– GOOG missed 3Q14 EPS by 2.8%, failing to deliver an expected QoQ improvement in operating margins. Net sales were in line, with fractionally lower revenues offset by slightly better TAC. – Sales saw total paid clicks decelerate to 17%
– NFLX disappointed investors on sub growth, missing guidance for 3.7M new subs by 19% as a price hike and a relatively weak slate of new programming releases dampened demand – The disappointing results were amplified by TWX’s announcement that
In times when market momentum is very obviously directionally downward, certain stocks inevitably stick out as better insulated to the sell-off. With the S&P shedding more than 5% over the past week, DE has held firm around the $80 level
WAG & RAD both recently lowered guidance; both blame falling generic dispensing margins. In each case the companies point to pressures on both sides of the margin equation – rising generic acquisition costs, paired with lower-than-expected reimbursement Unravelling the relative
Bob Carr, the CEO of HPS, has commented that Apple Pay will make it difficult for MCX to sustain its policy of requiring members to accept only the CurrentC mobile wallet: “I don’t see how that [the exclusivity policy] survives.
– HPQ’s plan to split in two echoes EBAY’s PayPal spinout, completely repudiating its previous assertion of strategic synergies and capitulating to financial market pressure – HP Inc., the PC/Printer business, will be in long term decline, but could be
Republicans almost certainly will maintain control of the House, and have roughly 60% odds of gaining Senate control – 70% if independent Maine Senator Angus King agrees to caucus with Republicans. Republican leadership of the Senate would likely bring the
As the time that consumers spend on line continues to grow, particularly on mobile devices, the information that various companies are able to collect about their users is also growing. The value of that information – for commercial advertising, commerce,
– A PayPal spinoff is a sharp shift from EBAY’s “one-stop” merchandizing outsourcing strategy, relegating often asserted synergies between EBAY and PayPal to arm’s-length contracts – PayPal is growing but faces growing threats. AAPL is making payments an iOS default
Financially, the argument for splitting eBay and PayPal is stronger today than in the past because eBay now accounts for less than 30% of PayPal transactions (versus over 70% a decade ago) and because PayPal is so relatively large (accounting
