Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Second Quarter Highlights:
Net sales of $622.4 million; a 45% increase from the same period in 2012
Net sales increased 22% compared to pro forma net sales for the same period in 2012
Pro forma comparable store sales growth of 10.8% and two year combined comparable store sales growth of 21.0%
Diluted earnings per share of $0.10; a 100% increase from the same period in 2012
Adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.14
Adjusted EBITDA of $52.7 million; a 27% increase from pro forma adjusted EBITDA in 2012
"We are pleased to report strong financial results in our initial quarterly release as a public company," said Doug Sanders, president and chief executive officer of Sprouts Farmers Market. "Our robust momentum continued into the second quarter resulting in strong top line performance with pro forma comparable store sales growth of 10.8%. New store sales continue to exceed our expectations as the Sprouts Farmers Market brand continues to attract health-conscious customers focused on value, paving the way for future success."
Intel aims to launch new smartphone SoC, tablet platforms, Digitimes says
Theflyonthewall.com –
Intel is planning to launch its new tablet platforms, the 14nm Cherry Trail in Q3, the 14nm Willow Trail in 1Q14, the Moorefield in 1H14, the 14nm Morganfield in 1Q15 and it's new smartphone SoC, the 22nm Merrifield at the end of this year, according to Digitimes, citing the Taiwan-based makers.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/intel-aims-launch-smartphone-soc-104441930.html
More from INTC board on Ihub:
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=91229918
Steve Madden Declares Three-for-Two Stock Split
Looks like the news was well received....
Martin Resource Management Corporation Announces Partnership With Alinda Capital Partners
Martin Resource Management Corporation ("MRMC"), owner of the general partner of Martin Midstream Partners L.P. (Nasdaq:MMLP) ("MMLP" or the "Partnership") announced today that certain affiliated investment funds managed by Alinda Capital Partners ("Alinda") will acquire a 49% voting interest (50% economic interest) in MMGP Holdings LLC ("Holdings"), a newly-formed sole member of Martin Midstream GP LLC ("MMGP"), the general partner of MMLP. Alinda is one of the world's largest infrastructure investment firms with approximately $7.8 billion in equity commitments. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2013 and is subject to customary closing conditions.
I wonder if the volume last two days is from the company doing some buy-back of shares?
Hedge fund takes $595 million stake in chipmaker Micron
Baupost Group LLC, the Boston-based hedge-fund firm run by Seth Klarman, bought 41.5 million shares of the Boise memory-chip maker during the three months ended in June, making it the firm’s fourth-biggest stock investment by market value, according to a filing Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Micron last month completed a $2 billion purchase of Elpida Memory Inc. as it seeks to deliver sustainable profits in the volatile market for memory chips used in personal computers and mobile devices. Micron has reported a net loss in five of its last 10 fiscal years.
Shares of Micron have jumped 136 percent this year, valuing the company at $15.5 billion. Baupost is now the firm’s fifth- biggest shareholder, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
http://www.idahostatesman.com/2013/08/14/2706383/hedge-fund-takes-595-million-stake.html#storylink=cpy
Yes, nice move this morning.
Old price target and new price target are the two columns on the right.
8/9/2013 Jefferies Group Boost Price Target NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA) Hold $14.00 $15.00
8/9/2013 Deutsche Bank Boost Price Target NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA) Hold $13.00 $16.00
8/9/2013 Nomura Reiterated Rating NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA) Buy $15.00 $17.00
http://www.analystratings.net/stocks/NASDAQ/NVDA/
Google, IBM, Mellanox, NVIDIA, Tyan Announce Development Group for Data Centers
Marks industry first as IBM offers POWER technology for open development
SAN FRANCISCO - 06 Aug 2013: Google, IBM (NYSE: IBM), Mellanox, NVIDIA and Tyan today announced plans to form the OpenPOWER Consortium – an open development alliance based on IBM's POWER microprocessor architecture. The Consortium intends to build advanced server, networking, storage and GPU-acceleration technology aimed at delivering more choice, control and flexibility to developers of next-generation, hyperscale and cloud data centers.
The move makes POWER hardware and software available to open development for the first time as well as making POWER IP licensable to others, greatly expanding the ecosystem of innovators on the platform. The consortium will offer open-source POWER firmware, the software that controls basic chip functions. By doing this, IBM and the consortium can offer unprecedented customization in creating new styles of server hardware for a variety of computing workloads.
“The founding members of the OpenPOWER Consortium represent the next generation in data-center innovation,” said Steve Mills, senior vice president, and group executive, IBM Software & Systems. “Combining our talents and assets around the POWER architecture can greatly increase the rate of innovation throughout the industry. Developers now have access to an expanded and open set of server technologies for the first time. This type of ‘collaborative development’ model will change the way data center hardware is designed and deployed.”
