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in addition to google inc (nasdaq: goog ), which is already developing new car technology, a number of tech giants are rumored or expected to enter the auto space. apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) is the most prominent, thanks to a plethora of reports claiming that the company is entering tesla motors inc's (nasdaq: tsla ) territory. | 2015-02-18 |
in a report published wednesday, jpmorgan analyst rod hall wrote that apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) is facing an "uphill battle" in china as talks with unionpay appear to be stalling. | 2015-02-18 |
in a report published wednesday, jpmorgan analyst rod hall followed up from tuesday's note which cited reports that apple (nasdaq: aapl ) asked its asian suppliers to manufacture five million to six million units of its three different apple watch models ahead of an april release. | 2015-02-18 |
looking at some 13f statistics, following the end of the filing period for the fourth quarter of 2014, a few things can be noted: the most popular stock continues to be apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) , with almost 2,000 institutions betting on it; walgreens boots alliance inc (nasdaq: wba ) was the stock with the most new positions (this will be explained below), followed by anthem inc (nyse: antm ) ; and halliburton company (nyse: hal ) was the most dumped stock in the quarter. in this article, we will take a closer look at those stocks that saw the most institutional investors start new positions over the fourth quarter. according to our statistics, walgreens (wba) saw the most new arrivals (997). however, this was not due to a spike in bullishness, but because the company changed its ticker – walgreens formerly traded under the wag ticker, but changed it on the last day of 2014. similar was the case of anthem inc, formerly wellpoint inc. (nyse: wlp ) , which witnessed 675 new arrivals. so, leaving walgreens and anthem aside, the most popular stock in terms of new investors was california resources corp (nyse: crc ) , which was spun off occidental petroleum corporation (nyse: oxy ) over the fourth quarter. the company now counts with the support of more than 510 institutional investors, including mason hawkins’ southeastern asset management, which disclosed ownership of 33.48 million shares, worth about $184 million, and the famed vanguard group, with 19.44 million shares. second in line was cdk global inc (nasdaq: cdk ) , which saw 471 new institutional investors arrive over the fourth quarter, and another 40 increase their stakes. the most bullish was jeffrey tannenbaum’s fir tree, which declared holding 14.15 million shares of the company. finally, halyard health inc (nyse: hyh ) had 444 institutions starting new positions over the fourth quarter, after it was spun off kimberly-clark corporation (nyse: kmb ). other popular stocks were: - kinder morgan, inc. (nyse: kmi ) , with 439 new arrivals - keysight technologies inc (nyse: keys ) , with 346 new positions - klx inc (nasdaq: klxi ) , with 285 new institutions betting on it - alibaba group holding ltd (nyse: baba ) , with 263 newcomers. | 2015-02-19 |
although it’s clear that apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) will be returning massive amount of cash to shareholders, there is disagreement among analysts regarding the actual number. amit daryanani, rbc capital markets hardware analyst, feels the company can return anywhere between $150-200 billion in the next three years. he was on cnbc thursday to discuss apple’s next capital allocation program. how much cash will apple be returning to shareholders? “our assessment is if they continue this 3 year roadmap they have had in the past, they could return somewhere between $150 to $200 billion of cash back to shareholders,” daryanani said. “i know it’s a big number, it actually equates to about 25p of the market cap back to invest over three years.” he continued, “what’s interesting though it essentially approximates the amount of free cash what apple is going to generate over the next three years. so, while these are big numbers, it also reflects the fact that apple is generating a ton of cash and they already have a big pile of cash on the balance sheet.” how did you estimated the $150-200 billion number? “let’s look at the way we sort of came up with that number there is, step one, tim cook made statements saying we must return excess cash back to shareholders,” daryanani replied. “well, if you look at apple, they will generate conservatively i think $65-66 billion of free cash flow this year, they did $34 billion in q1 by the way. so, assumed that they can do 75 to 100p of that back to shareholders, that’s how you get $55 to $60 billion annual commitment to buyback.” what if they are working on new project like a car and want to fund that instead of returning cash? “absolutely and i would imagine the $178 billion of cash they have on the balance sheet will fund all of that and more as you go forward,” daryanani added. | 2015-02-19 |
however, a previous rumor claimed that samsung was already planning to add looppay technology to the galaxy s6. related link: exclusive: looppay ceo talks samsung acquisition, apple pay was apple asleep at the wheel? given the advantage samsung could have in acquiring looppay, investors may wonder: were apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) and google inc (nasdaq: goog ) asleep at the wheel? | 2015-02-19 |
tech giant apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) has been recently sued by electric car battery maker a123 systems for ‘poaching’ its top engineers to allegedly work for apple’s new battery division. this news has added fuel to the rumors of apple developing its own cars. jeremy rosenberg, senior vice president of digital media at allison+partneres, was on cnbc to discuss if these rumors could be true and whether consumers are ready for autonomus cars. do you think apple will manufacture its own car at some point? “personally, i am excited about the idea of an apple car,” rosenberg said. “i think that in a lot of the reports they are saying this might be a project that ends up getting scuttled later on, they tend to do that, they try a bunch of things, they put a lot of money towards it and then it doesn’t work.” he continued, “i don’t think it’s purely anti-competitive, i don’t think they are trying to take people off the market that are otherwise working on projects for competitors that would end up competing in some way with them, but i think what they are trying to take a go at it, i think it’s a great move, i think it’s really exciting.” do you think the average consumer wants a driverless car? “well, i think it’s going to be a long transitional road of autonomy,” rosenberg replied. “i think there’s going to be a shift from, everybody got relatively comfortable with cruise control and that’s a nice feature, but your hand is still on the wheel and you can hover there over the gas pedal, but really it’s like i think this is going to be this evolution, it’s probably going to take several decades before people are entirely comfortable and the systems around the car are entirely comfortable.” | 2015-02-19 |
the countdown for the release of the watch from apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) has begun and every renowned analyst on street has a number regarding how many unit it will sell this year. according to piper jaffray’s senior research analyst, gene munster, it will be the app developers who will determine how many watches apple manages to sell. munster was on bloomberg recently to talk about the apple watch. less demand than the ipad “it’s going to be relatively small versus the ipad and think about these expectation calling 20 million units, it’s going to be about half of kind of where the ipad was in its first year,” munster said. “and so i think that modest expectations, i think a lot of consumers that we surveyed are still debating what the true value of the watch is and i think developers will determine that over time.” developers will drive demand “the roadmap here is similar to what happened with the phone, munster said. “[when] the iphone came out, it was marginally better, what really got it exciting for people is just that developers built apps that really changed your phone into a lot of different thing and that’s going to be the expectation with the watch too as the developers are going to actually build the true value.” he continued, “and so from the consumer today, they are debating whether what’s the value, is it just the same as your phone, but as developers really optimize the short versus long look, which is an important distinction about this watch. there can be new experiences built on the watch that we haven’t seen yet. it’s up to those developers to really drive demand for the watch.” | 2015-02-19 |
two years ago, looppay (previously known as the loop) was a clever concept on kickstarter. today it might be the most important acquisition that samsung elect ltd(f) (otcmkts: ssnlf) has ever made to compete with apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ). | 2015-02-19 |
apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) could be working behind the scenes to develop its first automobile. this might sound unlikely, but that's probably what people thought about apple and cell phones before the iphone was unveiled. | 2015-02-19 |
after the deadline for filing schedule 13fs for the fourth quarter of 2014, morgan stanley analysts looked into the data and concluded that average portfolio allocation to large-cap tech stocks was flat, quarter over quarter. trends in a report published thursday morning, the researchers point out some of the trends: oracle corporation (nasdaq: orcl ) witnessed the largest uptick, while hewlett-packard company (nyse: hpq ) “ experienced a meaningful downtick,” taking ownership to the low end of its historical range. on the opposite, ownership stands near historical highs at ebay inc. (nasdaq: ebay ), intel corporation (nasdaq: intc ), microsoft corporation (nasdaq: msft ) and oracle corporation (nasdaq: orcl ) , with average ownership amongst top 100 shareholders above the s&p500 benchmark -- investors are most overweight ebay relative to the benchmark. apple for its part, apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) “ remains the only large-cap tech name with the average fund allocation below its s&p500 benchmark weight.” while the current weighting of apple in the s&p500 stands at 4 percent (a peak ownership of 4.5 percent was reached in the third quarter of 2012), the average weighting for institutional owners reaches only 2.6 percent. however, this is the highest allocation level the stock has seen since the first quarter of 2013, and represents a modest uptick from the 2.5 percent weighting for the third quarter of 2014. according to the report, “this speaks to the more favorable risk-reward than the last time shares traded above $100.” cisco cisco systems, inc. (nasdaq: csco ) “saw little change in allocations while fundamentals continue to improve.” morgan stanley “previously interpreted the historically low ownership as a sign of exceeding caution on the company’s revenue growth and margin expansion potential. the company’s recent fq2 report confirms a potentially strong 2015 product cycle, which could encourage increased allocation amongst investors in the coming quarters.” | 2015-02-19 |
