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IBM Shapes Up for Software Growth

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 13:46:51 EDT

ARMONK, New York. (TheStreet) -- IBM may not be as sexy as Apple, but Big Blue has plenty to offer investors ahead of its first-quarter results on Tuesday.

The IT giant, which releases its numbers after market close, often sets the tone for tech earnings season, as evidenced by the company's last quarter when IBM cited strength in emerging markets and enterprise software. IBM reports its first-quarter results after market close on Tuesday.

With software giant Microsoft, chip makers AMD and Qualcomm and storage giant EMC all on deck to report results this week, tech investors will be closely monitoring IBM's numbers. ...

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Intel Poised For Mobile Push

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:59:58 EDT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Intel investors are hoping to hear more about the company's mobile strategy when it reports first-quarter earnings after the close of trading.

Intel, the largest chipmaker, has been aggressively pushing into smartphones and tablets, as it seeks to take market share away from ARM Holdings, which has a 95% market share in smartphones, according to its 2011 annual report. Intel reports first-quarter earnings today

At the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show, Intel announced it had signed deals with Motorola Mobility and Lenovo using its "Medfield" line of chips. Morningstar analyst Andy Ng noted that Intel has also signed deals with ZTE, Orange (the wireless unit of France Telecom) and Lava. ...

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Yahoo!'s Direction Key For Shareholders

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 10:37:23 EDT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) - Even though the plan to turn Yahoo! around has been laid out, it will take plenty of time to fix the company. The company's first-quarter earnings may offer a glimpse of what's to come.

Following weak fourth-quarter numbers earlier this year, led primarily by tepid advertising sales, Yahoo! is attempting to turn its business around by focusing more on its customers.

Earlier this month, CEO Scott Thompson released a letter outlining his plan to restructure Yahoo! into three divisions: Consumer, (which is comprised of Media, Connections and Commerce), Regions, which targets emerging markets, and Technology, which focuses on the company's infrastructure. ...

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IBM, Intel, Apple: Pre-Market Movers

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 09:25:26 EDT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- IBM, which reports its fiscal first-quarter results after market close today, is up 0.7% in pre-market trading.

Analysts expect a decent quarter from IBM, which is the first major enterprise IT company to report quarterly results.

Early on Tuesday, Big Blue announced an $850 million deal to sell its retail Point-of-Sale systems and solutions business to Toshiba subsidiaryToshiba Tec. The deal is expected to close late in the second quarter or early in the third quarter of 2012. ...

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4 Stocks With High Short Interest That Could Rise

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 09:08:29 EDT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of companies that investors are betting will fall, such as coupon seller Groupon and online travel-deals company Travelzoo, may get a pop if they exceed analysts' expectations for earnings in the first quarter.

A so-called short squeeze, in which investors betting on stock-price declines buy back the shares if they rise, is a common occurrence with companies with a high short-to-cover ratio. Skullcandy, a maker of headphones and other audio accessories, has a short-to-cover ratio of 28.1. That ratio indicates how many days, based on average daily volume, it would take all of the shorts to cover their shares and buy them back.

...

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RIM in Bank Discussions: Report

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 17:39:37 EDT

WATERLOO, Ontario (TheStreet) -- Research in Motion is in discussions with a financial adviser to help the troubled handset maker weigh its strategic options, according to a Bloomberg report.

Citing three people with knowledge of the matter, Bloomberg reports that Research in Motion is considering hiring one Canadian bank and one global bank.

RIM declined to comment on this story when contacted by TheStreet, although CEO Thorsten Heins would not rule out a potential sale during the BlackBerry maker's recent fourth-quarter conference call. ...

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Apple, Nokia, IBM: Tech Winners & Losers

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:16:59 EDT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Apple was one of the tech sector's big losers on Monday, with the gadget giant's stock tumbling more than 3%.

The iPhone maker had recently reached a $600 billion market cap for the first time. Apple shares today slipped $21.38, or 3.5%, to $583.85 during Monday trading as the Nasdaq fell 0.7%.

"We believe this could be a simple 'collapsing' on its own weight given the year-to-date move in the stock," said Brian Marshall, an analyst at ISI Group, in a note released on Monday. "We are not hearing anything new or incremental for the weakness in Apple stock." ...

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Nokia, IBM: Pre-Market Tech Movers

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 09:22:43 EDT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Nokia slipped 7 cents, or 1.74%, to $3.95 before market open on Monday after Moody's lowered the embattled gadget maker's long-term credit rating to Baa3. Moody's also maintained its negative outlook on the rating.

