Tag Archives: Anders Bylund

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Microsoft Shoots Itself in the Foot Again

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By Anders Bylund, The Motley Fool

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Microsoft introduced the Start button in Windows 95, a veritable eternity ago. Windows 8 took away the familiar user interface widget. The backlash was so strong that Mr. Softy plans to bring it back again, according to The Verge. But it won’t be a triumphant return to familiar territory.

In the following video, Fool contributor Anders Bylund explains what’s wrong with that idea.

It’s been a frustrating path for Microsoft investors, who’ve watched the company fail to capitalize on the incredible growth in mobile over the past decade. However, with the release of its own tablet, along with the widely anticipated Windows 8 operating system, the company is looking to make a splash in this booming market. In this brand-new premium report on Microsoft, our analyst explains that while the opportunity is huge, the challenges are many. He’s also providing regular updates as key events occur, so make sure to claim a copy of this report now by clicking here.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

The End of Subsidized Smartphones?

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By Anders Bylund, The Motley Fool

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T-Mobile USA is hell bent on merging with smaller rival MetroPCS . To hit the ground running, the carrier recently became a self-styled “Un-carrier” that doesn’t lock customers into long-term contracts. Even so, you can save serious money on your next Apple iPhone by going magenta.

Is this the start of an industry revolution, or just a small player stirring the pot? In this video, Fool contributor Anders Bylund takes a look at T-Mobile’s plans.

It’s incredible to think just how much of our digital and technological lives are almost entirely shaped and molded by just a handful of companies. Find out “Who Will Win the War Between the 5 Biggest Tech Stocks?” in The Motley Fool’s latest free report, which details the knock-down, drag-out battle being waged by the five kings of tech. Click here to keep reading.

The article The End of Subsidized Smartphones? originally appeared on Fool.com.


Fool contributor Anders Bylund holds no position in any company mentioned. Check out Anders’ bio and holdings or follow him on Twitter and Google+.


The Motley Fool recommends Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Why This Important Dow Stock Jumped 1.5% Today

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By Anders Bylund, The Motley Fool

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IBM is a giant among Dow stocks. The IT hardware and services veteran accounts for 11% of the Dow Jones Industrial Average index by weight, and its price swings always make a big difference to the Dow’s daily value changes.

This morning, Big Blue‘s shares jumped as much as 1.5% on an analyst upgrade. That’s enough to add 25 points to the Dow’s overall value, thanks to IBM‘s $211 share price, and a major driver of today’s bullish Dow action.

The fuel for this morning’s rocket ride came from star analyst Steve Milunovich, formerly of Merrill Lynch but now a managing director at Swiss powerhouse UBS. Milunovich is the kind of rainmaker who can move even blue-chip mega caps like IBM with a stroke of his pen.

In this case, Milunovich boosted IBM from “hold” to “buy” with a $235 price target. That would be a 12% upside to Tuesday’s closing prices.

He paints Big Blue as a company in transition, “well positioned” to become a leader in so-called “IT-as-a-service” cloud computing. That’s a model where businesses kick their IT operations out as a stand-alone business or divisions, moving a traditional cost center into the realm of flexible and potentially profitable operations.

These IT-focused entities are often powered by advanced cloud-computing solutions and big outsourcing contracts — two areas where IBM is both huge and growing.

Milunovich calls this a “sound strategy,” and it’s hard to disagree.

IBM has been heading in this direction for many years now, but the IT-as-a-service trend is primed for massive growth in the near future as the idea enters the mainstream. IBM stock has already crushed its Dow Jones peers over the last five and 10 years, and it’s likely to keep on keeping on.

IBM data by YCharts.

So this man among Dow stock boys looks primed for further gains. Milunovich sees a 12% return for the next year, and I believe that’s an appropriate long-term growth rate for the next five years as well. In fact, I just started a long-term outperform CAPScall on IBM to underscore the comprehensive power of IBM‘s cloud-focused industry muscle.

The amount of data we store every year is growing by a mind-boggling 60% annually! To make sense of this trend and pick out a winner, The Motley Fool has compiled a new report called “The Only Stock You Need to Profit From the NEW Technology Revolution.” The report highlights a company that has gained 300% since first recommended by Fool analysts but still has plenty of room left to run. To get instant access to the name of this company transforming the IT industry, click here — it’s free.

The article Why This Important Dow Stock Jumped 1.5% Today originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Anders Bylund holds no position in any company mentioned. Check out

Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Why Netflix Is Chasing Growth in a Lower-Margin Market

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By Anders Bylund, The Motley Fool

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Netflix
is focusing on digital video services while the DVD-shipping business is left to wither on the vine. But the domestic streaming segment delivers operating margins of just 18.5% vs. the DVD business sitting pretty at 50.1%. Is management certifiably insane for chasing growth in a far less profitable market?

In this video, Anders Bylund will explain why the streaming strategy makes sense. It’s a riveting story of dueling business models: fixed costs vs. fixed margins. Watch his take, then drop down to the comments box to share your own views on the subject.

