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March 2017 |
Archives |
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Friday, March 31, 2017, 10:02 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Canaccord Ups Apple Target |
Canaccord lifts its Apple (AAPL, $143.86) price target to $165 from $154, citing a bullish outlook for the upcoming iPhone 8 upgrade cycle. The firm’s research indicates the iPhone installed based exceeded 570 million users exiting 2016.
Compelling new features and form factors for the next iPhone should drive strong replacement sales across that impressive installed base, says Canaccord. |
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Friday, March 31, 2017, 9:27 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Deutsche Bank Remains Upbeat on Akamai |
Deutsche Bank says Akamai Technologies (AKAM, $60.53) is currently in investment mode, which will result in near-term margin pressure. However, the firm reiterates its price target of $80, saying it has conviction in the company’s 2018 growth story. |
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Thursday, March 30, 2017, 9:23 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Barclays Bullish on Amazon |
Barclays starts coverage of Amazon (AMZN, $874) at ‘Overweight’ with a price target of $1,120. The firm’s sum-of-the-parts valuation includes the AWS and retail businesses. Barclays recommends using any weakness in the stock caused by volatility in the AWS unit to add to positions. |
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Thursday, March 30, 2017, 9:02 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Analysts Upbeat on CyberArk & Qualys |
Goldman Sachs upgrades CyberArk Software (CYBR, $50.15) to ‘Buy’ and raises its price target to $64 from $57, calling the company one of the best secular growth stories in security today.
The firm looks for upside momentum in the business this year to result in beat-and-raise quarters.
Morgan Stanley isn’t as bullish on CyberArk, initiating coverage at ‘Equal Weight’ with a price target of $55. The firm believes the current valuation appropriately reflects growth expectations.
Morgan Stanley instead favors Qualys (QLYS, $36.95), saying the risk/reward balance is now positive following reduced consensus expectations. The firm initiates Qualys at ‘Overweight’ with a price target of $43.
Morgan Stanley says its work shows security spending growth in 2017 will likely stabilize (and potentially improve), with vulnerability management remaining a priority. |
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Wednesday, March 29, 2017, 9:03 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Needham Starts CyberArk at 'Buy' |
Needham starts CyberArk Software (CYBR, $49.04) at ‘Buy’ with a price target of $62, saying the company is a beneficiary of CISOs shifting their spending from pure perimeter defense to stopping the damage caused by both external hackers and malicious insiders.
CyberArk is one of the top internal protection vendors focused on limiting access to privileged accounts and containing any damage from breaches. |
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Tuesday, March 28, 2017, 9:06 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
RBC Capital Upgrades Paylocity |
RBC Capital upgrades Paylocity (PCTY, $37.25), a provider of cloud-based payroll and HCM solutions, to ‘Outperform’ and raises its price target to $47 from $39, saying it expects 20%+ recurring revenue growth over the next three years.
For fiscal 2017 (June), the consensus revenue estimate of $297.2 million represents growth of 28.8%. |
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Monday, March 27, 2017, 9:14 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Morgan Stanley Sets Snap Target at $28 |
Morgan Stanley starts Snap (SNAP, $22.74) at ‘Overweight’ with a price target of $28 based on the company’s growth opportunity given the highly engaged daily active user base.
The firm says Snap’s attractive features—the millennial audience and differentiated online video ad inventory—make it in high demand by advertisers. |
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Friday, March 24, 2017, 9:31 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Nomura Lifts Apple Target |
Nomura raises its Apple (AAPL, $141.54) price target to $165 from $135, saying its research indicates the iPhone 8 “super cycle” will be significantly larger than consensus expectations. |
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Thursday, March 23, 2017, 9:16 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Goldman Upgrades FireEye |
Goldman Sachs upgrades FireEye (FEYE, $11.49) to ‘Buy’ and raises its price target to $15 from $10 based on improving business momentum. The firm says the introduction of the Helix advanced analytics platform addresses many of the company’s previous competitive challenges by reducing TCO by up to 50%. |
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Wednesday, March 22, 2017, 9:54 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Barclays Lifts Arista Target |
Barclays raises its Arista Networks (ANET, $129.01) price
target to $148 from $125 based on faster than expected datacenter switching
market share gains.
The firm says Arista is already leveraging its partnership
with HP Enterprise (HPE) for greater exposure to the telco service provider
vertical.
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Monday, March 20, 2017, 4:41 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
A New All-Time High for Apple |
Apple (AAPL, $141.46) shares today hit a fresh all-time high at $141.50.
