Company Technology

Mid-Week Update 03-03-10

Qualcomm (QCOM), the newest addition to the Growth Portfolio and a part of our FundFinds Portfolio, is a tech franchise whose business revolves around wireless technology, in particular, CDMA, the heart of the new generation of cell phones. After posting disappointing earnings guidance in January, the company had some goods news this week.
 
The semiconductor company announced that its board authorized the new buyback worth $3 billion. This replaces the $2-billion buyback plan, $1.7 billion worth of shares from which have already been repurchased by the company. In addition, Qualcomm will increase its quarterly dividend by 12 percent to $0.19. Investors, as a result, will be receiving $134.4 million more per year from the company.
 
Moreover, the company provided a more optimistic business outlook. While back in January, Qualcomm’s CEO, Paul Jacobs, offered a fairly pessimistic view of the company’s prospects for the year, it seems conditions may be improving. Now, the company expects both the revenues and profit for the second quarter to approach the higher end of the earlier forecasts.
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Market Update 10-26-09

Short-Term Key: Negative Long-Term Key: -16 (Neutral)

Last week we mentioned the scientific principle that when the scale of things increases, new and unexpected phenomena emerge. And we pointed out that this will have profound implications for investors in the resource sector.

Coincidentally, the November issue of Scientific American came out last week bearing the cover story, “A Plan for a Sustainable Future,” that unfortunately misses this point. Nonetheless, the article is an important read because it speaks to some exciting opportunities in companies developing alternative energy. And, even more important, despite its faults, the article does give us hope that our children may be able to live a good life on this planet. And, who knows, it may not be too late for us as well.

Let us explain...

WIND ENERGY: WILL IT STAY CHEAP FOR LONG?Read more...

Mid-Week Update 10-07-09

With the market’s attention focused on the minute details of economic readings, the recovery of the fragile banking sector, and gold hitting all-time highs, some of the most stable companies have been left out of the headlines. However, that recently changed in regards to two Income Portfolio members over the last couple days, as both AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ) made announcements that could shake-up the mobile phone industry.
 
In a policy reversal, AT&T announced that it would now allow internet phone service providers to use its 3G data network. This means that companies like Skype could use a smartphone’s data connection to provide phone service, essentially bypassing AT&T’s own mobile phone service. This marks a shift from only being able to use wifi (wireless) internet connections with these applications. While the move gives more freedom to subscribers to use their phone and data connections as they wish, it does raise a few questions.
 
The first question is how much the move will cannibalize AT&T’s own mobile phone plans, i.e. whether its customers will downgrade to the cheapest plan and simply use their unlimited data packages in conjunction with their internet phone service? The second, and possibly more important, question is what effect the move will have on AT&T’s data network.
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Mid-Week Update 07-15-09

Finally, some positive news. The world’s largest semiconductor company, Intel (INTC), which we profiled here just two weeks ago, reported blow-out earnings last night – and the stock reacted very positively today. During the second quarter, the company collected just over $8 billion in revenue, better than the $7.3 billion analysts were expecting. And they did this as they drew down their own inventories by $420 million.

Further, the company’s gross margins expanded from 46 percent last quarter to 51 percent in the one just completed. The company reported a net loss for the quarter of $398, or 7 cents a share due to a $1.45 billion antitrust fine levied by the European Union. Excluding this one-time item, which may even reverse itself if Intel wins its appeal, the company earned 18 cents a share – more than double expectations of 8 cents.Read more...

Mid-Week Update 07-01-09

An impressive quarter is now in the books. The second quarter of 2009 saw the S&P 500 rally almost 16 percent, its best quarterly return since 1998. Of course, this is on the heels of the sharpest market downturn in 80 years. Despite the rally, which took stocks deserving and undeserving alike from cheap valuations, there are still some bargains to be had.
 
Case in point is one of the most dominant companies on the planet – Intel (INTC). Intel is the leading semiconductor chip maker, with a global market share of approximately 80 percent. The company manufactures microprocessors, chipsets, flash memory and motherboards for computing and communications products under two business segments: the Digital Enterprise Group and the Mobility Group.
 
In Fiscal 2008, the Digital Enterprise Group accounted for 56 percent of the company’s $37.6 billion in total sales. With chips for desktop computers, servers, and enterprise applications, the group boasts high margins, and account for nearly three quarters of Intel’s annual profit of $5.2 billion. Meanwhile, the Mobility Group, with products for notebook computers and netbooks accounted for most of the remainder.
 
The Mobility Group is also an area in which Intel is concentrating on growth – centered on its new Atom processor.
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Market Update 03-16-07

Leeb's IPO Insight

 - Weekly Update -

 March 16, 2007

 The performance of the overall equity markets over the past several weeks has had somewhat of a dampening affect on IPOs, but we view this as a good thing as several IPOs have been opening with less of a premium. And, in our opinion, the recent correction may have run its course. Although the financial media continues to talk about how a recession could occur later this year, we see little evidence of an impending recession. 

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Market Update 02-16-07

Leeb's IPO Insight

- Weekly Update -

 February 16, 2007

 Twenty-nine companies have gone public so far in 2007. This week's IPOs included offerings from Converted Organics (COINU), a development stage company that transforms food waste into natural fertilizers; OpNext (OPXT), a provider of optoelectronic components used to assemble fiber optic data and voice communications networks; Quadra Realty Trust (QRR), a real estate investment trust that specializes in mortgage investments such as construction loans, bridge loans, mezzanine loans, and Salary.com (SLRY), a provider of employee compensation data and analysis geared toward individuals, managers, and businesses.Read more...

Market Update 01-19-07

IPO Insight Weekly Update

1/19/07 

The IPO market is continuing to shape up for a banner year. The number of IPOs currently in the pipeline have now risen to 99, with a total offering value estimated at around $14 billion. This week, two IPOs began trading- Hampden Bancorp (HBNK), and MV Oil Trust (MVO). On Wednesday, Israeli cellular communications provider Cellcom Israel Ltd. filed an offering with the SEC to sell up to $393 million in ordinary shares. Here, all proceeds from the offering will go to selling shareholders, rather than to the company. 

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Market Update 03-01-06

Volume 3, Number 9 

King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia

Image by uniquebuildings via Flickr

 

March 1, 2006 

This is easily the most frustrating market we've encountered in our long careers. And we understand if you're more than a little disheartened with our recent performance. But while this market may give us more grey hairs than we'd like, all we can do is stick with the tried-and-true market and stock analysis that has served us so well over the years.

Overall, the equities market appears neither likely to rise or fall significantly in the near-term. Meanwhile, pockets of strength and weakness exist, but not necessarily where we'd expect them. All seems well today, for instance, but yesterday Google, the Internet search engine company, sneezed and the rest of the market caught a cold.

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