dividends paid
AMAZON.COM $358.14 (Nasdaq symbol AMZN; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (206-266-1000; www.amazon.com; Shares outstanding: 460.2 million; Market cap: $166.1 billion; No dividends paid) has enticed Babik Parviz, a key director at Google’s secretive Google X labs, to join the company.
Parviz pioneered the development of Google Glass, a wearable computer that displays information on a small display attached to a pair of glasses. More recently, Parviz led the Google team working on contact lenses with embedded electronics.
Amazon recently introduced its long-awaited Amazon Fire smartphone, which features a screen that can display seemingly 3-D images without the need for special glasses. This new technology—called Dynamic Perspective—uses retina-tracking technology embedded in four front-facing infrared cameras to make some images appear to be 3-D, similar to a hologram.
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Parviz pioneered the development of Google Glass, a wearable computer that displays information on a small display attached to a pair of glasses. More recently, Parviz led the Google team working on contact lenses with embedded electronics.
Amazon recently introduced its long-awaited Amazon Fire smartphone, which features a screen that can display seemingly 3-D images without the need for special glasses. This new technology—called Dynamic Perspective—uses retina-tracking technology embedded in four front-facing infrared cameras to make some images appear to be 3-D, similar to a hologram.
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The shift toward online shopping continues to pick up speed: over the next 10 years, e-commerce could account for 40% of all retail sales in developed nations and 30% in emerging markets. We feel the best way to profit from this trend is through shares of companies that process online payments and fulfill orders, like these three. VISA INC. $209 (New York symbol V; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 628.4 million; Market cap: $131.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 10.9; Dividend yield: 0.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.visa.com) operates the world’s largest electronic payments network, through which it processes credit, debit, prepaid and commercial transactions....
North American and European consumers continue to shift away from cash and toward credit and debit cards. As a result, banks on those two continents are buying fewer automated teller machines. But ATM demand remains high in developing nations, where many stores only accept cash. That’s good news for ATM makers NCR and Diebold (also in this issue). Both are also diversifying into related products and offering more software and support services. NCR CORP. $33 (New York symbol NCR; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 167.9 million; Market cap: $5.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.9; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.ncr.com) gets 52% of its revenue from ATMs. It also makes cash registers and self-serve checkouts (32% of revenue) and kiosks for theatres and arenas (10%). Maintenance services supply the other 6%. Overseas markets account for 60% of NCR’s revenue. In the quarter ended March 31, 2014, NCR’s revenue rose 7.7%, to $1.5 billion from $1.4 billion a year earlier. That’s partly due to its January 2014 purchase of privately held Digital Insight Corp., whose software helps over 1,000 banks and credit unions manage their online and mobile transactions....
NORDION INC. $14 (Toronto symbol NDN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 61.9 million; Market cap: $866.6 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.6; No dividends paid since July 2012; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; www.nordion.com) has accepted a $13.00 U.S.-a-share friendly bid from Sterigenics, a privately held Illinois firm that sterilizes surgical tools, drug ingredients and other materials.
Sterigenics expects to complete the takeover in the second half of 2014....
Sterigenics expects to complete the takeover in the second half of 2014....
BLACKBERRY LTD. $8.46 (Toronto symbol BB; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 526.8 million; Market cap: $4.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative; www.blackberry.com) has started selling its new Z30 touch-screen smartphone in Indonesia.
The Z30 is cheaper than Apple’s iPhone and devices that use Google’s Android software, which should help BlackBerry maintain its high share of Indonesia’s smartphone market.
The company now predicts it will probably lose money in the fiscal year ending February 28, 2015. However, it expects its recent job cuts, real estate sales and other cost-cutting measures will let it earn a profit in fiscal 2016.
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The Z30 is cheaper than Apple’s iPhone and devices that use Google’s Android software, which should help BlackBerry maintain its high share of Indonesia’s smartphone market.
The company now predicts it will probably lose money in the fiscal year ending February 28, 2015. However, it expects its recent job cuts, real estate sales and other cost-cutting measures will let it earn a profit in fiscal 2016.