RBC Capital reiterates its AAPL price target of $155 based on optimistic expectations for the upcoming iPhone 8 cycle. The firm believes unit sales and growth could match or even surpass the performance of the popular iPhone 6.
A complete redesign of the handset could cause Apple’s market share gains to accelerate, enabling the services business to see increased growth, says RBC.
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Monday, March 20, 2017, 11:06 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Credit Suisse Remains Bullish on Yelp |
Credit Suisse thinks the recent sell-off in Yelp (YELP, $34.36) shares is overdone. Since the Q4 report, the stock is down 18% because of soft advertiser adds during the latest quarter and a disappointing 2017 EBITDA outlook.
The firm believes sales force productivity in Q1 likely returned to normal and views the 2017 outlook as conservative.
Credit Suisse, reiterating its price target of $49, sees the potential for Yelp this year to beat and raise results.
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Monday, March 20, 2017, 10:04 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Monness Crespi Bullish on Snap |
Monness Crespi & Hardt starts coverage of Snap (SNAP, $20.30) at ‘Buy’ with a price target of $25, saying it sees more to the company than many suggest. The firm likes Snap’s growth potential relative to other social media competitors. |
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Monday, March 20, 2017, 9:08 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
BofA/Merrill Starts Workday at 'Buy' |
BofA/Merrill starts coverage of Workday (WDAY, $84.96) at ‘Buy’ with a price target of $96 based on the company’s solid positioning as an enterprise software category leader via its cloud-based HCM & financials platform.
The firm calls out strong top-line growth and significant operating leverage. |
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Sunday, March 19, 2017, 9:26 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
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Friday, March 17, 2017, 4:14 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Five9 Hits New All-Time High |
Shares of Five9 (FIVN, $18.02), a provider of cloud-based software for customer service centers, today rose 7% and hit a new all-time high of $18.19 following a Pacific Crest upgrade to ‘Overweight’ with a price target of $22.
Back in the July 2014 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector (TSP #149), we wrote about how Five9 was on a promising path because of its strong positioning within the broad trend of contact centers moving to the cloud. At that time, the stock was trading around the April 2014 IPO price of $7.
Pacific Crest sees potential for Five9 to triple revenue over the next five years, driven by gains against legacy on-premises competitors (Avaya, Genesys and Aspect), a group holding about a 50% market share.
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Friday, March 17, 2017, 12:03 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
MuleSoft IPO Pops 46% |
The MuleSoft (MULE, $24.86) IPO was priced at $17 and opened for trading at $24.25.
The stock, currently up 46% from the IPO price, hit an early high of $25.92.
We profiled the application integration platform provider in the March 2017 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector (TSP #181). |
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Friday, March 17, 2017, 10:20 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
JMP Upgrades Gigamon |
JMP Securities upgrades Gigamon (GIMO, $36.15) to ‘Outperform’ with a price target of $45 based on positive checks indicating demand for network visibility is healthy, with the company remaining a clear leader in terms of competitive positioning. |
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Friday, March 17, 2017, 9:03 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
UBS Ups Facebook PT to $165 |
UBS raises its Facebook (FB, $139.99) price target to $165 from $155, saying the valuation is attractive relative to the company's growth profile.
The firm expects continued growth in Facebook’s core advertising business while the shift in the emerging businesses (Messenger, WhatsApp and Oculus) to monetization from user growth/ecosystem investments is taking place.
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Thursday, March 16, 2017, 12:08 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Chart Watch: Workday |
On its recent pullback from the Feb. 27 high of $92.46, Workday (WDAY, $84.63) stock found support at the 200-day moving average of $81.78. There’s short-term resistance at $85.50. |
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Thursday, March 16, 2017, 10:04 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Morgan Stanley Hikes IBM Target |
Morgan Stanley raises its IBM (IBM, $178.06) price target to $212 from $187 because it believes investors are undervaluing the company’s cloud opportunity.
The firm expects IBM’s $3-billion public cloud business to grow in line with the market at a 33% CAGR from 2016 to 2020, with gross and operating margins expanding to industry averages by the end of that period. |
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Thursday, March 16, 2017, 9:27 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
MoffettNathanson Negative on Snap |
MoffettNathanson starts Snap (SNAP, $20.77) at ‘Sell’ with a price target of $15 based on slowing DAU growth and limited revenue upside. The firm believes Snap will end up being more like Twitter (TWTR) than Facebook (FB). |
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Wednesday, March 15, 2017, 12:58 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Coupa Hits New Post-IPO Low |
Coupa Software (COUP, $23.43) shares today are down nearly 2% and have hit a new post-IPO low of $23.36. Today’s weakness comes after an 11% drop in yesterday’s session.
