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Teladoc Health (TDOC)

Mon, 20 May 2019 12:09:24 +0000

Quote:At the forefront of this game-changing shift is Teladoc. The company connects patients to doctors for various healthcare concerns, from chronic conditions to the flu. It even provides second opinions from specialists via telehealth solutions. Last quarter, its virtual visits exceeded 1 million for the first time, growing 75% from one year ago. As a result, the company reported total revenue reached $129 million. Even if you x out visits and revenue growth from acquisitions, Teladoc reported organic visit and revenue growth of 29% and 23% in the past year, respectively.

About 82% of its revenue comes from subscriber access fees paid by third parties, including insurers, health systems, and self-insured corporations. These clients pay a fixed amount so members can access virtual visits, because they're considerably cheaper than traditional in-office visits. For instance, a virtual visit is $472 less expensive than an in-office visit, according to Veracity Analytics, an independent healthcare data analytics company. The remaining 18% of Teladoc's revenue comes from per-visit fees.

Currently, Teladoc's solution is available to 27 million people through subscription access relationships, but that's only scratching the surface of this mega-opportunity. In addition to landing new accounts, management estimates that expanding existing relationships could provide access to another 50 million people. Additionally, over 20 million Medicare Advantage members could gain access to telehealth services as soon as 2020. Furthermore, the company's expanding into Europe, opening the door to a population over 500 million.

Despite the massive opportunity, Teladoc's share price has fallen following a short-seller report questioning a referral marketing program for its mental health business last year and the departure of its CFO over allegations of insider trading in December. The referral program, however, only represented about 5% of its new mental health members, and eventually a new CFO will be hired. Given the massive market opportunity and the robust top-line growth, the recent sell-off in shares could make this a great time to add this telehealth stock to growth portfolios.

3 Top Growth Stocks to Buy Right Now

Fortinet (FTNT)

Sat, 19 Jan 2019 01:29:05 +0000

Much of the technology foundation for Fortinet's current products still consist of the ASIC-accelerated performance that Ken Xi developed back at the dawn of the network security business. Although Fortinet has an integrated suite of solutions whose products probably match in aggregate everything that is done by the Palo Alto platform, the key differentiator is that FortiGate, the company's flagship solution, is not quite yet a platform into which a user can seamlessly plug in extended capabilities.

Investing In The Network Security Space: Palo Alto, Fortinet And Their Less Enabled Competitors - Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) | Seeking Alpha

Similar to Palo Alto, this company uses a hybrid SaaS model. Therefore, at least for this writer, more critical metrics to look at are billings growth and deferred revenue growth.

Investing In The Network Security Space: Palo Alto, Fortinet And Their Less Enabled Competitors - Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) | Seeking Alpha

There are some investors who are far more concerned about GAAP margins than this writer. I think the operating cash flow margin difference, which is weighted in Palo Alto's favor, is far more significant. Palo Alto deferred revenues and bookings are growing faster than Fortinet's and the anomaly by which Palo Alto records a full sales commission on bookings accounts for some but not all of the difference in GAAP operating margins.

Investing In The Network Security Space: Palo Alto, Fortinet And Their Less Enabled Competitors - Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) | Seeking Alpha

Fortinet's products were originally aimed at the mid-market and its revenue mix continues to be far more weighted to the mid-market when compared to Palo Alto.

Investing In The Network Security Space: Palo Alto, Fortinet And Their Less Enabled Competitors - Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) | Seeking Alpha

Twilio (TWLO)

Mon, 14 Jan 2019 13:14:08 +0000

Twilio's first-mover advantage and best-in-breed reputation give it an edge against smaller competitors, such as Vonage's Nexmo and Bandwidth. The bears once claimed that those rivals would derail Twilio's growth -- but its revenue growth is still accelerating, its ecosystem is expanding (both organically and inorganically), and it recently achieved non-GAAP profitability.

3 Cloud Computing Stocks to Buy in 2019

And these competitors all focus on the developer market and some of them offer many or most of the same features as Twilio. What the competitors lack is the breadth of offerings developers can find on the Twilio platform. The competitors such Bandwidth, or Karix or Clickatell can all be used to build applications and they are generally much cheaper in terms of software cost when compared to Twilio. But they are all-point solutions. They don’t compete in all of the functional areas offered by Twilio.