apple inc.’s (nasdaq: aapl ) iphone 6 and 6 plus will be “coveted gifts” during chinese new year, which started today, according to cantor fitzgerald. the analysts reiterated their $160 price target and buy rating on the stock. in their bullish note, the analysts stated that apple is “better positioned than ever in china” to benefit from more 3g/4g subscriptions. in january, the three china-based mobile carriers reported 3g/4g subscriptions grew by 42 percent year over year. when projected forward five years, cantor believes this increasing base represents an opportunity of $123 to $164 billion for apple, the note said. while the analysts were overwhelmingly bullish on apple, they did highlight eight potential risks to their outlook. notably, those risks included the buoyancy of consumers, ability to keep key talent, competition and pricing pressures, and the ability to generate new products and market opportunities. the $160 price target is based on 14x the 2016 eps estimate plus cash. | 2015-02-19 |
in a report published thursday, citigroup analyst jim suva offered five reasons why shares of apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) can trade higher. reason one: device acceleration according to suva, device acceleration is a "significant" underlying positive driver for apple as wireless carriers have shifted their strategies to offer consumers a change to upgrade their cell phones before the expiration of their contract. | 2015-02-19 |
numerous reports and articles in the last few days have stated how apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) is poaching employees from tesla motors inc (nasdaq: tsla ) and from electric car battery maker, a123 systems and building its own battery division, which is leading many to speculate that an apple car can soon be a reality. re/code's co-executive editor kara swisher was on cnbc friday to weigh in on this. will apple car be a reality by 2020? “i don’t know, i don’t know if they are making a car, if they are making a dashboard or if they are just into the battery stuff which is super important to their phone,” swisher said. “i would like them to get the apple tv out first. i am not clear, i mean i think there’s a lot of reports and i am not certain, there was a great essay by jean-louis gassée, who i love, who we think is a great essayist saying the apple car is a fantasy.” “i think they are definitely understanding the car, i mean i always say the car is the first mobile device, if you think about it, and so the car is going to be an important place for a lot of apple products to be integrated into and especially when you not move beyond the electric car to these self driving cars and i think that’s the real game as what happens when those start to really become interesting and they are interesting to me already and i think electric car is a stop along the way to the self driving car.” are they working on improving batteries? “yeah they have to, everybody has to get into batteries,” swisher replied. “that’s the one area that hasn’t innovated as much as everything else has and it’s the thing that’s sort of the gating factor here is the ability to create these longer lasting batteries and everyone’s working in that area.” | 2015-02-20 |
"as things are right now, we do think about 70 to 80 percent of this new market, new transportation market -- which includes superchargers, autonomous cars and gigafactories --tesla could own almost 70 to 80 percent of this market," said chowdhry. "that's close to $700 to $800 billion market opportunity." related link: the rumored apple car initiative: 6 things investors must know bye-bye traditional automakers with tesla motors inc (nasdaq: tsla ) in the lead, chowdhry estimated that the remaining $300 billion could be split between apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) and google inc (nasdaq: goog ). he compared the rest of the auto space -- including porsche, bmw, general motors company (nyse: gm ) and ford motor company (nyse: f ) -- to ill-fated pc manufacturers that once faced apple. | 2015-02-20 |
according to an article published at 9to5mac , apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) is preparing to launch the first-ever public beta program for its ios operating system. sources familiar with the issue say that the company intends to debug the upcoming ios 8.3 version (codenamed stowe) before releasing it to the general public, and fight “unauthorized sales of beta downloads from developer accounts.” apparently, apple intends to introduce the beta through its appleseed program around march 9. according to the article, apple then plans to present its ios 9 at its june worldwide developer conference, with a public beta release during the summer, and a final version in the fall. the sources say that the ios betas will be quite exclusive, though, reaching just 100,000 people, compared to the public beta launched in 2014 for the os x yosemite, which was released to the first million people who registered. the ios 8.3 was first seeded to a select group of retail employees in january, and to developers in early february. the wider public now awaits its turn (probably anxiously). | 2015-02-20 |
bloomberg sources claim that apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) wants to start producing cars as soon as 2020 . | 2015-02-20 |
joel elconin is the co-host of benzinga's #premarket prep , a daily trading idea radio show. apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) shares were trading higher by $0.26 at $128.66 in friday's session. goldman sachs raising its price target from $130.00 to $145.00 earlier friday. at this time, apple is in the process of making a quadruple top (a pattern used in technical analysis to predict the reversal of a prolonged uptrend) three highs at the $129.00 level. after peaking on tuesday at $128.88, wednesday at $128.78 and thursday at $129.03, it has peaked again at $128.88 so far in today's session, making four highs in one small area. on many occasions, the expiration of weekly options can limit the upward or downward movement in an issue as large players attempt to defend their position in the issue. in this instance, sellers of the $129.00 calls are selling at that level to prevent them from going "in the money." this practice is also known as "pinning." those sellers may not be present in the market on monday morning and the issue may clear this major resistance level and continue on to new all-time highs. | 2015-02-20 |
in a report published thursday, goldman sachs provides an update on its apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) “scenario analysis and tactical map for 2015.” according to the firm, the risk-reward profile is more balanced, but upside persists. in this article, we will dig into the analysts’ bull and bear case scenarios, updated after apple’s surprising december quarter performance. “bull case: $250.0bn cy15 revenue, $10.13 cy15 eps, $172 implied valuation” within goldman sachs’ bull case scenario, the analysts take a considerably more optimistic view than their base case -- as it can be noticed from the figures above. the key drivers in this scenario are: - iphone: 232.9 million units in calendar 2015, assuming several tailwinds. - iphone: 46.7 percent gross margin in calendar 2015 (up from base case assumption of 46.1 percent). “this is primarily driven by the increased mix of the higher-margin iphone 6 plus as well as continued cost declines as volume ramps. this more than offsets the fx pressures that weigh on our base and bear case scenarios.” - ipad/mac: robust unit growth in 2015, to 64.9 million/21.7 million units. - apple watch: 20.8 million units in 2015; the bull case “includes a very optimistic view of apple watch traction.” - buybacks: $48 billion in 2015 “bear case: $216.8bn cy15 revenue, $7.92 cy15 eps, $95 implied valuation” the bear case scenario takes a “more muted view of iphone units and gm as well as our [the analysts’] outlook for ipad, mac, apple watch. we also temper our assumptions for apple’s share repurchase program within our bear case.” the key drivers in this scenario are: - iphone: 203.6 million units in calendar 2015. - iphone: 44.4 percent gross margin in 2015, “driven primarily by several factors including: (1) greater-than-expected fx pressure; (2) the lack of a significant gm ramp across the cycle; (3) a lower mix of iphone 6 plus.” - ipad/mac: 60.4 million/20.3 million units in 2015, assuming that “the ipad business continues to decline on a unit basis in cy2015 and that mac units only increase by a modest 4% y/y.” the firm also factors in fx-driven headwinds to gross margins within both segments in its bear case. - apple watch: 11.6 million units in 2015. - buybacks: $34 billion in 2015. | 2015-02-20 |
apple inc (nasdaq: aapl ) sits near all-time highs, but in a note today, analysts at goldman sachs tackled the main questions facing the world’s largest company. here are the questions, as goldman phrases them, along with their analysis. question: how should we think about march quarter iphone seasonality and apple’s guidance? answer: march quarter guidance is “remarkably conservative.” the analysts expect quarter-over-quarter iphone sales to decline 26.5 percent – the result of a challenging quarterly comp from q4 2014. the firm’s overall revenue estimate is still above apple’s guidance. additionally, goldman noted that it anticipates an inventory build of 9-10 million shipments that is not currently factored into estimates – reducing the downside risk in both the march and june quarters. question: is currency risk fully factored into current expectations? answer: currency risk is factored into the current expectations. goldman said it expects that currency headwinds to play a larger role in the june quarter than in the march quarter, the result of hedges that begin to roll off. this translates to an additional 50 basis point reduction in gross margins in q2. question: will the apple watch live up to expectations? answer: investor expectations are in line, though some wall street analysts expect sales that are “remarkably high.” goldman is skeptical that apple watch can “move the needle” for a company of apple’s size, but the firm raised its apple watch expectations. goldman said that it forecasts 18.4 million apple watch units in its first full year, compared with 15.5 million units previously. question: will apple’s new capital allocation program meet lofty expectations? answer: “it is clear” that apple will increase its capital allocation program with its annual update in april. the analysts forecasted that apple will buy back $37 billion for fy15. in the note, goldman outlined a bull case that has apple repurchasing $50 billion in stock per year and increasing its dividend by 15 percent, totaling more than $60 billion per year in capital returns. question: is the march quarter earnings release still the peak point of uncertainty? answer: no. goldman said it expects the positive momentum to translate to the march quarter, expecting that the “peak period of uncertainty” will move to the summer. in the summer, the analysts say, investors will have to weigh momentum in the apple watch, supplier data on the iphone 6, and how the landscape shifted for iphone 6 competitors. | 2015-02-20 |
shares of apple were trading higher by 0.25 percent on friday morning after a bloomberg reported suggested that apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) has set 2020 as a target to begin production of an electric vehicle. | 2015-02-20 |
