The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Yahoo, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon
CHICAGO, Sept. 30, 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 Yahoo (Nasdaq:YHOO-Free Report), Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL-Free Report), Facebook (Nasdaq:FB-Free Report), Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT-Free Report) and Amazon (Nasdaq:AMZN-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
Yahoo (Nasdaq:YHOO-Free Report) investors had a roller-coaster ride last week, much more so than Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL-Free Report), which also had its ups and downs.
Yahoo Up on AOL Merger Hopes
Yahoo investors had a roller coaster ride last week, as the shares first plunged on Alibaba woes and then soared on the hopes of a merger with AOL. Merger talks have been going on for a while, but were precipitated last week when activist investor Starboard took it upon himself to write a letter to Yahoo's board. Yahoo confirmed the receipt of the letter and said that it would give it careful consideration.
Starboard sees a possible billion dollars in cost savings that could make the combined entity leaner and run more efficiently. But that's not all: AOL has been investing in some important technology: programmatic buying and video programming, both of which could help Yahoo at this point.
Yahoo's programmatic buying efforts are still a work in progress and the company is buying up startups and talent to boost its video efforts. Nothing is having a significant impact on its results yet. On the other hand, AOL is growing, although off a smaller base. So now, more than ever before seems to be the right time to tie the knot.
EU to Approve Facebook's WhatsApp Deal
"People familiar with the matter" were responsible for letting out that Facebook's (Nasdaq:FB-Free Report) WhatsApp deal has the EU's blessings. The deal directly impacts mobile messaging revenue of telecom operators, many of whom are already under pressure. It's in fact a double whammy for telecoms like Deutsche Telekom, Telecom Italia and Telefonica because WhatsApp is expected to add voice call services later this year.
But apparently the EU did not find the deal anti-competitive and therefore deserving of any concessions. The decision will be public by Oct 3.
Microsoft Gets Amazon Exec: The manager of Amazon's local consumer commerce division has joined Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT-Free Report) as its Senior Director of Product Management on its Commerce Platform Strategy team. Lain Kennedy is a payments expert and before the last position at Amazon, he was responsible for its global payments teams. Note that W. Scharf, CEO of Visa joined Microsoft's board just last week. So Microsoft could have a payments service up its sleeve.
Google X Loses Another Exec: Google has lost another important executive. Sebastian Thrun had spearheaded the autonomous car project and had also been a part of the Astro Teller project. Other recent departures from Google X include Megan Smith, who joined the White House as its CTO, and Babak Parviz who left the Glass project for Amazon.
Workers Strike Amazon in Germany: Amazon (Nasdaq:AMZN-Free Report) is facing labor trouble again in Germany, its second biggest market. The last time was in December 2013. Amazon employs 9,000 full-time employees in its four distribution centers across the country and says its pays above the average rate that laborers typically earn in the logistics market in the region. But 2,000 workers promised a two-day strike. Amazon initially said that it wouldn't affect deliveries, but if this continues, there's every possibility that it will.
Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.
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