ) and Apple ( AAPL ) stores. It will be called Amazon Books. The Amazon store will likely be similar to the Seattle location and feature books that got the best reviews on the company’s website. It also will sell products from the company’s expanding hardware business, including Kindle e-book readers, Fire TV set-tops, Fire tablets and Amazon’s virtual personal assistant play, Echo. “We are excited to be bringing Amazon Books to the University Town Center Mall in San Diego, and we are currently hiring store managers and associates,” Amazon spokeswoman Sarah Gelman told the Union-Tribune . “Stay tuned for additional details down the road.” Amazon is widely cited for hastening the slow demise of the bookstore business, with the online sales king originally billing itself as the world’s biggest bookstore thanks to its endless online inventory. It has been said to use cutthroat tactics on publishers to get favorable pricing. In afternoon trading on the stock market today , Amazon stock was down 3%, near 557. Shares are up 18% since touching a six-month low of 474 in early February. The company has an IBD Composite Rating of 80, where 99 is the highest. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Apple’s appeal over allegations of e-book price-fixing. The court’s decision will mean that Apple will have to fork over $450 million to e-book purchasers. Apple was attempting to disrupt the near-monopoly held by Amazon.

Apple Supplier Broadcom Rockets On Post-Merger Q1 Earnings Beat

Broadcom ( AVGO ) stock rocketed late Thursday after the Apple ( AAPL ) chip supplier topped Wall Street’s fiscal Q1 earnings-per-share expectations by 11 cents and issued Q2 guidance that edged analyst forecasts. Broadcom CEO Hock Tan hinted that Broadcom is already ramping for the likely September release of Apple’s iPhone 7. He acknowledged that wireless demand declined 15% sequentially in Q1 on typical seasonality haunting “our North American customer” (i.e. Apple). Tan isn’t alone. Last month, fellow Apple supplier Qorvo ( QRVO ) guided to weak Q4 sales, tugging Skyworks Solutions ( SWKS ), NXP Semiconductors ( NXPI ) and Cirrus Logic ( CRUS ) into a hole. But Tan expects Q1 to be the year’s “trough.” After-hours Thursday, Broadcom stock lifted 7% on the fiscal Q1 beat, which followed the finalized acquisition of Broadcom by the former Avago Technologies on Feb. 1. The Q1 results relate solely to the former Avago, according to the company release, as the quarter ended Jan. 31, just before the deal was finalized. Broadcom stock closed up a fraction during the regular session. Apple Seasonality Pains Ebb For fiscal Q1, Broadcom reported non-GAAP figures of $2.41 earnings per share on $1.78 billion in sales, up 15% and 8%, respectively, vs. the year-earlier quarter. Both measures topped the consensus of 30 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters for $2.30 and $1.75 billion. During Q1, wired and enterprise storage sales grew 2% and 6%, respectively, on a sequential basis. Industrial sales fell 10% sequentially, trailing the 15% decline in wireless sales, Tan told analysts on the conference call. “Last year, we had unusually high demand in Q1 from a North American customer which offset normal seasonality,” he said. “This year, however — as we all know — seasonality returned and there was a product life cycle demand decline from that specific customer.” This week IDC issued a smartphone forecast that sees iPhone shipments declining 0.1% this year as smartphones running Alphabet ‘s ( GOOGL ) Android operating system rise 7.6%. Tan said on Broadcom’s conference call that he expects weak smartphone demand to reverse in the second half of 2016. Enterprise storage comprises 38% of the former Avago’s total Q1 revenue — the largest segment and leading wireless sales which contributed 32% to the total pot. But, the wired segment is growing and during the April quarter will bring in 55% of sales, Tan said. Wired Sales To Grow The midpoint of current-quarter guidance for $3.55 billion in sales on a non-GAAP basis, plus or minus $75 million, nearly touched the consensus model for $3.57 billion. Current-quarter sales views reflect the combined Avago-Broadcom company. During Q2, wireless and enterprise storage sales will shrink as chunks of total sales to 23% and 17%, respectively, Tan said. Still, all eyes are on Broadcom’s “North American customer” which increased the chipmaker’s RF content in its upcoming flagship smartphone, he said. “We are already pre-building significant quantities of our RF chips” for the second-half of 2016 ramp, he said. “We increase our RF content by 20% year after year in this high-end smartphone market.” But Tan expects greater strength in the wired segment where Broadcom expects to add new products. The segment will also benefit from increased enterprise demand. In May 2015, the former Avago announced a $37 billion bid for fellow Apple supplier Broadcom, kicking off a record-busting year of consolidation in the semiconductor industry amid macro weakness, slowing growth and ramping costs. Post-merger, the company retained Broadcom’s name and Avago’s ticker symbol “AVGO.” Broadcom is one of two chipmakers on the IBD 50 list of top-rated growth stocks. The other is Tesla Motors ( TSLA ) partner  Nvidia ( NVDA ).

Tech Investors: 6 Highly Rated Chip Stocks Approach Buy Zones

With the market in a confirmed uptrend, it’s time to scan for stocks to potentially add to your portfolio. Let’s take a look at six highly rated chip stocks that are nearing buy points: Broadcom ( AVGO ), Macom Technology ( MTSI ), Maxlinear ( MXL ), Cirrus Logic ( CRUS ), Microsemi ( MSCC ) and Nvidia ( NVDA ). Two Form Double-Bottom Bases Broadcom earns a near-best IBD Composite Rating of 98 out of 99 and is due to report quarterly results after the close today. Analysts expect earnings to increase 10% and revenue to rise 6%. Broadcom has formed a double-bottom base within a larger consolidation pattern. Shares edged a few cents above the 138.79 buy point in intraday trade on Thursday, but they reversed lower with a 0.9% drop. Broadcom is 10% below its high reached last June. Macom Technology is also working on a double-bottom base, which has a 41.42 buy point. After retaking its 50-day line a few sessions ago, it’s now just 2% below the buy zone. Shares rallied 1.7% Thursday. Macom has a Composite Rating of 98 as well. The rating is based on fundamental and technical factors, including earnings and sales growth, profit margins, return on equity and relative share-price performance. Working On Right Side Of Pattern Maxlinear has a highest-possible 99 Composite Rating. It’s trading about 5% below a cup-base buy point of 17.85, but it slipped 1.7% Thursday. The stock was able to find support at its 200-day line as it formed the base. Apple ( AAPL ) chip supplier Cirrus Logic is trading 6% below a buy point from a nine-month-long consolidation pattern. Shares reversed lower Thursday in light volume, falling 1.7%. Cirrus has a 95 Composite Rating, as does Microsemi. Microsemi is trading 9% below a 39.66 buy point. It was able to retake its 200-day line last week in above-average volume. And Nvidia, a Tesla ( TSLA ) partner, is trading 4% below a buy point at 34.04. The stock gapped up to retake its 50-day line last month on the back of a strong quarterly report. Nvidia has a 99 Composite Rating.