“We are happy taking part in the OpenPOWER Consortium and its mission to further accelerate the rate of innovation, performance and efficiency for advanced data center solutions,” said Gilad Shainer, vice president of marketing at Mellanox Technologies. “Open source and community development are key to enabling innovative computer platforms and better serve the scalable and emerging applications in the areas of high-performance, Web 2.0 and cloud computing. Mellanox’s mission is to provide the most efficient interconnect solution for all compute and CPU architectures and deliver the highest return-on-investment to our users.”
As part of their initial collaboration within the consortium, NVIDIA and IBM will work together to integrate the CUDA GPU and POWER ecosystems.
“The OpenPOWER Consortium brings together an ecosystem of hardware, system software, and enterprise applications that will provide powerful computing systems based on NVIDIA GPUs and POWER CPUs,” said Sumit Gupta, general manager of the Tesla Accelerated Computing Business at NVIDIA.
"OpenPOWER will bring a new wave of innovation to next-generation data centers," said Albert Mu, general manager of Tyan Computer and vice president of MiTAC International Corp. "A strong ecosystem built around OpenPOWER will bring a range of new technology choices to market, offering more capabilities for Tyan's customers."
OpenPOWER is open to any firm that wants to innovate on the POWER platform and participate in an open, collaborative effort. For more information about the consortium and how to join contact, info@open-power.org.
http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/41684.wss
IBM Gets Allies to Chip Away at Intel; Google, Others Join Effort to Break Big Blue’s Power Designs Out of a Niche
International Business Machines Corp. IBM +0.17% has enlisted Google Inc.GOOG -0.17% and some other high-tech allies for a collective effort to catapult an IBM chip technology out of a shrinking niche. The alliance the companies plan to announce Tuesday would allow many companies to license IBM microprocessor designs—based on a technology dubbed Power—that are now only found in Big Blue’s own server systems. Licensees could incorporate IBM-designed circuitry in their own chips, with members of the alliance working on related products such as servers, networking and storage devices, participants said.Other initial members of the group, called the OpenPower Consortium, include Silicon Valley chip maker Nvidia Corp., NVDA +0.47% the Israel-based networking-technology maker Mellanox Technologies Ltd. MLNX +1.77% and Taiwan-based Tyan Computer Corp., a server supplier that is a unit of MiTAC International Corp.2315.TW +0.48%
http://bambooinnovator.com/2013/08/06/ibm-gets-allies-to-chip-away-at-intel-google-others-join-effort-to-break-big-blues-power-designs-out-of-a-niche/
Legacy Reserves Lp reported Q2 EPS of $0.38, $0.08 better than the analyst estimate of $0.30. Revenue for the quarter came in at $118.4 million versus the consensus estimate of $116.83 million.
Conference call on Tuesday, Aug 6th.
Steven Madden Ltd. (NASDAQ:SHOO) was upgraded by analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating. They now have a $69.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $43.00. 29.4% Upside
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/steven-madden-shares-following-upgrade-175149101.html
OT, thinking about Ima.....
A little exchange between Ima and Ranger.........
Ranger : "I think you're having a midlife crisis. Don't let it bother you. It recently happened to Rusty, too. e"
Ima. : "Cordell, If I recently had a MID-LIFE crisis, does that mean I will live to be 162 years old.
How old were you when you finaly graduated from Kindergarten? And were you sober?
IMA needing to know.
ranger: " Rustically. If you weren't so nasty, I'd answer your post. e"
Ima. : "Mr. "W" - Look who is calling Nasty - Nasty!! Did you get up on the wrong side of the Manger this morning Haysoos? Rusty Saddle
Ranger: " Mi nombre no es Haysoos. Mi nombre be Texas Ranger. e"
Ima : " AHA!!! SOOOOO, You have changed your name and taken an alias to hide from me.
You may run, but not forever. I know who you really are. "Texas Ranger" you say.
You are Edda Lee. We were 8th Graders. You were much older than I, and you chased me for five and a half miles in your bitterness that I kissed CLara Osterhaut on the lips.
That was the day of the 8th grade picnic and you tore after me like a hungry mother wolf, scraping me with your dirty claws.
The Mexican Gendarmerie will soon sniff you out and trail you to your lair, where they will arrest you and bring you to justice. Your flight will be ended.[t][/t] You alias will be suspended and once again this world will be a safe haven us Swell Guys.
RUSTY Don Juan (RUSTY is silent.)
Ranger: "Well crapola, Rusty. Are you losing your marbles? That was a really wierd post. But, then again, you're a really wierd guy. (Don't take that personally. You can't help it). e"
Ima: " Cordell, Ms. Knits read your post to me, and has forbidden me to use the Computer any more. From here on I will be sending my mail by Pony Express. May I have the address of your dumpster?
