AAPL - Apple Inc.
237.50 +1.09 (0.46%)
Pre-Market: 5:04AM EDT
| Previous Close | 235.28 |
| Open | 234.59 |
| Bid | 237.33 x 1400 |
| Ask | 237.80 x 900 |
| Day's Range | 234.29 - 237.58 |
| 52 Week Range | 142.00 - 238.13 |
| Volume | 24,377,166 |
| Avg. Volume | 28,456,101 |
| Market Cap | 1.068T |
| Beta (3Y Monthly) | 1.10 |
| PE Ratio (TTM) | 20.07 |
| EPS (TTM) | 11.78 |
| Earnings Date | Oct 30, 2019 |
| Forward Dividend & Yield | 3.08 (1.31%) |
| Ex-Dividend Date | 2019-08-09 |
| 1y Target Est | 230.20 |
- Yahoo Finance Video
China says Apple CEO met with country's market regulator
Apple CEO Tim Cook met with China's top market regulator in Beijing yesterday. According to China's government, they met to discuss a range of topics including Apple's investment in China, consumer rights protections, and corporate social responsibility. Starship Capital Managing Partner & Homebound Co-Founder John Meyer joins Yahoo Finance's Zack Guzman and Emily McCormick along with "The Information” Reporter Carleton English to discuss.
- Market Realist
Will the Dow Jones Crash by the end of 2019?
The Dow Jones Industrial Index (or DJIA) is trading just 2.2% below its all-time high. But is the stock bubble about to burst?
- Bloomberg
iPhone Display Supplier Sees OLED Smartphone Deluge From 2021
(Bloomberg) -- Japan Display Inc., the struggling supplier of mobile screens to Apple Inc., says it has about a year before it needs to decide on whether to take a plunge on next-generation organic light-emitting diode displays.While OLED panels are slimmer, more energy-efficient and offer higher contrast, JDI’s liquid crystal displays will retain a price advantage that keeps them competitive in smartphones through 2021, the company’s new Chief Executive Officer Minoru Kikuoka said in an interview. He anticipates a more decisive shift to the new technology may occur in that time period, declining to elaborate on plans of specific customers.When Apple launched its first OLED iPhone in 2017, it was seen as the beginning of the end for the LCD’s long reign. For Japan Display, which relies on Apple for a large portion of its revenue, that spelled trouble because the company was falling behind in the development of the new screens. But the iPhone X, which used an OLED display from Samsung Electronics Co., didn’t sell as well as anticipated, and Apple followed up a year later with an LCD-based addition to its lineup with the iPhone XR -- giving the Japanese company some breathing room.Samsung Is Pouring $11 Billion Into Next-Generation DisplaysWith the smartphone market plateauing and fancier screens failing to ratchet up demand from users already content with their existing devices, value for money has once again risen in importance for people considering a new purchase, according to the CEO.“We are seeing consumers put more emphasis on affordability when it comes to their smartphone preferences,” Kikuoka said. “The industry is now gaining a new appreciation for the kind of price competitiveness offered by the LCDs.”Apple’s 2019 phone lineup includes one LCD model -- the iPhone 11, which Apple launched at a starting price $50 lower than its predecessor -- and the company plans to add a second one in the first half of next year to replace the aging iPhone 8. But the Cupertino, California-based company may still shift entirely to OLED for new phones as early as 2020. Though it will still sell a number of older LCD models, the time for Japan Display is running out.After repeatedly pushing back mass production of its own OLED screens, JDI is finally close to having its first OLED product, Kikuoka said, declining to give further details other than to say that it won’t be a smartphone screen. A person familiar with the matter confirmed an earlier report that JDI’s first OLED will be used in the Apple Watch. Still, competing in the mobile phone arena would take billions of dollars in additional investment, money that Japan Display doesn’t have.Apple Supplier JDI Plunges After Warning It May Not Survive“There was a time when we felt the need to rush a shift to OLED,” Kikuoka said. “Without a partner who could pitch in on the capital side, we simply can’t do it.”Constituted from the remains of numerous ailing Japanese display makers in 2012, JDI mistimed large investments in LCD capacity and found itself struggling against abler competition from South Korean and Chinese rivals. Five straight years of losses have sent it in search of a capital infusion from overseas, but the list of potential suitors has continued to dwindle. When Kikuoka took the helm in September, the company had just reached a new low, warning that if it’s not able to raise fresh capital it may face difficulties continuing its business.Japan Display said last month that it lost another potential investor as China’s Harvest Tech Investment Management Co. withdrew from its rescue plan. That was the latest blow since June, when Cosgrove Global Ltd., Topnotch Corporate Ltd. and Taiwan’s TPK Holding Co. left a consortium that in April agreed to an infusion of 117 billion yen ($1.1 billion). JDI still expects to receive an investment from Oasis Management Co. and aims to raise a total of 50 billion yen by the end of the year. An unnamed customer that had previously been reported to be Apple may put in $200 million.Chinese screen makers BOE Technology Group Co. and Tianma Microelectronics Co. had also shown interest in JDI’s OLED technology, but both have since focused on developing their own versions. Having an actual track record of mass-producing OLED panels might bring those companies back to the table in the future, Kikuoka said. A joint venture at Japan Display’s Hakusan plant in central Japan would be the easiest route, but exporting its manufacturing knowhow to China is also an option, he said. JDI could furthermore be open to offers from private equity and other sources of financing.Kikuoka, 57, spent the first part of his career in finance with stints in Industrial Bank of Japan Ltd. and Merrill Lynch. After more than a decade at electronics parts and materials suppliers Nitto Denko Corp. and Nidec Corp., he joined Japan Display’s finance division in 2017. He was named chief financial officer in May before advancing to the top post last month.In August, Japan Display reported quarterly sales at the lowest level since the company went public in 2014, as demand from smartphone makers cratered with no prospects of recovery in the near future. The company has shed about 1,200 employees through a voluntary retirement plan, sold off some display manufacturing equipment and suspended production at one plant.Over-investing in factories at the peak of the demand cycle is only one of the causes for JDI’s current dire straits, according to Kikuoka. The company also fell victim to complacency because it was backed by Innovation Network Corp. of Japan, a state-owned fund that remains JDI’s largest shareholder.“That resulted in a culture that allowed losses to continue and a sense that someone would always come to our rescue,” he said. “What was missing was a real hunger to strive.”\--With assistance from Mark Gurman.To contact the reporters on this story: Pavel Alpeyev in Tokyo at palpeyev@bloomberg.net;Yuki Furukawa in Tokyo at yfurukawa13@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Edwin Chan at echan273@bloomberg.net, Vlad Savov, Colum MurphyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Yahoo Finance
Netflix scores big with 'Breaking Bad' but streaming wars loom large
Netflix is betting heavily on original content slate, but the streaming wars loom large.
