2009 January | goldmoneynews.com

Jan 29 2009

Google’s (GOOG) new bandwidth plan threatens Comcast (CMCSA)

Posted by: admin in Stocks News

Filed under: Google (GOOG), Comcast Cl’A’ (CMCSA)

Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) is setting up a new tool to grant people on the internet to measure whether their broadband provider is slicing down the speed of their access to the web.

According to Reuters, “Google is looking to encourage network neutrality and prevent Internet service providers from blocking bandwidth-heavy sites.” That’s probably good news for consumers, but it is bad news for broadband providers like Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) who have limited capacity in their network infrastructures.

The FCC has encouraged all broadband providers to offer unlimited access to the internet no matter how much data their subscribers want to download. Some users do so much file-sharing that the entire system is taxed. Cable companies like Comcast may be shutting down access to the most prolific users of their infrastructures so that other customers don’t have their service speed undermined.

But, Comcast has a more sinister reason for throttling speed. As its subscribers use more and more of the company’s bandwidth capacity, the need for Comcast to spend money to upgrade its system grows. The cost of retooling the system to provide higher Internet speeds could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Google is pushing a product that may eventually push broadband companies to sharply increase their capital expenditures to serve their subscriber bases. The might well injured Comcast’s balance sheet and its shareholders.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.

Google’s (GOOG) new bandwidth plan threatens Comcast (CMCSA) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 29 Jan 2009 04:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Can the new CEO change things at Yahoo!?

Jan 28 2009

Can the new CEO change things at Yahoo!?

Posted by: admin in Stocks News

Filed under: Earnings reports, World wide web, Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO), Time Warner (TWX)

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO), which competes with Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), and Time Warner’s (NYSE: TWX) AOL, reported Q4 stats after the bell on Tuesday. They were pretty dismal, but expectations were bea t. Revenues dipped by 1%, and earnings per share on an adjusted basis were $0.17. According to Wall Street’s view, Yahoo! was only supposed to earn $0.13. A four-penny beat on the bottom line is a pretty good thing.

Or is it in this case? I would argue it’s no massive deal. I mean, we’re talking about Yahoo! here, and there’s a new CEO on the job, Carol Bartz. She replaced the disaster known as Jerry Yang. Taking into account that there’s a new regime, you can’t really rely on this beat as a proper indicator for what’s to come.

Can the new CEO change things at Yahoo!? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 28 Jan 2009 08:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Earnings highlights: eBay, Google, IBM, Southwest, UAL, AMR, Northern Trust and others

Jan 24 2009

Earnings highlights: eBay, Google, IBM, Southwest, UAL, AMR, Northern Trust and

Posted by: admin in Stocks News

Filed under: Earnings reports, Google (GOOG), eBay (EBAY), International Business Machines (IBM), Advanced Micro Dev (AMD), Southwest Airlines (LUV), Lockheed Martin (LMT), AMR Corp (AMR), UAL Corp (UAUA)

Here are some highlights from this past week’s earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) reported dismal Q4 results due to lower demand.
AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR) reported a bigger-than-expected Q4 loss, sending shares lower.
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP) earnings prospects led to an upgrade.
eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) posted Q4 and full-year results with increased revenue due to a stronger dollar.
Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) reported strong Q4 numbers that beat analysts’ expectations.
International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) reported better-than-expected Q4 and 2008 earnings.
Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) posted strong Q4 results but lowered its 2009 guidance.
Northern Trust Corp. (NASDAQ: NTRS) shares surged after posting better-than-expected earnings.
Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) reported a big loss due to write-downs and offered a bleak outlook.
Societe Generale stated that it expects to have broken even in the final quarter of 2008.
Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) posted its second straight quarterly loss due to fuel hedging costs.
UAL Corp. (NASDAQ: UAUA) reported a massive loss on the erosion in value of oil hedges as prices dropped.
Usana Health Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: USNA) posted record Q4 results despite one-time charges.