Lyle Snodgrass
Shares in Sprouts Farmers Market Inc. SFM +122.83% more than doubled during the specialty grocery chain's SFM +122.83% first day of trading, the latest robust debut for an upscale supermarket operator.
Sprouts's stock rose 123% to close at $40.11 on the Nasdaq Stock Market Thursday, from an offering price of $18. That is the largest first-day pop for a U.S.-listed initial public offering since March 2011, when China's Qihoo 360 Technology Co. QIHU +4.37% rose 134% on its first trading day, according to Dealogic.
The Sprouts IPO fetched a higher price than expected, raising $333 million before the potential sale of additional shares to underwriters.
Phoenix-based Sprouts, which operates 163 stores primarily in the Southwest, has drawn investors in part with bold plans for expansion. But the company also faces intensifying competition, as established supermarket chains like Kroger Co. KR +0.97% beef up their higher-end offerings and other niche players like Fairway Group Holdings Corp. FWM -0.40% also raise capital to expand.
Sprouts's strategy hinges on luring shoppers from conventional supermarkets with competitively priced produce, then enticing them to buy packaged food and other products like health supplements that are more profitable. Sprouts plans to increase its store count by at least 12% annually over the next five years, which Chief Executive Doug Sanders said he intends to do without acquisitions. Ultimately the company says it thinks the U.S. could support 1,200 Sprouts locations.
"We're in the early innings of this and there's a lot of room for expansion across the country," Mr. Sanders said in an interview.
Still, those aspirations are aggressive. Whole Foods Market Inc., WFM -0.80% Sprouts's biggest competitor, has said its sees capacity for just 1,000 locations in the U.S., even though its 355 locations make it more than twice the size of Sprouts.
Walter Robb, Whole Foods co-chief executive, played down the competitive threat from Sprouts. "They will have more money now and more appetite for growth, but so do we," he said in an interview. "We've been competing right alongside of them all these years, so that's not going to change."
Health-focused, natural-foods stores generally are taking market share from conventional supermarkets, making them a good bet for long-term investors, said Troy Huff, consumer analyst for the $447 million Nuveen Small-Cap Select Fund.
"As we get older and as we get smarter and make more money and are able to afford it, we eat better," he said.
Mr. Huff's fund bought shares of the Colorado-based chain Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage Inc. during its July 2012 IPO and the months afterward. He declined to say if he participated in the Sprouts debut, but lauded the company's strategy. Shoppers at Sprouts "are buying lettuce and tomatoes and cherries and blueberries, but they're also buying stuff off the shelf that comes in a box, and that carries a higher [profit] margin."
Natural Grocers' shares have risen 139% since their debut, while New York-based Fairway Group is up 92% since its IPO in April, which also raised more cash than expected.
Sprouts's IPO follows expansion maneuvers by the company's private-equity backer, Apollo Global Management LLC. Apollo bought Sprouts in 2011 and combined it with Henry's Marketplace, a California grocery business founded by members of the same family—the Boneys—who later formed Sprouts in Arizona in 2002. In 2012, Sprouts added a further 37 stores by acquiring Sunflower Farmers Market Inc.
"I don't see interest in healthy and natural living diminishing," said Tim Kelleher, managing partner at Silver Canyon Group LLC, which has a 6.2% stake in Sprouts. "It's really a combination of the healthy living theme, the experienced management team and the differentiation."
But just like investors are catching on, so are traditional supermarkets. Kroger, the nation's largest conventional grocery-store operator, is buying Harris Teeter Supermarkets Inc., a chain of 200 high-end stores that it hopes to use to improve its produce sales, test online shopping options and open stores in more urban areas. With Kroger's scale and access to capital, Harris Teeter expects to speed up its growth, making the combined company a bigger threat in the upscale, natural-foods world.
Mr. Sanders isn't worried. "You can find natural and organic foods in far more places than you could 10 years ago," he said. "But we are the experts in healthy living. Merely adding those products to a traditional grocery doesn't necessarily get you there.."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324136204578642070577807616.html
Omega Health beats by $0.01, beats on revs; raises FY13 FFO in-line (OHI) 31.83 -0.49 : Reports Q2 (Jun) funds from operations of $0.62 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.61; revenues rose 22.3% year/year to $102.52 mln vs the $99.25 mln consensus.
Co issues in-line guidance for FY13, sees FFO of $2.48-2.51, excluding non-recurring items, (raised from $2.45-2.50) vs. $2.49 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
http://finance.yahoo.com/marketupdate/inplay
Qualcomm Inc.'s ( QCOM ) fiscal third-quarter profit jumped 31% as the company reported strong growth in its sales of its wireless chips.