- Barrons.com
A Finnish Pension Giant Is Winning With Big Bets on Apple, AMD, and Nvidia Stock
Varma, Finland’s largest investor, bought the tech stocks in the third quarter, a move that has paid off so far in October. It also purchased Twitter stock, which has slumped.
- MarketWatch
Here’s how this CEO says millennials could solve the coming Social Security crisis
Bill Mead explained to CNBC how “incredibly economically impactful things” are about to happen as millennials prioritize necessity spending. Big ticket items, he says, will soon be prioritized over “Apple devices, craft beer and Chipotle burritos.”
- MarketWatch
Three company earnings reports that are better than you thought — and three that are worse
Earnings season is well under way, with Wall Street digging into the numbers with the hopes of divining how the stock market will finish a tumultuous 2019. In many ways, this has made the stock market a kind of Rorschach test for bears and bulls — squint hard enough and you see exactly what you want to see. Here are three companies that seemed to win high marks in their recent earnings report that may actually be setting off warning bells, and three more that initially stumbled but could be worth a look.
- MarketWatch
If the Democrats keep saying crazy things about the economy, Trump will win again
Because Andrew Yang, Bernie Sanders and (sometimes) Elizabeth Warren are radically misdiagnosing problems in the U.S. economy, they are off — often miles off — in prescriptions for reform. The sheer amount of loose talk about how capitalism is failing is stunning. Begin with the worst: The notion that automation is robbing the economy of millions of jobs.
- MarketWatch
Netflix finally admits the obvious: Competition from Apple and Disney will hurt
Netflix Inc. has been dismissive of the anticipated impact of an onslaught of streaming competitors, but as a wave of well-financed streaming services from big-name companies is about to be unleashed, executives’ tone has changed.
- MarketWatch
5 prominent U.S. companies are most at fault for the earnings recession
With the S&P 500 suffering an earnings recession for the first time since 2017, a few big names deserve most of the blame.
- Barrons.com
The Global Center of Trade Rapidly Shifting to Asia
Asia’s rise has been swift. The region is likely to generate more than half of the world’s gross domestic product within 20 years.
- Barrons.com
Corporate Tech Buyers Are Cutting Back. Here Are the Stocks Most At Risk.
Enterprise tech has been a hot area for investors in recent years, but the theme works only as long as corporate buyers are paying up for the technology. Goldman Sachs’ September survey of technology sellers showed that demand trends from large corporations have “deteriorated markedly” across all industry verticals, compared with its June survey. “We are taking a more cautious view of enterprise spending and particularly large enterprise-exposed companies,” wrote analyst Rod Hall in Goldman’s report earlier this month.
- Zacks
What's Next for Netflix Stock After Q3 Earnings as Apple & Disney Launch?
Netflix's post-release positivity was short lived as NFLX stock fell Thursday and slipped another 6% Friday. Now what?
- Reuters
UPDATE 1-U.S. lawmakers urge Apple to restore HKMap app used in Hong Kong
A bipartisan group of seven U.S. lawmakers including Senators Ted Cruz, Ron Wyden and Marco Rubio and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Friday urged Apple Inc Chief Executive Tim Cook to restore the HKMap app used in Hong Kong. Earlier this month, Apple removed the app that helped Hong Kong protesters track police movements, saying it was used to target officers.