The tumultuous performance of Netflix shares since the summer of 2011 has caused headaches for many devoted shareholders. While the company’s first-mover status is often viewed as a competitive advantage, the opportunities in streaming media have brought some new, deep-pocketed rivals looking for their piece of a growing pie. Can Netflix fend off this burgeoning competition, and will its international growth aspirations really pay off? These are must-know issues for investors, which is why The Motley Fool has released a premium report on Netflix. Inside, you’ll learn about the key opportunities and risks facing the company, as well as reasons to buy or sell the stock. The report includes a full year of updates to cover critical new developments, so make sure to click here and claim a copy today.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

These 3 Stocks Are Surging Past the Dow

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By Dan Dzombak, The Motley Fool

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 0.62% to 14,704 points as of 1:25 p.m. EDT, led by the technology sector. The S&P 500 is up 0.53% to 1,571.

Today’s Dow leaders
Today’s Dow leader is Microsoft , up 4%. This morning the FairSearch coalition, a group of 17 companies led by Microsoft, announced that it had filed a complaint with the European Commission alleging anticompetitive strategies by Google‘s Android. According to the group’s statement, “Google’s predatory distribution of Android at below cost makes it difficult for other providers of operating systems to recoup investments in competing with Google’s dominant mobile platform.” The group alleges that while Google gives its operating system away for “free,” in reality companies who want to use it must preload Google apps onto the phones, thus giving Google an unfair advantage that has helped Google acquire 70% of the smartphone market and 96% of the mobile search advertising market.

Google is already in hot water with EU regulators over its desktop search practices, which Microsoft and the FairSearch coalition complained of to the European Commission in 2010. Microsoft needs all the help it can get in the mobile-operating-system market. As of February, Microsoft is fourth in the U.S. among smartphone operating systems with a 3.2% market share.

Second for the Dow today is Intel , up 3.4%. Yesterday, at the National Association of Broadcasters conference, Intel unveiled its next-generation Thunderbolt interface technology, codenamed Falcon Ridge. The new Thunderbolt runs at 20 Gbs, twice the speed of its predecessor. Initial production is expected before the end of the year and will ramp up in 2014.

In other Intel news, yesterday the company announced that it is shipping samples of its new “Avoton” system-on-a-chip. It also announced that the chips will be included in Hewlett-Packard‘s new Project Moonshot servers, which will be available later this year. This is welcome news for Intel investors, as it shows the company has a headstart on ARM in shipping 64-bit server chips. ARM is not expected to start shipping until 2014 or 2015. For more on Intel, Fool analyst Anders Bylund recently laid out the case for owning Intel stock.

Third for the Dow today is Caterpillar , up 1.9%. Caterpillar’s stock has struggled this year as falling commodity prices, and thus declining activity in the worldwide mining sector, have weighed on the stock. The stock has fallen 4.5% year to date compared to the Dow’s 12% rise. We have to wait until Caterpillar reports earnings on April 22 to see whether the stock‘s decline is merited. Early signs are mixed: After yesterday’s market close, Alcoa reported better-than-expected earnings but disappointing revenue. Caterpillar has been taking steps to make itself more profitable, including slowing production and cutting jobs.

While Caterpillar’s results remain to be seen, over the long term it’s important to consider what really matters for the stock. Caterpillar is the market share leader in …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Why Did Crocs Shares Go for a Run Today?

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By Anders Bylund, The Motley Fool

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Shares of footwear designer Crocs put on their running shoes this morning, rising as much as 4.5% on fairly average trading volume.

The catalyst for Crocs’ big move is somewhat unusual. The company just elevated Andy Sackmann from VP of marketing to the C-suite title of chief marketing officer.

Why is this seemingly minor adjustment of Crocs’ marketing department such a big deal? The answer is twofold, I think.

First, Crocs’ business is very much driven by marketing and brand image. There’s no shortage of copycats and wannabes who offer similar products, often at a lower price. So hammering home the message that Crocs is different and better is a crucial part of the company’s sales strategy. We’ve seen this film a million times before, just not too often in the casual footwear market.

Second, Sackmann has been doing a heck of a job so far. In every earnings call since his VP appointment two years ago, upper management comes back to “effective marketing programs,” successful campaigns with an emotional message, and a rising focus on social and mobile promotion. These plaudits run right through Sackmann’s office, particularly the digital components where he personally held the reins.

Sackmann’s predecessor, fellow digital media expert Andrew Davison, didn’t exactly do anything to lose his job. He certainly played a large part in all these positive brand-boosting activities, being Sackmann’s immediate boss and all.

But the company is ready for a tighter focus on digital and emotional marketing, and it looks like Sackmann’s the better guy for that position. Expect a louder Crocs presence in social media from now on, as Sackmann’s style takes hold.

Investors sure seem to agree with that conclusion today.