The company also raised the low end of its full-year revenue guidance and lifted its earnings view. It now expects per-share income of $4.48 to $4.56 on revenue of $24.3 billion to $25 billion. Qualcomm had previously projected earnings of $4.40 to $4.55 a share on revenue of $24 billion to $25 billion.
Omega Announces Increase in Common Stock Dividend
Date : 07/16/2013 @ 6:07PM
Omega Healthcare Investors, Inc. (NYSE:OHI) today announced that the Company’s Board of Directors declared a common stock dividend of $0.47 per share, increasing the quarterly common dividend by $0.01 per share over the previous quarter. The common stock dividend is payable August 15, 2013 to common stockholders of record as of the close of business on July 31, 2013.
At the date of this release, the Company had approximately 117 million outstanding common shares.
NVIDIA Brought Murder And Mayhem In 3D; Now It Is Taking Over Your Car
"NVIDIA processors started showing up in cars in 2008. Since then, the company has shipped about 4.5 million processors to the auto industry. Based on its order pipeline, that will grow to 20 million within the next two to three years, according to Danny Shapiro, director of NVIDIA’s automotive business.
Chief Executive Officer Jen-Hsun Huang told Bloomberg recently that sales of the company’s processors for cars, currently a $100 million business, will keep doubling every year to reach $1 billion a year. In a recent presentation to analysts, NVIDIA forecast automotive revenue of $450 million by fiscal 2016, and said it had more than $2 billion in “design wins,” suggesting growth will continue at a blistering pace. In the fiscal year ended January 31, NVIDIA earned $1.7 billion on $4.3 billion in overall revenue."
http://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmuller/2013/07/08/nvidia-brought-murder-and-mayhem-in-3d-now-it-is-taking-over-your-car/
Microsoft sues U.S. Customs, seeks to enforce ban on some Motorola phones
http://blogs.seattletimes.com/microsoftpri0/2013/07/12/microsoft-sues-u-s-customs-seeking-to-enforce-import-ban-against-motorola-android-smartphones/
Microsoft today filed a lawsuit against U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security seeking a court order forcing Customs to enforce an import ban against certain Motorola smartphones.
The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court of Washington D.C., accuses the U.S. agencies of “arbitrary refusal to enforce an order” of the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC).
The ITC ruled in May 2012 that Motorola infringed on Microsoft’s patents with its Android phones that include a feature related to calendaring in Microsoft’s ActiveSync technology. The ITC issued an import ban of those phones in July 2012.
But, Microsoft alleges in the suit, Customs allowed the import of those devices based on one-sided claims made by Motorola and also allowed Motorola to “re-litigate – in secret — issues that Motorola lost before the Commission, and has granted Motorola precisely the relief that the Commission expressly refused to grant after full, fair and open litigation.”
In the suit, Microsoft claims that Customs granted Motorola’s request for a transition period before the import ban to allow Motorola to develop a noninfringing alternative. Motorola had made the same request earlier to the ITC and been denied, Microsoft alleged.
Microsoft also objected to Customs allowing Motorola to import phones that provide the calendar function using Google servers and synchronization components, saying that, too, was inconsistent with the ITC’s ruling. (Motorola is now owned by Google.)
“Customs has a clear responsibility to carry out ITC decisions, which are reached after a full trial and rigorous legal review,” Microsoft Deputy General Counsel David Howard said in a statement. “Here, Customs repeatedly ignored its obligation and did so based on secret discussions.”
Google also issued a statement, saying: “U.S. Customs appropriately rejected Microsoft’s effort to broaden its patent claims to block Americans from using a wide range of legitimate calendar functions, like scheduling meetings, on their mobile phones. We’re confident that the court will agree.”
A spokeswoman for Customs said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.
Microsoft and Motorola — now Google — have been engaged in patent battles spanning several continents and years. In Seattle, one of their battles is headed toward a trial that is scheduled to start on Aug. 26 in the U.S. District Court here. At issue in that trial is whether Motorola breached an agreement to license some of its patents to Microsoft on fair and reasonable terms.
Microsoft announces sweeping reorganization
In a sweeping reorganization designed to further Microsoft’s transformation into a devices-and-services company, CEO Steve Ballmer today cut the number of product divisions in half and centralized functional services such as marketing, finance and business development.
The four engineering groups are: Operating Systems, Applications and Services, Cloud and Enterprise, Devices and Studios
http://blogs.seattletimes.com/microsoftpri0/2013/07/11/microsoft-announces-sweeping-reorganization/
"It's been nearly a year since Intellectual Ventures announced its satellite communications spinoff Kymeta, but a recent round of funding from heavyweight backers is about to give the company some serious momentum."