For more highlights from this week, see Apple, Microsoft, GE, Johnson & Johnson, Harley Davidson and others

Earnings highlights: eBay, Google, IBM, Southwest, UAL, AMR, Northern Trust and others originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 24 Jan 2009 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Jan 23 2009

Google’s Q4: Should you buy now?

Posted by: admin in Stocks News

Filed under: Earnings reports, Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO), Technology

Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) reported Q4 numbers on Thursday after the market shut up for the day. Revenues increased 18% to $5.7 billion and GAAP income fell by a lot, coming in at $1.21 per diluted share versus $3.79 per diluted share in the year-ago period. However, after adjusting for various charges, the bottom line comes out to $5.10 per diluted share. Referring to the Before the Call piece, I see that this performance was good for growth of 15% and was good for a beat of analyst views by $0.15.

Not bad. Google may not be growing care about it used to do in the old days, but I thought its Q4 came out pretty good, all things considered. Operational cash flow for the year increased by 36% (gotta love that). Free cash flow for the year was nearly $5.5 billion. As can be seen, Google held up well during the difficult climate, as its online ad model apparently was healthy. However, I’ve to point out something that I’m not a big fan of: management is exchanging worthless employee options for fresh ones. Uh, what’s the point of stock options in the first place? Aren’t they supposed to be financial incentives for employees? What can you do, I suppose, but this is why I sometimes wish that options as compensation would just go away.

So, Google is holding up, and it beat estimates. Although the stock has perked up as of late, I’m not inclined to purchase it at these levels. I certainly wouldn’t purchase it on today’s modest rally of 5.5% (that was the stock’s performance as of this writing). Google is the giant in search, and it offers tough competition to Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Yahoo!, Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO). But I think the next several quarters could be tough for the tech entity, and I’d rather get more data before deciding what to do with Google as a potential investment idea. I just don’t feel in a rush to do anything about the stock currently.

Disclosure: I don’t own any company mentioned; positions can change without notice.

Google’s Q4: Should you purchase now? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

Jan 22 2009

Before the call: Google expected to report higher Q4 earnings

Posted by: admin in Stocks News

Filed under: Earnings reports, Forecasts, Google (GOOG)

Google Inc. (NYSE: GOOG) is scheduled to release fourth-quarter and full-year 2008 results today in a conference call at 4:30 AM Eastern, followed by a Q&A session for analysts. To listen in to the live webcasts, see Google’s Webcasts and Events.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters anticipate Google to report a fourth-quarter profit of $4.95 per share, up from to $4.43 per share in the year-ago period. Revenues for the quarter are expected to be 21.5% higher than a year ago to $4.1 billion. Google’s earnings have beat estimates in three of the past five quarters, by as much as 32 cents per share.

For the full year, analysts anticipate a $19.33 per share profit (+19.3%) and revenue of $15.8 billion (+35.1%).

The consensus recommendation is to buy GOOG, and long-term EPS growth forecast is 18.7%. The share price is about 47% lower than it was a year ago.

See also Google Q4 earnings preview and BloggingStocks’ Google coverage for more information about the company.

Before the call: Google expected to report higher Q4 earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 22 Jan 2009 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Jan 22 2009

eBay beats estimates: Buy or Sell?

Posted by: admin in Stocks News

Filed under: Earnings reports, Google (GOOG), Yahoo! (YHOO), eBay (EBAY), Amazon.com (AMZN), Stocks to Sell

eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY), an online site for auctions and sellers whose colleagues include Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), and Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO), reported Q4 and full-year earnings on Wednesday after the bell. Net sales decreased 7% to $2 billion for the quarter, and adjusted income dropped 9% to $0.41 per diluted share. The bottom line actually beat estimates by two pennies according to Trey Thoelcke’s Before the Call piece. The top line was below estimates, unfortunately. For the year, net sales increased 11% (as can be expected, the stronger dollar caused this divergence in terms of the revenue picture) to $8.5 billion, and adjusted earnings per diluted share increased 12% to $1.71 per share. Sales essentially met expectations, while earnings beat by a penny. Nice.

