Tag Archives: Brian White

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Make Up Your Mind: Should Devices Get Bigger or Smaller?

Leave a comment

By Evan Niu, CFA, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

There’s been a lot of talk about the growing consumer trend toward phablets, oversized smartphones that approach tablets in dimensions. Analyst continue to call on Apple to address this niche segment of the smartphone market, particularly because Samsung and the rest of the Google Android army has been able to tap it quite successfully.

At the same time, investors are expecting the next big wave in computing to come in the form of smaller wearable devices. Should devices get bigger or smaller?

We want bigger phones!
Among others, Topeka Capita Markets analyst Brian White believes that Apple absolutely needs a phablet in order to compete, since that form factor is popular in markets like China.

There’s certainly a case for Apple to release such a device, but chances are that Apple won’t release a larger iPhone until next year. Besides, there’s data that suggests that Apple shouldn’t be in any rush, since the 3.5-inch iPhone 4S outsold the 4.8-inch Galaxy S3 in 2012. Flurry Analytics also thinks phablets comprise a relatively modest slice of the broader market.

Oh no! Phones are too big!
One of the reasons why people also expect Apple to release an iWatch at some point is because phones are getting too big and becoming cumbersome to carry around. Microsoft is reportedly laying some component groundwork for a possible smart watch.

That’s despite the fact that Microsoft used to offer a smart watch, except it failed to gain traction in part because it carried a $10 monthly subscription fee. Microsoft could even be considered a first mover in smart watches.

Google will likely be the first to market with a wearable device when it launches Google Glass later this year. Glass will be a different approach to the market, with the search giant going straight for the jugular.

RBS analyst Wanli Wang was quoted as saying, “We see growing demand for wearable gadgets as the size of the smartphone has become too big to carry around.”

So now we have analysts calling for bigger smartphones, which is almost immediately followed by analysts deriding smartphones as being too big. Is there room for both? Or do analysts and consumers need to make up their minds?

As one of the most dominant Internet companies ever, Google has made a habit of driving strong returns for its shareholders. However, like many other web companies, it’s also struggling to adapt to an increasingly mobile world. Despite gaining an enviable lead with its Android operating system, the market isn’t sold. That’s why it’s more important than ever to understand each piece of Google’s sprawling empire. In The Motley Fool’s new premium research report on Google, we break down the risks and potential rewards for Google investors. Simply click here now to unlock your copy of this invaluable resource.

From: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/04/17/make-up-your-mind-should-devices-get-bigger-or-sma/

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Apple Stock Could Use a Phablet Boost

Leave a comment

By Rick Munarriz, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

Apple may be ready to concede that size matters in the smartphone world.

Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White believes that bigger iPhones are one the way.

Now, before we get ahead of ourselves — dreaming of larger smarpthones and even fabled phablets — let’s frame this note appropriately. White has been known to dream big and wake up empty.

White turned heads last April when he slapped a price target of $1,001 on the stock. Two months later he suggested that the ballyhooed Apple HDTVs could hit the market in time for the 2012 holiday season. Neither vision materialized. A year later, Apple stock is trading at less than half of his price target. Anyone asking Santa for an iTV last year had to settle for an iPad Mini and a bag of coal.

However, he may be on to something this time.

White is trekking through Asia, visiting Chinese and Taiwanese suppliers that Apple and other consumer tech giants rely on for prototypes and eventual production runs. If a source in Apple’s supply chain is pointing to two — and possibly even three — different screen sizes for this summer’s inevitable iPhone 5S rollout, it’s a better wager than an analyst at home engaging in wishful thinking.

Go big or go home
The market initially applauded Apple’s decision to bump up the size of the iPhone 5. Going from 3.5-inch screens to 4-inch screens gave the stock a boost. Apple shares peaked the day that the iPhone 5 hit the market.

However, with Samsung and HTC embracing larger standards at 5 and 4.7 inches, respectively — and Google‘s Android continuing to run away with the market — Apple can’t ignore the call for wireless devices with larger screens.

The iPad recognized the market demand for smaller tablets by rolling out the wildly successful iPad Mini. Now it’s time to realize that the even the bigger iPhone 5 may not be big enough.

Analysts have been disappointed to see iPhone buyers flock to the older iPhone 4 and 4S models, but wireless customers aren’t going that route because they want smaller screens. They’re merely being won over by the notion of saving $100 or $200 on their phones.