Satellite startup Kymeta announces $50 million in funding from Bill Gates and other backers.
Kymeta Corporation announced today that it has successfully closed a $50 million Series C financing to accelerate the company's growth plans. Kymeta, a privately held technology company, designs and manufactures satellite communication antennas and systems. Existing Kymeta investors including Bill Gates, Lux Capital and Liberty Global were joined in the financing by Osage University Partners and The Kresge Foundation.
The company is pioneering the use of patented metamaterials technology that dynamically steers antenna beams with no moving parts, resulting in flat, thin, light, and highly adaptable antennas and communication terminals. This unique capability opens numerous new opportunities in the satellite industry to provide new broadband mobile services and highly-flexible portable and fixed services to a wide range of applications. Both CNBC and MIT Technology Review recently recognized Kymeta as one of the "Top 50 Most Disruptive Technology Companies in the World."
"We are fortunate to have earned this level of sponsorship," said Kymeta Chief Executive Officer Vern Fotheringham. "It is a clear testament to the progress we've made to date proving our unique technology is poised to make significant contributions to the advancement of global broadband connectivity enabling high-speed communication services to businesses, consumers, governments and NGOs regardless of their location worldwide."
"Lux Capital is extraordinarily excited about the market potential for Kymeta's technology," said Josh Wolfe, managing partner at Lux Capital and a Kymeta board member. "In just the past few months, Kymeta has entered into commercial development agreements with several of the satellite industry's leading service providers and we're really only getting started."
In addition, Fotheringham announced several key promotions on Kymeta's senior leadership team, including the promotion of Bob McCambridge to president and chief operating officer. Co-founder Dr. Nathan Kundtz was promoted to executive vice president and chief technology officer, and John Schilling to executive vice president and chief financial officer.
"Our leadership team has executed flawlessly since inception, and exceeded every metric that we established to measure our progress," said Fotheringham. "I have tremendous confidence in their capabilities. Their combined contributions have underscored our rapid progress that inspired the confidence our existing and new investors have demonstrated with this significant financing. Kymeta is now positioned to move from our period of technology refinement into the product development stage leading to the commercial launch of our game changing solutions."
"Kymeta is leading the commercialization of metamaterials-based innovation in satellite communications," stated Casey Tegreene, executive vice president at Intellectual Ventures and a Kymeta board member. "We are thrilled to see the rapid progress since the spinout from Intellectual Ventures in August 2012."
About Kymeta Corporation
Kymeta Corporation is commercializing a new, innovative metamaterials-based antenna for satellite communications. The Company is based in Redmond, Washington and operates on a worldwide basis. For more information, please visit www.kymetacorp.com.
http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/09/satellite-startup-kymeta-50-million-funding-bill-gates/
http://www.intellectualventures.com/index.php/inventions-patents/spinouts-programs/kymeta
OT: for today especially..., "Going Home" video, just watched on ESPN.
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=9438508
"Google has seen Ouya's tremendous traction right out of the gate. The $99 Android-based open gaming platform launched late last month and quickly sold out at several major retailers, indicating that gamers are ready for a new gaming model.
Ouya runs on an NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA ) Tegra 3 processor and other smartphone components. Considering NVIDIA's advantages in graphics and strong brand presence within the gaming community, it would make a lot of sense for Google's console to sport a beefier Tegra 4 chip. The Nexus Q was packing a Texas Instruments OMAP chip before it was canned, and TI has publicly exited the sector. There have been rumors that Qualcomm has grabbed the spot in the second-generation Nexus 7 away from NVIDIA, but a Tegra-powered Nexus gaming console could be a consolation prize."
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/07/01/googles-pre-emptive-gaming-strike-against-apple.aspx
Methode's Fiscal 2013 net sales increased $54.7 million, or 11.8 percent, to $519.8 million from $465.1 million in Fiscal 2012.
For Fiscal 2014, Methode anticipates sales in the range of $630 to $660 million and earnings per share in the range of $0.91 to $1.11. The Company currently expects that the fourth quarter will be the strongest quarter of Fiscal 2014
http://ih.advfn.com/p.php?pid=nmona&article=58074841
Microsoft and FBI Take Down Global Cyber Crime Ring
Microsoft, working along with the FBI and 80 authorities from across the world, took down the vast majority of computers that were part of a malicious botnet network known as "Citadel."
The Citadel botnets were one of the biggest cyber crime rings, allegedly responsible for stealing more than $500 million from the bank accounts of more than 5 million infected computers over the past 18 months.
The network was made of at least 1,400 botnets, which are an army of infected computers used by hackers to exfiltrate data, attack other computers and commit other types of cybercrimes. According to Reuters, Microsoft took down more than 1,000 of them, while the company later claimed that it had taken down more than 1,400.
