Continue reading Google Sells Off After Missing Earnings Estimate

Google Sells Off After Missing Earnings Estimate originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 16 Jul 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apparently, all the hype wasn't worth it. After Twitter COO Dick Costolo explained that the company was going to unveil a "non-traditional" advertising model and claimed that "people will love it," what we're seeing is a foray into decidedly charted territory.

According to AllThingsD, Twitter's ad model will resemble the one that has been so successful for search and online ad giant Google (GOOG). Ads, essentially, will be tied to search.

Yawn.

Continue reading Twitter Unveils Google Ad Model, Despite Hype

Twitter Unveils Google Ad Model, Despite Hype originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Bank of America (BAC) is in the midst of a frantic search for a CEO to succeed Ken Lewis, who is stepping down before the end of the year.

In an article on Bank of America's murky succession plan, USA Today buries this newsworthy factoid seven paragraphs down. From the "You can't make this stuff up" department:

BofA Chairman Walter Massey, who is leading the search, is currently on vacation on a ship and will not be reachable until Nov. 23, according to Morehouse College, where Massey is president emeritus.

Continue reading Bank of America chairman sails away while company seeks new CEO

Bank of America chairman sails away while company seeks new CEO originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Unless you already have a major foothold in the search engine market - or an amazing, disruptive technology that can make the world take notice - there isn't much point in staying. Competing with Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) is hard enough, even when you're Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) or Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) ... and, apparently, when you're IAC/InterActive Corp (NASDAQ: IACI). Barry Diller is ready to give up Jeeves, but only if asked nicely.

Diller's presence in the search space is Ask.com, ranked #4 behind Google, Yahoo and Microsoft's Bing. With a substantial gap between first and second, fourth barely registers at all. Ask.com has only a 2% U.S. market share, according to Hitwise, more than 60 percentage points behind the industry leader.

Continue reading Would anybody buy Jeeves? Ask might go on block

Would anybody buy Jeeves? Ask might go on block originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU), China's leading search engine, sold off during Monday's after-hours session after the earnings report for the third quarter was issued. When you're a theoretical growth company like Baidu, missing estimates on the guidance side is never a good thing to do.

Nevertheless, Baidu delivered in Q3 itself. Sales skyrocketed 39%. Net income per share exploded over 40% to the upside, coming in at $2.07 per share on a GAAP basis. Adjusting for items, the company earned $2.16 per share. Earnings.com gives an expectation of $1.81 for per-share profit.

Continue reading Baidu reports third quarter data: Buy stock on pull-back?

Baidu reports third quarter data: Buy stock on pull-back? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's tough to take on Google (NASDAQ: GOOG). The search engine behemoth owns 65% of the U.S. search market and has a commanding brand presence. Yet, the software maker up the coast isn't known to give up easily. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has cut a deal with microblogging site Twitter that should give it an edge in the battle to harness data and make it easier to find. A new deal will feed all those tweets into Bing, the Microsoft search engine.

Twitter is giving Microsoft full access to its data, in a deal announced Wednesday. Bing will provide search functionality for Twitter that you won't find in Google, which seems to have been outbid for the rights to the "tweet-stream." Under the deal, Bing will be able to index and display the tweets almost immediately as they are posted.

Continue reading Microsoft now in bed with Twitter

Microsoft now in bed with Twitter originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The number two search engine in the United States turned in a fantastic third quarter, far ahead of expectations. Cost-cutting, layoffs and business divestitures led to a surge in Yahoo's (NASDAQ: YHOO) profits and a 4.8% increase in share price in extended trading on Tuesday evening. Net income more than tripled to $186.1 million (13 cents per share) from the third quarter of 2008's result of $54.3 million (4 cents a share). Sales (exclusive of fees passed to partner sites) reached $1.13 billion, slightly above the $1.12 billion expected by analysts, according to a Bloomberg survey.

With the advertising market in rough shape and competition from Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) continually rising, Yahoo refocused on its core properties: the home page, messaging and mobile services. The company trimmed what it didn't need, which is why it was able to boost its earnings even with a decline in revenue. Increased ad revenue from auto manufacturers, travel companies and consumer product manufacturers also helped.

Yahoo's chief financial officer, Timothy Morse, says that the company's markets are "starting to stabilize." Of course, Yahoo itself must be doing something right: its share price is up 41% this year.