in previous articles, we looked into the top stocks institutional investors added in q4 and top stocks institutional investors dumped in q4 . in this article, we will take a look at the top 10 stocks that are amongst institutional investors’ top 10 picks. 10) berkshire hathaway berkshire hathaway inc.’s (nyse: brk/b) class b stock was the tenth most popular in the fourth quarter. more than 1,500 institutions hold the stock and, amongst them, 313 can count it amongst its top 10 picks. some notable institutions betting on this company are the vanguard group, which holds about $13.1 billion in stock (this makes it its eighth most valuable position) and the bill & melinda gates foundation trust, which has its largest bet placed on mr. buffett’s firm. 9) wells fargo wells fargo & company (nyse: wfc ) counts with the support of more than 1,600 institutional investors. out of them, 353 have one of their top 10 stakes placed in wells fargo’s stock. in fact, this is warren buffett’s berkshire hathaway’s top position, valued at more than $25.4 billion. 8) procter & gamble procter & gamble company (the) (nyse: pg ) is up next, with approximately 1,750 institutional backers, amongst which 381 have it as a top-10 position. once again, the vanguard group and berkshire hathaway can be included in this list. 7) j p morgan chase j p morgan chase & co (nyse: jpm ) came in seventh, with 393 institutions holding big chunks of its stock -- in relation to their total holdings. amongst these 393 funds and firms that hold j p morgan’s stock as one of its top 10 positions there’s, yet again, the vanguard group, fmr llc and harris associates. 6) general electric general electric company (nyse: ge ) is amongst the top 10 picks of 395 big financial institutions, including –guess- the vanguard group and credit suisse ag 5) s&p 500 number five in this list is an etf: spdr s&p 500 etf (etf: spy) . the index is between the top 10 picks of 600 funds and investment firms like j p morgan chase, the goldman sachs group, barclays plc and morgan stanley, each of which own billions of dollars in stock. 4) exxon mobil despite the steep fall in oil prices, exxon mobil corporation (nyse: xom ) remains a favorite amongst institutional investors, with 611 of them having it amongst its top 10 most valuable positions. the vanguard group is one of them, same as state street corp. 3) johnson & johnson johnson & johnson (nyse: jnj ) came in third in the fourth quarter, being amongst 628 funds’ top picks, and counting with almost 2,000 institutional supporters. yet again, the vanguard group and state street are included in this list, along with big hedge funds like yacktman asset management and fisher asset management. 2) microsoft as you might figure, number 2 is microsoft corporation (nasdaq: msft ), which is amongst 685 funds’ top picks. large investors include valueact holdings and first eagle investment management. 1) apple as usual, apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) is the undisputed king, standing as one of the top 10 bets of 1,130 institutional investors, including icahn capital, the vanguard group, state street, fmr and fisher asset management amongst many others. | 2015-02-20 |
in a report published thursday, goldman sachs analyst bill shope commented that apple's (nasdaq: aapl ) risk-reward profile is "more balanced" but recent data points support further upside. | 2015-02-20 |
and with that came a plethora of opinions from numerous analysts. three tech giants could dominate the auto industry global equities research analyst trip chowdhry thinks the auto industry is ripe for disruption. he told benzinga that tesla motors inc (nasdaq: tsla ), apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) and google inc (nasdaq: goog ) could dethrone several industry stalwarts, including general motors company (nyse: gm ) and ford motor company (nyse: f ). | 2015-02-21 |
jack hough's "apple shares could return 25% in a year" suggests that, with apple inc. 's (nasdaq: aapl ) understated earnings, cash hoard, growth potential and history of beating expectations, it is time for the stock to carry at least a market valuation, if not a premium. | 2015-02-22 |
apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) is rumored to be in talks to build a $1.7 billion plant with japan display. | 2015-02-22 |
joel elconin is the co-host of benzinga's #premarket prep , a daily trading idea radio show. tesla motors inc (nasdaq: tsla ) shares were trading lower by $8.77 (4 percent) at $208.34 in monday's session. since shedding $10.00 on february 12, from $212.80 to $202.88 as the result of a huge q4 miss (($0.13) vs. ($0.31) estimates) on lower-than-expected revenue ($1.10 billion vs. $1.23 billion), the issue staged a short and mysterious rally reaching $218.20 early monday's session. see also: runaway bull stampede in apple some of the recent rally may have been based on speculation that apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) was going to entering the electric car market and that tesla motors may been an attractive takeover target . as the rumors of a takeover faded, investors may return their focus to the disastrous earnings report that instigated its earlier decline to $193.28 on february 12, before rebounding back well above $200.00. tesla motors has been in a prolonged downtrend since making its all-time high on september 4 at $291.42 and posting its all-time high close on that same day at $286.04. it has not been able to distance itself very far from its january 14 low ($185.00), which represents its lowest level since it bottomed at $177.22 in may 2014 as it was on its way to its all-time high. | 2015-02-23 |
apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) is continuing the bull run it started post its fourth-quarter results declaration, surpassing the $750 billion market-cap mark today. however, according to abhey lamba, analyst at mizuho securities usa, a lot of good news regarding sales of the iphone and the apple watch are already ‘baked’ into the price. lamba was on cnbc monday to talk about how the high expectations build around the apple watch are going to affect the stock in the near future. high expectations for the watch “we think expectations for apple watch are a little bit high and there could be source of disappointment over there,” lamba said. “and if you look at the stock price currently, we think a lot of that good news is baked into the price over here and its closer to the scenario analysis that we highlighted in the note that’s around $130 to $140 is where we think it could go, but a lot of the good news is already baked in, we remain neutral on the stock, we think our price target of $115 is more reasonable as we look down 12 months.” won’t the apple watch help increase the iphone sales? “listen, i mean if you look at it iphone , the stock historically has traded how [well] the iphone performance has been,” lamba replied. “if iphones are accelerating we see the stock perform really well, iphone shipments are decelerating we see the stock performance not do so well and from 75 million units that we saw in december quarter, we think they are going to decelerate especially more meaningfully after the march quarter and apple watch is probably going to have a hard time filling in the gap that iphones are going to leave.” “ we think it’s going to do well, but it’s probably not going to be big enough to kind of offset the gap that iphones are going to leave and that’s where we feel going into the back half of the year there are going to be headwinds on the stock.” | 2015-02-23 |
after acquiring oculus rift , facebook inc (nasdaq: fb ) recently announced that it’s working on creating virtual reality apps, while apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) was also recently issued a patent for a virtual reality headset. tom's guide editor-in-chief mark spoonauer was on cnbc recently to discuss why these silicon valley majors are making a big bet on virtual reality. do you see demand for virtual reality apps and products? “we are still very early in the game in terms of virtual reality, but you have a lot of players entering the arena,” spoonauer said. “samsung has its own gear vr headset that’s out and at first they are saying well this is just a prototype device, but everyone who has seen it and have tried it on have been blown away because you could be watching a concert, look around you and it gives you a 360 degree, fully immersive view of everything from concerts to movies to games.” “so, now it’s about how do you deliver apps that are going to keep people interested beyond that novelty factor.” when do you think these apps will be available? “facebook hasn’t provided the timeline, but they are talking about giving apps not just to developers, but to people to allow them to upload content and giving people a fully immersive view,” spoonauer replied. “i wouldn’t be surprised to see something towards the end of the year.” why apple is taking virtual reality so seriously? “i think they have a couple of advantages,” spoonauer said. “one, is that they have a huge advantage when it comes to content, they have their appstore as well as the itunes. so, imagine them being enabled to have content developers create virtual reality experiences for their users and that’s another example they have with the apple watch.” he added, “i say the content ecosystem gives them a heads up over other players including samsung. what’s funny about this patent is that it was issued in 2008. so, just a year after the iphone came out. so, this has been a long-term in terms of development…i wouldn’t be surprised to see them come out with something maybe as early as 2016.” | 2015-02-23 |
after fighting the smartphone wars, tech giants google inc (nasdaq: googl ) and apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) have found a new battleground in the car dashboard. both companies are gearing up for outdoing each other in the in-car tech tech space with their respective products, android auto and apple’ carplay. michael andronico, associate editor at tom's guide, was on cnbc monday to talk about the recent developments in both the platforms. android auto or apple’s carplay – which will emerge as the winner? “we think it’s going to be a very close race, no pun intended because you have got this apple car play and android auto are going to be available on a lot of the same cars,” andronico said. “companies like ford and honda are both are going to support both platforms, they don’t want their drivers, their consumers to be locked out if they only have an iphone or if they only have an android phone. so, as far as who’s using the in-car software, i think it’s going to be very close between apple car play and android auto.” will consumers be interested in having a smart dashboard or a self-driving car? “i think specifically, a smart dashboard, there is demand for that,” andronico replied. “that’s essentially what car play and what android auto bring to drivers, something where you have your phones core features right in front of you and you are not staring at your phones every two seconds. it’s actually designed to be safer, you get a quick glance at google maps, you get a very quick glance at who’s texting you, without looking down, without being distracted.” he continued, “so, specifically talking about smart dashboards, there is a demand there, but moving to these self-driving cars that we have heard google talk about, it would take a very long time i think to make those safe and i am not sure if the demand is there for that type of vehicle.” | 2015-02-23 |