Twilio: An 'Overvalued' Stock That Isn't Overvalued - Twilio (NYSE:TWLO) | Seeking Alpha

Ciena (CIEN)

Wed, 26 Dec 2018 12:40:23 +0000

While Ciena still has some company-specific drivers like its datacenter interconnect business, its new WaveLogic Ai chipset, and its growing software business, this company has long struggled to regain credibility from the Street and confidence in management’s long-term goals for revenue and margins.

The Ciena Roller Coaster Is Back In The Buy Zone - Ciena Corporation (NASDAQ:CIEN) | Seeking Alpha

Long-haul metro is likely only going to be flat to up slightly in 2018, and that’s going to hit Ciena, Infinera (INFN), Nokia (NOK), and other players in the market. Metro has been stronger for Ciena, but here too there are worries – particularly as to whether or not Verizon’s (VZ) spending peaked in 2018... It’s no small matter that potentially two-thirds or so of Ciena’s revenue base could be vulnerable, but there are some drivers to offset a weaker overall environment.

The Ciena Roller Coaster Is Back In The Buy Zone - Ciena Corporation (NASDAQ:CIEN) | Seeking Alpha

The set-up going into 2019 isn’t perfect. Obviously the markets are jittery. On a more company-specific basis, there’s still some risk of disruption from new product introductions from Acacia (ACIA) and Infinera (INFN), as well as risks from service provider budget priorities and a possible slowdown in datacenter growth.

Ciena Doing Its Part To Ease The Street's Concerns About The Growth Story - Ciena Corporation (NASDAQ:CIEN) | Seeking Alpha

Skyworks (SWKS)

Sun, 14 Oct 2018 17:26:32 +0000

TechInsights' teardown also revealed several chips from wireless chip specialist Skyworks Solutions. Per the report, here were the Skyworks chips found inside the iPhone XS Max:

Three SKY5941 GPS low-noise amplifier (LNA) chips.

One SKY85403 front-end module (FEM).

One SKY13768 FEM.

One SKYS775 RF switch.

Two power amplifier modules.

According to analyst Vijay Rakesh (via CNBC), Skyworks derives between 35% and 40% of its revenue from sales of chips to Apple. (The analyst consensus calls for Skyworks to generate $3.86 billion in revenue in 2018.) The company clearly has a lot riding on the success of Apple's latest products.

3 Winners From the Apple iPhone XS Max Teardown

NetApp (NTAP)

Mon, 28 May 2018 23:44:15 +0000

So needless to say, it's NetApp's flash arm that is driving much of its growth. Flash revenues grew 43% y/y, and NetApp's total base of "strategic revenues" (aka, non-legacy technologies, comprising mostly of flash), grew 25% y/y to encompass 74% of its total revenues. The annual flash run rate in the quarter also reached a robust $2.4 billion (for reference, Pure Storage is guiding to full-year revenues of ~$1.3 billion, so NetApp has already reached nearly double its scale and at a faster growth rate).

NetApp: Turbulence Continues - NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) | Seeking Alpha

TripAdvisor (TRIP)

Wed, 16 May 2018 03:17:41 +0000

So Kaufer, speaking at the gathering in Boston, has doubled his estimate of the company’s footprint in the sector, adding that’s he’s “extremely bullish on that attractions space.” He said that the attractions business should have take rates of 15 to 20 percent, similar to the online hotel business, but the addressable market would be only around half that of hotels. “So if you size Attractions compared to hotels, overall size might be half, but we’re the leader in that category,” Kaufer said. “So what can the margin should kind of look the same as hotels from an OTA [online travel agency] perspective.”

TripAdvisor CEO Doubles Estimate of Attractions Business to $2 Billion – Skift

Kaufer conceded that Iceland-based Bokun, which TripAdvisor bought recently, has a limited geographic scope but TripAdvisor plans to “blow it out globally.” It will take years, however, to build up Bokun’s global supply of attractions. In the interim, TripAdvisor will maintain connections with other technology integrators, too, he said.

TripAdvisor CEO Doubles Estimate of Attractions Business to $2 Billion – Skift

Along with tours and activities, Kaufer is bullish on its restaurant reservations and advertising business, as well. Kaufer said TripAdvisor has 4 million to 5 million restaurant listings on the site, and he’s challenging his team to turn that into a $1 billion business.