- Bloomberg
Mark Hurd, Oracle CEO Who Led Three Tech Companies, Dies
(Bloomberg) -- Mark Hurd, who was chief executive officer of three major technology companies including Oracle Corp., has died. He was 62.Most recently Hurd was co-CEO at Oracle with Safra Catz where he focused on sales, marketing and press and investor relations, while she ran finances and legal matters. Oracle announced on Sept. 11 that Hurd had begun a leave of absence for unspecified health-related reasons and that Catz and Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison would assume his responsibilities during his leave. The company didn’t disclose a cause of death Friday.“It is with a profound sense of sadness and loss that I tell everyone here at Oracle that Mark Hurd passed away early this morning,” Ellison wrote in an online post. “Mark was my close and irreplaceable friend, and trusted colleague. Oracle has lost a brilliant and beloved leader who personally touched the lives of so many of us during his decade at Oracle.”Hurd began his career in 1980 as a salesman for National Cash Register Corp. (now NCR), before rising in the ranks to the CEO post. In 2005, he was hired away as CEO by Hewlett-Packard Co., then the world’s biggest personal-computer maker. Hurd joined Oracle as a co-president in 2010, after resigning from HP following a sexual-harassment probe. While an internal investigation didn’t find a violation of the company’s sexual-harassment policy, it concluded that he violated company standards by filing inaccurate expense reports to conceal a personal relationship with a contractor.During his Oracle tenure, Hurd produced solid revenue and profits as the Redwood City, California-based company’s stock price hit a historic high in 2019. He was also a key driver in Oracle’s turn from an old model of licensing software toward the use of cloud computing, a burgeoning business dominated by rivals Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp.When he hired Hurd, Ellison said, “There is no executive in the IT world with more relevant experience than Mark.” Ellison described Hurd’s dismissal by HP as the “worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple board fired Steve Jobs.”Transformed SalesforceHurd reshaped Oracle’s salesforce. Beginning in 2013, he implemented a “specialist” model that made each member an expert in a single product category. In that year alone, he hired more than 4,000 people to implement his idea.He also created the “Class of” program that was designed to inject a startup feel into Oracle. College graduates were hired for a dedicated program that prepared them to become Oracle’s future sales leaders.In 2014, Hurd and Catz were named co-CEOs, while Ellison continued to serve as chairman of the board, orchestrate management changes and develop products as chief technology officer.Hurd was regarded as the most media-friendly of the trio, frequently serving as the public face of the company to outline its goals. At the time Hurd and Catz were named CEOs, Oracle’s central business was selling software designed to run on gear owned by the customer and charging a license fee. Hurd was among those inside Oracle who saw the company’s future in cloud computing -- which would let customers rent software and run their data on servers owned by vendors such as Oracle. He predicted in 2015 that by 2025 all enterprise data would be stored in the cloud and that 100% of software development and testing would run through it.Today, the company is much less ambitious in its cloud efforts, and has been making smaller promises. In June, Oracle said it would partner with Microsoft, a decades-long rival, to connect the two companies’ cloud services, so customers can use Oracle databases or applications tied to Microsoft’s Azure cloud. While Catz said Microsoft, the world’s largest software maker, wanted an alliance to give clients access to Oracle’s AI-driven databases, the move was a concession—signaling Oracle knew it could no longer go at it alone.It’s now Catz who will have to go it alone, at least for now. Some analysts expect the company will move to appoint a new partner soon. “It’s much more manageable to have two CEOs, so we would be surprised if Oracle goes back to one CEO going forward,” said John Barrett, an analyst at Morningstar Investment Service. “The larger question is how Oracle will go about searching for the co-CEO role and how quickly they can find a successor.”The succession will likely come from within the company’s deep bench. One option is Jeff Henley, Oracle’s vice chairman and former chief financial officer, according to Abby Adlerman, CEO of Boardspan, which provides software and services to address board governance. “I think from a succession planning perspective, they are in a much better place than most companies. They have a lot of options.” Ellison will likely stay close and in the long term, “it’s a matter of if Safra wants to go at it alone. It’s such a big company that there was a reason for the co-CEO role.”Ellison has mentioned Don Johnson, head of Oracle’s cloud infrastructure division, and Steve Miranda, head of Oracle’s applications unit, as possible partners to Catz in the future.Growth StrategyHurd led the charge to make Oracle one of the dominant cloud players, investing heavily in research and development and acquisitions, such as the $9.3 billion purchase of NetSuite Inc., sometimes called the first cloud company, in 2016. Oracle also bought Eloqua Inc., a marketing software company, and Taleo Corp., which makes talent-management.He secured significant deals with AT&T Inc., Bank of America Corp., and Qantas Airlines to transfer their existing databases to the cloud through Oracle. By late 2019, Oracle served more than 420,000 customers in 195 countries and territories, he said.Hurd had gone on a similar acquisition binge at HP, managing about $24 billion in deals, including buying Electronic Data Systems (EDS), as part of a larger plan to diversify the computer maker.He was also a drastic cost cutter who was responsible for firing thousands of workers when he first took over as HP’s CEO and laying off thousands more after the $13.9 billion purchase in 2008 of a struggling EDS, a move many investors disliked.Still, under Hurd’s tenure, HP increased profits for 22 straight quarters, while its revenue rose about 60% and its stock price doubled, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. He also helped HP surpass International Business Machines Corp. as the largest computer maker by sales.There were some dark moments at HP too. In 2006, it was disclosed that Hurd had helped launch an investigation into internal leaks from the company’s board. Outside security consultants conducted surveillance on a journalist and HP board member, and used a subterfuge to acquire phone and fax records for HP employees, board members and journalists. The California attorney general’s office opened a criminal probe into possible privacy violations, and HP’s chairwoman at the time, Patricia Dunn, resigned her post when the scandal broke.For his part, Hurd defended the need to investigate company leakers, but claimed he didn’t know about the investigators’ tawdry tactics because he’d ducked out of a briefing on the investigation and, several months later, ignored a verbal and written summary of the leak probe.After Hurd was ousted following the sexual harassment probe in 2010, HP discontinued making smartphones and its tablet computer. Eventually it split into two companies, one focused on personal computers and printers and the other on software and services.Top CEODespite navigating several scandals, Hurd was lauded by the industry. In 2007, he was named one of Fortune magazine’s 25 most powerful business leaders. In 2008, the San Francisco Chronicle named Hurd CEO of the Year.“Saddened by the loss of Mark Hurd,” wrote Bill McDermott, who stepped down as CEO of SAP SE this month, on Twitter. “He was a self-made success in the industry & presided over mega accomplishments. While we competed vigorously in the market, we enjoyed professional respect. My heartfelt prayers are with Mark’s family on this solemn day.”Mark Vincent Hurd was born on Jan. 1, 1957, in New York and lived on the affluent Upper East Side of Manhattan. His Yale-educated father was a financier who moved the family to Miami while Hurd was in high school. His mother was a debutante.Hurd received a tennis scholarship to Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1979.He was hired in 1980 as a junior sales person by National Cash Register in San Antonio. He eventually became president, chief operating officer and CEO of the maker of automatic teller machines and cash registers.Based on his NCR record, HP hired him in 2005 as its CEO and added the chairman title the following year.“Mark just blew everybody else out of the water,” said Tom Perkins, a former HP executive who interviewed Hurd for the CEO job.Hurd served on a number of corporate boards and was a Baylor University trustee since 2014.He was married to the former Paula Kalupa in 1990. They had two daughters, Kathryn and Kelly.(Updates with comments from analyst in 12th paragraph)\--With assistance from Nico Grant, Peter Waldman and Candy Cheng.To contact the reporter on this story: Patrick Oster in New York at poster@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Andrew Pollack, Molly SchuetzFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Barrons.com
The Streaming TV Revolution Will Have Winners and Losers. How to Play the Stocks.