"The bad guys will feel the punch in the gut," Richard Boscovich, a spokesman for Microsoft's digital crimes unit told Reuters.
The "bad guys" behind Citadel, however, are still unknown. The coordinated takedown, while it didn't completely shut down the infrastructure, has at least significantly disrupted it. This marked the first time a private company and law enforcement agencies have collaborated to take down a global cyber ring like the Citadel botnets.
Authorities believe the hackers behind Citadel reside in Eastern Europe. In fact, the Citadel malware is designed not to operate in Russia and Ukraine, probably because its operators reside in one of those countries and don't want to provoke local authorities. Their ring leader allegedly goes by the name of Aquabox and works with at least 81 other conspirators.
The Citadel malware was mainly spread via pirated versions of Microsoft Windows. Once the virus infected a computer, it stole banking credentials and used those to syphon money from some of the World's largest banking institutions like Bank of America, HSBC, Wells Fargo and other financial companies such as Paypal or American Express.
The botnets were mainly located within the United States, but also in Western Europe, Hong Kong, India and Australia.
http://mashable.com/2013/06/06/microsoft-fbi-botnets/
---------
This post copied from 'revlis' on http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=88726539
Vanguard Natural Resources Announces Public Offering of Common Units
Wednesday 29 May 2013
Vanguard Natural Resources, LLC (NASDAQ: VNR) (the “Company”) today announced that it has commenced a public offering of 7,000,000 common units representing limited liability company interests in the Company, pursuant to an effective shelf registration statement on Form S-3 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 18, 2012. The Company will grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,050,000 common units. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to repay a portion of its indebtedness outstanding under its senior secured revolving credit facility.
Barclays Overweight VNR and increases PT $32 » $33
http://www.briefing.com/investor/calendars/upgrades-downgrades/
Recharge your cellphone in 20 seconds
(CNN) -- A tiny device that can recharge cell phone batteries in as little as 30 seconds won 18-year-old Eesha Khare a major science award that will help fund her college education at Harvard University.
Khare traveled from her California home to Phoenix last week for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, where her invention was honored as one of two winners of Young Scientist Awards.
"I'm in a daze. I can't believe this happened," Khare, a senior at Lynbrook High School in Saratoga, told CNN affiliate KPIX 5.
Khare's device, a black, rectangular type of supercapacitor just over an inch long, can charge a cell phone battery in 20 to 30 seconds, she said.
"I developed a new supercapacitor, which is basically an energy storage device which can hold a lot of energy in a small amount of volume," she told KPIX 5. The technology may also be able to speed up charging of automobile batteries, she said.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/20/tech/whiz-kid/index.html?hpt=hp_t3
".......Tableau, whose software helps users without programming skills create complex graphics and maps out of data, aims to join a crop of recent business-technology providers to thrive on the public markets. Workday and ServiceNow have more than doubled since their debuts last year while Palo Alto Networks has gained 29 percent.
Tableau’s revenue climbed 62 percent in the first quarter to $40 million. Licenses accounted for about two-thirds of sales in the period, with the rest attributable to maintenance and services. More than half the company’s revenue was spent on sales and marketing, and about a third on research and development,
resulting in a $4.04 million net loss for the quarter. That compares with a profit of $1.06 million a year earlier.
Tableau, whose headquarters are in Fremont, was co-founded in 2003 by Pat Hanrahan, an Academy Award-winning Stanford University professor whose software has created movie special effects and animations.
More than 10,000 companies, including Bank of America, Coca-Cola and Apple, have used Tableau’s products. Competitors include IBM, Microsoft Oracle and Qlik Technologies.
Tableau’s biggest shareholder is venture-capital firm NEA, which had a 37 percent stake before the offering and planned to sell 1 million shares, according to the prospectus.
Hanrahan owned 18 percent, while co-founders Christopher Stolte and Christian Chabot, who is also CEO, each owned about 15 percent. Meritech Capital Partners controlled about 6.5 percent, the original offering terms show.
Goldman Sachs Group and Morgan Stanley led the deal......"
http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2021001333_tableauipoxml.html
Betsy Van Hees, Wedbush: Reiterates an Outperform rating, and raises her price target to $18 from $16.50. FQ2 (Jul) revenue guidance of $975MM +/- 2% or $956MM to $995MM (flat to up 4% Q/Q) was below the Street ($1,005MM) and our lower ($993MM) estimates driven by the very well-articulated Tegra impact from the “stutter step” as customers ramp down Tegra 3 for transition to Tegra 4 in 2H [...] FQ2 (Jul) revenue guidance
of $975MM +/- 2% or $956MM to $995MM (flat to up 4% Q/Q) was below the
Street ($1,005MM) and our lower ($993MM) estimates driven by the very wellarticulated Tegra impact from the “stutter step” as customers ramp down Tegra 3 for transition to Tegra 4 in 2H.”