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AMAZON.COM $334.38 (Nasdaq symbol AMZN; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (206- 266-1000; www.amazon.com; Shares outstanding: 460.2 million; Market cap: $150.8 billion; No dividends paid) has launched Prime Music, a music streaming service that’s now bundled with a $99-a-year Amazon Prime subscription. This is the fourth part of the Amazon Prime service. The other three are unlimited shipping, a Kindle e-book library and Prime Instant Video (streaming movies and TV shows). Prime customers spend three to four times more than regular Amazon shoppers. The company’s music service will start off with just over a million songs, with no ads and no limit on how much users can listen. It will also offer playlists curated by music experts Amazon will hire....
AEROPOSTALE $3.55 (New York symbol ARO; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (646-485-5410; www.aeropostale.com; Shares outstanding:78.5 million; Market cap: $277.6 million; No dividends paid) reported better-than-expected earnings this week. However, the high teenage unemployment rate is still weighing on its sales. In the three months ended May 3, 2014, Aeropostale’s sales fell 12.5%, to $395.9 million from $452.3 million a year earlier. Samestore sales declined 13%. The company is now closing all 125 of its mall-based P.S. from Aeropostale stores. If you exclude closure and other costs, it lost $0.52 a share. That was better than the consensus forecast of a $0.72-a-share loss. A year earlier, Aeropostale lost $0.16 a share....
BIRCHCLIFF ENERGY $14.75 (Toronto symbol BIR; TSINetwork Rating:Speculative) (403-261-6401;www.birchcliffenergy.com; Units outstanding: 145.0million; Market cap: $2.2 billion; No dividends paid) reports that its daily production rose 21.6% in the three months ended March 31, 2014, to 31,749 barrels of oil equivalent from 26,108 a year earlier. Cash flow per share jumped 122.2%, to $0.60 from $0.27, on the increased production and higher oil and gas prices. The company plans to spend $291 million on exploration and development this year, which should boost its 2014 output to a record 34,000 barrels a day. Birchcliff expects to generate full-year cash flow of $331 million, or $2.30 a share, so it can comfortably afford these outlays. Birchcliff Energy is still a buy.
ACI WORLDWIDE $55.40 (Nasdaq symbol ACIW; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (402-334-5101; www.tsainc.com; Shares outstanding: 37.9 million; Market cap: $2.1 billion; No dividends paid) makes software that processes transactions involving credit cards, debit cards, automated teller machines, point-of-sale terminals and interbank payments. Its products also help cut fraud. The company has added another major client for its Postilion retail point-to-point encryption (PSPE) software. This technology encrypts credit card numbers and other sensitive information from the point of entry (card swipe) at the merchant to the other end (issuing bank or other payment processor). The client is Ecentric Payment Systems, South Africa’s leading payment processor. Ecentric processes nearly 400 million transactions a year for retailers. This number should rise as African markets continue to develop and South African retailers expand into other countries on the continent....
NCR CORP. $33 (New York symbol NCR; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 167.9 million; Market cap: $5.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.9; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.ncr.com) gets 52% of its revenue from ATMs. It also makes cash registers and self-serve checkouts (32% of revenue) and kiosks for theatres and arenas (10%). Maintenance services supply the other 6%. Overseas markets account for 60% of NCR’s revenue.
In the quarter ended March 31, 2014, NCR’s revenue rose 7.7%, to $1.5 billion from $1.4 billion a year earlier. That’s partly due to its January 2014 purchase of privately held Digital Insight Corp., whose software helps over 1,000 banks and credit unions manage their online and mobile transactions.
NCR paid $1.65 billion for this firm, which should add $350 million to its yearly revenue. Earnings fell 14.5%, to $53 million from $62 million. Pershare earnings declined 16.2%, to $0.31 from $0.37, on more shares outstanding.
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In the quarter ended March 31, 2014, NCR’s revenue rose 7.7%, to $1.5 billion from $1.4 billion a year earlier. That’s partly due to its January 2014 purchase of privately held Digital Insight Corp., whose software helps over 1,000 banks and credit unions manage their online and mobile transactions.
NCR paid $1.65 billion for this firm, which should add $350 million to its yearly revenue. Earnings fell 14.5%, to $53 million from $62 million. Pershare earnings declined 16.2%, to $0.31 from $0.37, on more shares outstanding.
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