On Monday, Coupa, a provider of cloud-based solutions used for corporate spend management, reported fiscal Q4 (Jan.) revenue rose 44% to $38 million, topping the consensus estimate of $35.9 million.
For FY’18, Coupa sees revenue of $167 million to $170 million (growth of 26% at the midpoint), vs. the consensus of $164.9 million.
Coupa went public in October at $18; the opening price was $35. |
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Wednesday, March 15, 2017, 11:25 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Cantor Cautious on Snap, Sets $18 PT |
Cantor Fitzgerald starts Snap (SNAP, $21.16) at ‘Underweight’ with a price target of $18, citing the rich valuation, intense competition and decelerating growth trends in DAUs/monetization during the last couple of quarters.
The firm says sequential DAU and monetization growth throughout 2017 will be key in determining the growth curve for Snapchat, and whether it’s more likely to mimic Facebook in its user/advertiser appeal or Twitter.
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Wednesday, March 15, 2017, 9:02 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
BofA/Merrill Downgrades Citrix |
BofA/Merrill downgrades Citrix Systems (CTXS, $82.02) to ‘Neutral’ based on valuation. The firm raises its price target to $91 from $87.
Citrix shares got a boost this week following a Bloomberg report that the company was shopping itself around. But there’s no guarantee of a buyer.
BofA/Merrill says it’s not sure how much more value either a strategic or private equity buyer could add given the already steady margin expansion at Citrix.
Valuations of recent private equity software M&A comps would imply a deal for Citrix in the $95 to $106 range, according to the firm. |
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Tuesday, March 14, 2017, 4:11 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
A New Low for Snap |
Snap (SNAP, $20.51) shares continue to come under selling pressure, today falling 2.7% and hitting a new post-IPO low of $20.15.
While the stock remains above the IPO price of $17, it’s now considerably below the opening price of $24. |
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Tuesday, March 14, 2017, 10:22 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Chart Watch: NVIDIA |
The latest pullback in NVIDIA (NVDA, $101.70) was halted just above the $95 level. The stock remains below its 50-day moving average of $106.17. There’s short-term resistance at $105.20.
Goldman Sachs maintains NVIDIA as a top pick in semis, reiterating its price target of $130. The firm expects strong earnings over the coming quarters to drive the stock’s outperformance. |
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Tuesday, March 14, 2017, 9:05 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Citrix Looks for a Buyer |
Citi thinks Cisco Systems (CSCO) is the most obvious fit among potential strategic buyers of Citrix Systems (CTXS, $84.93).
But the firm points out that Cisco just announced the acquisition of AppDynamics, making a near-term deal less likely.
Private-equity firms might be interested, but Citrix’s size (market cap of $13.2 billion) means partnering up most likely would be required.
Citi maintains its ‘Buy’ rating on Citrix, saying prior private equity transactions suggest a takeover could take place at anywhere from $83 to $133 a share. Citi’s price target is $94. |
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Monday, March 13, 2017, 4:50 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Citrix Jumps on Buyout Chatter |
Citrix Systems (CTXS, $84.93) shares this afternoon closed up 6.7% on buyout chatter. The intraday high was $87.99.
Bloomberg reports the enterprise software vendor has put itself up for sale and is working with Goldman Sachs to find potential buyers.
On February 1, Citrix spun off its GoToMeeting business, merging it with LogMeIn (LOGM). |
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Monday, March 13, 2017, 12:07 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
HubSpot Jumps |
Shares of HubSpot (HUBS, $63.65) today are more than 7% on active volume. There’s no news to account for the strong upside move.
The stock hit a new all-time high at $63.85. |
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Monday, March 13, 2017, 10:02 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Intel to Acquire Mobileye |
Intel (INTC, $35.37) is buying Mobileye (MBLY, $61.31) for $63.54 a share in cash in a deal worth roughly $15.3 billion (enterprise value of $14.7 billion).
The combination is expected to accelerate innovation for the auto industry, positioning Intel as a leading provider of technology to drive fully autonomous vehicles.