Hans Mosesmann, Raymond James: Reiterates a Strong Buy rating, raising his price target to $19 from $17. “What’s holding things together? Nvidia’s gross margin upside in a humbling quarter for Tegra and an “apocalyptic” PC environment was quite impressive, as leading graphics technology in high-end gaming, workstations, and high-performance computing is likely more inelastic than thought. To think that Nvidia could grow its desktop and notebook revenue in this environment is staggering, especially as it raises prices vs. previous generations. Bearish investors will continue to tout the current (or pending) death of the PC, but as Nvidia’s mix increases towards high-end GPUs where ASPs are increasing, growth will be increasingly dependent on ASPs in a market where performance is of primary importance. Watch out for GPU growth even in a no-growth environment for PCs. Investors looking for support should also look no further than Nvidia’s F2Q share count guidance that implies Nvidia will repurchase 5% of outstanding shares ($420 million) during the quarter.”
Alex Gauna, JMP Securities: Reiterates a Market Perform rating on the shares. “Nvidia attributed the soft outlook to PC weakness and the Tegra 3 ramp down ahead of the now one quarter delayed Tegra 4 launch. Although the margin strength speaks to the attractiveness of its little challenged dominance of performance GPUs, we caution that GPU sales typically strengthen in the first quarter, that the company is guiding to y/y declines in the second quarter, and that demand trends in PC continue to look weak and could weaken further ahead of a delayed Haswell ramp.”
Ross Seymore, Deutsche Bank: Reiterates a Hold rating and a $13 price target. “NVDA continues to execute well in the core business and
driven by growing high margin GPUs (Gaming up +24% and Tesla +55% y/y).
The growth in GPUs and corresponding drop in Tegra combined to yield record
GM of 54.3%. While Tegra revenue is likely to accelerate in 2H13, in our view
Tegra 4 will struggle to match the success of Tegra 3 (first quad-core SoC for
phones & tablets) as T4 faces the prospects of slower market growth and more
intense competition.”
http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2013/05/10/nvda-bulls-raise-targets-on-second-half-product-cycle/
Thanks. Eom.
Also from the PR:
“Global Partners delivered a solid performance in the first quarter,” said Eric Slifka, the Partnership’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Each of our business segments posted double-digit percentage gains in net product margin in the quarter. Our performance was attributable primarily to our diverse product mix, our crude logistics activities and our additional station count related to gas stations and convenience stores acquired in March 2012.”
“We have broadened our single line haul origin-to-destination network through the addition of two key assets in North Dakota and Oregon that complement our existing crude-by-rail transload, logistics and storage capabilities,” Slifka said. “Among recent initiatives, we have expanded our relationship with Phillips 66 with the signing of a take-or-pay agreement which utilizes our crude-by-rail virtual pipeline system to transport crude oil from the mid-continent of the U.S. and Canada. To support our growing crude volumes and provide sourcing and purchasing optionality for our customers, we are expanding storage capacity at our North Dakota transloading facilities to a combined 550,000 barrels. At Columbus, ND, we are expanding from 100,000 barrels to 270,000 barrels and connecting this facility to the Tesoro Logistics’ High Plains Pipeline System. In Beulah, ND, we are building 280,000 barrels of storage. In Oregon, we recently completed the acquisition of Cascade Kelly Holdings, an ethanol production and crude-by-rail transload facility, providing Global with destination assets on the East and West coasts. Currently a major oil company is transloading crude oil through the facility.”
Omega Health beats by $0.03, beats on revs; reaffirms FY13 FFO guidance (OHI) 34.68 +0.01 : Reports Q1 (Mar) funds from operations of $0.63 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.60; revenues rose 20.4% year/year to $101.76 mln vs the $95.71 mln consensus.
Co reaffirms guidance for FY13, sees FFO of $2.45-2.50 vs. $2.45 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
http://finance.yahoo.com/marketupdate/inplay
Additional color...
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Nvidia is investing heavily in its operations now because it has some “once in a lifetime opportunities” in mobile computing these days, said Jen-Hsun Huang, the chief executive of the world’s biggest standalone graphics chip maker, Thursday in a talk at the company’s investor day.
Huang said that those investments are timely because the “PC business declined more in the last quarter than in the last 20 years. Obviously, the computer industry is changing.”
Nvidia has made PC graphics chips since 1993. It is the only standalone survivor in that business, and it competes against processor giants such as Intel, Advanced Micro Devices (ADM), ARM, and Imagination Technologies (including MIPS).
