Top-10 News Items 08/13 - 08/17: Cisco Gets More Generous; Apple at New Highs; Facebook Insiders Exit; Romney Picks Ryan
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1. Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) led the tech segment higher Thursday, following strong fourth-quarter 2012 results issued after the market closed on Wednesday. Earnings for Cisco came in at 47 cents per share on revs of $11.69 billion, versus consensus views calling for earnings of 46 cents per share and sales of $11.61 billion.
In addition, the networking and switch giant boosted its dividend a whopping 75 percent to 14 cents per share, yielding about 3.2 percent.
2. Facebook, Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) ended the week about 11 percent lower, while hitting a new post-IPO low in the process, following expiration of its lock-up period for key shareholders. On Thursday, 271,123,815 shares became available to be sold by selling shareholders, while over the next nine months a total of 1.91 billion shares will be freed up.
3. On Tuesday, many large hedge funds -- including David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital, Dan Loeb's Third Point, Bill Ackman's Pershing Square -- filed 13Fs disclosing holdings at the end of calendar year Q212.
Most notable were some of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A)(NYSE: BRK-B) moves in the quarter. The Oracle of Omaha sold out of Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), while grabbing new stakes in energy companies National-Oilwell, Inc. (NYSE: NOV) and Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX). Buffet was also bullish on banking, moving holdings in Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) and Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK) higher as well.
For a complete list of all the recent hedge fund news and moves, head over to Streetinsider's Hedge Fund Insider, or click here to go right to the news feed.
4. Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) ended the session near a new all-time high, breaking through the mark earlier in the day. Shares rose Friday following a price target boost at Jefferies, though shares have been up the last six of seven sessions. For a list of Apple news and analyst calls, click here.
5. Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) announced earlier this week it would be cutting about 4,000 jobs at Motorola. Of the total cuts, two-thirds will be outside the U.S. and about one-third of Motorola's 90 facilities will be closed. In total, costs on the moves are expected to stay at or below $275 million.
Google closed the $12.7 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility in May, gaining a significant boost in patent protection through the process.
6. Battleground stock Focus Media Holding Limited (Nasdaq: FMCN) received a $27 per share takeover proposal from affiliates of FountainVest Partners, The Carlyle Group, CITIC Capital Partners, CDH Investments and China Everbright Limited and Mr. Jason Nanchun Jiang, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Focus Media, and his affiliates.
The stock has been a target of speculation by bloggers and analysts for a few years, with claims of inflated profits and holdings.
7. Mitt Romney selected Wisconsin Rep. and P-90X aficionado Paul Ryan as his running mate on the quest to become U.S. President. We're not a political blog, so we won't go into details. Suffice to say, Romney and Ryan will be talking healthcare, making benefit providers and insurance groups still on traders' watch lists.
8. Some notable earnings reports from market giants (other than Cisco) happened this week.
9. Groupon (Nasdaq: GRPN) got slammed 37 percent this week. The daily-deals giant reported second-quarter earnings Monday night, with a beat on the bottom line, but light expectations for the third quarter.
Several firms made moves on the stock. For a list and color, click here.
10. Pfizer's busy Monday: On Monday, Pfizer said its subsidiary, Zoetis Inc., filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a potential initial public offering (IPO) of Class A common stock. The offering will be for about 20 percent of the unit.
In addition, Pfizer acquired the OTC license for NEXIUM from AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN), causing the pharma giant to tweek FY12 EPS expectations slightly following the deal.
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In addition, the networking and switch giant boosted its dividend a whopping 75 percent to 14 cents per share, yielding about 3.2 percent.
2. Facebook, Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) ended the week about 11 percent lower, while hitting a new post-IPO low in the process, following expiration of its lock-up period for key shareholders. On Thursday, 271,123,815 shares became available to be sold by selling shareholders, while over the next nine months a total of 1.91 billion shares will be freed up.
3. On Tuesday, many large hedge funds -- including David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital, Dan Loeb's Third Point, Bill Ackman's Pershing Square -- filed 13Fs disclosing holdings at the end of calendar year Q212.
Most notable were some of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A)(NYSE: BRK-B) moves in the quarter. The Oracle of Omaha sold out of Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), while grabbing new stakes in energy companies National-Oilwell, Inc. (NYSE: NOV) and Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX). Buffet was also bullish on banking, moving holdings in Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) and Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK) higher as well.
For a complete list of all the recent hedge fund news and moves, head over to Streetinsider's Hedge Fund Insider, or click here to go right to the news feed.
4. Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) ended the session near a new all-time high, breaking through the mark earlier in the day. Shares rose Friday following a price target boost at Jefferies, though shares have been up the last six of seven sessions. For a list of Apple news and analyst calls, click here.
5. Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) announced earlier this week it would be cutting about 4,000 jobs at Motorola. Of the total cuts, two-thirds will be outside the U.S. and about one-third of Motorola's 90 facilities will be closed. In total, costs on the moves are expected to stay at or below $275 million.
Google closed the $12.7 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility in May, gaining a significant boost in patent protection through the process.
6. Battleground stock Focus Media Holding Limited (Nasdaq: FMCN) received a $27 per share takeover proposal from affiliates of FountainVest Partners, The Carlyle Group, CITIC Capital Partners, CDH Investments and China Everbright Limited and Mr. Jason Nanchun Jiang, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Focus Media, and his affiliates.
The stock has been a target of speculation by bloggers and analysts for a few years, with claims of inflated profits and holdings.
7. Mitt Romney selected Wisconsin Rep. and P-90X aficionado Paul Ryan as his running mate on the quest to become U.S. President. We're not a political blog, so we won't go into details. Suffice to say, Romney and Ryan will be talking healthcare, making benefit providers and insurance groups still on traders' watch lists.
8. Some notable earnings reports from market giants (other than Cisco) happened this week.
- Staples (Nasdaq: SPLS) reported Q2 EPS of $0.22 and sales of $5.5 billion, versus consensus views calling for EPS of $.22 and sales of $5.73 billion. For more color, click here.
- Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) reported Q2 sales of $114.3 billion and EPS of $1.18, compared with expectations of $115.6 billion in sales and EPS of $1.17. Comps rose 2.2 percent. For a summary, click here.
- Michael Kors Holdings (NYSE: KORS) posted Q1 EPS of $0.34 with revs of $414.9 million, beating views calling for EPS of $0.20 and sales of $398 million. Get a rundown of results here.
9. Groupon (Nasdaq: GRPN) got slammed 37 percent this week. The daily-deals giant reported second-quarter earnings Monday night, with a beat on the bottom line, but light expectations for the third quarter.
Several firms made moves on the stock. For a list and color, click here.
10. Pfizer's busy Monday: On Monday, Pfizer said its subsidiary, Zoetis Inc., filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a potential initial public offering (IPO) of Class A common stock. The offering will be for about 20 percent of the unit.
In addition, Pfizer acquired the OTC license for NEXIUM from AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN), causing the pharma giant to tweek FY12 EPS expectations slightly following the deal.
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Daniel Loeb, Warren Buffett, William Ackman, Pershing Square Capital, Greenlight Capital, David Einhorn, Jefferies & Co, Third Point LLC, The Carlyle Group, Dividend, Hedge Funds, Earnings, Wells Fargo, Motorola Mobility/Google
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