The price of becoming the world’s greatest investor is that Warren Buffett can no longer make many of the types of investments that made him rich in the first place. Find out about one such opportunity in “The Stock Buffett Wishes He Could Buy.” The free report details a sector of the economy that Buffett’s heavily invested in right now, and exactly why he can’t buy one attractive company in that sector. Click here to keep reading. 

The article Why Did Crocs Shares Go for a Run Today? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Anders Bylund holds no position in any company mentioned. Check out Anders’ bio and holdings or follow him on Twitter and Google+.
The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 
We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

MetroPCS Defends the T-Mobile Buyout

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By Anders Bylund, The Motley Fool

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The combination of MetroPCS and T-Mobile USA has passed every regulatory hurdle, leaving a shareholder vote as the last remaining roadblock. But that’s not quite a slam dunk: Shareholder-interests defender Institutional Shareholder Services has teamed up with two major owners to scuttle the agreement at the last possible moment.

MetroPCS is very much in favor of the current T-Mobile deal. In a public letter to shareholders on Monday, the company defended the proposed agreement in no uncertain terms (emphasis theirs):

  • If the proposed combination is not approved, MetroPCS’ stockholders will not enjoy its compelling benefits — many of which are only available by combining MetroPCS and T-Mobile.  
  • Do not reject this proposed combination — do not take the risk of a loss of value for MetroPCS’ stockholders.

The company argues that ISS based its critique on assumptions that are wildly different from MetroPCS’ own. For example, MetroPCS has set $1.5 billion aside for spectrum license acquisitions. ISS believes that this reserve should add $1.5 billion to the value of MetroPCS, but T-Mobile and MetroPCS itself don’t agree. “Wireless companies are valued as going concerns based upon EBITDA and cash flow, not asset value,” the companies stated. “MetroPCS believes that, should it spend the $1.5 billion on spectrum, its equity valuation will not benefit from the value when adjusting from Enterprise to Equity Value (or value per share).”

In other words, MetroPCS shareholders should count themselves lucky to own 26% of the combined company. Some of the alternative deals proposed by activist shareholders might reduce the MetroPCS stake to as little as 12%.

In the end, it all comes down to financial hand-waving and a bit of “he said, she said.” But both companies need this deal to happen, unless they enjoy eating Verizon ‘s and AT&T ‘s dust. The two giants dominate the American wireless landscape with roughly 100 million subscribers each. Even together, T-Mobile and MetroPCS only add up to 42 million customers. But their combined spectrum holdings will make T-Metro stronger than the sum of its parts.

This market could use another serious contender, and MetroPCS shareholders would still be silly to vote the deal down.

The mobile revolution is still in its infancy, but with so many different companies it can be daunting to know how to profit in the space. Fortunately, The Motley Fool has released a free report on mobile named “The Next Trillion-Dollar Revolution” that tells you how. The report describes why this seismic shift will dwarf any other technology revolution seen before it and also names the company at the forefront of the trend. You can access this report today by clicking here — it’s free.

The article MetroPCS Defends the T-Mobile Buyout originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Anders Bylund holds no position in any company mentioned. Check out Anders’ bio and holdings or follow him on Twitter and Google+. 
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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

What's Fueling eBay's Rocket Ride Today?

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By Anders Bylund, The Motley Fool

Carbon Motors E7 police car prototype - front three-quarter view

This map of a massively larger market was a common sight in eBay’s analyst presentation.

Management expects the addressable market to grow tenfold as a result, and then it’s just a matter of converting potential clients to actual customers. “Our next 3-year journey is simply how do we capitalize in the opportunities that we have in front of us,” said CFO Robert Swan.

eBay is not alone in this retail rethinking, of course. The company matches wits with Amazon.com at every turn and with MercadoLibre in many of the most promising global markets. Here’s the silver lining to all this competition: There’s no reason why a $10-trillion market couldn’t support several thriving vendors. All three of these e-commerce innovators are winners in my book.

To learn about two retailers with especially good prospects, take a look at The Motley Fool‘s special free report: “

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Online auctioneer eBay has jumped 3.5% as of 2 p.m. EDT on a pair of analyst upgrades.

Canaccord Genuity upgraded the stock from a hold to a buy, raising target prices from $56 to $67. Jefferies had already rated eBay a buy, but it upped its target from $62 to $66.

eBay shares are sniffing at 52-week and split-adjusted all-time highs in today’s action. Reaching the analysts’ new target prices would definitely push eBay investors past whatever entry prices they might have seen.

Wall Street absolutely loves this stock nowadays. According to StreetInsider, 32 of 41 eBay analysts pin a buy rating of the stock today, and the other nine consider it a hold. Nobody’s betting against the stock, even at these near-record prices. Even the shorting bears are staying at home, with only 0.8% of eBay’s float currently sold short.

Jefferies cited an upbeat analyst day as the catalyst for its target price boost. “We left eBay HQs encouraged by what we saw and heard from management (especially new [long-term] guidance that exceeded our and Street expectations),” said analyst Brian Pitz.

More specifically, eBay’s technology and business model have been adjusted to address “omnichannel retail” on all five continents. That means moving beyond the pure e-commerce market and becoming an enabler for any kind of commerce.