The deal is expected to close within the next nine months. |
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Friday, March 10, 2017, 1:06 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Chart Watch: F5 Networks |
F5 Networks (FFIV, $144.89) is trying to get through tough resistance around current levels.
The stock recently found buyers on dips to around the $140.50 level, but needs to clear $146 on a closing basis to signal an upside breakout.
The 50-day moving average is trending sideways from $141.79. |
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Friday, March 10, 2017, 9:02 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Citi: NVIDIA Retreat a Buying Opportunity |
Citi views the recent NVIDIA (NVDA, $98.54) sell-off as an “enhanced buying opportunity,” saying its recent survey suggests concerns about gaming-related demand and competition are overdone. The firm maintains its price target of $145. |
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Thursday, March 9, 2017, 4:17 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Chart Watch: Yelp |
After falling 24% from the 52-week high of $43.41 reached on February 2 to the recent low of $32.97, Yelp (YELP, $34.37) shares are trying to stabilize in the mid-$30s, below the 200-day moving average of $35.36.
So far this month, buyers have been stepping in on dips below $33.40.
Yelp stock always bring the volatility: Last October, the shares dropped 26% from the October 5 high of $43.36 to the November 1 low of $32.
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Thursday, March 9, 2017, 11:07 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Pacific Crest Sees Upside for Google Cloud |
Pacific Crest reiterates its Alphabet (GOOGL, $859.60) price target of $1,040 following the first day of the Google Cloud Next 2017 Conference. The ongoing event is well attended, indicating solid interest in Google Cloud Platform.
The firm says Google’s strategic choice to pursue a more hybrid cloud message compared to AWS is attracting more channel support.
Pacific Crest has increased confidence that Google can continue to grow its cloud business and build it into a meaningful revenue and profit contributor over time.
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Thursday, March 9, 2017, 9:03 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Canaccord Lifts AMD Target |
Canaccord raises its Advanced Micro Devices (AMD, $13.22) price target to $17 from $14, saying the chipmaker is re-emerging as a competitive second source to Intel (INTC).
The firm believes the company’s gradual recovery in GPU share should be aided by the Vega launch in higher-tier markets. |
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Wednesday, March 8, 2017, 4:58 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Pacific Crest Bullish on Salesforce |
Pacific Crest reiterates its Salesforce (CRM, $83.48) price target of $95 following the general availability release of the Einstein AI platform, calling the new offering a “key differentiating asset.”
The firm believes Einstein could accelerate multi-cloud adoption and support continued large-deal momentum. |
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Wednesday, March 8, 2017, 11:03 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Drexel Hamilton Hikes IBM PT to $215 |
Drexel Hamilton raises its IBM (IBM, $180.63) price target to $215 from $186, saying the newly announced strategic partnership with Salesforce (CRM) related to AI has the potential to thrive for years.
The firm believes IBM is best positioned to capitalize on the broad themes of AI and cognitive intelligence. |
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Wednesday, March 8, 2017, 9:03 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Mizuho Bullish on Skyworks |
Mizuho upgrades Skyworks Solutions (SWKS, $95.05) to ‘Buy’ and lifts its price target to $110 from $80 based on improved content and revenue share gains.
The firm believes Skyworks is well positioned for the upcoming iPhone 8 cycle, a renewed push from Samsung and an overall healthy demand environment in the Chinese handset market.
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Tuesday, March 7, 2017, 4:19 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Down Goes Snap |
After yesterday's 12% decline, sellers today were once again in control of Snap (SNAP, $21.44), with the stock closing down 9.8%.
The intraday low was $20.64.
Snap is now well below the $24 opening price from last week’s IPO.
The shares are off 27% from the post-IPO high of $29.44.
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Tuesday, March 7, 2017, 10:28 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Chart Watch: Salesforce |
Salesforce (CRM, $83.56) shares are attempting to take out the all-time high at $84.48, but are having some short-term trouble at the $84.40 level.
The 50-day moving average has crossed above the 200-day moving average of $76.98. |
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Tuesday, March 7, 2017, 9:03 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Nimble Storage Snags Buyout from HPE |
Nimble Storage (NMBL, $8.60) will be acquired by HP Enterprise (HPE) for $12.50/share in cash in a deal worth about $1 billion.
The premium is 45% compared to last night’s close. HPE expects the transaction to be completed in April.
In FY’17 (Jan.), Nimble’s revenue rose 25% to $402.6 million. The company has 10,200 customers.
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Monday, March 6, 2017, 4:30 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Snap Cracks |
Snap (SNAP, $23.77) shares today closed down 12.2% and finished on the low for the session.
