DebbieBaratz

On Monday, Stoxx Ltd. announced the removal of Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) from its Stoxx 50 index due to market share losses on its smartphones. The exit will come on March 18. Investors didn’t respond well to the news as shares plummeted 5.4 percent to EUR 2.57 euros– a low last seen on Dec. 4, reported Reuters. In late afternoon Helsinki trading, shares were off 3.5 percent to EUR 2.63 euros, cutting the company’s value to EUR 9.8 billion euros (US $13 billion). Year-to-date, the the stock has dropped 11 percent. For Nokia, it’s looking to produce less expensive phones to help them find success in their Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows phones. Just last Monday, Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) introduced its Lumia 520 phones. These represent the company’s least expensive Windows 8 phone option with specifications including a four-inch screen, a 1GHz dual-core processor and 8GB of storage. CEO Stephen Elop, while attending the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, oversaw the launch of the phone. Priced at EUR 139 ($181), he did not deny another phone could be introduced at even lower price. The company is also hoping they’ll grab smartphone users away from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and devices utilizing Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s Android software.
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Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) has been in the news lately thanks to success in Canada and the announcement of its Flixie awards. Now in a recent Trefis research report, “Sizing Up Netflix’s International Subscriber Growth Potential,” analysts optimistically expect the company to add 30 million international subscribers within the next six to seven years. The group maintained its current $127 price target, which represents a 30% discount of the current market price. On Monday, Netflix is trading at $179.35. The company launched its services in Canada back in 2010 and since then, it has expanded to Latin America, the U.K., Ireland and the Nordic countries including Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway. Analysts estimate that international streaming accounts represent 15 percent of Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX)’s value and since launching abroad, it has gained 6 million subscribers. Here’s a look at the highlights from the report. Europe and Canada Expansion Canada and Europe are developed markets and Netflix is in a good position to gain market share in these areas. Canada’s population at 35 million, with a region close to 13.4 million homes in 2011, 78% had the Internet. This equates to a target market size of more than its current 10 million subscribers. If Netflix can grab 30-40% of this market
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On Friday, Warren Buffett released his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) annual shareholders letter and annual report. For 2012, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) saw a $24.1 billion gain with $1.3 billion used to repurchase stock. This left the company with an increase in net worth of $22.8 billion for 2012. Its per-share book value for both Class A and Class B stock jumped by 14.4%. Over the last 48 years (since present management took over), book value has increased from $19 to $114,214; this is a 19.7% rate compounded annually. Here’s highlights from the letter: Disappointments - Warren Buffett considered the $24.1 billion gain “subpar.” He notes that for the ninth time in 48 years, Berkshire’s percentage increase in book value was lower than the S&P’s percentage gain. In eight of those nine years, the S&P had a gain of 15% or more. He commented, “We do better when the wind is in our face.” - Whatever Berkshire’s results are, Warren Buffett and his partner Charlie Munger, the company’s Vice Chairman, will not change their yardsticks. Warren Buffett believes it is their job to increase intrinsic business value – for which book value used is a significantly understated proxy – at a faster rate than the market gains of the S&P.
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It’s a new month and a new beginning for American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG): the company has paid off its last portion to the U.S. government for its 2008-2009 bailout. On Friday, the company announced the news and this means the government no longer has a share in AIG. Robert H. Benmosche, American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) president and chief executive officer, said in a statement via CNBC, “With AIG repurchasing all outstanding warrants issued to the U.S. Treasury, we are turning the final page on America’s assistance to AIG. We appreciate the opportunities this support allowed and are proud to have returned to America every cent plus a profit of $22.7 billion.” American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG)’s bailout goes back to 2008 when it accepted help from the U.S. Treasury to the tune of a $700-billion plus rescue package. The financial instruments utilized for the bailout were warrants that gave the government the right to buy around about 2.7 million of AIG common stock shares at $50 a share. From Friday’s news, American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) and the Treasury had agreed for the company to repurchase the warrants for approximately $25 million. This comes after the Treasury Department sold its remaining common shares
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Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) is readying to launch its newest phone, the Galaxy S4, this month and more details are emerging as the date gets closer. According to a SAMMOBILE posting on Friday, DannyD wrote that Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) is ready to get rid of the GT-I9505 (Galaxy S4 LTE) and produce a mockup version of its Galaxy S4 for retailers. The company has said it will launch the new phone in February, but now it carries a March 14 date in New York City. Samsung has said it is interested in only offering a device with LTE and 3G. It could also include either utilizing  QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM)’s Snapdragon 600 processor in the Galaxy S IV or a Exynos processor with an independent LTE chip. Rumors are giving the winning nod to the Snapdragon processor with its 1.7GHz coupled with RAM of 2GB. Additional nuggets about the impending introduction of the Galaxy S4 includes it will initially be offered in two colors, black and while. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) would like to sell the new phone in six variants including the following: Three in white: GT-I9500 Galaxy S4 16 GB, GT-I9500 Galaxy S4 32
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Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) is the latest brand to be associated with the European horse meat scandal. On Friday, the company disclosed it had found horse meat in its UK Taco Bell oulet. The company said via The Los Angeles Times that it was “very disappointed to learn that some batches of ground beef” from a European supplier had “tested positive for horse meat.” It has three Taco Bells in the region. Taco Bell said in a statement, ”We immediately withdrew ground beef from sale in our restaurants, discontinued purchase of that meat, and contacted the Food Standards Agency (FSA) with this information.” The FSA, a British regulatory unit, said on Friday that after conducting 1,797 tests conducted over the last seven days, 99%-plus had returned negative for “noticeable’” levels of horse meat. Earlier this week, news of contaminated meat had been found in European products sold by such companies as Ikea, Burger King Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BKC), Tesco Corporation (NASDAQ:TESO) and Nestle SA (VTX:NESN) – just to name a few. At the time, horse meat had allegedly been sold as beef. It appears limited to Europe, however, the IKEA took a cautionary approach. On Tuesday, the company said it would add Hong Kong, Thailand, and the Dominican Republic to its list for suspended