This map of a massively larger market was a common sight in eBay’s analyst presentation.

Management expects the addressable market to grow tenfold as a result, and then it’s just a matter of converting potential clients to actual customers. “Our next 3-year journey is simply how do we capitalize in the opportunities that we have in front of us,” said CFO Robert Swan.

eBay is not alone in this retail rethinking, of course. The company matches wits with Amazon.com at every turn and with MercadoLibre in many of the most promising global markets. Here’s the silver lining to all this competition: There’s no reason why a $10-trillion market couldn’t support several thriving vendors. All three of these e-commerce innovators are winners in my book.

To learn about two retailers with especially good prospects, take a look at The Motley Fool‘s special free report: “The Death of Wal-Mart: The Real Cash Kings Changing the Face of Retail.” In it, you’ll see how these two cash kings are able to consistently outperform and how they’re planning to ride the waves of retail’s changing tide. You can access it by clicking here.

The article What’s Fueling eBay’s Rocket Ride Today? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Anders Bylund holds no position in any company mentioned. Check out Anders’ bio and holdings or follow him on Twitter and Google+.
The Motley Fool owns shares of Amazon.com and eBay. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of MercadoLibre, eBay, and Amazon.com. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Is Wal-Mart Undervalued Today?

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By Anders Bylund, The Motley Fool

Carbon Motors E7 police car prototype - front three-quarter view

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The market is supposed to be a hyper-efficient weighing machine in the long run, but that’s not always the case. Those mismatches between market value and business performance often create outsize investing opportunities.

For an example of this, take a look at retail giant Wal-Mart Stores . The stock price is struggling to keep up with Wal-Mart’s peers on the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the last decade, even if you reinvested every dividend check along the way:

WMT data by YCharts.

But you can’t blame Wal-Mart’s business for any of this market lag. Over this period, the store chain has doubled revenue while nearly tripling cash flow and earnings. Keep in mind that the Waltons have been battling the law of large numbers throughout this decade. It’s not easy to double a $230 billion top line, you know. Investors should expect more than a 56% total return for this fantastic performance.

WMT EPS Diluted TTM data by YCharts.

The master of low costs and high efficiency thrives in challenging markets, as you can see in the cash flow spike during the 2008 recession. Free cash flow keeps growing at a double-digit clip every year, so you can’t even claim that Wal-Mart shares should be cheap due to dying growth.

WMT P/E Ratio TTM data by YCharts.

All things considered, Wal-Mart shares look spring-loaded at current prices.

If you’re on the lookout for high-yielding stocks, The Motley Fool has compiled a special free report outlining our nine top dependable dividend-paying stocks, including a detailed discussion of Wal-Mart. It’s called “Secure Your Future With 9 Rock-Solid Dividend Stocks.” You can access your copy today at no cost! Just click here.

The article Is Wal-Mart Undervalued Today? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Anders Bylund holds no position in any company mentioned. Check out Anders’ bio and holdings or follow him on Twitter and Google+.
The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Straczynski and the Wachowskis Bringing "Sense8" Exclusively to Netflix

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By Anders Bylund, The Motley Fool

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Netflix continues its push into original programming with supernatural series Sense8 , backed by genre veterans J. Michael Straczynski and Andy and Lana Wachowski.

Sense8, a “gripping global tale of minds linked and souls hunted,” will be coming exclusively to Netflix in late 2014, the company announced today.

Sense8 brings together some of the biggest names in science fiction. The Wachowskis are best known for their work on the Matrix trilogy of big-screen hits. Straczynski’s portfolio includes the Babylon 5 TV series as well as the 2011 Thor movie.

Details on the show are hard to come by, but it will involve minds connecting directly to one another across the globe. 

“Several years ago, we had a late night conversation about the ways technology simultaneously unites and divides us, and out of that paradox Sense8 was born,” said Andy and Lana Wachowski in the Netflix press release. “We’ve wanted to work with Joe Straczynski for years, chiefly due to the fact his name is harder to pronounce than ours, but also because we share a love of genre and all things nerdy.”

Netflix gets exclusive distribution rights to the 10-episode first season, while production duties are handled by Georgeville Television and Studio JMS. Netflix tends to publish entire seasons of its original shows, all at once. Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.

link

The article Straczynski and the Wachowskis Bringing “Sense8” Exclusively to Netflix originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Anders Bylund owns shares of Netflix, but he holds no other position in any company mentioned. Check out Anders’ bio and holdings or follow him on Twitter and Google+.
The Motley Fool owns shares of Netflix. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Netflix. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Make Money in Merger Arbitrage — the Easy Way

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By Selena Maranjian, The Motley Fool

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Exchange-traded funds offer a convenient way to invest in sectors or niches that interest you. If you’d like to invest in some merging companies in your portfolio, the IQ Merger Arbitrage ETF could save you a lot of trouble. Instead of trying to figure out which companies will perform best, you can use this ETF to invest in lots of them simultaneously.