BlackBerry‘s Z10 is off to a slow start this year, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the smartphone pioneer suffer another sequential dip in subscribers this quarter. Nokia flooded the market with Lumia phones, and even Microsoft‘s marketing muscle to push the Windows Phone-fueled devices failed to slow Android’s momentum.

Against this backdrop we have Samsung’s 5-inch Galaxy S4 coming out later this month, and there’s plenty of chatter of Samsung introducing devices with 5.5-inch and 6.3-inch screens later this year. This would naturally be phablet territory, and Samsung has already fared well there with the Galaxy Note line. If Apple is going to go bigger than the iPhone’s 4-inch screen — and if it is introducing …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

News, Politics, Government

Is This Apple's iTV? Screen, iPad and iRing?

Leave a comment

By Tim Worstall, Contributor Another installment in the never ending speculation about what Apple might release next. Here’s it’s about the long rumoured “iTV”, the product with which Apple will revolutionise television watching as it has done music, phones and computing. Or if you prefer, how Apple is going to get that stock price soaring again. What would be interesting would be to get your, the readers’, impressions of whether this would make a breakout product. The iTV will boast a 60-inch screen and cost up to $2,500, Brian White, at Topeka Capital Markets, said in a research note. …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

Science & Technology

Apple Rolling Out 60" 'iTV' With 'iRing' Control: Report

Leave a comment

By Mark Russell Longstanding rumors that Apple will add television to its repertoire of gadgets are heating up, as an analyst is claiming the 60-inch “iTV” is coming late this year, reports the AP . Brian White of Topeka Capital Markets said component manufacturers in Taiwan and China had revealed that the televisions could… …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Newser – Tech News

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

iRing, iWatch, iTV: Making Sense of Today's Apple Rumors

Leave a comment

By Evan Niu, CFA, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

Here’s a new one: Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White is making headlines today with a bold new bauble-based prediction about Apple‘s long-rumored iTV. White has been making the rounds in China, having talks behind closed doors with supply chain tipsters. What in the world would an “iRing” be?

The analyst believes that Apple will utilize a ring accessory that will be worn and used as a pointing device for the iTV. The TV will have sensors for motion detection, and the accessory will be used to navigate the interface. White also thinks that it will come with a “mini iTV” screen with a 9.7-inch display that can be used to view secondary content. The primary iTV size is pegged at a 60-inch display, but White thinks a couple smaller options will be available as well. Overall, the analyst expects the iTV to “revolutionize the TV experience forever.”

On top of all of that, the rumored iWatch may also tap into the iTV ecosystem, complementing features of the iRing. The total price for this package is estimated in the range of $1,500 to $2,500, depending on how many “mini iTV” screens are included, with White thinking customers can order up to four. White expects all of this to happen by year’s end, and is sticking by his buy rating and Street-high price target of $888.

The iRing interface idea doesn’t sound like something Apple would realistically pursue. This is the company that wants to make interface as intuitive as possible by removing as many intermediary devices as it can. Steve Jobs famously bashed the use of a stylus on smartphones, saying people are already born with 10 of them on their hands.

Having to wear an iRing all the time sounds strange if it’s mainly used just for navigating a TV interface, and it would be small and easy to lose if you don’t wear it all the time. None of that sounds like Apple.

Especially with motion-gesture technology advances in recent years, an extra accessory seems superfluous. Microsoft has a hit on its hands with Xbox Kinect, which requires nothing more than the stationary sensor. Kinect was launched in 2010 with much fanfare, and the software giant recently said it has reached 24 million in Kinect sales. It’s conceivable that Apple took note of the device’s popularity and has been secretly developing similar technology.

The secondary screen idea also sounds suspiciously unnecessary. White believes they will be less functional and won’t threaten iPad sales, but Apple has also long enjoyed the “halo” that its products create for each other. By simply integrating the iTV with existing iPads, the company could see an uptick in iPad sales without the need for a secondary display with a limited feature set.

Some of White’s rumblings don’t pass the sniff test.

There is a debate raging as to whether Apple remains a buy. The Motley Fool’s senior technology analyst and managing bureau chief, Eric …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

When Will Apple Boost Its Dividend? Soon.

