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June 2016 |
Archives |
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Thursday, June 30, 2016, 4:14 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Morgan Stanley Upgrades Priceline |
Morgan Stanley upgrades Priceline (PCLN, $1,248) to ‘Overweight’ with a price target of $1,525 based on a stabilization in ad spend ROI in Q1 as well as the company’s solid positioning in alternative accommodations.
The firm says Priceline’s incremental bookings per incremental ad dollar (how it monitors ad ROI) is improving thanks to a more rational ad environment (involving competitor Expedia).
The company has strong growth prospects in alternative accommodations: estimated 34% CAGR for the 2015-2018 period, according to Morgan Stanley. |
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Thursday, June 30, 2016, 10:07 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
MKM Upgrades Yelp |
MKM Partners upgrades Yelp (YELP, $29.42) to ‘Buy’ with a price target of $40 based on a rebound in sales productivity. The firm believes improved sales execution should act as a tailwind, driving continued upside momentum on the top line. |
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Thursday, June 30, 2016, 9:10 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Summit Redstone Upbeat on CyberArk |
Summit Redstone resumes CyberArk Software (CYBR, $46.54) at ‘Buy’ with a price target of $55, saying privileged account security (PAS) remains a greenfield opportunity.
Businesses have under-invested in PAS for a long time, leaving critical infrastructure vulnerable to attacks, argues the firm.
Summit Redstone believes elevated spending and increased sales capacity should enable CyberArk to continue to deliver beat-and-raise results. |
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Wednesday, June 29, 2016, 4:04 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Macquarie Bullish on Pure Storage |
Macquarie starts Pure Storage (PSTG, $10.60) at ‘Outperform’ with a price target of $15, saying the company is an industry disruptor poised to benefit from the move to the cloud.
The firm cites the following reasons for its bullish view:
1-Next-gen product architecture
2-Stickiness in the installed base
3-Strong repeat purchase behavior
4-A promising new product cycle
5-Global distribution expansion |
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Wednesday, June 29, 2016, 11:19 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Monness Crespi Starts Shopify at 'Buy' |
Monness Crespi & Hardt starts Shopify (SHOP, $30.11) at ‘Buy’ with a price target of $35, calling the company a pioneering industry leader in cloud-based e-commerce services.
In a market segment full of disparate point products, Shopify’s integrated platform is a differentiator for SMBs looking for a complete backend solution, says the firm.
Monness Crespi is bullish on Shopify for a variety of reasons—including gains in enterprise accounts, international expansion, new services (including shipping) and high customer retention rates.
For more on Shopify, see the June 2016 issue (TSP #172) of Tech-Stock Prospector. |
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Wednesday, June 29, 2016, 9:02 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Elliott Lifts LifeLock Stake |
Activist investor Elliott Associates raises its LifeLock (LOCK, $15.06) stake to 9.9% from 8.8%.
For more on LifeLock, see TechStock Radar—June 16, 2016. |
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Tuesday, June 28, 2016, 4:04 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Chart Watch: Monolithic Power |
Shares of Monolithic Power Systems (MPWR, $66.35) today rebounded 4.8% on heavy volume.
The recent pullback from the all-time high of $71.05 (reached on June 8) held the 200-day moving average, which is rising from $61.19. With today’s rally, the stock is back above its 50-day moving average of $65.53.
For more on Monolithic Power, see the June 2016 issue (TSP #172) of Tech-Stock Prospector. |
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Tuesday, June 28, 2016, 11:06 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
RBC Capital Bullish on Western Digital |
RBC Capital remains bullish on Western Digital (WDC, $43.50), saying strengthening NAND demand and an expanding addressable market for hard disk drives will help offset foreign currency headwinds (mainly the recent appreciation of the yen). The firm maintains its price target of $56. |
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Tuesday, June 28, 2016, 9:02 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Goldman Sachs Downgrades Mobileye |
Goldman Sachs downgrades Mobileye (MBLY, $39.79) to ‘Neutral’ and reduces its price target to $40 from $45, citing valuation following the sharp rally off of the February low and modestly lowered estimates. |
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Monday, June 27, 2016, 12:05 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Chart Watch: Oracle |
Shares of Oracle (ORCL, $38.40) are retesting the 200-day moving average at $38.07, which coincides with recent support at the June low of $38.08. Today’s early low was $38.18. |
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Monday, June 27, 2016, 11:02 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
BofA/Merrill Downgrades NXP Semi |
BofA/Merrill downgrades NXP Semiconductors (NXPI, $74.29) to ‘Neutral’ and lowers its price target to $90 from $100, saying Brexit could pressure top-line growth because of the company’s heavy exposure to the auto and industrial/infrastructure segments. |
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Monday, June 27, 2016, 9:02 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Jefferies Remains Bullish on Priceline |
Priceline (PCLN, $1,232) shares, down 11.3% on Friday, were “undeservedly punished” in a “knee-jerk reaction” to the Brexit vote, says Jefferies.