TripAdvisor CEO Doubles Estimate of Attractions Business to $2 Billion – Skift

Baozun (BZUN)

Fri, 13 Apr 2018 15:00:37 +0000

Baozun chairman says will invest more in technology in 2018 In his annual 2017-end letter, Baozun chairman profiles 2018 initiatives: "Invest more in technology to serve clients better: We will invest more in technology, including upgrading our core e-commerce system, internal management systems, next generation business service systems for brands and merchants, and innovative value-added systems based on data analytics and artificial intelligence. Strengthen the ability to serve large and medium sized customers: We intend to provide more software services to our large and medium-sized brand partners, in addition to retail operations, logistics, IT and digital marketing.

These new services will leverage our deep industry experience and knowledge in technological innovation. We believe our services will help brand partners to strengthen their leading market positions and support the evolving transformation of their businesses. Baozun plans to offer more value-added services to our brand partners, including production design automation, retail assortment planning, business intelligence, and other innovative services. By making investments in these areas, Baozun will be able to cross sell and strengthen its capabilities in serving large and medium-sized brand partners.

Serve More Clients: With our more than 10 years of brand e-commerce experience, we have been able to transform our experience and knowledge into valuable software products, platforms, services and solutions, providing them to not only large, medium, and small-scale brands, but also merchants. A larger base of clients will help to reduce the costs of technology, and increase scale and profitability. Strengthen technology innovation and commercialization: We will continue to invest in technology and innovation, which can be seen in the number of patent applications for which we apply. We released several new software products and modules and will continue to do so in the future. In 2018, we are especially focused on commercialization and promotion of these products and services to a larger group of clients.

Breaking News: BZUN latest news. - The Fly

Bitcoin

Fri, 15 Dec 2017 02:48:10 +0000

Eight 100-meter-long metal warehouses in northern China are a case in point. Bitmain Technologies Ltd. runs a server farm in Erdors, Inner Mongolia, with about 25,000 computers dedicated to solving the encrypted calculations that generate each bitcoin. The entire operation runs on electricity produced with coal, as do a growing number of cryptocurrency “mines” popping up in China.

Turning Coal Into Bitcoin? The Dirty Secret of 2017's Hottest Market - Bloomberg

Japanese men in their 30s and 40s are driving the cryptocurrency market. They overtook their Chinese counterparts after regulators started to shut down exchanges. Many Japanese retail traders are engaged in leveraged trading, using borrowed funds, and a survey showed that they are generally less financially literate than their US counterparts.

One group of traders has risen to dominate bitcoin trading

We’ve said it many times before. As an actual payments mechanism, bitcoin sucks. It’s expensive to use and getting ever more so. It can be slow and unpredictable. It’s complicated and very user unfriendly (computer nerds will dispute this, but in doing so show how detached they are from the everyday needs of the average population). It depends on untested third parties for usability even more so than conventional electronic money. It’s prone to hacking. It demands users read Reddit all day every day to keep up with the latest exchange, transaction and wallet updates. It passes way too much responsibility to the average user (even the well-educated lose passwords). It sucks on the energy efficiency front. Its volatility makes it a crappy medium exchange. And finally, if not foremost, the more of a speculative asset it becomes the less useful it becomes as a currency.

Busting the myth that bitcoin is actually an efficient payment mechanism | FT Alphaville

At its lowest point, one bitcoin was equal to about $230. Given the currency's covert nature, the average person still may not understand how buying and selling actually works. Using the app Coinbase, which lets anyone trade bitcoins for a small fee, we decided to find out. A brief warning: If you're going to do this, tell your bank you're about to buy bitcoin. More on that later.