Leave a comment

By Daniel Sparks, The Motley Fool


Source: SEC filings. Calendar quarters shown. Cash returned includes dividends and buybacks. Chart created by Evan Niu.

Apple must inevitably return more cash to shareholders in the near future. CEO Tim Cook’s statements at the 2013 Goldman Sachs conference again reiterated management’s recognition of its enormous cash pile: “We do have some cash. … And it’s an incredible privilege for us to be in a position that we can seriously consider returning additional cash toward shareholders.”

Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White projects that Apple’s cash balance could reach $241 billion by the end of fiscal 2015 if the company doesn’t return more cash to shareholders than it already is.

Apple is a top-notch dividend stock
Though Apple may have fully qualified as a growth stock several years ago, it’s now a top-notch dividend stock. In fact, the stock‘s qualities as an income investment are largely undervalued.

Apple’s current dividend yield of 2.4% may not seem very attractive to income investors. But with a likely dividend increase on the horizon, and given Apple’s enviable ability to generate large amounts of free cash flow, the stock is a first-class bet for future income — especially at today’s conservative valuation.

A key metric income investors care about when analyzing the quality of a company’s dividend is the payout ratio. The payout ratio is simply equal to a company’s annual dividend divided by its annual earnings. The higher the ratio, the less sustainable the dividend if business fundamentals go awry.

Most established dividend stocks have payout ratios well over 50%. Apple’s is just 12%. Microsoft and Intel , two well-recognized dividend stocks in the tech sector, have payout ratios of 45% and 40%, respectively. Keep in mind: The lower, the better.

Another key measurement in assessing the quality of a company’s dividend is a its ability to generate free cash flow, or the cash that can be used to pay out dividends.

Apple has an unearthly ability to turn $0.28 of every dollar of sales into free cash flow. That’s practically unheard of in the consumer-electronics hardware industry. Microsoft manages to do better, with a free cash flow-to-sales ratio of 38%, but this is expected — the company’s primary businesses is selling high-margin software. Intel, despite its market leadership, earns just $0.15 of free cash flow on every dollar of sales — considerably less than Apple.

Apple, therefore, has excellent prospects as a dividend stock. In fact, analysts surveyed by Bloomberg collectively believe that Apple will boost its dividend to $4.14 per share. That amounts to a dividend yield of 3.7% — far higher than today’s yield of 2.4%.

Give us a dividend
There is no denying it. Apple has too much cash. The company will probably make an announcement to return more of it to shareholders soon. This is just one of many reasons the stock is a top pick among my outperform

Filed under:

The one-year anniversary of Apple‘s dividend on March 19 came and passed with no announcement from Apple to boost its dividend. Leading up to the anniversary, there was a lot of speculation around what exactly the company could announce. Though the buzz has faded, it doesn’t mean Apple won’t announce a plan to return even more cash to shareholders. In fact, investors should rest assured — an announcement is basically inevitable.

Some background
Just over a year ago, Apple announced plans to initiate a dividend and share-repurchase program. The quarterly dividend amounted to $2.65 per share. At today’s share price, the dividend yields a 2.4% return to investors. Apple’s share-repurchase program meant repurchasing $10 billion in shares over a three-year period.

Even at the time of the announcement, the payout seemed conservative. But a year later, investor concern looms: Despite Apple‘s payouts, its massive cash hoard — now more than $137 billion — is still growing even larger. Investors want in on it.

David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital made headlines in February, when he proposed that Apple pay out some of its cash in the form of preferred stock. Apple responded with an official statement, admitting that the company has found itself “in the fortunate position of continuing to generate large amounts of cash, including $23 billion in cash flow from operations in the last quarter alone.” The statement asserted, “Apple’s management team and Board of Directors have been in active discussions about returning additional cash to shareholders.”

Why Apple can pay out more cash
If it isn’t clear already, Apple has enough cash sitting around to pay out more to shareholders. In fact, Apple has $145 in cash on its balance sheet for every share.

“The only thing that Apple can’t do is nothing,” Fellow Fool Evan Niu asserted. Apple’s returned only a “sliver of cash” so far.

Evan illustrates his point with this mind-boggling chart.

Source: SEC filings. Calendar quarters shown. Cash returned includes dividends and buybacks. Chart created by Evan Niu.