In a statement, Nokia said that its financial position remains strong, and reiterated its desire to get back on track.

"Nokia is quickly taking action," said Timo Ihamuotila, the company's CFO, in the statement. "Nokia will continue to increase its focus on lowering the company's cost structure, improving cash flow and maintaining a strong financial position." ...

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Google's Stock Split: Good For Shareholders? (Update 1)

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 14:43:51 EDT

Updated from 10:41 a.m. EST to provide analyst comments in the thirteenth paragraph.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.(TheStreet) - Google's decision to offer an unusual stock split last night left some scratching their heads. The decision may not be such a bad thing, though.

Google announced that it would be creating a new class of stock, effectively issuing a stock split that is "designed to preserve the corporate structure that has allowed Google to remain focused on the long term." ...

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Poll: Google Needs Innovation to Stay Ahead

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 12:25:30 EDT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Much has been made of the innovation engine at Google, which has seen the company launch projects as diverse as the Android operating system and even digitized headgear.

TheStreet polled readers asking whether they thought Google was was spreading itself too thin by focusing on too many projects. Some 48.58% of respondents, though, said that Google needs to keep innovating, and should keep making bets to drive stakeholder value.

Conversely, some 33.19% of those polled said that Google "spends countless dollars on initiatives that fail instead of making existing segments stronger." Recent initiatives Google has launched include Android, Project Glass (which includes its headline-grabbing digitized headgear), Google+, and even driverless cars. ...

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Coinstar, Google: Premarket Movers

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 09:14:35 EDT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Coinstar continued their ascent in premarket trading on Friday morning, boosted by the company's better-than-expected preliminary first-quarter results.

After market close on Thursday, the DVD rental specialist said it expects first-quarter sales and earnings that exceed both its own guidance and analysts' projections. The Bellevue, Wash.-based company reported preliminary revenue between $567 million and $569.2 million and earnings, excluding items, between $1.36 and $1.40 a share.

Coinstar said the revenue increase was driven by stronger-than-anticipated consumer demand at its Redbox DVD rental business, particularly during February and March. ...

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Google Boosted by Strong Earnings, Stock Split (Update 1)

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 18:11:29 EDT

Updated from 4;26 p.m. EST to provide comments from the conference call in the second and sixth paragraphs.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) - Google shares are rocketing in after-hours trading after the company reported better-than-expected earnings and issued a 2-for-1 stock split.

Google reported first-quarter earnings of $10.08 a share on revenue of $8.14 billion, excluding traffic acquisition costs (TAC). Total revenue came in at $10.65 billion. Revenue in the U.S. grew 22% year-over-year to $4.9 billion, while revenue outside the U.S. grew 26% year-over-year to $5.8 billion. ...

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Coinstar Surges on Strong Outlook

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 17:14:49 EDT

BELLEVUE, Wash. (TheStreet) -- Shares of Coinstar exploded in extended trading on Thursday after the DVD rental specialist reported better-than-expected preliminary first-quarter results.

The Bellevue, Wash.-based company said it expects first-quarter sales and earnings that exceed both its own guidance and analysts' projections. Coinstar reported preliminary revenue between $567 million and $569.2 million and earnings, excluding items, between $1.36 and $1.40 a share.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were looking for revenue of $537.66 million and earnings of 90 cents a share in the quarter. ...

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Apple's "Virtuous Circle" Fuels More Love

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 12:59:54 EDT

CUPERTINO, Calif. (TheStreet) -- Another day, another new Apple price target, this time courtesy of Credit Suisse, which cited the tech giant's strengths across PCs, tablets and smartphones.

"In a multi-device world, Apple is materially advantaged versus peers," explained Kulbinder Garcha, an analyst at Credit Suisse, in a note released on Thursday. The tech giant, he adds, has built a "virtuous circle of competitiveness" with its Macs, iPads and iPhones offering consumers an "unrivaled" computing experience and driving sales across its product portfolio. Credit Suisse raised its Apple estimates and price target on Thursday.

Credit Suisse raised its Apple price target from $700 to $750 on Thursday. Citing higher iPhone volumes, the firm also hiked its Apple earnings estimates for 2012 and 2013 by 5% and 10%, respectively, to $50.14 a share and $60.72 a share. ...

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Poll: Is Google Spreading Itself Too Thin?

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 12:53:53 EDT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) - As Google gets set to report first-quarter earnings tonight, investors are wondering whether the company has spread itself too thin.

I've often called Google a giant venture capital firm backed by the profits of its search advertising business, with good reason.

Google started as a search engine company when Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded the company in a Stanford University laboratory, but is now much more than that. ...

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