The ETF is based on the IQ Merger Arbitrage Index, which “seeks to achieve capital appreciation by investing in global companies for which there has been a public announcement of a takeover by an acquirer.”

The basics
ETFs often sport lower expense ratios than their mutual fund cousins. The IQ ETF‘s expense ratio — its annual fee — is 0.76%. The fund is very small, too, so if you’re thinking of buying, beware of possibly large spreads between its bid and ask prices. Consider using a limit order if you want to buy in.

This ETF is too new to have a sufficient track record to assess. As with most investments, of course, we can’t expect outstanding performances in every quarter or year. Investors with conviction need to wait for their holdings to deliver.

Why mergers?
Some might be interested in merging companies because there are sometimes discrepancies in their prices and also because once a buyout plan is announced, until it is completed, things can change — with new bidders occasionally emerging, for example.

Recent occupants of the ETF include Clearwire and McMoRan Exploration . Clearwire is in the process of trying to combine with Sprint Nextel and Japan’s Softbank. If the deal is approved (the FCC is expected to decide by May 29), the new entity will be a strong competitor in the telecom arena, with my colleague Anders Bylund explaining: “That three-way combination puts Sprint’s large subscriber Rolodex together with Softbank’s cash reserves and maverick business ideas, underpinned by Clearwire’s generous spectrum license catalog. This Frankencarrier should scare the snot out of its direct rivals.”

Meanwhile, Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold is buying McMoRan Exploration and Plains Exploration and Production. The mining specialist is diversifying its operations with these energy-focused companies, a move that some welcome and others doubt, seeing it as a dilution of focus. The stock looks attractive, trading near a 52-week low and with a forward P/E ratio of just 8. It sports a 3.8% dividend, too, and management is expecting moderate growth in the near term. One worry, though, is the possibility of interest-rate increases from the Federal Reserve, which can make some alternatives to gold more attractive. Still, Freeport is a low-cost producer of copper and molybdenum, positioned to benefit quickly from upturns in metals pricing. Its fourth-quarter earnings report was stronger than expected.

The big picture
A well-chosen ETF can grant you instant diversification across any industry or group of …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Stocks That Pulled Back as the Dow Pushed Higher

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By Matt Thalman, The Motley Fool

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average managed to pull itself together today to close up 90 points, or 0.63%, after falling 90 points yesterday. Even though the issues in Europe are still looming (more importantly, in Cyprus), investors focused their attention on all the positive aspects of the economy here at home.

Housing sales and prices continue to rise, purchasing managers sentiment is growing stronger, jobless claims are falling, and the Federal Reserve is going to continue keeping interest rates low and buying bonds for an extended period of time.

But even with all the encouraging data, and the Dow rising almost 100 points, a few of its components still fell into the red today.

Top Dow losers
In an attempt to revitalize its brand, Pepsi rolled out a new bottle yesterday. The No. 2 soft-drink company in the world changed the shape of its 20-ounce bottle for the first time in nearly 17 years. The new features include a shorter label and a different contour to the bottom of the bottle, where one would presumably hold the beverage.  

Shares of Coca-Cola fell 0.07% today, which may be a result of the Pepsi bottle change. The move will likely not affect Coke in the long run, but it certainly has attracted attention from the media outlets. Self-promotion and advertising is really the only way these two companies can fight each other, and it seems Pepsi has won this week.

Cisco dropped 0.43% after a federal jury found the company guilty in a civil case, and ordered it to pay $70 million to XpertUniverse. The two where working toward a potential partnership agreement, but XpertUniverse alleged Cisco strung it along for more than six months before informing Xperts management that the deal had been rejected. Xpert claims Cisco’s actions led to the business failing and had Cisco been up front about its intentions, Xpert could have pursed other partnerships that would have allowed it to continue operating.  

Shares of Travelers dipped 0.07% this afternoon. The stock had recently hit a new 52-week high and been on quite the run over the past three months. Year to date, shares are up 16.53%, making it the second best-performing Dow component in 2013. Furthermore, my Fool colleague Anders Bylund recently noted that over the past 12 months, it is the top-performing component, gaining 44% and almost 200 points to the Dow. Anders also has a great graph showing the contributions of other Dow components over the same time frame. Check it out by clicking here. 

More foolish insight

Coca-Cola’s wide moat has helped provide its shareholders with superior gains in the past, but the company faces some new threats to its continued market dominance. The Motley Fool recently compiled a premium research report containing everything you need to know about Coca-Cola. If you own or are considering owning shares in the company, you’ll want to click …read more
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TIBCO Software Matches Street Targets on Earnings, Misses on Revenue; Shares Down 11%

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By Anders Bylund, The Motley Fool

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Data analysis expert TIBCO Software just reported results for the first quarter of 2013.

Revenue grew 5.4% year over year, to $238 million, $4.5 million short of analyst consensus. Adjusted earnings fell 10%, to $0.18 per share, matching Street targets exactly.