Apple must inevitably return more cash to shareholders in the near future. CEO Tim Cook’s statements at the 2013 Goldman Sachs conference again reiterated management’s recognition of its enormous cash pile: “We do have some cash. … And it’s an incredible privilege for us to be in a position that we can seriously consider returning additional cash toward shareholders.”

Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White projects that Apple’s cash balance could reach $241 billion by the end of fiscal 2015 if the company doesn’t return more cash to shareholders than it already is.

Apple is a top-notch dividend stock
Though Apple may have fully qualified as a growth stock several years ago, it’s now a top-notch dividend stock. In fact, the stock‘s qualities as an income investment are largely undervalued.

Apple’s current dividend yield of 2.4% may not seem very attractive to income investors. But with a likely dividend increase on the horizon, and given Apple’s enviable ability to generate …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

These Are Pivotal Times for EMC

Leave a comment

By Richard Saintvilus, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

Investors of storage giant EMC were not pleased after management came out with lower guidance for fiscal 2013. I felt this was more the result of potential struggles with VMware , which is 80% owned by EMC, than it was with EMC itself. But it didn’t matter. The Street reacted, and the stock got punished.

However, given the state of the hardware market, EMC‘s outlook wasn’t really that bad. And there was plenty of evidence that the company was winning the storages war despite recent pricing pressure from rivals such as IBM and Hewlett-Packard. But, following a recent “strategy day” with analysts, EMC seems poised for stronger growth down the road. And patient investors will be rewarded.

Change we can believe in
Bears remain fearful that the storage/cloud market will remain turbulent for at least 2013. In many respects, they’re right. But EMC has never gotten its due credit for its ability to quickly adapt to changing trends. A perfect example was the company’s recent announcement to spin-off areas of the business that, while strong in performance, were getting lost in the shuffle. By creating a separate entity, EMC feels that more value can be realized.

The company calls it “the pivotal initiative,” which is, essentially, a group of assets that includes data analytics, cloud computing, and Bid Data. Although management has not fully disclosed how the new company will be structured, it did say that Paul Maritz, who is VMware’s former CEO and has been running the Pivotal inside of EMC, will remain at the helm following the spin-off. The company also said that Pivotal will be jointly owned with VMware, which will take up 31% of Pivotal, while EMC will absorb the 69% majority. 

EMC‘s Greenplum and Pivotal Labs assets will be the major contributors of the operation, while VMware will put in its Cloud Foundry, Cetas, Spring, and Gemfire groups. Analysts love the idea. Brian White of Topeka Capital Markets, who has a buy rating on EMC with a $30 price target, said that Pivotal is expected to have $300 million in revenue this year. He also projected that the total available market for Big Data, which is currently $6 billion this year, can grow to $17 billion by 2016. In other words, although EMC doesn’t look like a stock that can ring in sizable gains this year, there is still plenty to love with the company in the long-term.

How much better will this make EMC?
While there is no doubt that EMC is the dominant force in storage, it’s not as if the competition is just going to roll over. And I think management understands this. To that end, EMC projected just 8% revenue growth for fiscal 2013. Management also warned that revenue growth for the first half of this year will arrive slightly below 8%, while the second half will make up the difference.

However, that’s not to suggest that management was down on its capabilities. Much of the downbeat guidance …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Which Apple Supply Chain Rumor Should You Believe?

Leave a comment

By Evan Niu, CFA, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

The battleground stock that is Apple continues to see investors focus heavily on supply chain rumblings from the other side of the world. Shares were weak today, down over 1% this morning, in part due to bearish sentiment among analysts. On the other hand, there’s also some data that could potentially be good news for the iPhone maker.

Which supply chain rumors should investors believe?

The bad news
Topeka Capital analyst Brian White, who has the Street high price target of $888, says that things aren’t so great within Apple’s supply chain. White is the analyst that has compiled a group of Apple suppliers and bundled them into what he refers to as the “Apple Monitor.” The goal is to gain insight into Apple’s pipeline by looking at sales activity of suppliers.

White’s data shows that the Apple Monitor saw February sales drop by a whopping 31% sequentially from January, far worse than the average 8% decline due to normal seasonality. That figure is the worst performance that the analyst has on record.