How to buy bitcoin: A step-by-step guide - Business Insider

Thiam won’t be paying with bitcoin. ‘From what we can identify, the only reason today to buy or sell bitcoin is to make money, which is the very definition of speculation and the very definition of a bubble.’ Tidjane Thiam Credit Suisse Group AG CS, +4.93% Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam made clear where he stands on bitcoin, joining a growing rank of high-profile bankers and financiers to scorn the soaring cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin is the ‘very definition of a bubble’: Credit Suisse CEO - MarketWatch

Ubiquity Networks (UBNT)

Sat, 11 Nov 2017 02:41:19 +0000

During the second quarter of fiscal 2018, the Company repurchased and retired 602,192 shares of its common stock at an average price per share of $57.28 for an aggregate amount of $34.5 million . As of October 6, 2017, there is no remaining balance available for share repurchases under the share repurchase programs approved by the Board of Directors in the first

Ubiquiti Networks, Inc. 10-Q Nov. 9, 2017 1:41 PM | Seeking Alpha

In fiscal 2017, we announced Ubiquiti Labs, a division focusing on research and development of consumer electronics and introduced a new consumer product platform, called AmpliFi, which is a Wi-Fi system solution designed to serve the demands of the modern connected home. AmpliFi is distributed through a network of retailers including Sam’s Club, Best Buy and Game Stop, as well as on-line retailers Amazon.com and Bestbuy.com among others. This division is focused on delivery of direct to consumer based solutions in an array of high technology products. FrontRow, a new platform for consumers, was launched in August 2017.

Ubiquiti Networks, Inc. 10-Q Nov. 9, 2017 1:41 PM | Seeking Alpha

Plug Power (PLUG)

Tue, 07 Nov 2017 01:59:33 +0000

Earnings on Wednesday will tell the tale. This stock has signed Walmart, Amazon to $600 million contracts and just signed with a Norway company connected to Toyota. China is interested in their product. Check this one out. Not sure where my other posts went on this company.

Martini

Facebook (FB)

Tue, 31 Oct 2017 01:11:49 +0000

Facebook (FB -0.8%) will hire 1,000 more people to review ad buying in the wake of growing public scrutiny over whether Russia used the network to interfere in elections in the U.S. and elsewhere. The hires will come over the next year, along with more investment in software that can flag and disable ads automatically. “Reviewing ads means assessing not just the content of an ad, but the context in which it was bought and the intended audience -- so we’re changing our ads review system to pay more attention to these signals,” it says. The company faces an enforcement challenge, with more than 5M paying advertisers on its roster.

Facebook to add 1,000 hires to ad review process - Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) | Seeking Alpha

Britain is considering classifying and regulating Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Google (GOOG, GOOGL) as news publishers, rather than platforms. “We are looking at the role Google and Facebook play in the news environment,” says a spokesman for Prime Minister Theresa May. “As part of that work we will look carefully at the roles, responsibility and legal status of the major internet platforms.” Consultancy group Enders Analysis says 6.5M British internet users get most of their news from Facebook. Facebook shares are down 0.72%. Previously: Washington Post: Russian-bought ads spread on Google platforms (Oct. 9)

Britain considers regulating Facebook and Google as news publishers - Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) | Seeking Alpha

Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) cut references to Russia from a public report in April about manipulation of its platform around the presidential election, raising new questions about when the company became aware of the situation, WSJ reports. The drafting of the report sparked internal debate over how much information to disclose about Russian mischief on Facebook and its efforts to affect U.S. public opinion, according to WSJ; ultimately the report did not mention Russia at all, referring only to "malicious actors." Facebook's problems could get worse, as the full scope of how Russia used the social networking site are not yet fully known, tech investor Roger McNamee tells CNBC. It is not good enough for Facebook to say it will hire more people and punish those who misuse the social media site after the fact, McNamee says; the company instead needs to prevent the situations from happening in the first place.

WSJ: Facebook cut Russia out of April report on election influence - Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) | Seeking Alpha

In prepared testimony that it will present to Congress, Facebook (FB +1.1%) says that posts from accounts backed by a pro-Kremlin group reached 126M people at some point over a two year period -- a number equivalent to about 40% of the U.S. population. Some 29M people directly got served contact from the pro-Russian group the Internet Research Agency. Those posts traveled to the news feeds of 126M total through likes, shares and comments. The prepared testimony portrays a shocked company looking to implement solutions to prevent such an occurrence in the future. “The foreign interference we saw is reprehensible and outrageous and opened a new battleground for our company, our industry and our society,” testimony from General Counsel Colin Stretch reads.