apple inc.’s (nasdaq: aapl ) stock surpassed the $120 threshold today, trading at an all-time high -- on a split-adjusted basis. this means that the company’s market capitalization is now very close to $700 million, thus maintaining its position as the largest publicly traded company in the world. but, those not so familiar –or comfortable- with such big figures might ask, how much money is $700 billion? below, a few comparisons to put the number in context: - $700 billion is almost five times the government budget proposed for california –the state with the largest budget- for fiscal 2014 ($145.8 billion), and 184 times the budget for the whole state of delaware – for 2014. - $700 billion is more than 218 times what the most valuable football team, the dallas cowboys, is worth ($3.2 billion), 269 times the value of the new england patriots ($2.6 billion), and 291 times what the washington redskins are worth ($2.4). - $700 billion is about 105 times what the two largest soccer clubs in the world are worth, combined! real madrid ($3.44 billion) and barcelona ($3.2 billion) together are valued at $6.64 billion. - $700 billion is more than switzerland’s 2014 gdp -- $679 billion, and about 3.5 times the gdp for new zealand - $200 billion. - $700 billion is enough to buy 2185 mcdonald's corporation (nyse: mcd ) cheeseburgers – or about 6 cheeseburgers a day for a whole year- to each one of the 320,274,540 u.s. residents. - $700 billion is enough to give more than $600 dollars to each resident in the african continent. this is what a person makes –in average- in a full-year of work in sub-saharan africa. - $700 billion is enough to buy all of google inc.’s (nasdaq: goog ) (nasdaq: googl ) and microsoft corporation’s (nasdaq: msft ) outstanding shares. - $700 billion is enough to make the three riches men on earth -bill gates, warren buffett and carlos slim helu- jealous. their combined net worth is just $223.8 billion, less than 1/3 of apple’s market cap. | 2015-02-04 |
apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) announced that it would be expanding its european operations in a big way over the next two years, something the region’s policy makers hope will help spur on job growth and assist with economic recovery efforts. the electronics giant announced on monday that it plans to spend €1.7 billion on two state-of-the-art data centers set to be based in ireland and denmark. clean energy initiative the data centers are expected to be the largest of their kind in the world, and will be powered by the latest renewable energy technology. in addition to running its data centers on clean energy sources, cook said apple will continue to work with local groups to develop innovative ways to provide power in the future. new jobs apple ceo tim cook said this project marks the company’s largest european project to date, and that the new centers will be responsible for powering services like the itunes store, maps and imessage throughout europe. the euros spent on the project are expected to be evenly distributed between ireland and denmark and will likely create hundreds of new jobs in each nation. ireland welcomes apple project irish prime minister enda kenney cheered the project, saying that it is projected to add 300 new jobs by 2017 when the center is expected to begin operations. ireland has long struggled to recover after receiving a bailout package from the eu when the financial crisis began. since then, the nation’s lawmakers have been working to sure up irelamd’s balance sheet and reduce unemployment. this year, irish policymakers have vowed to cut unemployment figures to below 10 percent, something the apple project will help accomplish. | 2015-02-23 |
but gopro faces formidable competition in the task from the likes of apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) and adobe systems inc. | 2015-02-23 |
in a report published monday, cantor fitzgerald analyst brian white commented that apple inc.'s (nasdaq: aapl ) future "apple car" has the potential to be the "iphone of the future" but that is just the first step in apple's long-term initiatives. | 2015-02-23 |
eight-time academy award nominee martin scorsese is the latest famous voice to show up in an apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) commercial. scorsese gave the commencement speech to the nyu tisch school of the arts in 2014, and sound bites were featured throughout the commercial, which touts the ipad as a film-making device. "every day is re-dedication," the voiceover says. "every scene is a lesson. every shot is a school. let the learning continue.” the very first ipad commercial ran during the oscar ceremony in 2010. interestingly, scorsese is noted for his love of physical film while shooting movies, and has resisted shooting movies digitally. the 2010 animated feature "hugo" was his first movie shot digitally. "it's a very bittersweet thing to be watching films with him now that are on film. we're cherishing every moment of it," thelma schoonmaker, scorsese's long-time editor, told empire in 2012. "the number of prints that are now being made for release has just gone down, and it would appear that the theatres have converted so quickly to digital." | 2015-02-23 |
apple inc.'s (nasdaq: aapl ) ios operating system's recent share climbed to 19.7 percent, from 17.5 percent last year. | 2015-02-24 |
the worst performing industries in the market today are: semiconductor- memory chips: this industry tumbled 4.9% by 11:30 am. the worst stock within the industry was micron technology, inc. (nasdaq: mu ), which fell 3.8%. according to a report, micron may miss out on supplying dram chip to apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) for the companies new smartphones. reit - healthcare facilities: this industry declined 4.1% by 11:30 am with ventas, inc. (nyse: vtr ) moving down 4.3%. ventas' peg ratio is 3.47. resorts & casinos: the industry dropped 1.9% by 11:30 am. the worst performer in this industry was melco crown entertainment limited (nasdaq: mpel ), which declined 7%. melco crown shares have dropped 35.83% over the past 52 weeks, while the s&p 500 index has gained 14.34% in the same period. dairy products: this industry fell 1.7% by 11:30 am et. dean foods company (nyse: df ) shares dropped 2.7% in today's trading. dean foods' trailing-twelve-month roe is -3.01%. | 2015-02-24 |
according to an article published monday on the korea times , officials at korean samsung electronics co. ltd. (otcmkts: ssnlf) are saying that apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) is “luring away samsung electronics’ experts in next-generation technology.” apparently, the largest company in the world (in terms of market cap) continues to headhunt samsung electronics’ “experienced technicians and engineers engaged in signal- and visual-processing management.” an official at the korean company said that apple is offering very attractive benefits and high salaries, and has, already, effectively hired some of its personnel, which is already working in apple’s san jose, california headquarters. another official at samsung electronics explained the migration: “those former samsung workers are given greater independence to proceed with their tasks. apple prefers to use samsung's chip experts because they are very diligent, mission-oriented and are prepared to acquire new knowledge." however, it is not only chipmakers that apple is targeting. reportedly developing an electric car of its own, the company needs battery experts. and, being a late-comer to the electric vehicles race, the iphone maker doesn’t have experts of its own, so it is also looking for them amongst samsung electronics’ lines (samsung is one of the largest battery suppliers, and its products are already used in several electric cars, including bmw’s). related link: 4 reasons the car is crucial to apple in fact, the tech behemoth was also accused of poaching employees from tesla motors, inc. (nasdaq: tsla ), a123, mercedes benz and other electric car manufacturers. the korean official explained: “as the electric vehicle business is a new one, apple needs patents and experts in battery technology. top human resources firms have been approaching samsung's battery experts, individually, and i think such human exchange moves are a win-win for both.” according to the korea times article, “apple is still involved in patent disputes with samsung in the united states. but the two companies are on a full track to normalize their business partnership, as apple can't completely divorce samsung given the latter's advantages in supplying mobile drams, application processors and displays on time with better pricing (…) officials said samsung will strengthen its strategic partnership with apple in futuristic business projects, as they need each other. samsung heir-apparent lee jae-yong maintains a solid partnership with apple ceo tim cook, they said.” | 2015-02-24 |
joel elconin is the co-host of benzinga's #premarket prep , a daily trading idea radio show. micron technology, inc. (nyse: mu ) shares were trading lower by $1.40 (4.5 percent) at $30.00 in tuesday's session. the catalyst for the decline is a report that the company may miss out on supplying dram chip to apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) for the companies new smartphones. investors did not waiting around to for the news to be confirmed and began pounding the stock in pre-market trading, shaving $1.00 from its share price in the seven minutes prior to the nyse open. after briefly attempting to hold $30.00 off the open, reaching $30.05, another wave of selling sent the issue under $29.00, reaching $28.79. that level coincides with its february 10 low ($29.00). since making that spike low, it has battled back and made a new intraday high at $30.09. this violent move is taking place on extremely higher than average volume. so far, it has traded nearly 28 million shares vs. its five-day average volume of 15.2 million. some of the rebound in the issue may be attributed to comments from stifel that, according to bloomberg, the move lower in the issue related to the apple speculation may be overdone. | 2015-02-24 |
apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) has been mum on its plans to get into the auto business amid accusations that the company is poaching employees from tesla motors inc (nasdaq: tsla ), a123, mercedes benz and other electric car manufacturers. morgan stanley research released a note today that outlines four reasons the car is crucial to apple’s future. in short, this is a move out of necessity, rather than a passion the company is indulging. reason 1: the total addressable market is huge. whether measured as the total value of all the miles driven or the value of all the cars on the road, morgan stanley pegged the tam at $10 trillion. for new car sales only, $1.6 trillion are sold annually. smartphones and pcs tam is less than half of new car sales, combined. [picture] reason 2: captive customers, particularly in autonomous cars. the average driver spends an hour in the car each day, driving between 30 and 50 miles. when cars go autonomous, that hour will become free for drivers to use in other ways. morgan stanley expects that “apple will want unfettered access to this vast and captive audience.” [picture] reason 3: apple can earn more share of customers’ time pie. today, apple “reaches a quarter of its users’ time.” becoming a larger player in the car means that apple can break into a larger portion of customers’ time. [picture] reason 4: the car will be the “4th screen.” users have four screens now to consume content – pcs, phones, tvs and the car. apple’s carplay is already transitioning the smartphone ecosystem into the car, which can be a foothold to the apple car adoption. | 2015-02-24 |