The company has the highest exposure to Europe among online travel agencies, but its exposure to the British Pound is minimal, according to the firm. Jefferies believes the sell-off sets up a compelling entry point, maintaining its price target of $1,660.
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Friday, June 24, 2016, 11:11 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Expedia Shares Hit by Brexit |
Shares of Expedia (EXPE, $103.46) this morning are down 5.8% following the Brexit vote. The fear is Europe’s business travel will be negatively impacted. But Piper Jaffray points out that the actual exit process will take at least two years, with the slow change mitigating the effects on consumer sentiment, which the firm believes is the most important factor in travel-industry health. |
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Friday, June 24, 2016, 9:18 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Citi Remains Bullish on Mobileye |
Citi remains bullish on Mobileye (MBLY, $43.25), saying the company expects an automaker in the coming weeks to announce the first volume-production autonomous vehicle program using the new EyeQ5 chip (for the 2021 timeframe).
The firm believes such an announcement might further accelerate the industry’s move to fully autonomous driving, and mark the start of a standardization push that would be positive for Mobileye. Citi maintains its price target of $66. |
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Thursday, June 23, 2016, 4:07 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Chart Watch: ServiceNow |
Shares of ServiceNow (NOW, $75.16) have been finding support at the 200-day moving average of $72.12. The 50-day moving average is advancing from $70.88. There is short-term resistance in the $77.25 to $77.75 range. |
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Thursday, June 23, 2016, 12:06 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Needham Ups Yelp Target |
Needham raises its Yelp (YELP, $29.21) price target to $34 from $28, saying management’s increased focus on sales account performance and national advertisers is not reflected across Wall Street estimates. The firm believes Yelp is moving toward performance marketing and a more transactional business, which should enhance shareholder value over time. |
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Thursday, June 23, 2016, 9:11 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
SunTrust Upgrades Cerner to 'Buy' |
SunTrust upgrades Cerner (CERN, $55.28), a provider of healthcare IT solutions, to ‘Buy’ with a price target of $65, saying the valuation is attractive. The stock is down from the 52-week high of $75.
The firm believes Wall Street estimates have fallen to achievable levels. The shares trade at 23.5 times the 2016 consensus EPS estimate of $2.35 and 20.5 times the 2017 consensus of $2.69.
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Wednesday, June 22, 2016, 4:45 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Mizuho Boosts GrubHub Target |
Mizuho raises its GrubHub (GRUB, $29.84) price target to $33 from $28 based on a modestly improving competitive environment in the online food ordering/delivery segment and the recently closed acquisition of LAbite. |
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Wednesday, June 22, 2016, 9:05 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Barclays Upgrades Priceline |
Barclays upgrades Priceline (PCLN, $1,343) to ‘Overweight’ with a price target of $1,500 (up from $1,300), saying lower-than-expected Q2 guidance is a temporary setback that has created a buying opportunity. The firm looks for margins to improve as Priceline shifts ad spend to higher ROI channels. |
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Tuesday, June 21, 2016, 4:16 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Chart Watch: Facebook |
At last week’s low of $112.56, Facebook (FB, $114.38) shares had fallen 7% from the all-time high of $121.08 reached in May. The stock remains below its 50-day moving average of $115.91. There’s minor resistance at $115.44. The 200-day moving average continues to trend upward from $106.25. |
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Tuesday, June 21, 2016, 12:08 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Chart Watch: Imperva |
Imperva (IMPV, $45.12) stock today is up 11.5% in heavy trading following word of the Elliott Associates investment. The earnings-related gap on the price chart from early May has been filled. Now back above the 50-day moving average of $40.70, the shares are trying to breach the downtrend line from the April high. There’s short-term resistance at $47.55 and $49.50.