Facebook: Russian-related posts reached 126M people - Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) | Seeking Alpha

Polaris (PII)

Thu, 26 Oct 2017 13:17:46 +0000

This is what we wrote in December 2016:

Polaris performance was stellar until they ran into some considerable headwinds. While these headwinds still persist during 2017, they should gradually ease. When that happens, the ongoing improvement programs are likely to start showing up and profits is likely to recover substantially.

Headwinds For Polaris Should Gradually Subside - Polaris Industries Inc. (NYSEII) | Seeking Alpha

That is playing out..

Polaris Industries (PII) had its Relative Strength (RS) Rating upgraded from 84 to 94 Wednesday. Autoplay: On | Off This exclusive rating from Investor's Business Daily identifies price performance with a 1 (worst) to 99 (best) score. The score shows how a stock's price movement over the trailing 52 weeks holds up against all the other stocks in our database. Over 100 years of market history shows that the best-performing stocks typically have an 80 or higher RS Rating at the beginning of a new price run.

Polaris Industries Shows Rising Price Performance With Jump To 94 RS Rating | Stock News & Stock Market Analysis - IBD

More specifically on the former, Polaris' adjusted quarterly revenue climbed 25% year over year to $1.48 billion, including a 13% increase in Polaris North American unit retail sales. Roughly half of Polaris' overall revenue increase stemmed from organic growth. On the bottom line, adjusted net income nearly tripled on a year-over-year basis to $93.5 million, or $1.46 per diluted share. Both figures were well ahead of investors' expectations for adjusted earnings of $1.23 per share on revenue of $1.4 billion.

Why Polaris Industries Inc. Stock Popped Today

Polaris (PII +10.8%) pops after the company lifted its 2017 revenue forecast to 18% to 19% growth vs. +12% to 14% prior forecast and +15% consensus. Shares hit a new 52-week high of $118.38 before peeling back a bit. The powersports vehicle manufacturer expects full-year EPS of $4.75 to $4.85 vs. $4.35 to $4.50 prior view and $4.50 consensus. 'Strong retail growth in both North America and nearly all of our International markets drove record sales and highlighted our ongoing product innovation, improving product quality and sharpened execution," notes Polaris CEO Scott Wine. The strong Polaris numbers may be helping to lift sentiment on Thor Industries (THO +1.1%) and Winnebago (WGO +2.1%).

Robust guidance takes Polaris to 52-week high - Polaris Industries Inc. (NYSEII) | Seeking Alpha

MOMO

Thu, 07 Sep 2017 12:58:40 +0000

One of this week's biggest losers was Momo (NASDAQ:MOMO), tumbling 18.8% after posting fresh financials. Revenue and earnings more tripled in the second quarter, exceeding expectations on both fronts, but sequential stagnancy in paying users raised concerns about Momo's long-term prospects. The Chinese dating-app specialist has been on fire since the it transformed itself into a leading live video platform with broader appeal. Growth has been scorching, with revenue climbing 215% to $312.2 million in last week's report, well above its earlier guidance calling for a 186% to 191% top-line surge. However, closing out the period with the same 4.1 million paying users it had during this year's first quarter proved problematic for a company that otherwise remains one of this year's hottest performers. Momo stock has soared 94% so far this year, even after last week's slide.

Can Momo Stock Bounce Back After Last Week's 19% Drop? -- The Motley Fool

In 2016, 68% of Momo revenue came from its live video offering. This was a huge increase from the 1% this category accounted for in the previous year. This massive shift occurred as Momo transitioned away from its online dating business. The trend has accelerated in the first quarter of 2017 as 80% of revenue came from live video. The initial content on the company's live video platform was limited to online concerts and music shows in a professional studio environment.

How Is Momo Delivering Triple-Digit Revenue Growth Year After Year? -- The Motley Fool

First, Momo’s costs and expenses have been increasing lately, and during the last two quarters they have outpaced revenue growth and monthly active user growth. This is something investors will want to pay close attention to throughout the remainder of the year. Then there is the chart. Because I don’t want to catch a falling knife, I want to wait and see if MOMO stock can build a base before considering stepping in. As you can see above, the stock has important support between $33 and $35 (the black lines). If it can build a base in that area over the next week or two, it could be time to start buying again.

Is the Dip in Momo Inc (ADR) (MOMO) Stock an Opportunity?