He said that Nvidia’s Tegra business is at break-even, even as the company ratchets up the investment to more than $300 million a year. Overall, Nvidia research and development has reached $1.2 billion annually. About $880 million of that is core investment in chip design, while $10 million each is focused on new opportunities including Grid systems and the Project Shield handheld gaming system.
“We increased our operating expenses to invest in once in a lifetime opportunities,” Huang said. “These investments are so timely and they must happen now. So our first half is rather muted. We’ll have growth in the second half. The disruption of the traditional market literally happened overnight. That’s why it’s so important for us to keep our foot on the gas.”
This year, Nvidia is investing heavily in the first half in the hopes of achieving growth in the second half, Huang said. He pulled in investments in Tegra 4i, a mobile graphics processor with built-in LTE modem. That investment, he said, “was a good decision by all measures.” That pushed out the debut of Tegra 4 by a quarter, from the first to the second quarter. As a result, Tegra sales will be flat for the year, he said.
Overall, “the exciting thing is the market opportunity ahead of us,” Huang said. The total available market for Tegra chips (with $300 million investment) is $10 billion. The opportunity for Grid computing is $10 billion, and the traditional graphics processing unit (GPU) market opportunity is $6 billion, Huang said. Huang said he thinks the computing business, if not PCs, will continue to grow.
Huang said that GPUs are Nvidia’s “crown jewels,” generating billions of dollars in revenues on the PC thanks to PC gamers and other enthusiasts. Nvidia is in the process of “mobilizing” those crown jewels in products such as Tegra. About three billion devices with graphics chips will be shipping by 2015, at a 12 percent compound annual growth rate. Nvidia is gunning for a sizable share of that.
Huang mentioned that Nvidia has more than 5,000 patents, mostly related to computer graphics. Nvidia is investing in games, enterprise, and computing devices.
With Grid computing, Nvidia is taking that business into the cloud, enabling remote graphics processing and it will lead to multiple users on a single graphics chip. But Huang said the competition was fierce.
“The opportunities are enormous, but so are the threats,” he said. “Some day, every single processor we make will be a Tegra. But this is not about us growing into mobile devices only. This is about inventing the future of computing.”
At the close of the talk, Huang said that Nvidia will return $1 billion this fiscal year to shareholders in the form of stock buybacks and dividend payments, including $100 million in stock being repurchased this quarter. This will bring to $1.2 billion the total capital returned to shareholders since the company announced its quarterly dividend program in November.
http://venturebeat.com/2013/04/11/nvidia-investing-in-once-in-a-lifetime-opportunities-in-mobile/
Thanks for the summary info. I'm still in MMLP and some others....nice distributions.
Life is good.
Cisco pegs potential profit value for Internet of Everything at $14.4 trillion
Well, for a little bit of the futurist look, here's some of what Cisco is thinking:
http://www.zdnet.com/cisco-pegs-potential-profit-value-for-internet-of-everything-at-14-4-trillion-7000012553/
From another board:
Credit Suisse on CVR Refining LP (CVRR)
UPGRADING to OUTPERFORM (from Neutral) vs MLP Peers on Attractive 2013 Yield; Raising Ests & TP to $34 (from $32)
Bottom-line: We raise our 2013 distribution forecast to $6.15/unit (vs. company guidance of $5.30-$6.30/unit) to account for 1Q13 guidance as well as our revised margin forecasts. Owners of CVRR benefit from a c19% 2013 yield (vs median MLP peer average of 13%) and a c10% mid-cycle yield based on WTI-Brent spreads that could prove conservative (industry consensus is $7-12/bbl in the long term). CVRR has self-help projects to boost mid-cycle distributable cash flow over time, logistics assets which could form the basis of a higher-multiple MLP within CVRR and the possibility of making refining acquisitions (i.e. while an acquisition could be deemed dilutive to a C-Corp refiner, the premium MLP multiple of CVRR allows for deals to be viewed as being accretive). We raise CVRR to Outperform (from Neutral) relative to the MLP universe.
No, did not get in at the IPO, and now at this 'height' I think I will just monitor it, and maybe enter later.
Heck of a yield!
Nice run since the IPO, and a strong report today. You in this one?
March 5, 2013 QCOM today announced that its Board of Directors has approved a 40 percent increase in the Company's quarterly cash dividend and, effective immediately, a new $5.0 billion stock repurchase program to replace the prior $4.0 billion stock repurchase program, which had $2.5 billion of repurchase authority remaining.
The cash dividend will increase from $0.25 to $0.35 per share of common stock and will be effective for quarterly dividends payable after March 27, 2013. This dividend increase will raise the annualized dividend payout to $1.40 per share of common stock.