Now, Disney, WarnerMedia, NBC, and others are about to enter the battle for streaming subscribers. If cord-cutting accelerates among traditional cable customers, these companies will need to win streamers quickly. If TV viewers stick with their cable bundles for longer than expected, companies could end up having overspent to go over-the-top.
- Investor's Business Daily
Dear Santa, We'd Be Content With Getting Content This Year
The top consumer electronics product category this holiday season will be content, a survey shows. That includes subscriptions to Netflix, Spotify, Disney+ and other streaming services.
- Bloomberg
Lawmakers Slam Apple for ‘Censorship’ of Apps at China’s Behest
(Bloomberg) -- U.S. lawmakers from both parties slammed Apple Inc. and Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook on Friday for “censorship of apps” at the “behest of the Chinese government.”Senators Ted Cruz, Ron Wyden, Tom Cotton, Marco Rubio and Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Mike Gallagher and Tom Malinowski expressed concern about the removal of an app that let Hong Kong protesters track police movement in the city.“Apple’s decisions last week to accommodate the Chinese government by taking down HKmaps is deeply concerning,” they wrote in a letter to Cook, urging Apple to “reverse course, to demonstrate that Apple puts values above market access, and to stand with the brave men and women fighting for basic rights and dignity in Hong Kong.” Apple didn’t respond to a request for comment on Friday.Apple removed the HKmap.live app from the App Store in China and Hong Hong earlier this month, saying it violated local laws. The company also said it received “credible information” from Hong Kong authorities indicating the software was being used “maliciously” to attack police. The decision, and the reasoning, was questioned widely.Cook, in a recent memo to Apple employees, said that “national and international debates will outlive us all, and, while important, they do not govern the facts.” On Thursday, the CEO met with China’s State Administration for Market Regulation head Xiao Yaqing in Beijing to discuss consumer-rights protection, boosting investment and business development in the country, according to a statement from the Chinese regulator.The Cupertino, California-based company isn’t the only one referenced in Friday’s letter. The lawmakers mentioned recent headlines involving the National Basketball Association and Activision Blizzard Inc., a video game company that suspended a professional game player for supporting the Hong Kong protests.“Cases like these raise real concern about whether Apple and other large U.S. corporate entities will bow to growing Chinese demands rather than lose access to more than a billion Chinese consumers,” the lawmakers wrote.They also slammed Apple for removing other apps, including VPN apps that helped Chinese people get around the government’s online censorship. The letter said Apple has “censored” at least 2,200 apps in China, citing data from non-profit organization GreatFire. Apple says on its website that it removed 634 apps in the second half of last year globally due to legal violations.The letter implied that Apple made the removal decisions to maintain its huge business in China and appease the government. Greater China was Apple’s third-largest region by revenue last year, generating more than $50 billion in revenue.Apple is one of the rare tech companies that operates in China, with rivals like Google and Facebook Inc. hardly operational in the market. China’s importance to Apple means the company has to balance its own values with following local laws.In the past, the company has pulled the Skype and New York Times apps from its App Store in China. More recently, it removed a Taiwanese flag emoji for users in Hong Kong and Macau and was criticized for sending some browsing data to China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd. as part of a privacy feature.To contact the reporters on this story: Mark Gurman in San Francisco at mgurman1@bloomberg.net;Ben Brody in Washington, D.C. at btenerellabr@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net, Alistair Barr, Robin AjelloFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Bloomberg
Amazon Needs a Leash
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- The New Yorker and the Atlantic have never been known for their business coverage, so when both magazines published long articles about Amazon.com Inc. in their current issues it signaled that something is in the air. That something is antitrust.More precisely, what’s in the air is the question of what the government should do to rein in the tremendous power of the big four tech companies: Facebook Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Apple Inc. and Amazon.Once the province of think tanks and law reviews, this topic has become such a public concern that 48 of the 50 state attorneys general are conducting antitrust investigations, presidential hopefuls are calling for tech giants to be broken up, and general interest magazines like, well, the New Yorker and the Atlantic are asking whether the companies abuse their market power. In this particular case, the magazines are asking it about Amazon.The Atlantic article is by Franklin Foer, who has long raised concerns about Big Tech. Five years ago, for instance, he wrote a cover story for the New Republic titled “Amazon Must Be Stopped.” It focused on Amazon’s dominance over the book business.This time around, he is writing about the unbridled ambition of Amazon’s founder and chief executive officer Jeff Bezos. (The new article is “Jeff Bezos’s Master Plan.”) “Bezos’s ventures are by now so large and varied that it is difficult to truly comprehend the nature of his empire, much less the end point of his ambitions,” Foer writes. He then goes through a list. Bezos wants to conquer space with his company Blue Origin. Bezos’s ownership of the Washington Post makes him a significant media and political figure. Bezos’s brainchild, Amazon, “is the most awe-inspiring creation in the history of American business.” And so on.He also points out that while critics fear Amazon’s monopoly power, the company is loved by consumers. “A 2018 poll sponsored by Georgetown University and the Knight Foundation found that Amazon engendered greater confidence than virtually any other American institution,” he writes. I have no doubt that this is true; Amazon’s obsession with customer service instills tremendous loyalty among consumers. It’s no accident that over 100 million people now pay the company $119 a year to be Amazon Prime members. That loyalty is also one reason taking antitrust actions against Amazon would be much more