This was not the case for Momo. The company even raised its guidance to $337-342 million, compared to the $307.13 million consensus, about a 10% raise. Besides that, it means a 115-118% growth on the year.

Sell Momo? No No! - Momo (NASDAQ:MOMO) | Seeking Alpha

Monthly active users (MAUs) rose 22% annually to 91.3 million last quarter, but that's still tiny compared to bigger social media apps like Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) and Tencent's (NASDAQOTH:TCEHY) WeChat -- which respectively have 361 million and 963 million MAUs. As Weibo and WeChat expand their ecosystems into the live-streaming market, they could eventually marginalize Momo.

Will Momo Stock Sink or Swim? -- The Motley Fool

Synaptics (SYNA)

Fri, 25 Aug 2017 15:06:02 +0000

The company has already designed a workable chip that integrates the fingerprint sensor within the display, which is why it has been tipped to land a spot in the next iPhone. While a win at Apple would definitely be a big deal for the chipmaker, investors shouldn't be fixated on it as there's still a lot of opportunity outside of Cupertino. TDDI chip demand will hit 100 million units this year, and then keep growing to more than 650 million units by 2022. This is a big opportunity for Synaptics as it is the only one among the three big companies making TDDI chips to have licensed its intellectual property to third-party providers. Apple is the other company said to be developing such a solution, though it is likely that Cupertino will keep its technology. The third company, Japan Display, could face difficulty in selling its TDDI technology to panel makers. Japan Display makes display panels, so there's a chance that rival panel makers will refrain from using its technology, as pointed out by supply chain portal EBN.

Is Synaptics’ 26% Drop an Opportunity or a Red Flag? -- The Motley Fool

On Dec. 13, Synaptics announced it would start sampling its R66452 DDIC "in the coming weeks." The company claimed the chip "includes [Synaptics'] best-in-class imaging processing and adds new state-of-the-art display technologies specifically designed to enhance OLED display." The company had previously indicated that it was on track to begin sampling OLED DDICs by the end of the year, so things appear to be progressing as planned. The press release also says the company plans to begin full production of this chip during the second half of 2017 "to meet the introduction of next-generation OLED smartphones." Circling back to Synaptics' most recent earnings call, Bergman said there is usually a six-to-nine month gap between sampling and production shipments, suggesting it'll still be some time before Synaptics is bringing in real revenue from OLED DDIC sales.

Synaptics, Incorporated Talks OLED Versus LCD Tech -- The Motley Fool

Thanks to the sales leverage, and a lack of impairment and restructuring costs, Synaptics has returned to profitability again. The company posted a net profit of $17.8 million for the final quarter, versus a $7.1 million loss in Q4 of 2016. Earnings for the entire year were down from $72.2 million to $48.8 million, for GAAP earnings of $1.37 per share. While GAAP earnings were down from $1.91 per share in 2016 to $1.37 per share in the fiscal year of 2017, Synaptics posted adjusted earnings of $4.88 per share. This marks a huge discrepancy between both accounting metrics. Key drivers behind the discrepancy are acquisition-related costs of $1.70 per share, share-based compensation expenses of $1.74 per share and some restructuring and litigation reserve settlement charges.

Synaptics - Second Warning In As Many Months - Synaptics Incorporated (NASDAQ:SYNA) | Seeking Alpha

BABA

Tue, 22 Aug 2017 22:38:19 +0000

Alibaba has soared to stratospheric new heights this year, winning over plenty of new fans along the way. The legion of admirers now includes a handful of influential hedge fund managers, as well as the lion's share of research analysts covering the company. But as is usually the case with something wildly successful, the Chinese e-commerce giant has its fair share of haters. And those detractors have manifested themselves as short sellers, betting billions on the downfall of Alibaba's shares.

Alibaba is dividing Wall Street - Business Insider

The U.S. stock market is overbought, and the weak seasonal period is upon us. Overbought markets look for excuses to sell off. Please see “Will Trump’s lack of leadership become an excuse for a big selloff in stocks?” If the momo (momentum) crowd that has been running up this market panics and their panic results in a big spike down, it may create buying opportunities in many stocks. I often get asked: “What is the one stock to buy if the market dives?” Even though I advocate a portfolio approach, this is a legitimate question. Alibaba BABA, +2.18% stock is the one to buy. First and foremost, let me disclose that Alibaba stock is in the model portfolio of ZYX Buy Change Alert of The Arora Report, and there are nice unrealized gains on the stock.

