Before the bell: Futures decline on economic concerns (DELL, AIG)Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) will cut the price of some boxed versions of Windows Vista from 20-48%, as at least one executive feel the company had "botched" the marketing of computers as "Vista Capable." I'm surprised that Microsoft doesn't understand it needs to offer a better product rather than lowering the price on a product that isn't up-to-par...
Gap Inc. (NASDAQ: GPS) shares are up over 5.9% in premarket trading after reporting quarterly results after the close Thursday. Gap's fourth-quarter profit increased 21% after three years of consecutive declining sales. Cost cutting measures boosted the profit line. The company promised more such measures as well as a $1 billion share buyback. the retailer has also raised its quarterly dividend by six percent to 34 cents per share. Gap earned $265 million, or 35 cents per share, inline with estimates. Revenue totaled $4.68 billion, a 5% from the year ago period. Same-store sales, however, fell 3%.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) closed Thursday's session with its shares up 5.65%, regaining some of its recent losses, after COO Cook said he was confident Apple would reach its iPhone target for 2008. Interestingly, though, eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY)'s PayPal has warned online shoppers to steer clear of Apple's Safari browser since it is lacking two important anti-phishing security features.
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) shares fell $3.02, or 4.3%, to $67.85 Thursday after a research note from an analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. The analyst expects slower U.S. e-commerce growth. While Amazon will likely continue to gain market share, the analyst said, the overall slowdown in 2008 will still hurt it. The recent fee changes at eBay could also hurt Amazon, the analyst thinks.
XM Satellite Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: XMSR) said Thursday that it narrowed its fourth-quarter loss to $239 million, or 78 cents per share, compared with a loss of $263 million, or 90 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter, but that quarter, included a significant write-down. XM took a charge this quarter as well. Excluding those charges, XM beat analyst estimate of a 63 cent-per-share loss. XM's quarterly revenue jumped 20% to $307.7 million, topping an analyst forecast of $303.8 million. XM had little news on the proposed acquisition by rival Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI).
Warren Buffett, tells us more!
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