difficult than going after Facebook or Google. I’ll get to some other reasons shortly.Charles Duhigg’s New Yorker article “Is Amazon Unstoppable?” is both smarter about Amazon and more pointed about its power. Duhigg captures its relentless culture, comparing it to a flywheel that never stops. He described Bezos’s efforts to ensure that Amazon never loses the feel of a scrappy startup. The phrase that came to mind as I was reading Duhigg’s article was Andy Grove’s famous dictum: “Only the paranoid survive.”Duhigg is also interested in what Amazon’s critics have to say. Amazon paid no federal taxes last year. Amazon's work culture can be difficult for women who have children. Amazon’s warehouse workers are sometimes fired after being injured on the job. Amazon doesn't effectively police the sale of counterfeit goods on its site. (In the article, Amazon’s representatives deny these allegations.)Then there’s the fact that Amazon both serves as a platform for companies wanting to sell things and sells things itself. In other words, it competes with the same companies it enables. According to Duhigg, Amazon has been known to track items that do well, and then make its own version of the same item — which it then sells at a discounted price. (Amazon denies this, too.) Margrethe Vestager, the European Union’s commissioner for competition, told Duhigg that the practice “deserves much more scrutiny.”The story’s killer anecdote, at least as it concerns antitrust, is about Birkenstock USA LP’s experience with Amazon. Although Birkenstock sold millions of dollars of shoes using the Amazon platform, it was constantly hearing customer complaints that the shoes were defective. Why? Because, according to Birkenstock, Amazon allowed counterfeits to be sold on the site. Not only would Amazon not take down the counterfeit goods, but it also wouldn’t even tell Birkenstock who was selling them.Amazon also had stocked a year’s worth of Birkenstock inventory, which terrified the company. “What if Amazon decides to start selling the shoes for 99 cents, or to give them away with Prime membership, or do a buy-one-get-one-free,” wondered Birkenstock’s chief executive officer, David Kahan. “We were powerless.”Kahan’s complaints went nowhere. So he pulled Birkenstocks off Amazon. What did Amazon do? It solicited Birkenstock retailers, offering to buy shoes directly from them. Today, if you search for Birkenstocks on Amazon you’ll be deluged with choices even though the company itself refuses to do business with Amazon. I found a pair of Arizona oiled leather sandals — listed on Birkenstock's website for $135 — marked down to $60 on Amazon. Is it the real thing, or is it a counterfeit?The hard question: What do you do about this kind of behavior? On one extreme is the Democratic presidential candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren, who believes the most appropriate solution is to break up Amazon. At the other end of the spectrum, there are still plenty of antitrust economists who believe that if a $135 sandal is being sold for $60, that’s good for consumers. They argue that the government should just stay out of the way.I’m a proponent of breaking up Facebook, mainly because I believe if you force it to disgorge two of its prized platforms, Instagram and WhatsApp, you’ll instantly create serious competitors. That could help raise the bar on privacy, data usage and other concerns. But I’m not sure that would work with Amazon.For instance, if Amazon had to separate its highly profitable cloud service, Amazon Web Services, from its retail business the power dynamic between Amazon and the companies that use its platform would remain.What’s more, it’s harder to make a classic antitrust case against Amazon than it is against Facebook and Google. According to the research firm EMarketer Inc., Amazon is expected to account for 37.7% of all online commerce in 2019. By contrast, Google controls 89% of the search market.Still, for too many retailers, Amazon has the power to control their destiny, for good or ill. As the antitrust activist Lina Khan wrote in her now-famous 2017 article in the Yale Law Journal: “History suggests that allowing a single actor to set the terms of the marketplace, largely unchecked, can pose serious hazards.” I take that assessment to mean that government intervention at Amazon is needed.To my mind, the simplest and most sensible solution is from the economist Hal Singer: Don’t allow platform companies to favor their own products over competitors’ products. Singer calls this a “nondiscrimination regime,” and models it after the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act, which prevents cable distributors from favoring their own content over content from competitors. In that scenario, a company that felt it was being discriminated against by Amazon could bring a complaint to federal regulators just as cable stations can do now. This regime has worked well for the TV industry. It could work for Amazon, too.Secondly, the government should hold Amazon accountable for counterfeits. Counterfeiting is against the law, and although Amazon told Duhigg that it spends “hundreds of millions of dollars” on anti-counterfeiting efforts it’s no secret that many deceptively labeled goods are still sold on the site. (See, for instance, this recent Wall Street Journal story.) Companies like Birkenstock have a right to expect that a platform selling its products will rigorously police counterfeits — and will identify counterfeiters so manufacturers of authentic goods can take legal action.These are solvable problems. They don’t require extreme measures. What they do require is a government with the will to transform Amazon’s platform from what it is now, a vehicle that squelches competition, to one that lets competition flower.(Corrects paragraph eight to accurately describe the year in which Amazon paid no federal taxes and to more accurately describe the experiences of women with children who work for the company. Also changes language in paragraph eight to more accurately describe how effectively Amazon combats the sale of counterfeit goods on its site. Also corrects paragraphs 12 and 13 to accurately reflect pricing disparities between sandals sold on Birkenstock's website and those sold on Amazon.)To contact the author of this story: Joe Nocera at jnocera3@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Timothy L. O'Brien at tobrien46@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Joe Nocera is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering business. He has written business columns for Esquire, GQ and the New York Times, and is the former editorial director of Fortune. His latest project is the Bloomberg-Wondery podcast "The Shrink Next Door."For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Kiplinger