a lot of buzz has been circulating about apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) newest product, the apple watch, poised to hit stores this coming april. in light of this, global equities research analyst trip chowdhry weighed in on apple on february 23, maintaining a buy rating on the stock with a price target of $165. after speaking to roughly 500 apple developers and attending six apple watch-kit hackathons, the analyst believes that “by april 10th, apple may have about 100,000 apple watch applications in the appstore.” with that said, chowdhry noted the company’s “winning recipe” of “more developers = more applications = more devices sold.” he does not believe the current price of $350 will be a concern. in comparative terms, if a user has 100 apps on his/her apple watch, “the consumer is getting 100 devices for $350 .i.e. $3.50 per device.” chowdhry compared the apple watch to google wear, noting “every aspect of apple watch is extremely well thought-off and seamlessly integrated – right from software development tools, to appstore, to the design of the apple watch itself. google android wear seems quite disconnected and haphazard in implementation.” trip chowdhry has rated apple 15 times since may 2013, earning a 100 percent success rate recommending the stock and a +43.4 percent average return per recommendation . overall, chowdhry has a 72 percent success rate recommending stocks and a +29.3 percent average return per recommendation. cantor fitzgerald analyst brian white weighed in on apple a few days earlier on february 20, maintaining a buy rating on the stock and a $160 price target. white’s rating was driven by news that apple is planning to develop and build an electric vehicle as soon as 2020. he noted, ““we believe the personal robot category offers great potential over the next decade and fits well with apple’s skill set. in our view, this week’s media reports of apple’s potential in the auto market speaks to continued innovation at apple.” the analyst added, “in our view, as more “things” become computers, we believe apple is very well positioned to leverage its heritage in the industry developing hardware and software innovations together across a vast digital ecosystem, creating easy-to-use, aesthetically pleasing products. given the growing enthusiasm around personal robots at international ces last month, we believe apple has an opportunity to leverage its heritage in the computer market, technology innovation in mobile devices and reputation for making user-friendly solutions to develop personal robots for the home.” brian white has rated apple 102 times since october 2010, earning an 83 percent success rate recommending the company and a +32.7 percent average return per recommendation. overall, white has a 75 percent success rate recommending stocks and a +21.3 percent average return per recommendation. on average, the top analyst consensus for apple on tipranks is moderate buy. | 2015-02-24 |
there was no shortage of stories to attract the attention of traders and their computers yesterday. it seemed like there was a new item flashing across the screens every 15 minutes or so. however, at the end of the day, the market only seemed to care about a couple things - yellen and apple. in case you missed it, there was news out of ukraine, greece, opec, and the san francisco fed, as well as word of a potential terror threat at the mall of america. now toss in the back-and-forth, will she or won't she, discussion about what janet yellen will or won't say on capitol hill this week, and you had a recipe for volatility in the stock market. greece misses a deadline - again just when you thought it was safe to assume that the deal between greece and the eurozone meant that this subject could be put on the back burner, athens was back in the news yesterday. in an almost comical headline, we learned that within 24 hours of inking the deal to extend the deadline for bailout funding, greece missed a deadline. it's first deadline. an important deadline. you see, apparently the greek government wasn't quite ready to send a list of reforms demanded by the eurozone yesterday. in essence, athens said, "we'll get it to you tomorrow." while this didn't create much of a stir in the markets (recall that most analysts, including yours truly have put the drama in greece aside for now), the news did cause some traders to wonder if greece was once again the word for the day. but as has been the case throughout this so-called crisis, the major market indices didn't seem to care much by the time the closing bell rang. related link: runaway bull stampede in apple - a technical look fedspeak sounding hawkish also placed in the non-event category on monday was word that san francisco fed president john williams - who is a voting member of the fomc this year - had hinted at a june rate hike. in an interview with the nikkei, williams said he viewed the recent gains in the jobs market as 'remarkable' and then predicted unemployment would fall to 5.2 percent within the year. he also talked about the ways the fed could change its language in order to let markets know a rate hike might be coming. while there was really nothing new here, the takeaway seemed to be that fed members may decide to "talk tough" on the rate front in order to establish some credibility. in short, although everyone knows that janet yellen is a dove, the fed doesn't want to appear to be wishy-washy on its policy at this time. therefore, we may hear more tough love from yellen this week. opec beginning to notice? what did get the attention of the high speed trading algos yesterday was a report that opec was considering an emergency meeting. the ft reported that nigeria's oil minister and opec president - diezani alison-madueke - said yesterday afternoon that opec members have discussed holding an emergency meeting if oil prices continue to slide. alison-madueke said that if prices slip any further it is highly likely that she will have to call an extraordinary meeting in the next six weeks or so, adding that "we're already talking with member countries." the opec president also noted that "it is hoped that (oil) will stabilize at no less than $60, but we cannot be sure." she said almost all opec members, except perhaps saudi arabia, are very uncomfortable. however, after the expected spike in oil prices and the stock market caused by the headline, reality set in as other officials quickly said there is no such meeting being considered. all about apple? one could also make the argument that the recent market action is really all about a little technology company started by a guy named, jobs. apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) got an awful lot of attention yesterday as the company's market cap continues to balloon. (the recent spike in price doesn't hurt here.) apple (nasdaq: aapl ) - daily an article in the ft mentioned that with apple's valuation now over $770 billion, its market cap is now greater than entire s&p 600 small-cap index. the article added that stock now makes up 4.1 percent of s&p 500, a level surpassed by only five other companies in history. next, the wsj noted that apple is now worth at least twice that of any other publicly traded u.s. company. finally, it is worth mentioning that if aapl hits the most aggressive street target (currently sitting at $165), the company's market cap would be just shy of $1 trillion. so, if you are looking for the real key to the recent advance in the nasdaq and the nasdaq 100, look no further than aapl. related link: why are apple and facebook making big bets on virtual reality? waiting on yellen despite all the news flow, the s&p 500 wound up doing very little to start of the week. and although a late rally took prices from the low of the day to the high of the day, the end result would seem to suggest that stocks have stalled out. the easiest explanation for the lack of follow through to friday's breakout is the simple fact that janet yellen will testify on capitol hill twice this week. her first congressional testimony on the state of monetary policy is scheduled to begin at 10:00 am eastern time. most analysts don't expect much from yellen here. the consensus is that she will stick to the language provided in recent fomc statement and that the fed chairwoman isn't likely to provide any new insight in terms of when the "patient" forward guidance language will be removed. also look for yellen to talk up the recent momentum in the labor market and the softness in inflation. however, yellen has provided some surprises before, so be sure to tune in. | 2015-02-24 |
in a report published tuesday, morgan stanley analyst adam jonas commented that he would not be "dismissive" of apple's (nasdaq: aapl ) automotive ambitions and that being in the car business "could be very important" for apple. | 2015-02-24 |
apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) has an excessive number of fanboys , but are they taking advantage of the company they cherish so much? | 2015-02-24 |
with its second annual internet and technology conference being held in new york this week, cantor fitzgerald released a report summarizing their 2015 outlook for internet stocks. the report included a list of the company’s top 10 internet investing themes for 2015. 1. mobile extends its lead over desktop consumers spent more time online on mobile devices than desktop devices for the first time in 2014, and that trend will continue in 2015. according to the report, consumers spent 23.3 percent of their total media time on mobile devices in 2014, while mobile accounted for only 7.6 percent of total media ad spend for the year. 2. programmatic premium ad buying changes the advertising game according to the report, the total programmatic display advertising market in 2014 was about $10 billion, and it’s expected to grow to about $15 billion in 2015. analysts believe that google inc (nasdaq: goog ) (nasdaq: googl ) and facebook inc (nasdaq: fb ) are best-positioned to capitalize on programmatic advertising. 3. tv dollars shift to online video users’ demand for video content that can be accessed via multiple devices will continue to drive focus away from traditional television in 2015. 4. google loses search share yahoo! inc’s (nasdaq: yhoo ) search share steadily increased from 8.6 percent in november to 10.9 percent in january, while google’s share steadily declined from 77.4 percent to 74.8 percent during that stretch. 5. mobile commerce bursts on the scene leading e-commerce companies amazon.com inc (nasdaq: amzn ) , ebay inc (nasdaq: ebay ) and apple inc (nasdaq: aapl ) already see a large percentage of sales coming from mobile devices, and analysts expect that trend to continue in 2015. 6. free shipping becomes the industry standard amazon’s prime service is leading the way for all online retailers to eventually offer free shipping to customers. 7. omni-channel commerce will either save incumbent retailers or lead to their demise while traditional on-site retailers such as wal-mart stores inc (nyse: wmt ) and best buy co inc (nyse: bby ) have shown they are adapting to the world of online sales, whether or not these two names and others in the space have done enough to save themselves from becoming obsolete remains to be seen. 8. the government will address taxes on foreign profits with the majority of the $150 billion in cash that internet stocks collectively hold on their balance sheets currently invested overseas to avoid u.s. taxes, analysts predict that new tax laws favoring domestic investment are on the horizon. 9. the sharing economy will continue to rise analysts see a continuing trend toward resource sharing/renting rather than ownership. owners profit off of lending unused equipment, cash or other resources, and borrowers are spared the expense of purchasing the resources outright. 10. net neutrality debate takes center stage netflix inc (nasdaq: nflx ) , google and facebook would all benefit from the maintenance of net neutrality, the idea that internet service providers should continue to provide equal access to all internet content regardless of its source. | 2015-02-24 |