Imperva is a holding in the Tech-Stock Prospector Small-Cap Portfolio. In the June 2016 issue (TSP #172), we wrote about Imperva as a potential acquisition target.
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Tuesday, June 21, 2016, 11:03 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Piper Jaffray Positive on Priceline |
Piper Jaffray sees a favorable risk/reward balance for Priceline (PCLN, $1,341) shares going into Q2 results. The firm believes the CEO change at Priceline in late April caused the issuance of overly conservative Q2 guidance. Piper Jaffray maintains its price target of $1,500. |
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Tuesday, June 21, 2016, 9:03 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Elliott Takes Stake in Imperva |
Elliott Associates last night disclosed a 9.8% stake in security solutions vendor Imperva (IMPV, $40.44). The activist investor believes the shares are undervalued, saying they don’t fully reflect the company’s “attractive competitive position” and “compelling product set” in both the Web application firewall and database activity monitoring markets.
Elliott has initiated a dialogue with management/BoD regarding “strategic and operational opportunities.”
We called out Imperva as a potential activist target in the May 2016 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector (TSP #171). With Elliott in the mix, there is now a higher chance that Imperva gets bought out. In the June 2016 issue (TSP #172), we wrote about a potential acquirer for Imperva. At the very least, Elliott is a positive for driving shareholder value. |
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Monday, June 20, 2016, 3:15 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Nomura Trims Netflix Target |
Nomura lowers its Netflix (NFLX, $94.12) price target to $115 from $125 because it expects difficult international comps until Q1’17. The firm warns that Wall Street may be underestimating the impact of international launch comparisons (Japan in Q3’15 and Southern Europe in Q4’15) through 2H’16.
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Monday, June 20, 2016, 11:05 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Atlantic Equities Upgrades Expedia |
Atlantic Equities upgrades Expedia (EXPE, $108.75) to ‘Overweight’ with a price target of $130, saying it expects material earnings growth from the company’s non-core online travel assets—HomeAway, Orbitz and Trivago. |
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Monday, June 20, 2016, 9:01 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Deutsche Bank Upgrades Yelp |
Deutsche Bank upgrades Yelp (YELP, $26.92) to ‘Buy’ with a price target of $33 (up from $26) based on stabilized sales force productivity, improvements in ad units and more confidence in management. The firm believes Yelp is likely to exceed 2016 guidance and consensus estimates. |
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Friday, June 17, 2016, 12:16 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Chart Watch: CyberArk |
Shares of CyberArk Software (CYBR, $48.39) pushed through recent resistance at $47.94. The next resistance levels to watch: $49.56 from January and $51.95 from November.
The 50-day moving average, rising from $42.47, is approaching the 200-day moving average at $43.39. |
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Friday, June 17, 2016, 9:03 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
RBC Capital Lowers Apple Target |
RBC Capital lowers its Apple (AAPL, $97.55) price target to $115 from $120 because of reduced iPhone sales estimates. The firm sees longer replacement cycles, increased conservatism about the iPhone 7 and an unfavorable mix shift toward the SE. |
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Thursday, June 16, 2016, 4:44 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Elliott Takes Stake in LifeLock |
In a 13D filing this afternoon, Elliott Associates discloses an 8.8% stake in LifeLock (LOCK, $15.06), a provider of ID theft protection and consumer risk management services.
The activist investor says it views LikeLock shares as undervalued, and has initiated a dialogue with management and the BoD.
Elliott believes there is “material upside” from the share price level on May 20, 2016 ($12.19), which was the day prior to when the firm started to make significant purchases.
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Thursday, June 16, 2016, 3:40 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
JP Morgan Lowers Apple Target to $105 |
JP Morgan cuts its Apple (AAPL, $97.60) price target to $105 from $125 based on reduced expectations for Watch. The firm now assumes Watch will penetrate only 7% of the addressable base by the end of 2017, vs. the previous assumption of 15%.