The 50 Best Stocks of All Time
A finance professor made a startling discovery about the stock market: Over a 90-year span, 96% of all stocks collectively performed no better than risk-free 1-month Treasury bills. After analyzing the lifetime returns of 25,967 common stocks, Hendrik Bessembinder determined that just 1,092 of those stocks -- or about 4% of the total -- generated all of the $34.8 trillion in wealth created for shareholders by the stock market between July 1926 and December 2016. Even more striking, a mere 50 stocks accounted for well over one-third (39.3%) of that amount.But before we get to our profiles of the 50 best-performing stocks of all time, many of which are (or were) components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, a word of caution. Accurately identifying the precious few "home run" stocks amid the many thousands of underachieving names is extremely difficult. It might be impossible. Your portfolio is more likely to suffer because you guessed wrong and failed to invest in the top long-term winners, says Bessembinder of Arizona State University's W. P. Carey School of Business.A better alternative to trying to find a needle in a haystack? To paraphrase Jack Bogle, the Vanguard founder and pioneer of index investing: Just buy the haystack. "The results reinforce the importance of diversification," says Bessembinder, "and low-cost index funds are an excellent way to diversify broadly."Take a look at the 50 best stocks since 1926. SEE ALSO: 101 Best Dividend Stocks for 2019 and Beyond
- InvestorPlace
7 Software Stocks to Buy for Growth
Investors holding software stocks must demand growth from them. After all, software companies hold nothing physically tangible. They may have important intellectual property, but their value comes from the solutions and services their programs offer.Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) or International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) are easy choices for investors who do not want to spend too much time understanding the software business. Yet holding IBM blindly is not without risk. The company reported revenue declining 4%.So, investors should consider other software companies that the market does not pay much attention to.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips * The 7 Best Penny Stocks to Buy Investors should look at software stocks that have strong earnings growth prospects in the next year. If the stock is down from yearly highs or is on a downtrend, that is a bonus for investors looking for discounts. There are seven software stocks that investors should buy for growth. These firms offer unique solutions and therefore have moats. Software Stocks to Buy: DocuSign (DOCU)Source: Shutterstock DocuSign (NASDAQ:DOCU) stumbled in August when the company issued a weak outlook. But when the company reported quarterly earnings on Sept. 5, it easily beat its downward guidance, sending the stock to 52-week highs. The company has a good chance of growing earnings per share by around 1.5 times and by 57% over the next five years. The stock is not cheap, trading at 13 times sales. DOCU has a market capitalization of around $11 billion.DocuSign transforms the foundation of doing business by moving customers from paper-based document signing to electronic signatures. It had 537,000 customers as of July 31. Fiscal year 2019 revenue grew 35% year-over-year and could grow even faster since its total addressable market is $25 billion. The company previously stumbled when it added more features to its core offering. This increased the time needed to close deals. Customers needed to spend more time reviewing the bundled features before deciding to buy the solution.DocuSign's view on the handling of today's paper agreement is that of a digital, connected, self-executing solution. Payment, customer relationship management and enterprise resource planning systems will handle all agreements in the future. With DocuSign unlocking the signing bottleneck, its customers complete deals more efficiently, saving everyone time. The firm has a web and mobile app with hundreds of millions of users. DocuSign is a rapidly-growing software firm with stock worth holding. Okta (OKTA)Source: Sundry Photography / Shutterstock.com Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA) fell briefly below $100 in September. The company has a market cap of $12 billion. Analysts expect its EPS to grow 58% next year and 25% over the next five years. Piper Jaffray describes Okta as being in a class of its own after the company reported a good Q2/2020 earnings report. It lost 5 cents a share, though revenue grew 48.5% to $140.5 million. Okta enjoyed an exceptional quarter, lifted by subscription revenue growth of 51%, billings growth of 42% and remaining performance obligations growth of 68%. It added 450 new customers and now has 7,000.After a 46% growth in customers with an annual contract value above $100,000, Okta now has 1,200 customers in that category. With strong recurring revenue and an acceleration in customer acquisitions, the company may sustain earnings growth above the 25% annual baseline.In the last quarter, the company transitioned its offering from products to a component platform. That investment is paying off. It has a slew of new functionalities and products, such as Okta Advanced Server Access, that customers need. And since these features are still in their early phases, as customers buy more products from Okta, revenue growth will accelerate. * 10 Hot Stocks Staging Huge Reversals If revenue grows faster than markets expect, this is a stock in the software sector that investors should buy for growth. ServiceNow (NOW)Source: Shutterstock For the last few months, ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) traded in a tight trading range around $245-$270. When the company reports earnings next week, analysts expect the company to earn 88 cents a share on revenue of $885.8 million. Last quarter, ServiceNow reported subscription revenue of $781 million, up 33% year-over-year. The business was so robust that it increased its headcount to 9,382, up from 7,150 a year earlier. The company's results benefited from winning several large deals in the financial services, technology and automotive industry that involved multiple IT products.For full-year 2019, ServiceNow forecasts subscription billings between $3.74 billion and $3.75 billion, up 32% from last year. The most notable figures are its subscription gross margin expectations of 86% and its free cash flow margin of 28%.The company added more than 700 employees in Q2, so expect sales numbers to get a strong push. As the