in a report published monday, global equities research analyst trip chowdhry maintained a buy rating on apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ), with a price target of $165. the analyst wrote that this was a comprehensive view on apple watch, after having attended six apple watch-kit hackathons over the past few months and speaking to ~500 apple ios developers. | 2015-02-23 |
tech giant apple inc (nasdaq: aapl ) has been ordered to pay $532.9 million to patent licensing firm smartflash llc after a texas federal jury found apple guilty of patent infringement . the lawsuit centered around three patents owned by smartflash relating to the software that itunes used to allow users to access and store downloaded media. apple responds in an official statement about the ruling, apple expressed its unwillingness to pay the cash without a fight. “we refuse to pay off this company for the ideas our employees spent years innovating and unfortunately we have been left with no choice but to take this fight up through the court system,” the statement read. apple plans to appeal the ruling on the grounds that the technology that is the subject of the lawsuit is too basic to deserve a patent in the first place. could have been worse after eight hours of deliberation, the jury in the case found apple guilty of willfully using smartflash’s patented technology. however, things could have been much worse for apple, as the $532.9 million the court ordered apple to pay is a far cry from the $852 million smartflash was asking for in its lawsuit. stock reacts apple stock’s reaction to the news has been minimal, as shares are trading down about one percent on wednesday from near all-time high levels. apple stock is up more than 18 percent so far in 2015. pending litigation investors in samsung electronics inc (otc: ssnlf ) and google inc (nasdaq: goog ) (nasdaq: googl ) are likely watching the results of the lawsuit closely, as smartflash currently has an additional patent infringement lawsuit filed against these two companies as well. shares of intellectual property company vringo inc (nasdaq: vrng ) are trading up more than 2 percent on wednesday. | 2015-02-25 |
(nasdaq: aapl ) infringed a series of smartflash patents in order to produce | 2015-02-25 |
it's not customary for a corporation to give a man a job after he sues the firm for millions of dollars. one analyst thinks apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) should ignore conventions and do it anyway. | 2015-02-25 |
"it's one of these business [where] when you look at the metrics, it becomes fascinating," he said. "every little metric on their business, and because it's smartphone-enabled and you have so much data, every single metric -- you tweak it one way or another -- and it has a significant impact." apple vs. spotify moe doesn't think that spotify has much to worry about in competing against apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) and others that offer on-demand music services. | 2015-02-25 |
a federal judge in tyler, texas has ordered apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) to pay $532.9 million in damages, stating that itunes software infringed on three patented innovations from smartflash llc. | 2015-02-25 |
fast food restaurant juggernaut mcdonalds corp (nyse: mcd ) stands accused of avoiding more than $1.1 billion in taxes between 2009 and 2013 by channeling european revenue through a luxemburg subsidiary. according to a report by reuters, the european commission is being called by labor unions and the war on want charity to investigate the tax practices of mcdonalds. ip licensing back in 2012, reuters pointed out how companies such as mcdonalds, subway and burger king (nyse: bkw ) get away with paying very little tax on a large portion of their revenue by sweeping revenue, in the form of intellectual property (ip) fees, to subsidiary units that are set up in tax havens. for example, burger king recipes and branding were originally created in the u.s. however, european units pay ip fees to the company’s european office in zug, switzerland, where the tax rate can be as low as 2 percent. if the ip fees were paid to an american location, burger king would be paying as much as 39 percent in taxes. mcdonalds pays 1.4 percent tax rate mcdonalds’ version of the story is that mcd europe franchising sarl in luxembourg received more than $1 billion in fees from european mcdonalds franchises in 2013. filings show that somehow mcdonalds managed to pay only a 1.4 percent tax rate on $288 million in 2013 profits, likely exploiting ip tax loopholes. tax reform debate this latest accusation only fuels the fire raging over corporate tax reform in the u.s. restaurant chains are not the only companies avoiding u.s. tax rates by routing money overseas. according to a recent report by cantor fitzgerald , the majority of the $150 billion in cash that tech companies such as apple inc (nasdaq: aapl ) , google inc (nyse: goog ) (nyse: googl ) and amazon.com inc (nasdaq: amzn ) have on their balance sheets is invested overseas to avoid u.s. taxes. | 2015-02-25 |
in a report published wednesday, stifel analyst aaron rakers wrote that apple inc.'s (nasdaq: aapl ) "very strong" free cash flow coupled with its recently announced debt issuance comments that it would not be "hoarders" of cash has left high expectations of a strong capital return message in april. | 2015-02-25 |
google inc (nasdaq: googl ) recently acquired softcard, a venture backed by major carriers in the u.s. to support nfc based mobile payments. with this acquisition google’s digital payment platform, google play, will now be available pre-installed in all the android devices sold by the major carriers including - verizon communications inc. (nyse: vz ), t-mobile us inc (nyse: tmus ) and at&t inc. (nyse: t ). jag bath, retailmenot.com senior vice president, was on cnbc recently to talk about the deal and how google wallet and apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl )’s apple pay will impact the market share of ebay inc (nasdaq: ebay )’s soon to be spun-off unit, paypal. how important is this deal for google? “so, it’s a significant deal for google, there’s no doubt about it,” bath said. “since apple launched apple pay they have distribution power with apple pay being pre-installed on all new iphones and being part of the on boarding process for all new iphones. so, google needed to make a move in that space and inking this deal with the major carriers gets them to get google wallet pre-installed on all those new android devices. so, it’s pretty significant for them.” how paypal’s market share will change as a result of google wallet and apple pay? “yes, so paypal are the third major player in the space,” bath replied. they definitely have traction with retailers; they have pre-installed their own payment methods with retailers in brick and mortar stores. so, they are definitely a player in this space where the technology goes and where paypal are trying to push it is where payment will actually happen automatically at the check-out. so, you don’t necessarily have to take out your phone and touch the phone at the check-out." he continued, “so they are a player in this space as well, apple and google are too and then there are other players who we are hearing more and more about. samsung recently made an acquisition to enter this space as well and then there is a consortium of retailers led by wal-mart , who are also playing this space too.” | 2015-02-25 |
pacific crest research analyst, andy hargreaves, who famously downgraded apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) last year when the stock was trading at $105 levels, continues to be bearish on the stock. he recently released a note to clients reiterating his views. hargreaves was on cnbc tuesday to discuss what makes him remain negative on the stock. why have you reaffirmed your call on apple? “because i think it’s right, hargreaves said. “i haven’t waivered because i still think that what you are essentially seeing is obviously fantastic demand that continues to have extraordinary retention, but i think we are seeing a [pulling] that are upgrading now that would have upgraded later that pulls demand from future quarters." he continued, “and i think we are also seeing sort of a one-time step up in the share gain around the larger screen phone that i don’t expect to repeat next year. so, i still see basically declines in iphone when you get to the back half of this year and that creates a growth hurdle.” you don’t think there’s anything that’ll fill the vacuum of the iphone sales once it slows down? “well i mean everybody is looking at the watch, right?” hargreaves replied. “and that’s coming and clearly the company has really high expectations for what that product is going to be, what’s it’s going to do both in terms of sales volume and profit production, but in terms of how people are affected and i am more conservative, i can’t [decide] around what that product is going to do.” “we have a lot of it in our numbers, but it’s really hard to make for an iphone decline which i think is so profitable and even our watch expectation, i think the risk is to the downside preferably.” | 2015-02-25 |
some say amazon was not the first big company to offer carney a job. in july 2014, business insider (http://www.businessinsider.com/jay-carney-could-be-apples-next-pr-boss-2014-7#ixzz37uqk2zmj) had reported that apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) was in the process of hiring him as its new pr boss. however, the rumor was debunked short after. the loop (http://www.loopinsight.com/2014/07/15/about-the-rumor-jay-carney-could-be-apples-next-pr-boss/) informed that tim cook had "never even met jay carney." | 2015-02-26 |
apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) crossed the $750 billion market-cap mark recently. although there are other companies with market-cap in three digits, none at this point come even close to apple. | 2015-02-26 |
apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) has been rumored to be developing a large ipad -- an ipad plus, if you will -- for more than a year. could it finally surface at apple's next media event? | 2015-02-26 |