This is the one stock to buy if the stock market crashes - MarketWatch

AAOI

Sun, 30 Jul 2017 15:02:05 +0000

Chromatic dispersion can be one of the factors limiting performance of high-speed optical communications links. However, the effect of chromatic dispersion (often referred to as “CD&rdquo is cumulative over the length of the optical fiber. Over a short distance, CD is not an issue. Over a much longer distance the CD effect "adds up" and could become the factor that ultimately limits the distance over which the optical link operates. For 100 Gbps data center interconnect applications, where distances are generally 10-km or longer, CD may, depending on the type of laser and the intended link distance, be a limiting factor. However, data center interconnect is not the market from which AOI derives our revenue. Our products are used in intra data center applications. This means fiber optic links within a data center. These links are much shorter than 10-km, typically 500 meters to 2-km long. At these distances, CD is not a limiting factor for performance. The BWS report completely ignores the market that we actually serve. In addition to the issues of chromatic dispersion, Murry asserts Khorsand is wrong in asserting that Applied does not make a type of laser called “EML”: This is not true. Just this year, for example, we announced a new EML type laser (see our website for the press release from March 6 announcing this product).

AOI chooses the type of laser to use in various products based on technical and cost considerations. We employ over 30 scientists and engineers with Ph.D. degrees, most of them in laser physics or engineering. We have more than 270 engineers just in our R&D functions, and all are very experienced in choosing the right optical components to do the job. We do not choose a laser as a “band aid” solution, but rather because that particular laser device is the most cost-effective device that will meet our customer’s needs. This is one of the big reasons why our gross margins are the highest in the optical industry, indeed probably the highest ever in the optics business. In the exchange, I also asked Murry to clarify whether the company provides transceivers of the so-called “CWDM4” type, for 100-gigabit optical links, in multiple forms. I have heard some people say that Applied only supplies a version that is the “relaxed” or “light” version of CWDM4, and therefore not as robust as some customers might require. Murry responds that such as not the case: AOI makes BOTH the “lite” and “full-spec” versions of our CWDM-4 transceivers. The “lite” version is less expensive, and many customer like it because it’s the most cost effective solutions. Other customers need the additional performance of the “full-spec” version and they purchase those from us. It just depends on the customer’s needs. AOI makes both types and sells both types in significant quantities.

Applied Opto CFO Rebuts Inaccuracies About Its Products - Barron's

Cypress Semiconductor (CY)

Sat, 24 Jun 2017 03:47:10 +0000

The global supply of NOR flash memory remains constrained amid rising demand for AMOLED panels and touch screen displays, leading one market watcher to forecast a 20 percent increase in NOR pricing in the third quarter. DRAMeXchange, a unit of market research firm TrendForce that tracks memory pricing, said current global NOR flash manufacturing capacity is limited to 88,000 300mm wafers per month. The firm expects the NOR supply to remain tight because related components require a high level of customization and ramping production is difficult. According to Avril Wu, research director of DRAMeXchange, several major suppliers of NOR flash have plans to reduce production or gradually exit the market. "Cypress, for instance, is reducing the portion of NOR Flash in its product mix as the company shifts its focus towards automotive and industrial IC markets," Wu said through a press statement.

NOR Prices Forecast to Rise 20% in Q3 | EE Times

Fabrinet (FN)

Sat, 24 Jun 2017 03:31:29 +0000

The earnings report was released in the midst of reports from other optical communications companies with results varying wildly. Oclaro (NASDAQ:OCLR) dropped big post-earnings only to rapidly bounce back this week, Acacia Communications (NASDAQ:ACIA) dropped double-digits due to a massive cut to revenue guidance, and Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE), Fabrinet's largest customer, jumped nearly 20% post-earnings.

Fabrinet: The Roller Coaster Continues - Fabrinet (NYSE:FN) | Seeking Alpha

The ongoing investments in capital expenditures are minimizing current free cash flow generation, but management is projecting for capex spending to be cut in half going forward now that construction on the new facility in Thailand is winding down. This will help boost cash flows and will allow Fabrinet to grow operations further or return capital directly to shareholders.

