In the past five years, we have watched Apple Inc. (AAPL) soar while another household name, Citigroup Inc. (C), has collapsed. Citigroup was our largest bank. Apple is our largest technology company, and the second largest U.S. company by capitalization. What of the future? Which is the better investment going forward? Where will each stock be next year, or in two?

I have read stories that project Apple to be $325, $350 even $400 per share in 12 months time. Apple closed Tuesday at $251.97. Many firmly believe it is severely undervalued right now. I think there are a lot of straight-line extrapolations going on. It's true that one could make a case for any of these targets to become reality. However, that will not necessarily make it true.

Continue reading Chasing Value: Citigroup Beats Apple

Chasing Value: Citigroup Beats Apple originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 18 Aug 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Chasing Value: EZCORP Is Easy Buy, Beating APPL, ISRG and XOM

Chasing Value: EZCORP Is Easy Buy, Beating APPL, ISRG and XOM originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Aug 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Apple iPhone: Season and Psychology over Substance

Apple iPhone: Season and Psychology over Substance originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 08 Jun 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

When the space shuttle launches on Monday, 200 thumbs will be at the ready. NASA has deputized 100 of its top fans on Twitter to come to the launch and tweet the experience. These fans are estimated to have more than 150,000 followers, all with the potential to retweet the messages they see. Every click of an iPhone or Blackberry will give NASA more exposure, building the excitement it needs to keep the operation afloat. So, whether you realize it or not, the launch is being brought to you by Twitter, Apple (AAPL) and Research in Motion (RIMM), even if only implicitly.

Continue reading NASA makes social media bet for Atlantis launch

NASA makes social media bet for Atlantis launch originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Reports Q2 (Mar) earnings of $1.16 per share, $0.09 better than the First Call consensus of $1.07; revenues rose 42.7% year/year to $7.51 bln vs the $6.96 bln consensus.
• Co issues in-line guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $1.00 vs. $1.10 consensus; sees Q3 revs of $7.2 bln vs. $7.16 bln consensus.
• Gross margin was 32.9% vs 33.8% Street expectations, down from 35.1% in the year-ago quarter.
  
• International sales accounted for 44% of the quarter's revenue.
  
• Apple shipped 2,289,000 Macintosh computers during the quarter, representing 51% unit growth and 54 percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter.
  
• The co sold 10,644,000 iPods during the quarter, representing one percent unit growth and eight percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter.
  
• Quarterly iPhone sales were 1,703,000.
• Statement from Apple: "We're thrilled to have generated $4 bln in cash flow from operations in the first half of fiscal 2008, yielding an ending cash balance of $19.4 bln.

Continue reading Apple earnings: The last beat?

Apple earnings: The last beat? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Analysts expect that North America will be the only region where the average phone price will increase this year.
  
• Last year, mobile handsets sold in Japan cost 74 percent more than in North America. In Europe, they were 10 percent pricier.
• Sales of pricier handsets such as the iPhone almost tripled last quarter and made up 11 percent of phones sold in the U.S.
• Shoppers spent $3.2 billion on phones, or $83 each, up from $2.2 billion a year earlier and the most since 2005
• The iPhone, which doubles as a music player, cost as much as $599 when it went on sale in June and now sells for $399. Apple shipped 1.4 million of them in the first three months. BlackBerrys go for as much as $300.

Carriers still act as "gatekeepers" in the industry. The carriers generally decide which devices to offer to their customers, and own the consumer relationship.

This all may change as carriers like Verizon (NYSE: VZ) have made announcements about opening up their networks to non-subscribers. Combine this with phone manufacturers continuing to produce better and more engaging devices and Google's attempts to create incentives and a platform for application development for the mobile device, and it's an opportunity for investors to pick some new horses.

Record mobile phone spending in 2007 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 21 Dec 2007 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Palm (PALM) rapidly turning into an aging tech dinosaur

Palm (PALM) rapidly turning into an aging tech dinosaur originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 21 Sep 2007 13:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• ThinkEquity believes Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is one of the best-positioned hardware companies that can capitalize on the monetization of digital media consumption through PC, televisions and mobile devices. The firm transferred coverage with an Accumulate rating and $135 target.

• Roth Capital said atherectomy procedures continue to grow in the high-teens and that Spectranetics (NASDAQ: SPNC) should be able to exceed these growth rates with its ability to treat certain complicated lesions as well as through new product introductions. The firm started shares off with a Buy rating and $15 target.

• Deutsche Bank initiated shares of First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) with a Neutral rating and $90 target on valuation.

• CIBC started Online Resources (NASDAQ: ORCC) with a Sector Performer rating and $15 target, citing favorable risk/reward...

• G&K Services (NASDAQ: GKSR) was initiated with a Hold rating at Needham.

• Diodes (NASDAQ: DIOD) was initiated with a Buy rating at LongBow.