marketing department gets better at promoting ServiceNow and accounts get bigger, investors may confidently raise their long-term expectations.Customers find it easy to build on the ServiceNow platform, which is a clear strength of its business model. And because it is extensible, customers receive quick solutions. The company adds more technology through acquisitions, increasing the value of the platform. With this positive feedback loop, the company could reach a $10 billion revenue level in a few years. Apple (AAPL)Source: View Apart / Shutterstock.com Best known for its iPhones, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) stopped reporting unit sales last year. And for good reason. The company wants analysts to hone in on Apple's services. In the third quarter, Apple reported record revenue of $11.5 billion from services, up 13% year-over-year. AppleCare, music, cloud services and its app store search advertising business are all positive contributors to service revenue. Even though music and ad sales is not really "software," it is becoming the biggest source of revenue for Apple.In the short term, investors will scrutinize Apple TV unit sales and subscription growth of its Apple TV+ offering. Yet investors may count on app sales, especially in China, for the next few years. EPS should grow 32.6% this year and 10% over the next five years. Solid sales of the iPhone 11 will lock in existing users to the Apple ecosystem. If Android users switch to an iPhone, that will help grow its services and software sales. AppleCare, Apple Music and cloud services are the three products more customers will willingly pay for. In the last quarter, services accounted for 21% of Apple's revenue and 36% of gross margin dollars. If it keeps growing, expect gross margin to increase due to scale. * 7 Beverage Stocks to Buy Now Credit card companies get to enjoy sky-high valuations but Apple Pay is growing at a healthy pace. It completed 1 billion transactions monthly, doubling the volume from last year. The service benefited from an Apple Pay launch in 17 countries in the June quarter. Adobe (ADBE)Source: r.classen / Shutterstock.com On Oct 16, Citi downgraded Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) stock from a "buy" to "neutral." Although the firm trimmed its price target slightly, the stock fell $10 on the day. The analysis is shortsighted: Adobe has virtually no competition and plenty of upside profit margin expansion ahead. Designers and media need Adobe's suite of products and have no other real alternatives. For the next quarter, analysts expect Adobe to report EPS of $1.86. The company beat expectations in the last three consecutive quarters, so expect another beat in the next report.In the last quarter, Adobe reported revenue of $2.8 billion, up 23.7% from last year. The record revenue is proof that its strategy to empower people to create and transform is paying off. Customers need to tell a story through design and creativity. So, they need Creative Cloud and Document Cloud software. Adobe reported net new digital media recurring revenue of $386 million. Total digital media ARR in Q3 topped $7.9 billion. The company has a goal of ensuring that Creative Cloud applications and services cover all its customers' creative needs. Adobe Lightroom and Document Cloud sales should continue its positive sales momentum.Adobe also saw strong growth for its single app offerings. Last quarter, apps like Adobe Premiere Pro for video and Adobe Illustrator contributed positively to the 40% year-over-year growth in international markets. Workday (WDAY)Source: Sundry Photography / Shutterstock.com Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) plunged by over 12% on Oct. 16 after the company's Rising event ended. Although RBC cut its target price on the stock that day, markets may have grown cautious over its new products. Investors may reasonably expect slow initial sales and are unwilling to value the company at around the $40 billion market cap level. Even though EPS growth will decelerate, falling 21% this year, its EPS should rebound by 31% next year and 28.5% over the next five years.In Q2, Workday said that over 40% of the Fortune 500 companies chose Workday for their core human capital management platform. As it expands globally, expect revenue growth to keep pace with historical rates. In the period, subscription revenue grew 34% to $757 million. Revenue outside of the U.S. rose 35% to $211 million and represented 24% of total revenue.The continued global expansion will offset any potential slowdown in the U.S. market. Workday also said it will recognize the subscription revenue backlog growth of 28%, or $4.8 billion, in the next 24 months.Workday warned that it faces tougher second-half comparable-store sales. Still, FY20 revenue will be near $3.1 billion, up 29% year-over-year. Q3 subscription revenue will grow 26% to between $783 million and $785 million. * 7 Dividend Stocks to Buy (With Brands You Can Find In Your Kitchen) WDAY stock peaked in July and is on a sustained downtrend. Wait for the selling pressure to ease and consider buying this software stock. Autodesk (ADSK)Source: Casimiro PT / Shutterstock.com With an EPS set to grow 38.8% this year and 63% next year, Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) fell sharply in late July but rebounded slightly after its Q2/2020 report. It earned 65 cents a share as revenue rose 30.3% to $796.8 million. How is this software company driving strong organic growth?Autodesk is growing organic cloud ARR through BIM 360. It is integrating its product and maximizing cross-selling opportunities. In the manufacturing sector, a challenging macro environment did not prevent the software company from growing manufacturing revenue by 20%. This was helped by Fusion 360's integrated functionality and competitive pricing.Autodesk expects total ARR will grow 25%-27% in FY20, to $3.5 billion. And even though ADSK stock is trending lower, billings will grow 49%-51% to $4.1 billion. Next fiscal year, recurring revenue as a percentage of the total will be in the mid 90% range. Although revenue will fall in the second half of FY20, gross margins will rise, due to revenue growth for the year.Strong demand for AutoCAD LT and continued strength across all regions suggests sustainable growth beyond the fiscal year. Macro worries due to the ongoing trade war may hit the manufacturing sector but so far, Autodesk is immune to this risk.As of this writing, Chris Lau did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 7 Reasons to Buy Canopy Growth Stock * 7 Restaurant Stocks to Leave on Your Plate * 4 Turnaround Plays to Buy Now The post 7 Software Stocks to Buy for Growth appeared first on InvestorPlace.