Continue reading Yahoo profit triples year-over-year

Yahoo profit triples year-over-year originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) increased both sales and income in the third quarter. The giant of online search, which issued its earnings release after the bell on Thursday, is saying what a plethora of companies are also saying: the worst of the economic downturn may finally be over.

According to TheStreet.com, sales, after traffic acquisition costs are taken into account, rose about 8%. On an adjusted basis, profit grew almost 20% to $5.89 per share. Our earnings preview article stated that expectations were for $5.38 per share. Google did a good job of giving the world a reason to believe that the rallies seen in the major market indexes should be taken seriously.

Continue reading Google finds growth and cash in the third quarter

Google finds growth and cash in the third quarter originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) isn't planning to acquire its way into the search engine market. The company's CEO, Steve Ballmer, told Reuters that the company would invest in marketing and hopefully complete a partnership with Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) that is currently involved in a regulatory review. The goal, of course, is to provide at least meaningful competition to search giant and dominant market player Google (NASDAQ: GOOG).

Expect growth to slow a bit for Microsoft, Ballmer says, as a result of global economic developments. In order to cope with this -- and gear up for a potential battle with Google -- the company has frozen its R&D budget of $9.5 billion, the largest in the industry. With that and a $31.4 billion cash and cash equivalent position, Microsoft certainly has the resources to do battle.

Continue reading Microsoft not looking for search engine acquisitions

Microsoft not looking for search engine acquisitions originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Kai-Fu Lee, head of Google's China operations, resigned on Friday. This brings to a close four years of controversy, as the search engine giant censored its search results in order to pick up some market share in the largest internet market in the world (by population).

The change follows fresh debate within Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) -- which claims to live by the motto "don't be evil" -- about whether to exit the Chinese market. The internal discussion is the result of another round of conflict with government authorities in China.

Continue reading Google China loses its head

Google China loses its head originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 06 Sep 2009 16:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), a company in the same competitive league as Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Google, INc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO), and International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM), posted its Q4 earnings release after the bell on Thursday. As I was writing this paragraph, shares of the software giant were trading down over 6% in the after-hours session. Looks like the market was disappointed.

To be certain, the results weren't great (of course, no one was expecting them to recall the company's growth story of yesteryear, I'm confident about that, let me tell you). Sales were down 17%. Operating income on a dollar basis dropped 30%. And, on a reported basis, Microsoft's per-share profit, calculated out to be 34 cents, declined 26%. On an adjusted basis, adding back 4 cents for a few items, earnings came in at 38 cents per share. According to my earnings preview, that beat estimates by two pennies.

Continue reading Market sells Microsoft on Q4 news -- warranted or not?

Market sells Microsoft on Q4 news -- warranted or not? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yahoo!'s (NASDAQ: YHOO) second-quarter earnings release, which was issued after the bell on Tuesday, didn't go over so well. Sales declined 13%. Adjusted earnings were 16 cents per share. That means that there was zero per-share profit growth on the bottom line. To add insult to injury, adjusted operating cash flow declined 10%.

In terms of expectations, Reuters is reporting a beat of two pennies based on Yahoo!'s reported income of 10 cents per share. No one really cared. The stock sold off in yesterday's after-hours session, losing over 3% of its value. This was on top of losing 1.5% during the regular trading session. A lot of shares were traded yesterday, too.

Continue reading Yahoo! not for me after Q2 report

Yahoo! not for me after Q2 report originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 22 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), an elite member of a tech industry that includes related companies such as Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), issued its Q2 report on Thursday after the bell. According to Tom Johansmeyer's earnings preview, the market was looking for Google to generate about $5.49 billion on the top line. The search giant actually delivered $5.52 billion in net sales. I think we can call that roughly in-line. The bottom line, however, definitely beat expectations. Google made $5.36 per share. Analysts believed $5.08 would be the number.

That's a 28-cent beat on the bottom line. Not bad, although please keep in mind that it isn't as impressive as, say, a company that was expected to do 50 cents and actually posts 60 cents. I'm sure that goes without saying. The main thing to focus on here is the fact that Google seems to be holding its own during the economic malaise.

Continue reading Google does decent business in Q2 -- trade it now?

Google does decent business in Q2 -- trade it now? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 17 Jul 2009 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) isn't invincible. The search and online ad giant is expected to report lukewarm growth for the second quarter today because of a brutal market for advertising and redoubled efforts by Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) to own a bit more than its meager share of the online market.