Fabrinet: The Roller Coaster Continues - Fabrinet (NYSE:FN) | Seeking Alpha

Datacom currently makes up 40% of the optical communications pie next to 60% for telecom, the former of which will see declines this quarter due to the China slowdown while the latter will continue to grow due to less Chinese exposure. On the conference call, CFO TS Ng stated that the company as a whole earns about 10% of revenues from China, which is much lower than other companies in the industry and should allow it to avoid any significant declines in revenue or profit even in the short term.

Fabrinet: The Roller Coaster Continues - Fabrinet (NYSE:FN) | Seeking Alpha

Amazon (AMZN)

Sat, 24 Jun 2017 03:29:59 +0000

While the major averages posted lackluster results today, Cramer said there were big changes just under the surface, with Macy's (M) huge miss on earnings just the latest example of corporate turmoil. For many companies, the millennial generation might as well be aliens from a different planet. They're very different than their parents, and retailers especially, cannot adapt fast enough. Macy's execs admitted on their conference call that the chain continues to see shifting shopping trends that focus on value and experience, something Macy's struggles to offer. The company also admitted that America is "over-retailed" and it will take time for consolidation efforts to show results. These shifts should not come as a surprise to Mad Money viewers, as Cramer has chronicled the rise of the smart phone and how it turns brick-and-mortar stores into a negative. The stay-at-home economy continues to propel Amazon.com (AMZN) , Domino's Pizza (DPZ) and Electronic Arts (EA), but little else.

The Kids Are Taking Over the World: Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap (Thursday 5/11/17) - TheStreet

Walmart is now using store employees to deliver packages to customers' homes in the retailer's latest effort to undercut Amazon. Here's how it works: store employees who opt into the program are given packages at the end of their work shifts, with a list of delivery addresses.

Walmart store employees now deliver packages to customer homes - Business Insider

Walmart (WMT) is back on the top of its game in the U.S., at least judging by two important retail metrics. "The last 12 quarters of positive same-store sales and 10 quarters of positive traffic are evidence that the U.S. bricks and mortar [business] has made significant progress in recapturing the lost [market] share," wrote Barclays analyst Karen Short on Monday. "While there is always room for improvement in any retail format, it is very clear the turnaround has taken hold, and more importantly Walmart is now taking a leadership role with respect to leveraging both e-commerce and bricks and mortar." Short has a $90.00 price target on Walmart, estimating at least another 12% move in the stock. It's hard to argue with Short's call on the world's larges retailer. Being viewed as the lowest priced for food continues to work wonders for Walmart in its battle against rivals Target (TGT) and Amazon (AMZN) .

Right Now Walmart Is Such a Force Again That Amazon Should Be Very Worried - TheStreet

Walmart's same-store sales at its U.S. stores rose 1.4% in the first quarter, spurred by a 1.5% increase in customer traffic. Getting people to visit physical stores is challenging for retailers right now as they are buying more of their stuff online. But, Walmart's year plus effort to slash prices in food -- which obviously needs to get bought weekly -- has it in a rare position of seeing people head to stores for food and other merchandise. Walmart U.S. chief Greg Foran at Walmart's 2017 annual meeting. Sales of food at U.S. stores increased by a low-single digit percentage in the first quarter, Walmart said, also helped by initiatives to keep items in-stock. Conceding that it continues to have a "perception" problem, where consumers don't see it as the lowest priced in food and other household essentials, Target notched another challenging quarter of sales. Target's first quarter same-store sales fell 1.3% as both traffic and the average amount spent by shoppers each fell. Sales of groceries declined as Target only began late in the quarter to market its new lower priced food and other weekly needs. Meanwhile under the leadership of Marc Lore, who came with Walmart's August 2016 acquisition of his e-commerce company Jet.com, Walmart saw its online sales spike 63% in the first quarter. On Thursday, Walmart announced that it started testing a new delivery method that uses employees to deliver online purchases to customers' homes. The move expands on the retailer's Pickup Discount, announced in April, which offers customers the option to get a discount on certain items they buy online if they pick it up at a local store. Customers can still take advantage of Walmart's free two-day shipping, of course.

Right Now Walmart Is Such a Force Again That Amazon Should Be Very Worried - TheStreet