- Market Realist
Smartphone Investors Seem Happy with TSMC’s Earnings
Yesterday, TSMC reported better-than-expected Q3 earnings and guidance on the back of high-end smartphone and computing chip demand.
- InvestorPlace
Thanks to 5G, Qualcomm Stock Can Enjoy a Slow and Steady Ride Higher
Over recent years, the Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) narrative has been dogged by various pressures and controversies. At first, Singapore-based Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) proposed an aggressive $117 billion takeover bid for QCOM stock. But in a move that had bipartisan support, President Donald Trump axed the hostile takeover, citing national security concerns. That gave Broadcom little choice but to back down.Source: nikkimeel / Shutterstock.com The other pressing issue impacting Qualcomm stock was the underlying technology firm's legal battle with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). Notably, Apple had major grievances with Qualcomm's patent licensing practices. From its perspective, QCOM charged Apple royalty fees for technologies unrelated to the chipmaker.Famously, Apple CEO Tim Cook once quipped that Qualcomm's business practice was like "buying a sofa" from a company that charges "a different price depending upon the house that it goes into." On the other hand, Qualcomm accused Apple of using its patented tech free of charge.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsEither way, whether you're on team Qualcomm or team Apple, the bottom line was this: The bitter dispute didn't serve the longer-term case for QCOM stock or AAPL shares. While the former has the innovative prowess, the latter has the rabid fan base. This was a classic knife fight in which both sides were not going to get away unscathed. * The 7 Best Penny Stocks to Buy Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed, with both organizations squaring away their differences. From this new reality, I believe Qualcomm stock has a net positive pathway to steady upside gains.Clearly, the biggest distractions for QCOM stock have been eliminated. As InvestorPlaces's Chris Markoch stated recently, this is probably the beginning of the QCOM narrative. The 5G rollout will spark multiple revenue streams. 5G Opportunities Facilitate a "Slow Burn" for QCOM StockFirst and foremost, the settlement between Qualcomm and Apple creates growth opportunities for at least the next few years. As the leader in 5G modems, QCOM can fill a gap that has previously impeded Apple. Of course, this is a big positive for Qualcomm stock.However, this freshly restored relationship may change over time. In the backdrop of the legal battle, Apple looked to Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) to provide 5G modems. When that plan failed, Apple bought Intel's 5G modem business unit. It's going to take some time to catch up, but AAPL will eventually go in-house with its smartphone semiconductors.Luckily, the Apple business is just one component of the overall 5G picture for QCOM stock. Recently, Qualcomm revealed that it has partnerships with over 30 original equipment manufacturers to launch 5G fixed wireless access equipment. With a target time frame of next year, investors won't have to wait long to start seeing results.Utilizing Qualcomm's Snapdragon X55 5G Modem-RF System as a reference architecture, this 5G FWA equipment will facilitate home- and enterprise-level 5G internet service. What makes this FWA platform impressive is its modularity. Because it can accept "virtually any combination" of 5G spectrum and modes, telecom firms should be able to incorporate this tech into their existing 5G infrastructure.Granted, this might sound like granular nerd talk. However, the modularity of Qualcomm's FWA is crucial for Qualcomm stock. Contrary to what some might believe, the 5G rollout isn't a light switch. Instead, it's a gradual transition.Telecom firms must migrate the existing spectrum to accommodate 5G over time. During this transition, overlap between old and new tech will occur. That's why the FWA equipment's modularity is critical, which essentially provides a bridge for telecom networks. The Lingering Trade WarDespite Qualcomm's dominant presence in 5G and the opportunities that it presents, not everything is positive for QCOM stock. Most notably, the U.S.-China trade war presents a serious risk, not just to Qualcomm but the broader tech industry.In its most recent quarter, QCOM disappointed Wall Street with sour revenue figures. However, management didn't include licensing revenue with Huawei due to a royalties dispute. Moreover, the transition to 5G means less demand for 4G-related equipment.While the trade war may limit Qualcomm stock in the nearer term, ultimately, I see this situation as longer-term positive. I say this because for this particular circumstance, China needs Qualcomm more than Qualcomm needs China.As China and other emerging markets witness broader rises in consumer strength, they'll want the best. Thus, merely doing 5G as a technicality won't be enough. Clearly, QCOM is the 5G leader, which is why our international adversaries want to steal from it.As such, the trade war has exposed China's shady business practices while presenting American companies as virtuous victims. The drama may impact Qualcomm now, but again, in the long run, even geopolitics could be favorable to QCOM stock.As of this writing, Josh Enomoto did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * The 7 Best Penny Stocks to Buy * 7 Bank Stocks to Avoid Now at All Costs * The 10 Best Mutual Funds for Your 401k The post Thanks to 5G, Qualcomm Stock Can Enjoy a Slow and Steady Ride Higher appeared first on InvestorPlace.