CLSA analyst Avi Silver has now downgraded his rating on Apple from “outperform” to “buy” while reducing his price target from $575 to $505, citing lower iPhone unit estimates in the June quarter. This expectation is partially based on a rumored iPhone launch during the summer, in which case sales may decline ahead of new models as consumers are now well attuned to Apple’s rumored product cycles. Silver also sees an upcoming “iPhone Mini” having a negative effect on product mix and margins.

Baird Capital analyst William Power is on record saying the firm’s semiconductor team expects iPhone 5 and iPad shipments to come in below consensus estimates. With the Mobile World Congress wrapping up last week, consumers and investors have gotten a glimpse of the competitive landscape and Power has concerns over Apple’s product demand following the trade show. The analyst is sticking with his $465 price target, which represents modest upside from current prices.

The good news
Reuters is now reporting that both Taiwan Semiconductor and Hon Hai (Foxconn’s parent company) are each planning on adding 5,000 workers to their ranks. Both companies are looking to recruit students that are preparing to graduate from Taiwan University this year.

The reported job additions are notable for several reasons. First off, Apple shares fell 2% last month on reports that Foxconn was instituting a hiring freeze. Part of the pessimism was since the Financial Times speculated it was due to “weakening demand.” It didn’t matter much that other analysts actually thought the hiring freeze was due to improved working conditions and better wages, leading to higher employee retention.

Regardless, reports that Hon Hai is now ramping up recruiting could signal that it needs more employees to ramp up production of upcoming Apple devices. Apple is hardly Hon Hai‘s only customer, but it is easily the company’s biggest.

To date, Taiwan Semiconductor and Apple have had no …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

News, Politics, Government

Apple: Cheaper iPhone Coming This Year, Topeka Capital Asserts

Leave a comment

By Eric Savitz, Forbes Staff

Apple will launch a lower-priced iPhone in 2013, Topeka Capital analyst Brian White asserts in a research note this morning. He says a cheaper version of the phone will open up “attractive new growth opportunities in China and elsewhere around the world.” …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

News, Politics, Government

Apple: Despite The Troubled Quarter, Piper's Munster Stays Bullish

Leave a comment

By Eric Savitz, Forbes Staff While Apple disappointed the Street with its December quarter results, some of the morre steadfast bulls on the stock are sticking to their guns. There will be more to come, but here are some of the early comments from the sell-side analysts. Gene Munster, Piper Jaffray: “While iPhone numbers were mildly disappointing, our initial look at Apple’s December quarter results does not sway our long term confidence in the iOS ecosystem,” he wrote in a quick research note on the report. “The December iPhone number, which we believe is the most important number for the company, came in at 47.8 million compared to the 50 million buy side bogey we talked about in our previous note. For March, the company guided to $41-43 billion in revenue compared to our expectation for a $41 billion guide. Net-net, while we believe the iPhone number may appear disappointing, the slightly better guide implies that investors may not need to continue to worry about noise regarding continued iPhone build decreases for March.” Peter Misek, Jefferies: He writes that gross margin and EPS topped consensus but fell short of his estimates. He notes that iPhone shipments in particular were disappointing. He adds that March quarter guidance was “typically conservative” in terms of revenue but that gross margin guidance was better than many feared, while implied EPS “may be a bit light.” Brian White, Topeka Capital: “Trading at less than 7x (ex-cash) our CY13 EPS estimate and a sales outlook that is inline with our projections (but below the Street), we believe there is quite a bit of bad news priced into the stock at current levels,” he writes. On the other hand, he notes that iPad and Mac units were well short of his most recent estimates. AAPL in late trading is down $54.01, or 10.5%, to $460.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

News, Politics, Government

Would You Like A Pink iPhone? What About Blue? Or Yellow?

Leave a comment

By Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, Contributor Right now, your iPhone color choices are limited to black/slate or white/silver. Would you be interested in seeing the next iPhone (iPhone 6, iPhone 5S …) offered in more colors? According to Topeka Capital Market analyst Brian White, this is exactly what is going to happen. Not only that, but you […]
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

News, Politics, Government

Apple Plans iPhones In More Sizes, More Colors, Analyst Says

Leave a comment

By Eric Savitz, Forbes Staff Apple plans to broaden its portfolio of iPhones. At least, Topeka Capital analyst Brian White thinks so. White writes in a research report this morning that “checks are pointing to more choices on the way with the next iPhone,” including expanded color options and more screen sizes. “By providing customers with greater […]
Source: Forbes Latest