JP Morgan took its fiscal 2016 (Sept.) Watch unit estimate down to 11.9 million from 23.5 million previously, and slashed its FY’17 estimate to 14.3 million from 41.6 million.
For FY’17, the firm trims its revenue estimate by ~$3 billion to $210 billion, below the consensus of $226.9 billion. The Street-low estimate is $202.5 billion. |
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Thursday, June 16, 2016, 11:06 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Action Alert: TSP Small-Cap Portfolio |
A stock has been removed from the TSP Small-Cap Portfolio. Tech-Stock Prospector subscribers should see today’s Action Alert. Total Return: +56.2%.
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Thursday, June 16, 2016, 10:11 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Deutsche Bank Downgrades Check Point |
Deutsche Bank downgrades Check Point Software (CHKP, $81.72) to ‘Hold’ and reduces its price target to $90 from $95 because of weakening demand trends. The firm believes Check Point will be negatively affected by a slowdown in spending growth across enterprise security. |
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Thursday, June 16, 2016, 9:14 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Canaccord Lifts NVIDIA Target to $55 |
Canaccord raises its NVIDIA (NVDA, $47.36) price target to $55 from $45 based on recent strong growth in the enterprise and automotive segments. The firm believes NVIDIA’s transformation into a diverse visual-computing company is complete. Top-line growth is now being driven by gaming, enterprise, HPC/cloud and automotive.
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Wednesday, June 15, 2016, 4:11 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
FireEye +4% on More Takeover Chatter |
FireEye (FEYE, $16.05) stock today closed up 4% on heavy volume following a Bloomberg report that the company earlier this year turned down at least two potential buyers (including Symantec) because the bids came in below the company’s requirement of at least $30 a share. |
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Wednesday, June 15, 2016, 12:18 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
BMO Capital Bullish on Salesforce |
BMO Capital starts Salesforce (CRM, $82.32) at ‘Outperform’ with a price target of $98 based on continued solid demand for the company’s integrated set of cloud suites. The firm believes customers favor buying sales force automation, customer service and marketing suites that are well integrated.
The core Sales Cloud is expected to grow 8% to 12% annually over the next three years, while the Service Cloud could see growth of nearly 30% in FY’17 (Jan.) and 25% in FY’18. |
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Wednesday, June 15, 2016, 11:05 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Chart Watch: Imperva |
With short-term resistance at $40.30 taken out this morning, Imperva (IMPV, $40.50) shares could be headed for a test of the downwardly sloping 50-day moving average of $41.33. |
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Wednesday, June 15, 2016, 9:03 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Goldman Sachs Downgrades Cisco |
Goldman Sachs downgrades Cisco Systems (CSCO, $28.96) to ‘Neutral’ and lowers its price target to $32 from $35 because it expects earnings growth to decelerate through fiscal 2018 (July) based on moderating server share gains and a slowdown in buybacks. |
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Tuesday, June 14, 2016, 4:55 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
William Blair Bullish on HubSpot |
William Blair is positive on HubSpot (HUBS, $48.22), saying the provider of cloud-based inbound marketing software is capable of sustained 30%+ revenue growth over the next few years. The 2016 consensus revenue estimate of $258.7 million represents growth of 42.2%. |
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Tuesday, June 14, 2016, 11:33 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Chart Watch: Salesforce |
After rallying from the early-May low of $73.17, shares of Salesforce (CRM, $80.96) have come off the all-time high of $84.48 reached on May 26. If downside momentum were to pick up, the stock could test the 50-day moving average at $78.23. The 200-day moving average stands at $74.37.
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Tuesday, June 14, 2016, 10:31 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
NXP Semi Offloads Chip Unit |
NXP Semiconductors (NXPI, $86.76) is selling its Standard Products (SP) unit for $2.75 billion to an investment consortium. The SP business—focused on discrete, logic and PowerMOS chips—had 2015 revenue of $1.24 billion. The deal, expected to close in Q1 2017, will leave NXP Semi more focused on its high-performance mixed signal business. |
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Monday, June 13, 2016, 4:55 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Pacific Crest Remains Cautious on PayPal |
Pacific Crest believes increased adoption of Apple Pay by merchants could present mid-term risk for PayPal (PYPL, $36.54).