• JMP Securities initiated Anworth Mortgage Asset Mortgage Corp (NYSE: ANH) with an Outperform rating and $10 target.

• Covidien (NYSE: COV) was initiated at Morgan Stanley with an Overweight rating and $49 target.

Analyst initiations 7-09-07: AAPL, DIOD, and FSLR originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 09 Jul 2007 10:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• UBS downgraded shares of Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) to Neutral from Buy following the company's Q1 report that showed weaker than expected operating cash flow.

• Hiland Holdings (NASDAQ: HPGP) was cut from Wachovia to Underperform from Market Perform.

• AVX Corp (NYSE: AVX) was downgraded to Underweight form Neutral at JP Morgan.

• Goldman cut Tibco Software Inc (NASDAQ: TIBX) to Sell from Neutral, citing valuation.

• Stifel downgraded United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) to Hold from Buy at Stifel, after Q1 showed a slight decline in U.S. Ground parcel volume...

• AG Edwards downgraded Cigna Corp (NYSE: CI) to Hold from Buy.

• Covad Communications (AMEX: DVW) was cut to Hold from Buy at Stanford to reflect the postponed profit growth.

• Citigroup downgraded Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) to Hold from Buy on valuation.

• LongBow Research cut LSI Corp (NYSE: LSI) to Neutral from Buy; Wedbush cut shares to Hold from Buy on their disappointing Q1 report.

Analyst downgrades 4-26-07: AAPL, CI, ERIC, TIBX and UPS were downgraded today originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 26 Apr 2007 11:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading No Beatles announcement as EMI drops DRM

No Beatles announcement as EMI drops DRM originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 02 Apr 2007 17:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Note: The Daily Option Update is provided by Stock Options Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Volatility Index S&P 500 Options-VIX is up 3.78 to 14.93. VXN 10-day moving average is 10.77. S&P's recently down 2.45%.

Volatility Index NASDAQ 100-VXN up 3.84 to 19.82. VXN 10-day moving average is 15.84. NASDAQ 100 recently sells off 3.41%.

Weyerhaeuser-(NYSE-:WY) implied volatility suggests non-directional risk into Domtar (NYSE-DTC) exchange. On 2/2/07 WY announced a split-off transaction in which each $1 worth of WY tendered will receive $1.11 worth of DTC stock. WY announced on 2/26 that security holders of DTC have voted to approve the plan to combine DTC with the fine paper business of WY, the deal is expected close in March. WY is then expected to be a buyer of its own stock and then possibly announce a more tax efficient structure for its timberlands. WY call option volume of 12,427 contracts compares to put volume of 8,133. WY over all option implied volatility of 22 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price risk.

Kohl's-(NYSE:KSS) options suggest non-direction price risks into 3/1 EPS & Outlook. KSS, an operator of 817 stores, will report EPS on 3/1. First Call is expecting EPS of $1.43. Buckingham Research says "We are maintaining our neutral rating on KSS ahead of its Q4 earnings report, valuation and the likelihood of difficult sales, gross margin and SD&A comparisons in the hear ahead." KSS call option volume of 1,616 contracts compares to put volume of 1,466. KSS March option implied volatility of 26 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price risks.

Option volume leaders today were: Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) & Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL).

Daily Option Update - February 27, 2007 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 27 Feb 2007 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Skeptics line up about music download comments from Apple's CEO originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 13 Feb 2007 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple and Cisco may be playing nice with 'iPhone' lawsuit originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 02 Feb 2007 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Questionable options practices continue to take their toll on companies. This time, a Canadian darling, without a doubt one of Canada's recent success stories, Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ:RIMM) might be getting into trouble.

The BlackBerry maker (affectionately nicknamed CrackBerry) missed its financial reporting deadline of October 17. RIM was supposed to file the second-quarter earnings on that date in accordance with the Ontario Securities Commission. As a result, the OSC ordered all insiders, about 60 of them including co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, to stop trading in the company's stock. Even if the company files now, insiders would not be able to trade until two days after the filing. There will still be a hearing on November 7 regarding the ban.

While this is happening in Canada, in the U.S., the Securities and Exchange Commission has also asked RIM to supply the commission with stock-option grants and practices information. However, the SEC requests the information to be provided voluntarily. RIM said it would comply with the SEC's request.

Like most companies lately, RIM decided to look into its accounting practices recently and review financials going a few years back. RIM plans to restate earnings starting in 1998, but at the same time stated it doesn't believe the adjustments would be material and that earnings since 1997 would be reduced by up to $45 million.

In addition, RIM has to arrange some accounting "glitches" arising from different accounting rules in Canada and the U.S.

With Apple Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) just barely avoiding NASDAQ delisting, I wonder when we'll hear the last of that.

Research in Motion insiders banned from trading RIMM originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 31 Oct 2006 11:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Before the belll 06-19-06: AAPL GE TWX WMT originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 19 Jun 2006 07:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.