Posts tagged videos
Yandex Reports Mixed Earnings For Q4
Feb 22nd
Yandex (NASDAQ:YNDX) reported EPS of $0.20, better than analyst estimates of $0.18 per share. Revenues for the quarter were $200 million, missing consensus estimates of $207.58 million.
Arkady Volozh, Chief Executive Officer of Yandex said, “Yandex demonstrated strong traffic and revenue growth, capping off results for 2011 at the top end of our guidance range and building upon our clear leadership in the Russian search market. During the past year we continued to innovate and offer new services that make a difference in the lives of our users, including those in Turkey, our first market outside the CIS. This past year’s significant investments in talent and infrastructure, along with our focus on the needs of users, position us well going forward. We will continue to develop a broad range of services that complement our core search platform, including maps and personal services on the desktop and on mobile platforms, emphasizing collaboration with our strategic partners.”
Yahoo Shareholder Blasts Current Board
Feb 17th
Yahoo shareholder Dan Loeb blasted the current board line-up of the
company. What did he suggest? Well, that they appoint him to the
board.
Loeb runs an activist hedge fund, Third Point, and this isn’t unusual
- he’s a regular critic of Yahoo’s company’s management.
He weighed in on the recent departures of co-founder Jerry Yang and
Board Chairman Roy Bostock on Tuesday, recommending some new directors
in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In addition to himself, he also suggested former NBC Universal boss
Jeff Zucker and former MTV President Michael Wolf.
Zale Shares Pop 5.4% On Signet Buyout Speculation
Feb 16th
Zale (NYSE:ZLC) shares are trading 5.4% higher premarket on speculation that the jeweler could prosper in a merger with its larger competitor Signet (NYSE:SIG).
One investment banker told Reuters yesterday evening. “The Zale name has taken a beating, but it’s still a brand that people know. Signet is more skilled at marketing, so with them at the helm at Zale, it could become a prominent name again.”
The Reuters article said that Signet could afford to pay $5 – $6 per share, or approximately $161 million – $193 million, and still have the deal adding to its EPS after the 1st year.
PF Chang’s Reports Mixed Earnings For Q4
Feb 16th
PF Chang’s (NASDAQ:PFCB) reported Q4 EPS of $0.30, missing analyst estimates of $0.45 per share. Revenues for the quarter were $311.20 million, better than consensus estimates of $308.26 million.
Chairman and CEO Rick Federico commented, “While we were not satisfied with our earnings in the fourth quarter, we were pleased with our progress on the top line. We remain confident in the direction of recent initiatives to restore positive sales momentum, which have shown encouraging early signs in the first half of our first fiscal quarter. We believe 2012 will be an inflection point for our business and look forward to delivering on the goals we have articulated to our shareholders over the past several months.”
PF Chang’s China Bistro (NASDAQ:PFCB) has potential upside of 0.2% based on a current price of $34.66 and an average consensus analyst price target of $34.72.
Citigroup Wins Mandate To Provide Admin Services for $28 Billion of Assets
Feb 15th
Citi (NYSE:C) announced an agreement with Credit Suisse’s Asset Management division (NYSE:CS) to provide a comprehensive suite of middle office, custody and hedge fund administration services to support a portion of its US-based Alternative Investments business.
As part of the mandate, a portion of the middle office operations within Credit Suisse’s Asset Management division will be fully transitioned onto Citi’s service platform, which includes operations, technology and data management capabilities. Mike Sleightholme, Head of Global Hedge Fund Services, with Citi’s Global Transaction Services said, “We are pleased to demonstrate the value of our expert staff and leading technology to Credit Suisse’s Asset Management division.”
Citigroup is currently above its 50-day moving average (MA) of $29.36 and above its 200-day of $32.52.
Apple Works With Component Supplier To Test New Smaller Screen iPad
Feb 14th
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is working with component suppliers in Asia in order to test a new tablet computer with a smaller screen, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
Unnamed officials at some Apple suppliers say the company has shown them designs for a new device with a screen size of about 8 inches, and say it is qualifying suppliers for it.
The current Apple model, the iPad 2, sports a 9.7-inch screen.
This news comes after Apple reached a milestone yesterday, surpassing the $500 threshold, finishing at $502. The stock is up 19% since posting its December quarter results this past January.
Obama and the Stock Market – A Positive Correlation
Feb 10th
Republicans have called President Obama one of the most anti-business presidents in history. But the stock market tells us otherwise. This may come as a surprise, but President Obama actually hasn’t faired too badly. As of last Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen 60% under Obama – that makes him only one of five presidents to see the Dow gain 50% or more in the first three years in office. He is in good company with two other democrats, Clinton and FDR, and Republicans, Coolidge and Eisenhower. As for the losers, Hoover was the biggest loser, with market down nearly 73%, followed by Roosevelt and Carter. Of course all of this has to be taken with a grain of salt – clearly the market and the economy are very nuanced, multiple things at play during all presidencies. For Obama it was Tarp, Bernanke’s QE policy, for others, war and the great depression. The stock market is a leading indicator – meaning – market gains do NOT correlate with economic gains. So the fact that we’ve seen big strides in the market, but not too much growth in the economy, not a big surprise.
Moody’s Reports Mixed Earnings For Q4
Feb 8th
Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) reported EPS of $0.43, missing analyst estimates of $0.48 per share. Revenues for the quarter rose 0.5% year-over-year to $567.00, better than analyst estimates of $558.55 million.
Raymond McDaniel, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Moody’s said, “Moody’s achieved strong performance for full-year 2011, with growth in all lines of business at both Moody’s Investors Service and Moody’s Analytics despite volatile business conditions. For 2012, we anticipate revenue growth across most areas of our business and earnings per share in the range of $2.62 to $2.72.”
Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) has potential upside of 5.2% based on a current price of $38.98 and an average consensus analyst price target of $41.
National Oilwell Varco Acquires NKT Flexibles For $670 Million USD
Feb 3rd
National Oilwell Varco (NYSE:NOV) announced it would acquire Denmark-based NKT Flexibles in a deal valued at $670 million.
Pete Miller, Chairman, President and CEO of National Oilwell Varco, stated, “The incorporation of NKT’s highly technical design capability and business into our Rig Technology group is an exciting and strategic opportunity for NOV. The addition of NKT’s technology and expertise to our current suite of products for the offshore production market significantly increases our footprint in this growing segment of the oil and gas industry. We look forward to welcoming the employees of NKT into the NOV family.”
The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2012.
Jones Soda To Raise $3.2 Million in Registered Direct Offering
Feb 2nd
Jones Soda (NASDAQ:JSDA) announced today it has entered into a definitive agreement with institutional and accredited investors to sell common stock and warrants in a registered direct offering with gross proceeds of approximately $3.2 million.
Bill Meissner, CEO of Jones Soda said, “The proceeds of this equity financing will support our cash flow as we continue our mission to increase sales and distribution and improve the bottom line. We believe that we are headed in the right direction, and these funds, combined with our current cash and our previously announced $2 million credit facility, significantly enhance our financial position and will further enable us to work towards sustainable profitability.”
Jones Soda is currently above its 50-day moving average (MA) of $0.53 and should find resistance at its 200-day MA of $0.83.