Just after the open, the stock traded in the green, hitting an intraday high of $28.25, below Friday’s post-IPO high of $29.44. |
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Monday, March 6, 2017, 9:02 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Needham Starts Snap at 'Underperform' |
Needham initiates Snap (SNAP, $27.09) at ‘Underperform’ based on the following risks:
1-The company’s TAM is 80% smaller than Facebook’s
2-Snap already has 50% penetration of its U.S. TAM
3-Its technology ideas can easily be copied
4-The 2019 revenue estimate of $3.3 billion would require Snap to have a 14% to 16% share of adjusted mobile or digital ad spending, up from 2% in 2016
5-No clear path to profitability before 2020
Needham believes SNAP shares have a fair value in the $19 to $23 range. |
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Friday, March 3, 2017, 5:10 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Snap Adds to Gains |
Snap (SNAP, $27.09) shares finished their second session with a gain of 10.6%. This morning, the stock hit an intraday high of $29.44.
Snap is up 59% from the $17 IPO price. |
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Friday, March 3, 2017, 11:03 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Snap Surges 17%; Nomura Negative |
Nomura starts Snap (SNAP, $28.69) at ‘Reduce’ with a price target of $16, citing decelerating growth in DAUs and monetization.
Facing strong competition from larger rivals, Snap’s opportunity is constrained relative to lofty expectations, says the firm.
Snap shares today are up more than 17%. |
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Friday, March 3, 2017, 9:14 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Mizuho Starts Paycom at 'Buy' |
Mizuho initiates Paycom (PAYC, $55.20) at ‘Buy’ with a price target of $62, saying the provider of cloud-based HCM solutions is likely to deliver upside to estimates throughout the year.
The firm calls out Paycom’s strong positioning in the mid-market segment. Improving attach rates for non-payroll modules show the company is successfully expanding into other HR workloads, says Mizuho.
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Thursday, March 2, 2017, 4:18 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Snap's Winning First Session |
Snap (SNAP, $24.48) closes its first session with a gain of 44% from the $17 offer price. The high today was $26.05.
SNAP opened for trading at $24.
One firm is already negative on the stock: Pivotal Research starts coverage at ‘Sell’ with a price target of $10 based on valuation.
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Thursday, March 2, 2017, 9:06 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Snap IPO Ready to Go |
Snap (SNAP) prices its IPO at $17, valuing the company at $23.6 billion out of the gate.
That’s the largest tech IPO in the U.S. since Alibaba’s premiere in September 2014.
In 2016, Snap’s revenue rose 589% to $404.4 million.
Here’s the quarterly revenue breakdown from last year:
Q4: $165.6 million
Q3: $128.2 million
Q2: $71.8 million
Q1: $38.8 million
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Wednesday, March 1, 2017, 4:05 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
A New High for Facebook |
Ahead of tomorrow’s much-anticipated Snap (SNAP) IPO, Facebook (FB, $137.42) shares today hit a new all-time high at $137.48.
Facebook is a long-term holding in the Tech-Stock Prospector Vulture Portfolio, added in March 2014 at $59.35.
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Wednesday, March 1, 2017, 2:43 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
William Blair Bullish on Salesforce |
William Blair reiterates its bullish view on Salesforce (CRM, $83.65), saying traction in the enterprise segment, continued improvement in operating margin and solid momentum with the Analytics Cloud and Commerce Cloud will all help drive the stock’s performance over the next 12 months. |
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Wednesday, March 1, 2017, 10:37 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Guggenheim Boosts Apple Target |
Guggenheim raises its Apple (AAPL, $138.46) price target to $180 from $150 based on the next iPhone cycle. The firm expects both iPhone unit growth and ASP increases to reaccelerate over the next two years.
Guggenheim says Apple’s strategy to add OLED displays to just the new higher-priced flagship iPhone X this year is a smart one. Apple then gets another one to two years of follow-on cycling as it migrates OLED to lower-end models. |
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Wednesday, March 1, 2017, 9:14 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Wedbush Lifts Salesforce PT to $102 |
Wedbush raises its Salesforce (CRM, $81.35) price target to $102 from $98, saying FQ4 was a balanced performance across geographies, enterprise expansions and multi-cloud deals.
The firm believes Salesforce is taking advantage of improved demand trends across the software space. The company’s push to accelerate adoption in large enterprises is bearing fruit, says Wedbush. |