citigroup inc (nyse: c ) hardware analyst, jim suva, recently released a note in which he mentioned 5 reasons that will take apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) higher – device acceleration, attractive valuation, increase in gross margins, enterprise opportunity and apple pay and passbook. suva was on cnbc wednesday to explain what makes him so bullish on apple. what’s the top reason to buy apple? “believe it or not, it’s innovation,” suva replied. “the company has to continue to innovate. so far it’s mostly been on the consumer side, we’ve laid out our 5 reasons that actually takes it into the enterprise side - apple pay, apple watch and even potentially someday apple car, going into the car in the auto sector. their available market is broadening, we see 5 reason stock can keep going higher.” then why is your price target only $135, not higher? “that’s pretty hard, but let’s be honest, the last time i was on the show people were calling me nuts for having too high of a target price,” suva answered. “now we [roll forward the clock] today, it’s a great problem to have that we are sitting at. we are assessing true demand, iphone 6 products continue to sell well and importantly the gross margin and the higher gigabyte memory content is higher and higher that’s a [permanent] higher.” he continued, “as long as earnings keep going higher and this company continues to gain share and go in to other markets and earnings keep going higher, the stock is going to go higher.” | 2015-02-26 |
the invites for apple inc.'s (nasdaq: aapl ) "spring forward" media event are out! on thursday morning, the tech behemoth sent out the invitations for the event, to take place on monday, march 9, at the yerba buena center for the arts theater in san francisco at 10am pt, 1pm et, the loop reports -- the venue has been used by the company to host several events in the past. | 2015-02-26 |
another day, another apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) rumor. this one involves tesla motors inc (nasdaq: tsla ). according to chinese news site 21so.com, apple is thought to be making an investment in tesla. a translated version of the story claims "apple intends to invest in tesla." while investors have a right to be skeptical, the electric vehicle maker's shares have responded. tesla rose as high as 2.9 percent in thursday morning trading. so, are people seriously considering this rumor? twitter may provide some insight. we all know that the most reliable rumors come from random sites in china, duh. (alexa local ranking 8783) $aapl $tsla — cody (@codytrades) february 26, 2015 that $tsla spike was due to "speculation " with $aapl . take care — scott redler (@reddogt3) february 26, 2015 a rumor on a chinese web site about $aapl buying $tsla ? it's just a mistranslated repeat of the nonsensical story from last week, lol. — mark b. spiegel (@markbspiegel) february 26, 2015 you guys.. this is your $aapl $tsla leak. seriously. http://t.co/wfnxskevgp — affluenzavirus (@affluenzavirus) february 26, 2015 $tsla rallies on false report out of china. #ransquawk reported that a report out of china said $appl entered strategic agreement with $tsla — ki (@ki_500k) february 26, 2015 stocktwits even joined in: whoa!? | 2015-02-26 |
there's a "leak" out of china that $aapl and $tsla have agreed to a deal. links coming... — stocktwits (@stocktwits) february 26, 2015 but one user put it all into perspective: we all know that the most reliable rumors come from random sites in china, duh. (alexa local ranking 8783) $aapl $tsla — cody (@codytrades) february 26, 2015 | 2015-02-26 |
tim cook, apple inc.'s (nasdaq: aapl ) chief executive officer on wednesday met with israel's president reuven rivlin during a visit to the middle-east country while checking in with the company's new research and development center. | 2015-02-26 |
in a report published thursday, jpmorgan analyst rod hall commented on the chinese government's recent decision to drop some of the world's leading technology brands including apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) and cisco (nasdaq: csco ) from its approved state purchase lists. | 2015-02-26 |
shares of apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) have had a strong rally in the past one month fuelled by the strong numbers that the company reported in its quarterly earnings. although most analysts are positive on the stock, colin gillis of bgc partners feels that the company is approaching the top from where the declines may begin. gillis was recently on cnbc to discuss why it might be time to go negative on apple. “apple’s valuation now is clearly an outlier,” gillis said. “now, it’s a tremendous company and they are a profit machine. they are capturing all the profits in one of the most lucrative markets out there, which is the smartphone market, but there are some dynamics in this market that bear paying attention to, which is that-” slowing growth “a) it’s slowing down, the growth of the overall market is slowing down from this 20 or 30 percent, its going to approach the growth of the overall phone market, which is closer to 5 to 10 percent.” lengthening of upgrade cycle “b) the upgrade cycle for phones is likely to lengthen [right] as features just become good enough, we see it in pcs which have an upgrade cycle of 4 to 5 years, tvs are 10, phones are only 2 so if that upgrade cycle happens and lengthens, it’s going to be a negative for apple.” carriers reducing subsidies “and then three, if carriers are less able and willing to subsidize phones, that’s also going to be a negative for apple.” when countered that all the arguments he made are well into the future and are less likely to have an impact in the short-term, collin replied, “no, there’s very little that’ll kind of pull this thing down in the near-term except for perhaps the dividend disappointing investors right?, maybe the smartphone [perhaps meant the apple watch] comes in a little slower than people are expecting, but if we are not at the top, maybe close to the top.” | 2015-02-26 |
apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) ceo tim cook told the telegraph that the apple watch is designed to replace users' car keys. is this the company's way of saying that tesla motors inc (nasdaq: tsla ) and other automakers will hand out apple watches with every new car? | 2015-02-27 |
telecom equipment maker ericsson (adr) (nasdaq: eric ) announced today that it will be suing apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) for infringing on 41 of its mobile related patents. through the lawsuit ericsson will seek to block the sale of iphone and ipads in the u.s. | 2015-02-27 |
apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) has always priced its product at a premium and the trend continues with its apple watch. at $299, the watch might not be as expensive as some of the luxury watches, but for the average consumer it still is a considerable sum to spend on the watch. | 2015-02-27 |
on march 9, apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) might shock the world. or it might not. unveiled earlier this week, the tech giant said it will hold a "spring forward" media event on the second monday of march, but exact product details remain unknown. some, like citi , think the apple watch could be a focus. others, including jpmorgan , predict the event will bring an updated apple tv or a new macbook. but what's the social media world saying? some are talking tv: apple watch time? 9th of march. new event announced! ipad pro? updated apple tv? we are ready! http://t.co/bmvmlju6kj pic.twitter.com/cztl6fwosc — thewearableguru (@wearableguru) february 26, 2015 #appletv #apple event. https://t.co/ganqrf7xvw — brad (@bradaus) february 27, 2015 most others...watch: apple said it will hold a "special event" on march 9 that is likely to be a coming-out party for apple watch. http://t.co/jbwwsgqrmz $aapl — wall street journal (@wsj) february 26, 2015 apple sends invite for an event, and it's probably for apple watch: apple has sent out invitations to an event for… http://t.co/cp9qdx97kl — dfw breaking news (@dfwbreakingnews) february 27, 2015 apple will unveil details about its new watch the day after daylight savings time http://t.co/qwsf7w8c3w — newsday (@newsday) february 27, 2015 and a few traders are discussing technicals: apple watch event on the 6th anniversary of the bull market with apple worth $800b and nasdaq at 5000? time for 'ironic market top' calls. — michael santoli (@michaelsantoli) february 26, 2015 at least they're having fun: just got invited to apple event on march 9. impressed that the car is ready to go this quickly. pic.twitter.com/jxvwxnzsia — harry mccracken (@harrymccracken) february 26, 2015 it's gold and white, it's blue and black. let's not talk about #thedress . let's talk about apple's media event for march 9th! — austin wright (@awrighttech) february 27, 2015 | 2015-02-27 |
on thursday morning, apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) sent out its "spring forward" media event invites. speculation about which gadgets will be presented in the event has already arisen and multiplied. in a report published late-thursday, citi analysts jim suva and asiya merchant provide a summary of what they expect to see on march 9. | 2015-02-27 |
in a report published friday, jpmorgan analyst rod hall discussed apple inc's (nasdaq: aapl ) latest lawsuit initiated by ericsson (nasdaq: eric ) for patent infringement. | 2015-02-27 |
in a report published friday, jpmorgan analyst rod hall wrote that apple, inc.'s (nasdaq: aapl ) upcoming "spring forward" march 9 event could reveal details on an updated apple tv or a new retina macbook air. | 2015-02-27 |
icahn added that oil prices are likely to continue declining in the near term and that his position in apple, inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) "softened the impact" of the decline in oil prices and will "hopefully will continue to do so." | 2015-02-27 |
apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) ended february as the dominant tech company -- in the news, at least. | 2015-02-28 |
apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) responded positively to an article in barron's that highlighted the catalysts for the shares. the article cited rapidly expanding revenue, cost-cutting measures, price stability in its products, apple tv and increased dividend and share buyback as possible catalysts. | 2015-02-28 |
in the last six months that shares of apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) have jumped up around 25 percent, it has made many participants nervous. not because they are negative on the company, but due to the sheer size of the company they expect the law of large numbers to sooner or later catch up. | 2015-03-02 |
unlike other sites, tipranks constantly analyzes the recommendations of analysts, bloggers and other so-called experts. tipranks also provides detailed stats and information that explain why the analyst received a particular ranking. 1. gene munster, piper jaffray gene munster, the world's top apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) analyst, has achieved an average return of 30.5 percent out of 253 recommendations. of those recommendations, 73 percent (185) had positive returns in the year following each stock rating. | 2015-03-02 |
with apple inc. 's (nasdaq: aapl ) highly anticipated smart watch due out in the coming weeks, the buzz around wearable technology is at an all time high. smart watches are quickly becoming 2015's must have gadget, so companies are looking for ways to capitalize on the wearables market and no one is doing that better than fitness-based firms. excitement grows around biomonitoring apps apple's smart watch is expected to introduce a variety of features designed to seamlessly connect the wearer to the world around them. however one of the most talked about functions that the watch will provide is biomonitoring. apple is set to introduce its own line of feature rich apps that will help users track their health and fitness data, but developers have also begun to unveil their own offerings that will track everything from blood sugar to calories burned. nike a smartphone veteran the biomonitoring revolution has created an interesting market for athletic apparel companies as they can now engage with fitness enthusiasts who are likely to jump on board the wearables train. nike inc.'s (nyse: nke ) nike+ fuel smartphone app is a great example of how an apparel company is making the most of a growing demand for fitness tracking. under armour says apps are just the beginning under armour (nyse: ua ) is working to similarly establish a digital relationship with its customers in the coming year as wearables grow in popularity. the company recently spent $710 million to purchase the mapmyfitness, myfitnesspal and endomondo apps in order to better connect with its target audience. under armour chief executive kevin plank claims that a presence on customers' smartphones is only the beginning. he says the company is working to develop biomonitoring clothing that will be able to do everything from analyzing a wearer's yoga positions to measuring their heart rate. | 2015-03-02 |