Good news would have to come in the form of a better mousetrap for growing Google's ad market and ways to keep the Redmond machine from tripping it up. Ultimately, analysts are looking to see how Google can get back to the double-digit growth that used to be a given.

Continue reading Google Q2 will be shaped by demand ... and Bing

Google Q2 will be shaped by demand ... and Bing originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 16 Jul 2009 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yahoo Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) claims not to be under pressure to ink a search deal with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). You know what that means ...

The two distant followers in the search engine space were considering a partnership, but Microsoft's newly released Bing search engine raises questions as to how committed Microsoft would be to a deal. Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz was quick to explain, according to Reuters, that "Yahoo doesn't have to do anything with Microsoft about anything" and that it is "a damned big, important site."

The benefits of the deal are salient, mostly involving scale and increased monetization of Yahoo's search service. The second largest search company estimates that it would save up to $700 million in a year through the Microsoft partnership.

Even though Yahoo is "damned big," Bartz believes that the acquisition of smaller companies that could be folded easily would be a good use of the company's cash.

Yahoo! is damned big and important, doesn't need Microsoft Deal originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Goldman Sachs has upped its share price estimate on Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) to $486, an increase of 17%. The analysts cite both search query growth and improvements in emerging markets coverage as the reasons for giving a nod to the dominant player in the online search business. The higher estimate implies that Google still has plenty of room to grow, which leaves plenty of upside for investors.

On a per-share basis, Goldman Sachs pushed its earnings forecast for the search giant 2% higher for this year - to $21.30. Per-share earnings estimates for 2010 were increased to by 8% to $23.36, and the 2011 estimate is now $27.02 (up 12%).

Goldman sees Google going higher originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 03 Jun 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The news flow is abuzz this week with stats about Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and its Xbox 360 console. According to reports, the company has sold 30 million units of the gaming hardware around the world. Nintendo Co., Ltd. (OTC: NTDOY) is still in first place with 50 million Wii consoles sold. And Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE)? Well, the PlayStation 3 is decidedly third with roughly 22 million systems moved through retail channels. And don't give me that Xbox-360-had-a-year-over-Sony excuse. Doesn't matter. Microsoft has so far played it well.

But I'd like to see Microsoft do even better when it comes to the Xbox 360. I think, out of all the investments Microsoft makes that are outside of the core operating system asset, the Xbox 360 is the one with the most potential promise.

Continue reading Microsoft does well with Xbox 360, but needs to try harder

Microsoft does well with Xbox 360, but needs to try harder originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 29 May 2009 18:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU), a Chinese equity dedicated to internet search, has been one hot stock. As of this writing, shares of the company are up over 90% over the three-month frame! Talk about being in the green. And this is a stock that closed on Monday at $224.86.

Baidu reported Q1 earnings after the bell yesterday, and the release was full of high growth rates (the growth rates should be high considering the run-up of the stock). Revenues increased over 40%, operating profit went up by over 30%, and net profit rose over 20%. On a per-share, adjusted basis, Baidu delivered 86 cents per share for its investors, beating analysts' expectations by two pennies.

Continue reading Baidu has excellent Q1, but is the stock too high to buy?

Baidu has excellent Q1, but is the stock too high to buy? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO), a web portal whose colleagues include Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) AOL, reported Q1 numbers after the bell on Tuesday. According to an earnings preview done by colleague Mark Fightmaster, Wall Street was counting on something along the lines of 8 cents per share. Well, on a non-GAAP basis, Yahoo! earned 15 cents per share. Not bad.

Unfortunately, Yahoo! made three pennies more on the same adjusted basis in last year's similar quarter. Furthermore, revenues, adjusted for currency effects, dropped 8%. Oh, and one more thing. Free cash flow decreased over 60%.

Continue reading Can Yahoo!'s cursing CEO lead the company to victory?

Can Yahoo!'s cursing CEO lead the company to victory? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 22 Apr 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Google (NYSE: GOOG), the internet search engine that just about everyone uses, and a leader in its sector, one that includes Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO), and Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) AOL, reported Q1 earnings after the bell on Thursday. Google beat the analysts.

According to my earnings preview, Wall Street was looking for $4.92 per share (some news reports indicated that $4.93 was the number to look for). Well, on an adjusted basis, Google delivered $5.16 per share.

Continue reading Google beats in Q1, but the top line was a little weak

Google beats in Q1, but the top line was a little weak originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 17 Apr 2009 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.