The firm estimates Apple Pay could serve about 20% of U.S. e-commerce by 2018 via the addition of more merchants (particularly larger retailers) and active users. |
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Monday, June 13, 2016, 12:20 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Symantec Pays $4.65 Billion for Blue Coat |
Symantec (SYMC, $18.50) will pay $4.65 billion in cash for privately held security solutions vendor Blue Coat. Previously, Blue Coat, a leading vendor in enterprise Web/cloud security, had filed to go public.
As of 2014, Blue Coat held a 43% share of the Web security appliance market (more than 2x larger than the #2 competitor), according to IDC. The company has more than 15,000 customers worldwide.
Blue Coat CEO Greg Clark will become CEO of Symantec.
The deal is expected to be completed in calendar Q3 2016. Symantec plans to finance the transaction with cash on hand and $2.8 billion of new debt.
On a pro-forma basis, the combined company would have had FY’16 (March) revenue of $4.4 billion, with 62% coming from enterprise security.
As part of the transaction, Silver Lake will make an additional investment of $500 million in 2.0% convertible notes due 2021, doubling its investment in Symantec to $1 billion.
Bain Capital, the Blue Coat seller, has agreed to invest $750 million via convertible notes.
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Monday, June 13, 2016, 11:24 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Jefferies Ups NVIDIA Target to $56 |
Jefferies lifts its NVIDIA (NVDA, $47.56) price target to $56 from $45, saying demand for deep-learning GPUs could outpace VR demand. The firm now has higher conviction with respect to its three-year EPS bull case of $3.50.
As a reference point, the fiscal 2018 (Jan.) consensus EPS estimate is $1.59, with the Street-high estimate at $1.92.
For more on NVIDIA, see the April 2016 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector (TSP #170).
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Monday, June 13, 2016, 9:02 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Microsoft to Acquire LinkedIn |
Microsoft (MSFT, $51.48) will acquire LinkedIn (LNKD, $131.08) for $196 a share in an all-cash deal valued at $26.2 billion. The transaction is expected to close this calendar year.
For FY’17 (June) and FY’18, Microsoft expects the acquisition to have minimal EPS dilution of 1%. The deal should become accretive to EPS in FY’19.
LinkedIn is a holding in the Tech-Stock Prospector Vulture Portfolio.
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Friday, June 10, 2016, 4:43 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Chart Watch: Netflix |
A rebound off of the May low of $85.74 for Netflix (NFLX, $93.75) shares met resistance just above the 200-day moving average of $103.69.
The stock has now come down from the May 26 high of $104, taking out the 50-day moving average at $97.31. There’s short-term support at $93.25 (a previous resistance level).
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Friday, June 10, 2016, 12:27 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Piper Jaffray Sets Mobileye PT at $50 |
Piper Jaffray starts coverage of Mobileye (MBLY, $36.57) at ‘Overweight’ with a price target of $50, saying near-term growth will stem from partial-automation products in advanced car safety, but that the company is making a lot of progress in the more advanced field of fully autonomous driving.
Piper cites Mobileye’s growing backlog and the fact that the company’s products are already part of a number of multi-year automation programs. The firm sees limited competition for now:
Since auto makers are justifiably nervous about selecting unproven suppliers, we believe it could be years before Mobileye encounters true competition. |
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Friday, June 10, 2016, 9:15 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Brean Capital Ups Varonis Target |
Brean Capital raises its Varonis Systems (VRNS, $25.99) price target to $35 from $25 to reflect positive partner checks indicating the company continues to benefit from a high level of interest in insider threat prevention solutions. The firm sees Varonis experiencing a more predictable sales cycle, particularly as buyers become more educated regarding the technology.