a few minutes ago, apple inc.'s (nasdaq: aapl ) ceo, tim cook, tweeted a link to "breathtaking" photos taken with the company's iphone 6. apple | 2015-03-02 |
samsung announced a new smartphone – the galaxy s6/s6 edge – at the mobile world congress yesterday. in a note yesterday, jefferies said that the new smartphones add an "undeniable cool factor" to the brand's products that should help the company gain share of the high-end smartphone market. critically, the analysts also mentioned the possibility that samsung pay "could dwarf" apple inc (nasdaq: aapl ) pay. the analysts' rationale is that apple pay relies on nfc-capable terminals, which account for just a small fraction of the installed payment terminals. alternatively, samsung pay can be used at terminals with the traditional swipe technology. however, samsung and apple will also continue their "symbiotic" relationship, the analysts said, noting that apple may source components for the apple watch and flexible displays from samsung in the future. jefferies also upped samsung's price target on the korea exchange by 25 percent to 1.7 million korean won. samsung gained nearly 5 percent in monday's trading to 1.423 million won. | 2015-03-02 |
as with apple inc's (nasdaq: aapl ) apple pay platform, security is a "key selling point" of samsung pay also. samsung has apparently updated its knox platform to enhance security, but more importantly the company has agreements to use both visa and mastercard's token service – similar to apple pay. | 2015-03-02 |
one of morgan stanley's "best ideas" in 2015 is apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) , a stock that has already gained 16.4 percent in the first two months of the year. analysts at morgan stanley reframed the conversation this morning into two "key debates" and five risks to its price target of $160 per share. key debates: 1. can apple grow revenue and eps? morgan stanley argued that apple can grow at single-digit pace, while tv and autos could potentially add to growth over the long term. 2. can apple accelerate innovation? morgan stanley said that apple watch will be "an important barometer of the company's innovation capabilities." meanwhile, the company has made good additions to its management team in "key areas." risks: 1. android and windows competition on smartphones and tablets. 2. longer replacement cycles and lower credit from wireless carriers. 3. regulatory and legal risk with higher profit share in mobile devices. 4. combination of strong us dollar and weak global consumer spending. 5. new product categories fail to gain traction. apple is indicated nearly 0.5 percent higher to $129 in premarket trading after striking an all-time high last week above $133.50. | 2015-03-02 |
in a report published monday, morgan stanley analyst katy huberty stated that shares of apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) are undervalued and that it's current valuation "doesn't reflect platform multiple." | 2015-03-02 |
shares of apple, inc. have been the definition of market leaders in recent weeks and months – as their rally of 20% since january 9th has given the broader market the energy needed to shake off a miserable january performance. can the good times for aapl bulls continue – and continue giving the market a boost? | 2015-03-02 |
the technical take on aapl… | 2015-03-02 |
technicians note that apple shares hit their upside projected target – based on the upper edge of the short-term uptrend channel (see the solid uptrend lines on the chart) – at $133 last week and subsequently backed off by around $4.50. right now, first support comes in at the broken upper edge of the previous long-term uptrend channel (see dashed uptrend lines) at around $125.70. additional support comes in at the lower edge of the short-term uptrend channel at around $114.16. above $133.67, it's open air for aapl shares. | 2015-03-02 |
apple may be in for more of a pause – especially if the market consolidates for a bit after the nice february upside. those long of aapl shares for the long haul don't seem to have much to worry about right now – outside of another few percent lower before more buying starts up. those not yet long of aapl may be getting a chance to buy this beloved stock on a dip – finally – in the next few days or weeks. | 2015-03-02 |
apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) surprised many on the street when it recently chose vogue, a fashion magazine as the place to start its ad campaign for the apple watch. jun group ceo, mitchell reichgut, was on bloomberg friday to discuss if ‘fashion' would be all it will take to sell the watch. | 2015-03-02 |
joel elconin is the co-host of benzinga's #premarket prep , a daily trading idea radio show. apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) shares were trading lower by $0.14 at $128.95 in tuesday's session. despite a price target increase for the second day in a row -- morgan stanley from $133.00 to $160.00 on monday and oppenheimer from $130.00 to $155.00 on tuesday-- it has not been able to reach its all-time high made on february 24 ($133.60) or come close to its all-time closing high made on february 23 ($133.00). it has been in a very tight range from $128.09 (today's low) to $130.57 (friday's high), which is unusual for the normally volatile issue. in addition to the tight trading range, it has made four lower highs since reaching peaking last wednesday, which is not a sound technical pattern. related link: how will apple react to what this analyst says on friday? perhaps investors are taking a note from history when a parade of upgrades and price target increases coincided with its topping out in 2012 at $100.72 before swooning to $55.01 in april 2013. for the time being, sellers have not been unable to take the issue below the $128.00 level and it has put in place a trio of lows in a narrow range ($128.09 to $128.34) over the past three sessions, including today. if that level is breached, there may be minor support at it february 26 low ($126.61), but may not find any major support until its february 11 low ($122.50). | 2015-03-03 |
the recent reported acquisition of paydiant suggests to analysts that paypal plans to make a more aggressive push into both mobile and online payments. in the mobile space, competitors include apple inc's (nasdaq: aapl ) apple pay, google inc's (nasdaq: goog )(nasdaq: googl ) google wallet, and samsung pay. online payment competitors include stripe, wepay, apple pay, google's android pay and visa inc's (nyse: v ) visa checkout. | 2015-03-03 |
the long-term deal that google inc (nasdaq: googl ) had with apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) to be the default search engine on apple devices is coming up for renewal soon and it is making some analysts worried that google can lose its status as the sole search engine tool to microsoft corporation (nasdaq: msft )'s bing or yahoo! inc.(nasdaq: yhoo )'s search engine. | 2015-03-03 |
not even apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) can compete in this regard. | 2015-03-03 |
renowned internet analyst, piper jaffray's gene munster was on cnbc to discuss the valuation of large tech companies, especially apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) with the nasdaq trading at 5,000. he also talked about how the average selling price of apple watch is going to be higher than what the street is expecting. | 2015-03-03 |
apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) and google inc (nasdaq: goog ) are nearing final approval to settle allegations that they, along with intel corporation (nasdaq: intc ) and adobe systems incorporated (nasdaq: adbe ) , colluded to hold down competition and salaries among developers. the $415 million settlement proposal is 28 percent higher than a prior $324 million settlement proposal that the judge rejected. the judge raised no objections to the current settlement deal in yesterday's hearing. the lawsuit was first filed in 2011 based on emails in which apple's steve jobs, google's eric schmidt and others detailed plans to not compete for talent. plaintiffs argue that the result limited job mobility and kept salaries lower than market rates. | 2015-03-03 |
apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) gained the number-one world market share slot for smart phones first the first time during the fourth quarter, a research group said tuesday. | 2015-03-03 |
analysts at oppenheimer upped their price target on apple inc (nasdaq: aapl ) to $155 from $130 based on a more bullish view of apple's product cycle, including the apple watch. the watch will be a point of "differentiation, positioning, [and] competitive advantage" for apple, according to oppenheimer's new report. ahead of the march 9th event, the analysts expect the event to focus around the watch, "including details on apps, hardware components, sales strategies, and shipment timing." the analysts also expect apple to refresh macbook air and apple tv, while also making a move to merge itunes radio and beats music for the first half of 2015. of all these, however, the watch reigns supreme. the analysts said that the watch has three roles: "utility, affection and luxury." the watch will be a success as the result of "superior understanding and expertise" of user experience. as a result, the watch will be more elegant, feature-rich and user friendly than competitors. as for risks, the analysts pointed to 2016 iphone sales, lower margins, slower growth in china, fewer apple watch shipments, and higher spending in operations. | 2015-03-03 |
in a note out today, oppenheimer comments on the march 9th press event for apple inc (nasdaq: aapl ). | 2015-03-03 |
oppenheimer commented on the apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) watch tuesday. the firm also raised its price target from $130 to $155 and maintained an outperform rating on the stock. | 2015-03-03 |
wilson was on cnbc wednesday to discuss why he thinks the watch from apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl )is going to be a flop. | 2015-03-04 |
shares of time warner inc (nyse: twx ) were slightly up –and then down- on wednesday afternoon after news transcended about apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) being in talks with hbo. according to an article published in the international business times (http://www.ibtimes.com/hbo-talks-apple-be-launch-partner-coming-web-service-hbo-now-exclusive-1835882 ), hbo latter intends to make apple tv one of the launch partners for its "hbo now" streaming service, to debut next month – in conjunction with the premiere of the fifth season of "game of thrones," sources familiar with the issue say. | 2015-03-04 |