Shares fell as much as 11% in after-hours trading on the news. The company will provide guidance for the coming quarter in this evening’s analyst call. Analysts currently expect non-GAAP earnings of $0.26 per share on roughly $265 million in revenues for the second quarter.

“Our competitive differentiation remains strong, and we are well positioned to benefit from the current trends driving enterprise IT spending, such as ‘big data,'” said CEO Vivek Ranadive.

The article TIBCO Software Matches Street Targets on Earnings, Misses on Revenue; Shares Down 11% originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Anders Bylund owns shares of TIBCO Software, but he holds no other position in any company mentioned. Check out Anders’ bio and holdings or follow him on Twitter and Google+.
Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of TIBCO Software. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.

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What Will AMD Get Out of Its Latest Investment?

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By Anders Bylund, The Motley Fool

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Advanced Micro Devices isn’t acting like a cash-strapped underdog today. It’s actually doing a fine impression of a venture capitalist.

The chip designer just invested an undisclosed amount of cash in photo editing software maker Aviary. The privately held target specializes in tools for mobile and online picture scrubbing, and this investment was specifically done to support Aviary’s development for Microsoft‘s Windows 8 platform.

To get a sense of how big AMD‘s investment might be, I looked back at Aviary’s funding history. The company collected 7 million from venture capitalists in 2009 and another 5.7 million last summer. In both cases, the investments trickled in from numerous firms. Given this background, I’d be surprised if AMD spent more than half a million here.

Aviary’s new tools will use the graphics processing power of AMD‘s hybrid processors. This wrinkle is said to improve photo filter performance as much as 16-fold over less specialized versions of the same software. This could give AMD a leg up over arch rival Intel in certain niche markets, such as professional graphics editing and enthusiast-level digital photography. You gotta get a foot in the door before you can steal anything of value, like Intel’s crushingly dominant market share in PC chips.

Yes, you can run Aviary on Microsoft Surface. No, it won’t get the AMD-powered speed boost, being designed around a different chipset.

Microsoft won’t complain when a longtime partner and a fresh upstart get together to make its much-reviled Windows 8 environment more attractive, even in a small niche. In fact, Microsoft gave Aviary another helping hand in developing the high-performance toolkit but without pouring money directly into the company.

Likewise, you could see the investment-cum-partnership as a marketing expense for AMD. Not that it’ll have the same obvious impact as a Super Bowl commercial or a series of splashy billboards along I-10, but this angle could be worth a shot.

I won’t say that the recent leaseback deal for AMD’s Austin campus enabled this investment, but it’s always good to have some extra breathing room when laying down cash without a guaranteed return on the investment. 

The mobile revolution is still in its infancy, but with so many different companies, it can be daunting to know how to profit in the space. Fortunately, The Motley Fool has released a free report on mobile named “The Next Trillion-Dollar Revolution” that tells you how. The report describes why this seismic shift will dwarf any other technology revolution seen before it. The report also names the company at the forefront of the trend. You can access this report today by clicking here — it’s free.

The article What Will AMD Get Out of Its Latest Investment? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Anders Bylund owns shares of Intel, but he holds no other position in any company mentioned. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

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Why Stocks Have Rebounded This Afternoon

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By John Maxfield, The Motley Fool

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Blue-chip stocks have mounted an impressive comeback this afternoon. After starting the day solidly in the red, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has clawed its way back near breakeven. With roughly an hour left in the trading session, the index is down 12 points, or 0.08%.

The day got off to a rough start after Cyprus announced that it may confiscate a portion of bank deposits in an effort to raise funds for the country’s bailout. The plan as originally conceived called for the small island nation to tax every depositor with less than 100,000 euros in the bank at 6.75% and those more than that amount at 9.9%. There have since been a number of proposed amendments that could change those figures. In the meantime, however, Cyprus has instituted an official bank holiday, closing its financial institutions until Thursday. To read more about this, click here.

Also fueling the bearish sentiment was a downbeat report about housing here in the United States. The National Association of Home Builders released its homebuilder confidence index today, showing a decline from 46 in February to 44 this month — a reading of less than 50 suggests negative sentiment. This is the second consecutive monthly decline and purportedly owes to concerns that demand for new homes is exceeding the supply. While this could constrain sales over the short term, the broader improvements in housing over the last year are nevertheless positive for the long-term outlook.

The best-performing stock on the Dow today is Hewlett-Packard . Earlier today, an analyst at investment bank Morgan Stanley upgraded the tech company’s stock from “equal weight” to “overweight,” signifying that its future performance is expected to best the broader market. As my colleague Anders Bylund noted earlier, the reasoning behind the upgrade boils down to cash flow. Last November, the company projected $5 billion in free cash flow for the current fiscal year. The Morgan Stanley analyst, however, thinks the figure will come closer to $6.7 billion.

Either way, there’s no disputing the fact that HP has struggled of late. Over the past two years, its stock has fallen by 46%, plummeting from about $42 per share in March of 2011 down to about $23 per share today. That being said, it has mounted an impressive rally over the last four months, nearly doubling since the end of November. And for the year to date, it’s far and away the best-performing stock on the Dow, up by 56%.