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Friday, June 10, 2016, 9:08 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
RBC Capital Bullish on HubSpot |
RBC Capital starts HubSpot (HUBS, $49.47) at ‘Outperform’ with a price target of $62 based on continued share gains in cloud-based marketing and an expanded product portfolio driving higher ARPU. |
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Thursday, June 9, 2016, 3:22 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Chart Watch: Akamai |
Akamai Technologies (AKAM, $55.33) is approaching the 200-day moving average, which has started to stabilize at $57.27 since the stock’s rebound from the May low of $48.88. The 50-day moving average is trending sideways from $52.33.
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Thursday, June 9, 2016, 10:22 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Action Alert: Vulture Portfolio |
A stock has been removed from the TSP Vulture Portfolio. Tech-Stock Prospector subscribers should see today’s Action Alert. |
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Thursday, June 9, 2016, 9:12 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
RBC Capital Upgrades LinkedIn |
RBC Capital upgrades LinkedIn (LNKD, $133.84) to ‘Outperform’ with a price target of $160 based on valuation and the company’s growth potential in several large addressable markets—including recruitment and advertising. |
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Wednesday, June 8, 2016, 4:11 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Chart Watch: Alphabet |
Alphabet (GOOGL, $742.93) shares finished the session just above the 50-day moving average of $742.20 after finding support on Monday just above the 200-day moving average of $726.66.
Following a series of higher lows since late April, a close above short-term resistance at $753.48 would signal an upside breakout.
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Wednesday, June 8, 2016, 11:07 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
MKM Partners Raises F5 Target |
MKM Partners lifts its F5 Networks (FFIV, $119.49) price target to $118 from $106, saying it sees a 50% chance of an acquisition (by a strategic buyer or private equity). If a deal were to occur, the firm pegs F5’s value at $130 a share.
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Wednesday, June 8, 2016, 10:02 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Chart Watch: ServiceNow |
Shares of ServiceNow (NOW, $77.33) have pushed through the April high of $76.84. The RSI is up to 74.3. The 50-day moving average is rising from $68.59, approaching the 200-day moving average at $71.97. There’s resistance at $78.19 and $81.79 (both from January). |
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Tuesday, June 7, 2016, 4:07 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
F5 Networks Jumps on Takeover Chatter |
Shares of networking & security solutions vendor F5 Networks (FFIV, $123.94) surged this afternoon on a Reuters report that the company has hired Goldman Sachs to handle “takeover approaches.”
F5 is said to be working with Goldman to field expressions of interest and decide on the next actions to take. F5 shares finished the session with a gain of 12.6% on heavy volume.
F5 Networks is a holding in the Tech-Stock Prospector Vulture Portfolio. |
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Tuesday, June 7, 2016, 11:04 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Chart Watch: Zendesk |
Shares of Zendesk (ZEN, $26.90) continue to show strong upside momentum, with the RSI up to 76.9. The stock, working on its sixth positive session in a row, is approaching the 52-week high at $27.54. |
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Tuesday, June 7, 2016, 9:15 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Mizuho Upgrades Western Digital |
Mizuho upgrades Western Digital (WDC, $48.02) to ‘Buy’ with a price target of $53, saying a seasonally stronger 2H in NAND and modest HDD rebound could be tailwinds over the next two quarters. |
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Monday, June 6, 2016, 3:25 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Monness Crespi Upgrades GrubHub |
Monness Crespi & Hardt upgrades GrubHub (GRUB, $28.75) to ‘Buy’ with a price target of $33, saying competitive risks in the online restaurant delivery market have been overstated.
The firm believes investors should instead focus on the broader positive fundamentals in the business, calling out new technology developments and POS integration as ways GrubHub is creating “stickiness” within its existing network. |
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Monday, June 6, 2016, 9:05 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Piper Jaffray Positive on TripAdvisor |
Piper Jaffray remains positive on TripAdvisor (TRIP, $68.16), saying Instant Booking should drive improved revenue and margin in 2H’16 and next year. The firm expects Instant Booking to lead to a higher hotel shopper monetization rate. Piper maintains its price target of $95. |
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Friday, June 3, 2016, 4:38 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Canaccord Ups Broadcom Target |
Canaccord raises its Broadcom Ltd (AVGO, $162.56) price target to $200 from $185, saying the company is well-positioned for opportunities across several sectors—including wireless & wired infrastructure as well as enterprise/datacenter networking and storage.
