The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and Apple
CHICAGO, Aug. 5, 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), Google (Nasdaq:GOOGL-Free Report), Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT-Free Report), Yahoo (Nasdaq:YHOO-Free Report) and Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL-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
Both Facebook (Nasdaq:FB-Free Report) and Google (Nasdaq:GOOGL-Free Report) continue to innovate and grow, but regulatory hurdles are weighing on the shares.
Privacy Regulators Target Facebook
Facebook lost some steam last week, as members of the European Consumer Organization and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that they would investigate the changes in its tracking policy. Facebook recently announced that it would track user activity on non-Facebook sites and apps in order to serve ads better.
The controversy seems to have arisen out of a possible breach of a 2012 agreement it made with the FTC wherein it agreed to allow users to opt out of such tracking. Facebook's defense was emphatic: it says that the "level of control over advertising on Facebook exceeds industry standards," that people can still "opt out of ads based on websites they visit and apps they use" and further, that it offers ad preferences that allow "people to add and remove interest categories to improve the ads they see on Facebook."
European Regulators Could Target Android Next
Media reports indicate that as soon as the issues with respect to Google's web search practices are resolved, the European Commission will formally start a new probe on whether it is abusing power arising out of Android, its dominant mobile operating system to push other Google services including maps. The commission is apparently doing the groundwork right now, sending detailed questionnaires to companies about the nature and contents of their agreements with Google.
The emails, faxes, letters, notes from phone calls and meetings, and presentations that companies are required to furnish date as far back as 2007. It's hard to say how far the probing has already progressed, but the increased frequency of requests could mean that they already have a preliminary case.
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Corporate
John Stanton Joins Microsoft Board: Stanton has notable experience in the mobile industry, having led three of the top four wireless carriers in the U.S. and operated wireless networks across Europe, Africa, Central and South America, and New Zealand among other roles. Most recently, he has been chairman of trilogy Equity Partners, which is a private equity fund investing in wireless startups. Stanton's industry experience and business acumen will be important for Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT-Free Report) in the transformational stage it currently finds itself in. Microsoft's board now has 11 members.
Regulatory
German Copyright Law Penalizes Search Engines: Yahoo (Nasdaq:YHOO-Free Report) has taken a year-old copyright law to The German Federal Constitutional Court. Yahoo alleges that the law, which grants exclusive rights to publishers to determine the commercial use of their content, is vague, leads to unreasonable legal complexity and hits German citizens' constitutional right to freedom of information, including the structures that guarantee people can obtain information.
Yahoo being both a publisher and a search engine is in the peculiar position that its content is protected while its search business sees increased litigation. Moreover, the law does not have any specifications for social networks like Facebook, meaning that these companies will be dragged to court on a case-by-case basis.
China Anti-trust Probe Sees Microsoft Up Next: Chinese government officials visited Microsoft offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu in what is likely to be the preliminary stage of an anti-trust probe. The government doesn't like Microsoft's dominance in operating systems, which isn't all that surprising given recent reports about a possible fine on Qualcomm for dominating another market. Just last month, a microblog on the People's Daily said that Apple, Microsoft, Google and Facebook were involved in a U.S. program to monitor China.
Microsoft Sues Samsung: Microsoft has sued Samsung for refusing to pay royalties on Android devices following the closure of its Nokia acquisition. Samsung claims that the Nokia acquisition is a breach of the cross-licensing agreement that Microsoft signed with Samsung and hence it was no longer required to pay royalties on devices.
Samsung is appealing to Korean competition authorities to relieve it from paying the royalties. It would also like to sue Microsoft for its Lumia devices. Microsoft says that the Nokia deal doesn't change anything with respect to its agreement with Samsung and is therefore seeking a jury trial. It has also put on record the fact that Samsung made a late payment last year and refused to pay related interest.
New Technology/Products
Apple Launches Retina MacBook Pro: Last week, Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL-Free Report) launched 13-inch and 15-inch retina display MacBook Pros with faster versions of Intel's Haswell processors and tons of RAM. They are also eligible for more affordable configurations and a free upgrade to OS X Yosemite this fall. A 12-inch version will probably ship in time for the back-to-school season. The next refresh is likely to contain Intel's Broadwell.
Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.
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