Conversely, shares of JPMorgan Chase are lower on the heels of last week’s dividend announcement and Friday’s congressional hearing about the now-infamous “London Whale” debacle which cost the bank more than $6 billion in losses last year.

After the market closed on Thursday, the Federal Reserve released the results of its 2013 Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review, which determined which of the nation’s 18 largest banks would be allowed to raise dividends and/or share buybacks this year. While the …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

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How Dividends Change the Game for Chevron Investors

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By Anders Bylund, The Motley Fool

CVX Chart

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The wealth-building power of compound interest will never cease to amaze me. It’s a story of patience and attention to detail, where small, short-term differences add up to massive divergence over decades. And in the end, the biggest winners don’t always deliver the fattest share-price returns.

Let’s take a closer look at the dividend-paying habits of diversified energy giant Chevron . The stock has crushed fellow energy titan ExxonMobil and the wider Dow Jones Industrial Average over the last decade. This is true whether or not you assume dividends were reinvested into buying more stock along the way, but the payouts sure boost your total returns by a welcome margin.

CVX data by YCharts.

It’s hard to complain about a 275% 10-year return, which works out to an annual gain of 13.9%. The Dow’s rise over the same period was a far smaller 83% jump, or 6.2% annualized.

But throw in the reinvested-dividends effect, and Chevron’s return swells to a mighty 413% — a 17.8% compound average growth rate. The Dow’s average return under the same circumstances only rose to 8.8% per year.

Viewed through another lens, Chevron’s payouts boosted its total returns by 50%, while the average Dow stock‘s payouts only added 33%. Exxon actually lags its blue-chip peers in this department, because its dividends only juiced total returns by 25%.

The secret to Chevron’s shareholder-friendly success? Relentless payout increases. Share prices have been rising sky-high, but management kept pace with equally fantastic dividend boosts. The result: surprisingly steady dividend yields through thick and thin.

CVX Dividend data by YCharts.

If you’re on the lookout for high-yielding stocks, The Motley Fool has compiled a special free report outlining our nine top dividend-paying stocks. It’s called “Secure Your Future With 9 Rock-Solid Dividend Stocks.” You can access your copy today at no cost! Just click here.

The article How Dividends Change the Game for Chevron Investors originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Anders Bylund holds no position in any company mentioned. Check out Anders’ bio and holdings or follow him on Twitter and Google+.
Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Chevron. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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7 Winning Stocks for the Dow's 7th Record

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By Dan Caplinger, The Motley Fool

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The Dow Jones Industrials again eked out another record close, finishing higher by five points and making it seven days in a row that the average has finished at new all-time highs. At this point, the market seems like it’s heading higher based solely on pure momentum, as some of the support from favorable economic data has tapered off, and macroeconomic concerns are slowly rearing their heads again.

But a look at seven winning stocks from today should give you a sense of where the strength in the market is coming from:

  • IBM was the Dow’s biggest percentage gainer, rising almost three-quarters of a percent to hit its own record high. IBM has the largest impact on the Dow because of its high share price, and as Fool contributor Anders Bylund discussed earlier today, IBM‘s extensive buybacks have historically supported its earnings as it strives to reach its $20-per-share earnings goal by 2015.
  • Caesars Entertainment jumped another 9%, setting a new 52-week high as investors continue to anticipate the positive impact of online gaming in New Jersey. The debt-ridden company has seen its shares triple just since November on hopes that the new opportunity will reverse its long spell of underperformance compared with more internationally focused rivals.
  • Netflix soared 6% as the company announced that it will integrate with Facebook to share their opinions of favorite shows and movies. The move emphasizes the importance of social features in every facet of people’s lives.
  • VMware and EMC climbed 8% and 2%, respectively, as they announced a plan to spin off VMware’s Cloud Foundry and EMC‘s Greenplum services into a separate company to be called Pivotal. VMware also gave favorable guidance on revenue, which also helped boost its shares.
  • National Financial Partners jumped 10% in the latest example of the importance that mergers and acquisitions are playing in the bull market. The company said that it may look for a buyer, having gotten interest from several private-equity firms.
  • Silver Spring Networks represented the IPO market, coming public at $17 per share and rising 29% in its first day of trading. IPOs haven’t all been positive lately, but if they revive, then it could push the market even higher.

Anywhere you look, you can find signs of strength in the market. The Dow might not set records every day, but as long as that overall strength persists, stocks should be able to stay near their highs.

Netflix has recovered from most of its losses, but can the company fend off competition and retain its first-mover advantage? We’ve released a brand-new premium report on Netflix that answers that question, showing you the key opportunities and risks facing the company, as well as reasons to buy or sell the stock. We’re also offering a full year of updates as key news hits, so make sure to click here and claim a copy today.

The article 7 Winning …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

How Buybacks Change the Game for IBM

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By Anders Bylund, The Motley Fool

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The wealth-building power of compound interest will never cease to amaze me.

