CHICAGO, Nov. 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include the Facebook (Nasdaq:FB-Free Report), Twitter (NYSE:TWTR-Free Report), LinkedIn (NYSE:LNKD-Free Report), Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL-Free Report) and Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT-Free Report).
Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.
Here are highlights from Monday's Analyst Blog:
Technology Stock Roundup
A large number of technology companies reported last week including Facebook (Nasdaq:FB-Free Report), Twitter (NYSE:TWTR-Free Report) and LinkedIn (NYSE:LNKD-Free Report) but there were also updates on Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL-Free Report) Pay, Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT-Free Report) cloud and more.
Earnings Highlights
Facebook: Facebook reported a good third quarter with earnings beating our estimate. The double-digit revenue increase was the result of a jump in active monthly users despite the fact that ad impressions were affected by lower ad volumes on mobile devices. Pricing was extremely strong, however, as Facebook's usage rates make it very attractive for advertisers.
The strong results were overshadowed by CEO Mark Zuckerberg's comments about increased investment in the business. The CEO said that the company would not attempt monetization of Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram until each had at least a billion customers. The increased investment and decision not to monetize may be good for the long term, but investors got a little wary, probably wondering about the quantum of investment and the timeline.
Twitter: Twitter's results were also better than our expectations, with solid revenue growth coming from a growing usage and engagement. But investors punished the shares because Twitter is not old enough to warrant a deceleration in monthly active users. This could also mean that current growth rates will not be sustainable.
LinkedIn: LinkedIn shares jumped after the company reported earnings that were well ahead of estimates and strong revenue growth that was supported by strength across segments and double-digit growth in memberships. The company also saw an increase in international users particularly in China.
Some People Don't Like Apple Pay
Forrester Research has said that the mobile payments market will grow 7X to a $90 billion market in the 5 years to 2017. So it's not surprising that technology companies, banks and retailers are scrambling for a stake. Apple has the enviable position of owning the leading smartphone platform, so it has been able to convince leading banks and retailers to partner with it.
But Apple is already privy to a whole lot of customer data, which will only grow in the future. Retailers can't lose sight of the fact that customer data is extremely valuable in the increasingly digital world we live in. They also don't want to pay any fees for the service. So they are waiting for their own version that uses QFC code instead of NFC technology.
The competing technology called CurrentC to be available next year was developed by the Merchant Customer Exchange group. MCX allows retailers to offer branded mobile wallets linked directly to shoppers' checking accounts.
Retailers like Wal-Mart Stores, Best Buy and Target are holding out as are the big pharmacy chains. Some pharma companies locking Apple Pay are CVS Health and Rite Aid.
Apple meanwhile has said that the service is extremely popular and already in use across 220,000 locations.
Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.
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