But was it nice enough? In the after-hours session, eBay shares shed 6% of their value. Quite honestly, I can see why that happened. During the regular session, shares were bid higher by an almost equal amount. A bit of selling on the news seemed warranted. I do have to state, though, that eBay delivered a good amount of free cash flow, well over $2 billion, in fact, for the year. While that’s cool, if you take a look at the cash-flow statement for the quarter, you’ll see that cash from operations decreased. Going forward, eBay’s stock will most likely have a tough time appreciating in value. Sure, this earnings report wasn’t a disaster or anything close, but I just don’t see the numbers convincing the institutions on Wall Street to step up and buy (as a matter of fact, this article talks about how the guidance was disappointing to investors). And if they’re not going to, why should you or I? This is a weak stock, there’s no dividend yield associated with it, and it is probably better left to value players with a high quantity of resilient patience.

So, for me, I’d say eBay is a sell. I can’t see it helping a portfolio, and I believe there are better investment alternatives out there that would interest me. As Brian White wrote a while back, eBay’s business model is evolving over time. While its brand equity still centers on auctions, the site doesn’t necessarily focus on that process anymore. It’ll take time for the company to find its second wind. Until then, I’ll stay away.

Disclosure: I don’t own any company mentioned; positions can change without notice.

eBay beats estimates: Purchase or Sell? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 22 Jan 2009 08:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Jan 21 2009

Google success does not define it as a monopolist

Posted by: admin in Stocks News

Filed under: Industry, Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO)

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) just can’t seem to do any superior. It dominates the main market where it competes (internet search) and figured out long ago how to maximize revenue from that market share. It has billions in cash and low debt as a result. This doesn’t mean Yahoo, Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) still are not gunning for the leader, though.

Yahoo!’s attempt to foil a Microsoft takeover that started almost a year ago caused damage to both companies. While everyone involved was bitterly fighting with each other, Google just kept on building market share and pumping revenue into its coffers. However, Google’s plan to become one of Yahoo!’s largest partners ended in failure late last year due to anti-competitive concerns. Was Yahoo! really wanting to get Google powering some of its vast global searches, or was Yahoo! looking for some kind of Achilles heel within Google?

Some in the U.S. Government might be eying Google as the AT&T of 1982 (Baby Bell breakup) or the Microsoft of 1998 (operating system browser monopoly). Is Google — even without a Yahoo! partnership and even with keeping Microsoft at bay in search — a monopolist? It’s the capitalist’s ideal question: does a company that serves customer needs so well that it takes so much business really a monopolist?

Circumventing the law to build a monopolist position is one thing. Building some of the best products and recruiting the majority of customers without any legal circumvention is another. Is absolute success a recipe for being labeled as a monopolist? In many circles, yes. Each competitor wants a piece of Google’s pie, and they’re watching each move it makes. But, if Google continues to build the products people want and use — and the competition does not or can’t — Google will become even more powerful that it already is. That’s not a monopolistic behavior.

Google success does not define it as a monopolist originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Jan 21 2009

Google Q4 earnings preview

Posted by: admin in Stocks News

Filed under: Earnings reports, Google (GOOG)

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) will be reporting its Q4 numbers tomorrow afternoon once the market closes. With its stock well off its $700+ peak, Computer sales slowing, and Google ditching low-performing products, all eyes will be on the search leader. Just how much are customers not clicking on Google-supplied advertising? We’re about to find out.

Will Google be able to meet expectations of $4.23 per share? The company has had very few financial missteps since going public in August 2004, but even the mighty global search leader is not immune to an ongoing global recession and financial meltdown. It’s true that Google has a ton of cash and very little debt, and its positioned to ride out the current malaise pretty easily. That still doesn’t mean it will make the killing some pundits think it will tomorrow. Anticipate Google to miss estimates by at least a few pennies.

The problem with Google’s share price is that it’s still too high. The company has solid fundamentals and continues taking market share away from the competition. In other words, it is not going anywhere. But, that does not mean market sentiment will grant its share price to pop over the $300 mark anytime soon, unless is really brings a surprise EPS figure a little over 24 hours from now.

Google Q4 earnings preview originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 21 Jan 2009 12:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.