The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Amazon.com, Apple, Microsoft, Google and Clean Energy Fuel
CHICAGO, Sept. 10, 2013 /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 Amazon.com, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMZN-Free Report), Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL-Free Report), Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT-Free Report), Google (Nasdaq:GOOG-Free Report) and Clean Energy Fuel Corp. (Nasdaq:CLNE-Free Report).
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Here are highlights from Monday's Analyst Blog:
Amazon Updates Kindle Paperwhite
The world's largest Internet retailer, Amazon.com, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMZN-Free Report), recently announced a new version of the Kindle Paperwhite with hardware improvements and new features designed for book lovers. This is a modified version of Paperwhite which was introduced last year.
The new Kindle Paperwhite is Amazon's sixth generation e-book reader. The device has a great battery, a 25% faster processor, latest touch technology, an improved page-turning experience and an X-Ray feature, which provides useful insight about books.
On the hardware front, the device is very light and thin, weighing just 206 grams. The higher contrast ratio makes Paperwhite a visual treat for readers and the front-lit screen allows readers to scan books even in the dark. On the connectivity front, the new e-book reader supports both WiFi and 3G. Additionally, Amazon plans to integrate Goodreads into Kindle e-reading software, helping its readers to freely search and share books of their choice.
With a price range of $119 to $189, Kindle Paperwhite is already available for pre-order. Amazon expects the shipments to start by the end of this month.
Amazon's constant upgrading of its e-book reader is surely benefiting customers. However, while Amazon may have the best e-reader, Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL-Free Report) certainly has the best tablet. Despite the fact that the Kindle has acquired many new features over the years, it is not a full-blown tablet yet. Therefore, given that the tablet market is far larger than the e-reader market, Amazon's Kindle is unlikely to catch up with Apple's iPad any time soon. Additionally, the market continues to heat up with other tablets such as Microsoft's (Nasdaq:MSFT-Free Report) Surface and Google's (Nasdaq:GOOG-Free Report) Nexus.
According to a report by PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers), the trade e-books (excluding educational publications) will reach $8.2 billion in sales by 2017 in the U.S. alone. The e-book market has witnessed an unprecedented growth, as both authors and readers have benefited from it. Amazon, through its Kindle reader and Kindle apps, is currently the leading seller of e-books. However, if the company is unable to build further on its Kindle or slash prices drastically, it could see its share of overall book spending decline.
Though Amazon remains one of the leading players in the fast-growing e-commerce market, it reported a loss of 1 cent in the second quarter and missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5 cents. Also, revenues of $15.70 billion were down 2.3% sequentially but up 22.4% from the year-ago quarter.
The company is making huge investments in fulfillment and technology & content, which might continue to impact the company's bottom line, going forward.
Currently, Amazon's shares hold a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Clear Energy Wins CNG Supply Deals
Leading supplier of natural gas fuel, Clean Energy Fuel Corp. (Nasdaq:CLNE-Free Report), has won a number of natural gas fuel contracts over the past few weeks in the state of Missouri. The contacts include the recent clearance by the City Council to provide compressed natural gas (CNG) for natural gas vehicles (NGVs) in Kansas City.
Per the agreements, Clean Energy will build, own and operate public-access CNG stations in Kansas City, Columbia and Lee's Summit.
The Kansas City station, to be located at 5300 Municipal Ave., is expected to supply more than 1 million gasoline-gallon-equivalents (GGEs) of CNG per year for the first three years.
It will meet the needs of over 265 light, medium and heavy-duty NGVs of the city and also lower the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by approximately 2,107 metric tons annually.
Clean Energy's Columbia station will be located at 1900 Lake Ridgeway Dr. – an important midpoint between Kansas City and St. Louis, Mo – and is expected to provide 500,000 GGEs of CNG annually. The city's move towards NGVs, following its vehicle replacement program, can further increase this number.
The station will provide service to the 30 NGVs of the city's fleet which comprises of the heavy-duty CNG trucks of DART's Trucking Fleet, refuse trucks, transit buses and medium duty vehicles. Reduction of 1,053 metric tons of the GHG emissions per year can be expected.
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