Analyst initiations 6-22-07: AMZN, EBAY, GOOG, MNST and YHOO

Kevin Shult — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 11:31:00 EST

Filed under: Before the Bell, Google (GOOG), Yahoo! (YHOO), eBay (EBAY), Amazon.com (AMZN), IAC/InterActiveCorp (IACI), AutoZone Inc (AZO), Monster Worldwide (MNST), Electronic Arts (ERTS), Analyst Initiations

MOST NOTEWORTHY: The auto parts retail sector, Electronics Arts (ERTS), Cinemark Holdings (CNK) and Monster Worldwide (MNST) were today's more noteworthy initiations:

Wachovia initiated coverage on AutoZone (NYSE: AZO), Advance Auto Parts (NYSE: AAP) and O'Reilly Automotive (NASDAQ: ORLY) with Outperform ratings. The firm sees upside for AutoZone from share buybacks, Advance Auto Parts from improved cost control and margins, and O'Reilly Automotive from share gains and fundamental performance.

First Albany started Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) with a Buy rating and sees significant upside in the first-half of 2008.

BMO Capital started Cinemark (NYSE: CNK) with an Outperform rating, citing Cinemark's internal growth opportunities as well as its international opportunities in Latin America.

American Tech started Monster Worldwide (NASDAQ: MNST) with a Neutral rating, saying fundamentals and the macro backdrop remain uncertain...

OTHER INITIATIONS:

Bernstein initiated coverage on Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) with Outperform ratings and a $635 target and $39 target, respectively, and Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), InterActive Corp (NASDAQ: IACI) and Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) with Market Perform ratings and a $65 target, $38 target and $29 target, respectively.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

Analyst initiations 6-22-07: AMZN, EBAY, GOOG, MNST and YHOO originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 22 Jun 2007 11:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google's GBuy program could challenge eBay's PayPal

Brian White — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 13:59:00 EST

Filed under: Rumors, Products and Services, Launches, Consumer Experience, Internet, Competitive Strategy, Google (GOOG), eBay (EBAY)

Google seems to be trying to enter just about every internet playing field these days. Much of the industry has been waiting to see when the giant of search would launch an electronic payment system to challenge the dominance of eBay's PayPal division. Well, that day may be upon all of us very soon.

Google's GBuy program is set to launch June 28th according to reports, and it will apparently allow Google to capture just about every datapoint imaginable about electronic transactions that happen through the service. In turn, Google's massive customer profiling database (which spans quite a few hard drives, probably) will be able to precisely target ads and other offers from Google partners to "customers" of the GBuy program. eBay's PayPal lacks much of this capability at this time, although to eBay power sellers, PayPal is an invaluable resource for allowing paying eBay customers to complete auction payments.

Will GBuy "revolutionize" the electronic payment industry, as Forbes predicts? It certainly has that capability -- but first, Google will have to convince people to use the service. Google can launch as many cutting-edge products and services as possible, but without the traditional or viral marketing to get people using and re-using the service, it won't be able to take off with more than a whimper.

Google's GBuy program could challenge eBay's PayPal originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 12 Jun 2006 13:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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