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Beginning April 1, FPA, a leading value investing practitioner, will offer all of its FPA Funds as no-load funds. Now these will be available for direct purchase by the investing public without front-end sales charges. “After careful consideration and analysis, we believe this decision is in the best interests of all FPA Fund shareholders by creating a better alignment of the Funds’ structure with their needs. Most significantly, this change combined with our low $1,500 minimum removes costly barriers for smaller investors who choose to manage their own investments,” Rich Atwood, Chief Operating Officer and one of FPA’s Managing Partners, said in press release This change will affect the following funds as they’ve been structured as front-load mutual funds: FPA Capital Fund (MUTF:FPPTX), FPA New Income (MUTF:FPNIX), FPA Paramount (MUTF:FPRAX) and FPA Perennial (MUTF:FPPFX). As for the FPA Capital Fund, it will stay closed to new investors while the shareholders of  FPA Crescent (MUTF:FPACX) and FPA International Value (MUTF:FPIVX) will now have the opportunity to exchange between the other FPA Funds without having to pay a front-end sales charge. This is good news for small investors as FPA has some great managers overseeing their funds and great fund rankings. The
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Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is one company that is transparent about its growing cash stash. Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette said on Thursday at the Morgan Stanley technology conference, the company plans to hold on to its $48 billion kitty for possible acquisitions and other investments that could help increase the company’s profits, reported The Associated Press. While not identifying any future targets, Pichette says Google has lots of cash to be able to “pounce” on buying opportunities. In its most recent earnings report, Google Inc (NASDQ:GOOG) said it was sitting on more than $48 billion in cash. These comments come as publicly-traded companies are coming under greater scrutiny as they hold onto large cash amounts rather than giving it back to shareholders through dividends. At the top of this conversation has been Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), which has raised a lot of ire by keeping its $137 billion cash stash. For Google, it may not have any acquisitions to share publicly but last year, it tied with Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) in deals for closely-held technology companies, according to a report by PrivCo LLC. The two companies snatched up 16 private companies each from this sector in 2012. Right behind them was Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) with
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On Thursday, Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC) announced costs from Superstorm Sandy could hit $100 million. As a result, its cash flow is expected to fall as its programming costs increase. In reaction to the news, the company’s shares fell 10 percent. For customers who went without cable service during the storm, Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC) had promised them rebates. On Thursday, it announced credit payments of $33.2 million while its consolidated adjusted operating cash flow dropped about $110 million from costs of the storm. Another fallout from the storm included the loss of customers. Cablevision said around 39,000 subscribers left in the third quarter. While billings had been temporarily placed on hold after the storm, the cable still lost about 50,000 video unit subscribers, which produces a large portion of its revenue. The company also saw about 5,000 defections from its high-speed data customers and 10,000 in its voice subscribers. As a result, its cable-television revenue dropped 2.2 percent to $1.47 billion primarily from the storm’s impact as well as having less video customers than the previous time period. ISI analyst Vijay Jayant noted while Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC) had been heavily impacted by the storm, Thursday’s stock sell off came from its
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As if launching its own content with the House of Cards wasn’t enough individuality, now Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) is introducing its own awards show, the Flixies. The announcement for the fan-based awards came in a YouTube video from the company. The voting is based on categories that emphasize Netflix viewers’ habits and encompasses TV and movies. The company introduced a new website for the voting and viewers can choose from the inaugural seven categories including Best Guilty Pleasure, Best Marathon TV Show, Best Commute “SHRTNR,” Best Hangover Cure, Best PMS Drama, Best Bromance and Best Tantrum Tamer. Nominees include anywhere from the old classics like, Sesame Street and Breakfast at Tiffany’s, to the new hits such as Hart of Dixie and Revenge. Online voting will be open through March 10 and winners will then be announced in a ceremony sans the red carpet and fancy outfits on March 11. The top three vote getters from each category will be acknowledged in an effort to celebrate “the ways your really watch Netfix” said the company. It also hopes to make this an annual event so if you don’t see a category, no worries, go ahead and suggest it for next year.
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In response to its disappointing fourth quarter earnings report, Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) is now facing analysts’ rating cuts to its stock. And it’s not pretty as the company’s shares plummeted on Thursday. Bank of America/Merrill Lynch analyst Justin Post slashed his rating on the stock to “Underperform” from “Neutral” and gave a price target of $4.20 per share, down from $5.25 per share. This predominately came on concerns for the company’s lower gross margins. “Despite double-digit customer growth, with gross profit declining year over year, Groupon has arguably the weakest fundamentals in our eCommerce coverage sector,” the analysts said. Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) also had a gloomy outlook for Groupon. Analysts had commented that with, ”the company’s recent change in strategy” it has seen Groupon go from its initial identity as a technology “purveyor” to more of a retailer these days. The bank downgraded Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) to “Market” perform and slashed this year’s estimates. “We liked the original Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) business model of providing a syndicated commerce platform for merchants,” the analysts noted. The downgrades came as the company reported a fourth-quarter 1 cent per share loss as compared to the previous year’s 2 cents per share loss. Analysts had estimated Groupon Inc
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