It’s a story of patience and attention to detail, where small, short-term differences add up to massive divergence over decades. And in the end, the biggest winners don’t always deliver the fattest share-price returns.

Sometimes, it’s not even about having the most generous dividend policy. Let’s call in IBM to show you what I mean.

Big Blue has totally crushed its peers on the Dow Jones Industrial Average  over the last two decades. Over this time, the stock price has soared by 1,580% while the Dow eked out an 83% gain. Throw in dividend reinvestments along the way and the Dow jumps to a 152% gain. IBM‘s total returns balloon to 2,59%.

Source: Google Finance.

Dividend checks over this period added up to $31 billion, which would have been enough to buy the entire company twice in 1993. That alone would be more than enough to beat the Dow’s average returns, even if share prices had stayed flat throughout.

That being said, dividends actually play a rather small part in IBM‘s efforts to return cash to shareholders. Prepare to be amazed.

Source: S&P Capital IQ.

That thin blue line at the bottom of this chart is IBM‘s dividend payouts that made such a big difference in our discussion above. Wouldn’t you agree that it looks tame next to the much fatter share buybacks?

In these two decades, IBM has collected $186 billion in free cash flows and pumped 66% of it, or $123 billion, right back into share repurchases. Sure, IBM would still have beaten the Dow quite comfortably without these buybacks, but the effort more than doubled the total value of your 1993 investment. Who’s complaining about an additional nine-bagger?

The company has occasionally returned more cash to its owners than operations were able to crank out. That was the case in the late 1990s, when shares were cheap and IBM went through a serious rebuilding phase. It was true again in 2007, when the company borrowed $12 billion to retire $14.7 billion worth of shares. And Big Blue is tapping into the debt market right now while borrowed capital is cheap.

Last year, the company spent $3.8 billion on dividends and $10.5 billion on buybacks. If all that cash were funneled into dividends instead, the effective yield today would have jumped from 1.6% to a fantastic 6%. Don’t forget about buybacks when thinking about management’s generosity toward shareholders.

If you’re looking for some long-term investing ideas, check out the Fool’s special report: “The 3 Dow Stocks Dividend Investors Need.” It’s absolutely free, so just click here and get your copy today.

The article How Buybacks Change the Game for IBM originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Anders Bylund holds no position in any company mentioned. Check out Anders’ bio and holdings …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

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Here's What This $14 Billion Hedge Fund Company Has Been Buying

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By Selena Maranjian, The Motley Fool

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Every quarter, many money managers have to disclose what they’ve bought and sold, via “13F” filings. Their latest moves can shine a bright light on smart stock picks.

Today, let’s look at Viking Global Investors, founded in 1999 by Andreas Halvorsen and David Ott, who had previously worked together at Julian Robertson‘s respected Tiger Management firm. Viking is known as a long-short global equity fund, meaning that it aims to maintain long positions in companies on which it’s bullish and short positions in those where it’s bearish.

The company’s reportable stock portfolio totaled $14.4 billion in value as of Dec. 31, 2012.

Interesting developments
So what does Viking’s latest quarterly 13F filing tell us? Here are a few interesting details:

The biggest new holdings are Alexion Pharmaceuticals and Las Vegas Sands. Other new holdings of interest include EMC and TIBCO Software . EMC is a $50 billion storage giant, with solid growth prospects in the rapidly growing cloud-computing and Big Data arenas. It also holds an 80% ownership stake in virtualization specialist VMware. EMC has been held back some by softness in technology spending due to a weak global economy, but that won’t last forever. In the meantime, it has struck a partnership with Lenovo, which might help it in China, and its recent earnings report was solid, with strong operating income growth

TIBCO is another Big Data operator, and one that got whacked late last year after posting disappointing earnings results. It had previously posted a long string of strong earnings and pointed to softness in orders as well as some weather interference for the miss. Still, management is upbeat, as are some of my colleagues, such as Anders Bylund, who bought shares. Some think the company may end up acquired by another.

Among holdings in which Viking Global increased its stake was BlackBerry . BlackBerry, until very recently known as Research In Motion, has been fighting strong competition from iPhones and Android devices. (Apple, for example, is expected to debut a lower-cost smartphone that might appeal to businesses that buy in bulk for employees, threatening BlackBerry’s longtime strength in the corporate market.) BlackBerry recently debuted some new devices, but some think that’s not enough to turn the company around.

Viking Global reduced its stake in lots of companies, including Sherwin-Williams , which has averaged annual growth of nearly 30% over the past five years, partly on signs of a housing market recovery. Last year, the company bought global paint giant Comex, based in Mexico, for $2.3 billion. Some don’t like that the deal will add to Sherwin-Williams’ debt, but others see it as a smart strategic move. In a sign of strength, the company recently boosted its dividend by 28%. With a forward P/E ratio of 19, it’s reasonable to see the stock as not a bargain right now.

Finally, Viking’s biggest closed positions included Apple and priceline.com. Other closed positions of …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance