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| December 2014 |
| Archives |
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| Wednesday, December 31, 2014, 11:18 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Apple Consensus Advances |
Earnings estimates continue to advance for Apple (AAPL, $112.36), with the fiscal 2015 (Sept.) consensus now at $7.77, up four cents over the past 30 days.
Since the end of October, the consensus has added 11 cents. The Street-high estimate is $8.52.
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| Wednesday, December 31, 2014, 9:11 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Barrington Upgrades GrubHub |
Barrington Research upgrades GrubHub (GRUB, $35.87) to ‘Outperform’ with a price target of $43 based on the company’s solid position in the under-penetrated online food ordering segment.
GrubHub has an active customer base of 4.57 million (+50% y/y in Q3). The company processes about 173,000 orders a day for nearly 30,000 restaurants.
Barrington believes GrubHub could be an acquisition target for Google (GOOGL), Priceline (PCLN), TripAdvisor (TRIP) or Uber.
For more on GrubHub, see TechStock Radar--Dec. 19, 2014.
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| Tuesday, December 30, 2014, 12:04 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Chart Watch: Twitter |
Following a second failed rally attempt this month, Twitter (TWTR, $35.61) shares have rolled over to the downside.
The RSI is declining from 37.7. Both the 50-day moving average ($40.40) and the 200-day moving average ($42.25) are trending downward.
There is short-term support at $34.95 and $34.62.
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| Tuesday, December 30, 2014, 10:16 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| MKM Partners Still Positive on Yelp |
MKM Partners remains bullish on Yelp (YELP, $54.15), maintaining its price target of $86.
The firm believes Yelp represents one of the best long-term growth stories in the consumer Internet space, especially because a majority of the company’s footprint has yet to be monetized.
Yelp is showing strong revenue growth across all markets, with newer markets on a steeper top-line trajectory and older ones highly profitable, says the MKM analyst.
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| Tuesday, December 30, 2014, 9:03 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Topeka Bullish on FireEye |
Topeka Capital reiterates its ‘Buy’ rating and $45 price target on FireEye (FEYE, $32.99) because it believes 2015 will be a better year for the shares based on:
1-The company’s strong APT positioning
2-TAM expansion via entry into endpoint protection
3-Heightened awareness about the importance of incident response following several highly publicized breaches
4-Operating expense discipline
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| Monday, December 29, 2014, 3:22 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Chart Watch: Splunk |
Following the quick rebound off the December 16 low of $53.54, shares of Splunk (SPLK, $61.60) are struggling to make it back above the 50-day moving average at $62.87. If the rally fails here (the RSI has turned down from 50.8), there is downside risk to the 200-day moving average at $55.90.
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| Monday, December 29, 2014, 10:40 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Chart Watch: LinkedIn |
Shares of LinkedIn (LNKD, $235.90) have returned to the top of the trading range going back to early November.
Short-term levels to watch on the upside: $238.19 and the all-time high of $243.25.
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| Monday, December 29, 2014, 9:07 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Needham Turns Cautious on Semis |
Needham & Co. believes the risk/reward profile for the semiconductor segment has become more balanced entering 2015 after two years of outperformance and valuation expansion.
The firm recommends holding off making new investments in semiconductor stocks in general to see whether the market pulls back in the 1H’15 and presents a better buying opportunity.
Needham’s main concerns for the segment:
1-Deceleration in revenue & EPS growth
2-Further multiple expansion unlikely
3-Strong growth already reflected in consensus estimates
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| Friday, December 26, 2014, 4:15 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| GoPro Shares Rebound After Sharp Pullback |
In the October 2014 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector (TSP #152), we called GoPro (GPRO, $69.23) shares expensive when they were trading at just over the $90 level.
Always volatile, GoPro on Monday hit a low of $53.64 (down 45% from the all-time high of $98.47 reached on October 7) and then reversed, closing the session at $58, up 7.6%.
The stock since then has been on the rebound, today rising 4.2% on heavy volume.
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| Friday, December 26, 2014, 11:04 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Chart Watch: FireEye |
FireEye (FEYE, $32.94) shares are facing short-term resistance around the $34 level. The 50-day moving average has turned upward from $31.27. There is additional resistance at $34.40 and $34.55.
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| Friday, December 26, 2014, 10:19 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Chart Watch: Google |
Google (GOOGL, $538.87) shares have rebounded to just under the 50-day moving average of $542.11, recovering from the December 16 dip to $497.19.
The stock remains below its 200-day moving average, which is sloping downward from $564.27.
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| Friday, December 26, 2014, 9:17 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| A 2014 Winner: Electronic Arts |
Having ended 2013 at $22.94, shares of videogame maker Electronic Arts (EA, $48.06) so far this year are up 109.5%.
The stock on Monday hit a new multi-year high at $48.36.
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| Tuesday, December 23, 2014, 1:42 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Chart Watch: NetSuite |
Shares of NetSuite (N, $112.46) have pushed through short-term resistance at $110.98. The RSI is rising from 67.7.
Next resistance levels to watch: $117.62 (March) and $120.77 (the all-time high from February 27).
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| Tuesday, December 23, 2014, 11:25 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Chart Watch: Teradata |
While Teradata (TDC, $45.55) shares since June have traded sideways, they have recently bounced back to the top of the range, recovering from last week’s dip to $40.31.
The next levels to watch on the upside: $45.64 (November) and $46.64 (Sept.). The stock is above the 200-day moving average of $43.40.
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| Tuesday, December 23, 2014, 10:01 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Brean Capital Bullish on Groupon |
Brean Capital names Groupon (GRPN, $7.98) a Top Pick for 2015 and raises its price target to $11 from $10.
Groupon is expected to see sustained solid growth for its Daily Deals efforts in North America (thanks in part to increased inventory of offers), says the firm.
In addition, Brean Capital believes Groupon over the next three years is capable of improving gross margin for the Goods business to 15% from 10% by deploying the best practices of other e-commerce companies (primarily improved efforts related to logistics).
For more on Groupon’s turnaround story, see the December 2014 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector.
Order the latest issue of TSP here for download to your Kindle or Kindle for iPad/iPhone reading app.
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| Tuesday, December 23, 2014, 9:02 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Constant Contact Shares Hit Record High |
Shares of Constant Contact (CTCT, $36.45), a provider of cloud-based digital marketing solutions, yesterday hit a new all-time high at $36.88, surpassing the previous record high from March 2011.
For our view on Constant Contact’s growth profile and outlook for 2015, see the December 2014 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector.
Order the latest issue of TSP here for download to your Kindle or Kindle for iPad/iPhone reading app.
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| Monday, December 22, 2014, 2:52 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| JMP Bullish on Zendesk |
JMP Securities starts Zendesk (ZEN, $24.48), provider of a cloud-based customer service platform, at ‘Outperform’ with a price target of $30 based on the company’s growth outlook.
The 2015 consensus revenue estimate of $180.9 million indicates growth of 44.8%.
Zendesk went public in May at $9 a share and opened for trading at $11.40. The post-IPO high of $28.20 was reached on October 31.
For our latest update on Zendesk, see the October 2014 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector (TSP #152).
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| Monday, December 22, 2014, 10:07 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| A New All-Time High for Facebook |
Shares of Facebook (FB, $81.43) this morning traded to a new all-time high at $81.62.
On the 2015 consensus EPS estimate of $1.91, the forward P/E is 42.6. The Street-high EPS estimate for next year is $2.17.
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| Monday, December 22, 2014, 9:11 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Piper Jaffray Ups Palo Alto Networks Target |
Piper Jaffray raises its Palo Alto Networks (PANW, $124.36) price target to $150 from $130 based on strong demand trends in IT security and a shift in spending toward vendors with comprehensive portfolios.
The firm names Palo Alto Networks a Top Pick for 2015 because it believes the company’s highly differentiated products will enable win rates to remain above 85%, with ramping contributions from WildFire (APT) and Traps (endpoint).
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| Friday, December 19, 2014, 3:05 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Goldman Remains Positive on Facebook |
Goldman Sachs reiterates its ‘Buy’ rating and $85 price target on Facebook (FB, $79.88), saying it views 2015 as an investment year, but has confidence that revenue estimates will see “material upside.”
The firm has “high conviction” surrounding Facebook’s ability to monetize its latest growth initiatives going forward.
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| Friday, December 19, 2014, 11:02 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| OpCo Bullish on GrubHub |
OpCo starts coverage of GrubHub (GRUB, $35.46) at ‘Outperform’ with a price target of $42, calling the company a category leader in online food ordering.
GrubHub’s service (featuring online & mobile platforms) enables diners to order from 30,000 restaurants in more than 800 U.S. cities and London.
For more on GrubHub, see TechStock Radar--December 16, 2014.
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| Friday, December 19, 2014, 10:02 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Citi Ups Instagram Valuation & Facebook PT |
Citi puts a new valuation on Instagram: $35 billion. Its previous estimate was $19 billion. In 2012, Facebook (FB, $79.43) paid $1 billion for the photo sharing service.
With 300 million users, Instagram has become a substantial property for Facebook. Citi is modeling in faster growth for the Instagram audience as well as continued monetization gains.
Citi raises its Facebook target to $91 from $86 as a result of the Instagram valuation boost. The firm expects 2015 to mark the first year that Facebook begins to develop more meaningful off-Facebook revenue streams (from Instagram, ad network/tech, WhatsApp, etc...).
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| Friday, December 19, 2014, 9:02 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| OpCo Neutral on Twitter |
OpCo is neutral on Twitter (TWTR, $36.73), initiating coverage at ‘Perform’ with a price target of $36. The firm believes the current valuation fully reflects future growth prospects.
While calling it the best Internet platform for real-time content discovery, OpCo questions if Twitter (in its current form) has the mass market appeal of other social networks.
For OpCo to get more positive on Twitter, MAU growth would need to accelerate (possibly from product changes) and/or there would need to be signs that the company can monetize the ~500 million users who are logged off.
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| Thursday, December 18, 2014, 4:19 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Infoblox Jumps 8%; Pacific Crest Sets $25 PT |
Shares of Infoblox (BLOX, $19.52), a provider of IP address management and DNS security solutions, today jumped 8.3% on heavy volume after getting a Pacific Crest upgrade to ‘Outperform.’
The firm set a price target of $25, saying the company’s outlook has brightened and that new management can drive improved execution/growth in 2015.
We cover Infoblox’s turnaround potential in the December 2014 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector. Order the latest issue here for download to your Kindle or Kindle for iPad/iPhone reading app.
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| Thursday, December 18, 2014, 11:05 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Pivotal Research Upbeat on Google |
Pivotal Research upgrades Google (GOOGL, $512.96) to ‘Buy’ with a price target of $610 because it believes most of the negatives are priced into the shares at current levels.
Recent trends at Google are expected to continue, as high margin paid search advertising decelerates while middling margin display-related advertising and low margin non-advertising businesses continue to expand, supported by significant capital expenditures, says the firm.
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| Thursday, December 18, 2014, 10:10 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| A New All-Time High for Palo Alto Networks |
Shares of cybersecurity solutions vendor Palo Alto Networks (PANW, $124.21) today are up more than 3% and have hit a new all-time high at $124.95.
The market cap has reached $10 billion.
Palo Alto Networks has been in the Tech-Stock Prospector Small-Cap Portfolio since June 2013 when it was trading at $39.42.
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| Thursday, December 18, 2014, 9:11 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Summit Cautious on CyberArk |
Summit Research starts coverage of CyberArk (CYBR, $38.62) at ‘Sell’ with a price target of $30 based on valuation relative to its IT security peers.
The firm says it understands consensus revenue estimates are most likely conservative and easily beatable, but that revenue growth would need to be above 40% to justify the recent high valuation. The 2015 consensus revenue estimate of $113.9 million indicates growth of 22.1%.
CyberArk does have a first-mover advantage and an early lead when it comes to securing privileged accounts within an organization, according to Summit.
For more on CyberArk’s growth story, see the December 2014 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector. Order the latest issue here for download to your Kindle or Kindle for iPad/iPhone reading app.
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| Wednesday, December 17, 2014, 1:18 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Groupon Rallies on Bullish Comments |
On CNBC today, Leon Cooperman of Omega Advisors was bullish on Groupon (GRPN, $7.08), saying he believes the shares are worth 40% to 50% more than where they are trading now.
In Q3, Omega Advisors opened a Groupon position of 8.78 million shares.
The shares, up 3.6% today, have rebounded more than 36% from the May low of $5.18.
For more on Groupon's rebound story, see the December 2014 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector. Order the latest issue here for download to your Kindle or Kindle for iPad/iPhone reading app.
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| Wednesday, December 17, 2014, 11:04 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Chart Watch: Yelp |
Yelp (YELP, $50.22) shares this morning tested the 52-week low (from May) at $49.11, dipping to $49.18.
The stock has fallen sharply from the September 3 high of $86.88.
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| Wednesday, December 17, 2014, 10:01 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Pivotal Research Upgrades Twitter |
Pivotal Research upgrades Twitter (TWTR, $35.71) to ‘Buy’ with a price target of $42, saying recent weakness in the shares has been overdone.
At yesterday’s low of $35.09, Twitter was down nearly 16% just since the end of November; from the October high of $55.99, the stock had dropped 37%.
With Twitter nurturing strong and expanding relationships with advertisers, the firm believes revenue growth going forward should put aside any concerns around user metric trends.
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| Wednesday, December 17, 2014, 9:03 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Deutsche Bank Upgrades Check Point Software |
Deutsche Bank upgrades Check Point Software (CHKP, $75.37) to ‘Buy’ with a price target of $90 (up from $70), saying enterprise spending on IT security could be even stronger in 2015 than it was this year.
The firm likes Check Point’s valuation and accelerating growth profile (8% revenue growth in Q3 after growth of 3% to 4% throughout much of 2013). The 2015 consensus revenue growth estimate of 6.8% “looks very achievable,” says Deutsche Bank.
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| Tuesday, December 16, 2014, 1:26 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| OpCo Bullish on NXP Semiconductors |
OpCo remains bullish on NXP Semiconductors (NXPI, $73.54), calling the company a "top pick" to benefit from the proliferation of LTE technology worldwide, adoption of mobile payments/secure transactions (including Apple Pay) and the increased use of semiconductors in autos. OpCo maintains its $100 price target on NXP Semi.
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| Tuesday, December 16, 2014, 12:05 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| JP Morgan Lowers Google Target |
JP Morgan reduces its Google (GOOGL, $511.70) price target to $600 from $670 to reflect slower organic growth in the core search unit, the strength of the U.S. dollar and ongoing business investments.
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| Tuesday, December 16, 2014, 11:02 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Goldman Upgrades GrubHub |
Goldman Sachs upgrades GrubHub (GRUB, $33.34) to ‘Buy’ with a price target of $43, saying the company has the most at-scale platform among food delivery websites and is well positioned to capture much of the early stages of growth in diner penetration/restaurant coverage needed to take share in the $77-billion U.S. takeout/delivery market.
Goldman believes GrubHub is exhibiting early success in growing penetration rates across both new and existing markets.
Now that the stock is down 27% from the all-time high of $45.80 (reached in August), the firm likes GrubHub’s valuation relative to expected top-line growth (the 2015 consensus revenue estimate of $324.4 million indicates growth of 29.4%).
Last Friday, GrubHub shares dipped to an intraday low of $30.91.
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| Tuesday, December 16, 2014, 10:01 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Summit Bullish on Varonis |
Summit Research initiates coverage of Varonis Systems (VRNS,$24.98) at ‘Buy’ with a price target of $32, saying the company offers the most effective solutions for managing and securing user-generated unstructured data.
The firm expects Varonis to continue to grow at a rapid clip. Summit Research believes the current consensus estimates (calling for 2015 revenue growth of 28% and 2016 growth of 27%) are likely too conservative based on continued investments in R&D (resulting in an expanded portfolio of offerings) and sales & marketing.
Summit Research also thinks Varonis would be “a compelling acquisition” candidate for a variety of potential buyers.
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| Tuesday, December 16, 2014, 9:03 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Evercore ISI Trims Twitter Target |
Evercore ISI lowers its Twitter (TWTR, $36.85) price target to $45 from $55, citing relatively weak October/November traffic trends. The firm maintains its ‘Buy’ rating.
Evercore thinks Twitter is ceding some ground to faster-growing competitors, such as Instagram (owned by Facebook).
The recent disclosure that Instagram has reached 300 million MAUs (Twitter’s latest MAU count was 284 million) implies that the service since the end of March 2014 has added 3x the number of MAUs as Twitter, a potentially negative indicator for the longer term with respect to attracting ad dollars, says the firm.
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| Monday, December 15, 2014, 12:05 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| A Pullback for CyberArk |
Shares of CyberArk (CYBR, $36.32) are down 22% from the post-IPO high of $47.01 (reached on November 24) and are approaching the 50-day moving average at $36.03.
CyberArk, a provider of enterprise cybersecurity solutions, went public in September at $16 and opened for trading at $25.
For our latest update on CyberArk’s growth outlook, see the December 2014 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector. Order the new issue here for download to your Kindle or Kindle for iPad/iPhone reading app.
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| Monday, December 15, 2014, 10:02 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Chart Watch: Zillow |
After holding support at the 50-day moving average at $110.70, Zillow (Z, $120.79) shares are trying to break out of their recent trading range to the upside. There is short-term resistance at $121.42, $122.04 and $127.89.
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| Monday, December 15, 2014, 9:09 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| JMP Bullish on Twitter |
JMP Securities starts Twitter (TWTR, $37.10) at ‘Outperform’ with a price target of $49 based on the company’s global reach (284 million MAUs), brand name awareness (for instant news and information). differentiated content, strong advertiser relationships and a long monetization growth runway.
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| Friday, December 12, 2014, 3:23 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Hortonworks IPO Advances 47% |
Today’s Big Data IPO from Hortonworks (HDP, $23.62), developer of the Hadoop enterprise data management tool, was well received.
Priced at $16 (above the expected range of $12 to $14), the stock opened for trading at $24. Hortonworks shares are now up 47% from the IPO price.
A Hadoop cluster combines commodity servers with local storage and open source software to create a distributed compute and storage platform for large data sets scalable up to petabytes, with thousands of servers or nodes.
The company’s platform integrates with key datacenter technologies to enable customers to collect, store, process and analyze increasing amounts of existing and new data types in a way that augments rather than replaces their existing datacenter infrastructure.
As of September 30, Hortonworks had 233 support subscription customers (active subscriptions) and 292 total customers.
For the nine months ended Sept., revenue rose 109% to $33.38 million.
Shares outstanding after the offering: 41.67 million.
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| Friday, December 12, 2014, 12:14 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Qualys Hits New All-Time High |
Shares of Qualys (QLYS, $37.93), a provider of cloud-based enterprise security solutions, today hit a new all-time high at $38.20.
The company’s QualysGuard vulnerability management solution automates network auditing and vulnerability assessment across an organization--covering everything from network discovery and mapping to asset management and remediation tracking.
We first covered Qualys in the July 2013 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector (TSP #137), when the shares were trading around $16.40, pointing out at the time that the company was gaining market share in vulnerability management from its two main competitors (Intel’s McAfee unit and IBM).
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| Friday, December 12, 2014, 11:16 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| New Relic IPO Jumps 42% |
New Relic (NEWR, $32.73), a provider of cloud-based software analytics solutions, this morning went public at $23, above the upwardly revised expected range of $20 to $22 (the previous range was $18 to $20).
The shares opened for trading at $30.16 and are now up 42% from the IPO price.
The company’s suite of products enables organizations to collect, store and analyze large amounts of software data in real time.
Using New Relic products, tech users can quickly find and fix performance problems as well as predict and prevent future issues. Business users can see how products are launching or how pricing changes are impacting customer retention rates.
As of September 30, New Relic had 10,590 paid business accounts and 250,000+ users.
In fiscal 2014 (March), revenue rose 113% to $63.1 million. For the six months ended September, revenue was up 83.5% to $47.9 million.
Shares outstanding after the offering: 46.06 million.
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| Friday, December 12, 2014, 9:14 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| JP Morgan Upgrades GoPro |
Following the recent sharp pullback, JP Morgan believes there is a better risk/reward balance at GoPro (GPRO, $60.05), upgrading the stock to ‘Overweight’ with a price target of $70.
GoPro shares traded above $80 as recently as November 28. Yesterday, the stock hit a low of $57.92.
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| Thursday, December 11, 2014, 12:01 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| RBC Capital Defends VMware Shares |
RBC Capital thinks the recent pullback in VMware (VMW, $79.84) shares (down 23% from the August high of $103.86) sets up an attractive entry level.
For 2015, the firm sees VMware with better cross-selling opportunities. Also, there is the potential for the company to reach a positive turning point in some of its emerging business segments.
Overall, RBC believes VMware has a lot of room to expand in the $60-billion datacenter market.
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| Thursday, December 11, 2014, 10:32 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Rubicon Project +5% on Digital Ad Ranking |
Shares of ad-tech specialist Rubicon Project (RUBI, $14.97) today are up more than 5% after the company scored a high ranking in the Pixalate Global Seller Trust Index, which measures the quality of digital ads on networks/exchanges (based on things such as viewability, inventory, engagement, bot levels and masking/mislabeling).
In November, Rubicon Project was ranked #3 behind Google AdExchange and OpenX.
For more on Rubicon Project, see the December 2014 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector. Order the latest issue here for download to your Kindle or Kindle for iPad/iPhone reading app.
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| Wednesday, December 10, 2014, 2:44 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Instagram Hits Major Milestone |
Instagram has reached 300 million users, up from 200 million just nine months ago and 100 million users in February 2013.
Instagram, owned by Facebook (FB, $76.52), sees 70% of its users coming from outside the U.S.
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| Wednesday, December 10, 2014, 10:14 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Fortinet Hits New 52-Week High |
Shares of Fortinet (FTNT, $28.02) this morning hit a new 52-week high at $28.13. Yesterday, the provider of IT security solutions was the subject of some takeover chatter.
The stock’s all-time high stands at $28.82 from April 2012.
For more on Fortinet, see the November 2014 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector (TSP #153).
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| Wednesday, December 10, 2014, 9:26 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| BofA/Merrill Bullish on Tableau |
BofA/Merrill initiates coverage of Tableau Software (DATA, $82.20) at ‘Buy’ with a price target of $100, saying the company is redefining the BI market (much like Salesforce did in CRM 10 years ago).
Tableau represents the first viable BI offering for small/midsize businesses and middle management teams in large enterprises thanks to easy pilot implementations (measured in hours, not months) and a highly intuitive visual interface, says the firm.
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| Tuesday, December 9, 2014, 4:22 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Gigamon on the Rebound |
Shares of Gigamon (GIMO, $15.80) today rose 6.4%, breaking out of the recent consolidation range to the upside.
The RSI has advanced to 65.3. The next upside level to watch is the 200-day moving average at $16.73.
After falling short of expectations in both Q1 and Q2, Gigamon, a provider of networking visibility and control solutions, saw it stock tumble to a low of $9.95 in early October from the all-time high of $41.81.
In Q3, Gigamon showed signs of improvement, with revenue of $39.3 million beating the consensus estimate of $35.4 million. For Q4, the company issued strong guidance: revenue of $41 million to $44 million, vs. the consensus of $39.4 million.
Since our update on Gigamon in the September 2014 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector (TSP #151), the stock has rebounded 55%.
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| Tuesday, December 9, 2014, 12:38 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Yelp Tests Support |
Shares of Yelp (YELP, $52.14) today have moved back into the green after dipping to an early low at $50.02.
For now, the stock has been able to hold support at the 52-week low of $49.11 from May.
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| Tuesday, December 9, 2014, 10:23 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Chart Watch: TripAdvisor |
After falling sharply from the June 30 high of $111.24 to the November low of $67.14 (the 52-week low), TripAdvisor (TRIP, $73.05) shares are trying to find support in the low $70s.
There is short-term resistance at $77.94. The 50-day moving average continues to trend downward from $79.38.
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| Tuesday, December 9, 2014, 9:03 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| BMO Capital Boosts Apple Target |
BMO Capital raises its Apple (AAPL, $112.40) price target to $123 from $113 and takes its fiscal 2015 (Sept.) EPS estimate up to $7.97 from $7.90.
The firm’s latest PT lift is based on higher estimates for iPhone unit sales as well as ASPs for both iPhones and iPads balanced against reduced unit sales assumptions for the iPad.
Apple has been getting a boost from more iPhone 6 Plus unit sales in the mix.
BMO Capital going forward sees fewer iPad Mini unit sales and the potential for a large-screen iPad debut in the second half of calendar 2015.
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| Monday, December 8, 2014, 3:30 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Twitter Tests Support |
Twitter (TWTR, $36.34) shares today are down 5.5% on active volume. The RSI is weak, falling from 30.9.
Today’s intraday low is $35.75. A close below the July low of $35.95 would be a negative sign.
The 50-day moving average of $44.79 is on the decline and approaching the 200-day moving average of $43.56 for a potential downside crossover.
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| Monday, December 8, 2014, 10:09 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Chart Watch: Facebook |
After closing above the 50-day moving average of $75.90 on Friday, Facebook (FB, $76.71) shares today are trying to push off of it to the upside. There is short-term resistance at $78.27.
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| Monday, December 8, 2014, 9:05 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Citi Lifts Apple Target to $135 |
Citi raises its Apple (AAPL, $115) price target to $135 from $120, saying it expects purchasing trends (consumers are increasingly buying higher memory iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus handsets) to drive stronger sales and margins. The firm does not believe this upside is fully reflected in current Wall Street estimates.
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| Friday, December 5, 2014, 11:02 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| BofA/Merrill Turns Cautious on Google |
BofA/Merrill downgrades Google (GOOGL, $533.78) to ‘Neutral’ with a price target of $580 based on maturity in the core search business, lack of product catalysts and increased competition (from Apple and Facebook).
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| Friday, December 5, 2014, 9:03 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| MKM Partners Bullish on Facebook |
MKM Partners starts coverage of Facebook (FB, $75.24) at ‘Buy’ with a price target of $105, saying the stock should be a core holding for growth investors.
For 2015, the consensus revenue estimate of $17.02 billion indicates growth of 37.4%.
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| Thursday, December 4, 2014, 4:10 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Proofpoint Hits New All-Time High |
Shares of Proofpoint (PFPT, $46.52), a provider of enterprise security solutions, today advanced 2.8% and hit a new all-time high at $46.79 on heavy volume.
The stock traded more than 1 million shares (2.4x average daily volume), the highest daily total since October 24.
For more on Proofpoint, see the November 2014 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector. Order the latest issue here for download to your Kindle or Kindle for iPad/iPhone reading app.
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| Thursday, December 4, 2014, 9:01 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Apple Consensus Still on the Rise |
The fiscal 2015 (Sept.) consensus EPS estimate for Apple (AAPL, $115.93) continues to creep up, over the past week adding two cents to $7.74. The Street-high estimate is $8.52. In early November, the consensus stood at $7.66.
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| Wednesday, December 3, 2014, 3:43 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| JP Morgan Bullish on Marketo |
JP Morgan starts Marketo (MKTO, $32), a provider of cloud-based marketing automation solutions, at ‘Overweight’ with a price target of $39.
Marketo is well positioned for continued solid growth in both the B2B and B2C segments. The firm sees the valuation profile as attractive on a risk/reward basis.
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| Wednesday, December 3, 2014, 10:10 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Citi Bullish on SanDisk |
Citi starts coverage of SanDisk (SNDK, $100.77) at ‘Buy’ with a price target of $125 based on the company’s strong position in the $25-billion NAND flash memory market. Citi calls SanDisk the only pure-play in NAND, which is the preferred storage media for mobile devices.
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| Wednesday, December 3, 2014, 9:04 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| JMP Ups Apple PT to $150 |
JMP Securities boosts its Apple (AAPL, $114.85) price target to $150 from $135, saying lack of competitive momentum from key Android rivals should lead to further market share gains for the iPhone. The firm also points to a resurgence in demand for the iPad, with the newest Air 2 sold out at most Best Buy stores.
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| Tuesday, December 2, 2014, 3:18 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| JP Morgan Bullish on NetSuite |
JP Morgan starts NetSuite (N, $103.82) at ‘Overweight’ with a price target of $130, saying the company provides a very complex product--ERP is the central system for running a business--and has fortified its cloud-based offering with a robust ecosystem, which provides a significant competitive moat that will drive sustainable multi-year growth.
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| Tuesday, December 2, 2014, 12:03 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Chart Watch: Yelp |
Shares of Yelp (YELP, $55.15) this morning dipped below the October low of $54.64, hitting $54.12.
The stock remains below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, both of which are trending downward.
Yelp’s next major support level is the 52-week low of $49.11 from early May.
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| Tuesday, December 2, 2014, 9:03 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| BofA/Merrill Lifts Apple Target to $130 |
BofA/Merrill raises its Apple (AAPL, $115.07) price target to $130 from $120 based on stronger than expected demand and improved availability for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
For the Apple Watch, the firm sees unit sales of 22.9 million in calendar 2015 and 38.5 million in calendar 2016.
BofA/Merrill takes its fiscal 2015 (Sept.) EPS estimate up to $8.12 from $7.97.
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| Monday, December 1, 2014, 4:06 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Chart Watch: Twitter |
Shares of Twitter (TWTR, $39.04) today were hit hard, falling 6.4% on below-average volume.
Over the past few weeks, the stock has traded sideways, holding support at the November low of $38.81. On any more weakness in the overall market, traders will be closely watching this support level.
The 200-day moving average continues to trend downward from $44.01.
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| Monday, December 1, 2014, 12:02 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| BofA/Merrill Upgrades Groupon |
BofA/Merrill upgrades Groupon (GRPN, $7.62) to ‘Buy’ with a price target of $9.50 (up from $8).
The firm sees improved momentum in Groupon’s turnaround based on the following positives:
1-An established and growing customer base
2-Stable cohort spending patterns
3-Diminished email headwinds (a boost to local billings growth)
4-Easier local billings comps and potential Q4 acceleration
5-Ticket Monster growth acceleration over recent quarters
6-Strategic asset value
For 2015, BofA/Merrill raises its revenue estimate to $3.64 billion from $3.58 billion; the consensus is $3.63 billion.
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| Monday, December 1, 2014, 11:03 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Symantec Hits New 52-Week High |
It’s tough out there this morning (the Nasdaq Composite is off 1.25%), but Symantec (SYMC, $26.12) shares so far are showing relative strength and managing to stay in the green. Earlier, the stock hit a new 52-week high at $26.21.
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| Monday, December 1, 2014, 10:08 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Chart Watch: Alibaba |
Shares of Alibaba (BABA, $107.73) this morning took out the November 19 low of $107.22, dipping to $105.79. There is support at the 50-day moving average at $98.99.
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| Monday, December 1, 2014, 9:05 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
| Barclays Ups Apple Target |
Barclays raises its Apple (AAPL, $118.93) price target to $140 from $120, saying it sees consensus gross margin estimates for the next few years as being too conservative because of greater sales of larger-screen handsets and the upcoming high-margin Apple Watch.
The firm looks for gross margin to improve over the next few quarters.
The performance of Apple shares tends to correlate with movements in gross margin.
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