The firm expects Broadcom to continue to execute well in terms of achieving synergy targets from the Avago merger.
Broadcom shares today gained 4.9%. |
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Friday, June 3, 2016, 12:24 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Chart Watch: Proofpoint |
Shares of security solutions vendor Proofpoint (PFPT, $61.97) are up 9% this week. The stock is back above its 200-day moving average of $58.20. The RSI is up to 71.7. There is resistance at the $62 level from January. |
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Friday, June 3, 2016, 10:07 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Citi Remains Bullish on GrubHub |
Citi remains upbeat on GrubHub (GRUB, $27.79), saying the valuation is attractive given the company’s long-term growth outlook and competitive position. The firm believes the market opportunity in online food ordering remains large and under-penetrated. Citi reiterates its price target of $30.
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Friday, June 3, 2016, 9:05 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
UBS Boosts Broadcom Target to $205 |
UBS lifts its Broadcom Ltd (AVGO, $154.91) price target to $205 from $190, citing raised guidance and solid execution against synergy targets related to the Avago deal. |
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Thursday, June 2, 2016, 4:28 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Broadcom FQ2 Results Top Estimates |
Broadcom Ltd (AVGO, $154.91) reports fiscal Q2 (April) EPS of $2.53, 15 cents above the consensus estimate, on revenue of $3.56 billion, a slight beat of the consensus of $3.55 billion.
Here is the revenue breakdown by segment:
*Wired infrastructure: $2.06 billion (58% of total)
*Wireless communications: $792 million (22%)
*Enterprise storage: $525 million (15%)
*Industrial & other: $182 million (5%)
For FQ3, the chipmaker sees revenue of $3.675 billion to $3.825 billion, vs. the consensus of $3.71 billion. |
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Thursday, June 2, 2016, 11:10 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Roth Boosts Salesforce Target to $103 |
Roth Capital lifts its Salesforce (CRM, $82.91) price target to $103 from $93 following the Demandware (DWRE) deal news, saying the highly strategic transaction adds a large new addressable market. |
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Thursday, June 2, 2016, 9:02 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Goldman Cuts Apple Target |
Goldman Sachs lowers its Apple (AAPL, $98.46) price target to $124 from $136 and trims its EPS estimates based on reduced growth expectations for the smartphone industry. The firm also expects Apple’s ASPs to come under pressure because of a greater shift in sales to emerging markets from developed ones. |
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Wednesday, June 1, 2016, 4:23 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
A New 52-Week High for Cornerstone |
Shares of Cornerstone OnDemand (CSOD, $40.79) today hit a 52-week high at $41.19. Trading activity was heavy at 1.3 million shares, 2.8x average daily volume. The next significant resistance stands at $43.29 from September 2014.
For more on Cornerstone, a provider of cloud-based HR/human capital management software, see the May 2016 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector (TSP #171). |
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Wednesday, June 1, 2016, 11:14 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Varonis Hits 52-Week High |
Varonis Systems (VRNS, $24.96) shares this morning hit a 52-week high of $25.04, rebounding sharply from the February low of $13.25. The next significant resistance stands at $29.93 from May 2015. |
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Wednesday, June 1, 2016, 10:29 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Piper Jaffray Bullish on HubSpot |
Piper Jaffray starts HubSpot (HUBS, $49.89), a provider of cloud-based marketing automation solutions, at ‘Overweight’ with a price target of $60. The firm cites a large addressable market, accelerating growth profile, new product introductions and an attractive relative valuation. |
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Wednesday, June 1, 2016, 9:03 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Salesforce to Acquire Demandware |
Salesforce (CRM, $83.71) will acquire Demandware (DWRE, $47.99), a provider of cloud-based digital commerce solutions, for $75 a share in cash in a deal worth ~$2.8 billion. The buyout premium is 56% based on last night’s closing price. Demandware will be a part of Salesforce’s new Commerce Cloud.
The transaction, expected to close by the end of July, should increase Salesforce’s fiscal 2017 (January) revenue by approximately $100 million to $120 million, with EPS dilution of about 7 cents a share. |