Will Facebook’s Stock Rise To $170 In Coming Years?

According to an eVestment report Facebook’s stock is now more popular than ever. It’s moved up from the 24rd most held stock in September 15 to the 16th most held in December 15. This tells a story in itself, as investors are happy to hold and institutions are accumulating like never before. The story is; Facebook stock price has a lot further to gain over the next few years.

Whilst other “social” stars fall out of favor (cough cough Twitter) Facebook’s innovation and continued development of its acclaimed advertising platform sets it apart from the “also rans”.

Video adverts are doing great, and other new formats are a hit with businesses, such as call now adverts for local page promotions. Which can only mean one thing, money is still rolling in.

User growth has been strong and this can only increase revenue over time. Because of this there are analysts calling for a $170 stock price for FB. Whilst this target may take some time, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility. Currently FB stands at $116, so that is quite a decent amount of upside if the calls are correct.

As you know, Facebook is a forward thinking company and we also think that MZ is cunningly worming his way into Chinese hearts.

He has been seen on high profile visits to the country in recent times, and will surely be looking to build some bridges to maybe one day open up an audience that will dwarf all others. So, long term (if that ever happens of course) it could be a complete game changer for the social network.

Either way, any strong retrace in the wider market will be seen as an entry opportunity for many.

Published first at: http://www.stockpricetoday.com/stock-news/will-facebooks-stock-rise-to-170-in-coming-years/.

Stocks End Negative, Wal-Mart Rockets

US markets all ended negative but did manage to return from their lows yesterday, with the Dow Jones, Nasdaq and S&P500 all reversing around midday to end just short of their opening levels. Oil stocks were pulling on the markets once again as Crude oil fell for a 2nd consecutive day, then sharply reversed in open outcry which followed through into the Asian session.

Shell CEO John Hofmeister stated: “We cannot ever produce enough oil, in my opinion, to satisfy global demand five or 10 years out. We have to start using natural gas and more biofuels as a source of transportation fuel,” prompting a speculative vision of the future for Oil prices.

European stocks opened high this morning with the jump in Crude Oil helping heavyweight stocks on the FTSE 100 and CAC40.

Leaders and movers on the US Markets were:

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) stock price jumped 9.5% on Thursday with a bullish increase in sales reported. Results smashed analyst expectations and warmed investors up as they continue to “make a better experience for shoppers” in Wal-Mart stores.

LendingClub Corporation (LC) were down 7.27% as concerns were raised as the New York Department of Financial Services, the state’s top financial regulator, are looking into practices and compliance, along with rates given to New Yorkers using the service.

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (AEO) flew by 18.3% after the company reported strong results for Q1 2016. Revenue was up 7% and store sales up 6% in the period. The company continues to post string EPS growth and it seems investors are taking notice of the Pittsburgh-based teen clothing retailer.

Published first at: http://www.stockpricetoday.com/stock-news/stocks-end-negative-wal-mart-rockets/.

Markets Fall After Open, Investors Not Sure What Summer Brings

After futures prices for main indices were up in pre-market trading, the open showed where investors were heading, and the selling ensued. The Dow Jones, S&P500 and Nasdaq all plunged into negative territory after the first hour of trading.

Worries that came from the increase in unemployment claims last week still hangover the market, and with approaching summer months, and an impending Brexit vote to contend with in Europe, there doesn’t seem anything bullish on the horizon.

Demand for Gold remained strong, as always during market weakness, with the yellow stuff holding above the April highs, albeit on a down day.

Import prices data showed an increase for April, as released before the bell, suggesting that inflation below the Fed’s 2 percent was becoming less likely.

Although the markets are negative there are a few notable stocks on the move upwards today.

Monsanto (MON) was at $99.28 a gain of over 9% after rumors that the U.S. seed company was said to be the possible acquisition target of Bayer AG.

Infoblox Inc. (BLOX) blew upwards with a gain of over 20% on the takeover offer from Thoma Bravo. Bloomberg quoted:

“Infoblox shares are soaring 18.81% to $18.19 on Thursday morning after the company received a buyout approach from technology-focused private equity firm Thoma Bravo, valuing the deal at around $886 million”

Jack in the Box Inc. (JACK) sprung into life (no pun) with a shooting gain of 14% after pushing numbers that beat all estimates after the bell yesterday. Zaks commented:

“Shares soared almost 11% during afterhours trading yesterday, reflecting positive investor sentiment on the back of solid comps growth in the Qdoba restaurants.” And also “Adjusted earnings of 85 cents per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 70 cents by 21.4%. Further, it surged 23.2% year over year on lower expenses and lower tax rate.”

Even though the stock has gained it still remains 20% down over the last 12 months.

Published first at: http://www.stockpricetoday.com/stock-news/markets-fall-after-open-investors-not-sure-what-summer-brings/.

Energy and Gold Stocks Down, Yet Nasdaq Holding Firm

Indices in the USA held firm in early trading, after wobbles in Europe with Crude Oil falling 3% and mining stocks taking a battering. All that didn’t seem to faze the S&P500 or the Nasdaq 100, with only the Dow Jones staying negative from the big 3 in early trade.

Pharmaceutical stocks were on the move higher, with double digit percent gains for Horizon Pharma (HZNP), Eagle Pharmaceutical (EGRX) and Infinity (INFI). Surprisingly down on the day Valeant (VRX) who have promised to do “better with deadlines” and posted Q1 earning guidance of $1.30 to $1.55 per share.

However, energy stocks were being hit hard. With Crude falling amid concerns on the Canadian wildfires, stocks were down (mostly) across the board, with Suncoke Energy and Chesapeake in the red negative board once again.

Gold stocks were weak also, with Barrick Gold falling hard and down over 5% midway through trading, Silver Wheaton and Newmont Mining Corporation also pulling back over 6%. Gold miners have been on a stunning run since the early part of 2016, and although this is a decent “blip”, they still remain in a bullish uptrend.

Here are MarketRealists comments on Gold:

“The overall performance of gold in 1Q16 was remarkably positive. Gold claimed its highest quarterly return in almost three decades. Silver has outperformed gold over the past month. Gold and silver have risen 21% and 25.2%, respectively, since the beginning of the year.”

It’s hard to imagine a trend this strong continuing without a good retrace at some point. This could be the beginning, however most analysts seem to think there is more money waiting on sidelines for Gold and Silver, and any decent fall may be seen as a good entry point for those that missed the initial moves.

Published first at: http://www.stockpricetoday.com/stock-news/energy-and-gold-stocks-down-yet-nasdaq-holding-firm/.

Indices Gained, But Outlook Still Uncertain For Stocks

Indices gained a little Monday, but not a spectacular rise for the first trading day of May. Investors will be worrying about movements in Europe from the ECB and the Brexit vote, which is due in June.

On home soil, ISM manufacturing PMI disappointed, coming in at 50.8 and missing estimates of 51.6. This week the main focus of economic data will be on unemployment figures and non-farm payrolls due on Thursday and Friday respectively.

Gold managed to hold firm near the new high it posted toward the end of last week, but Oil has lost momentum somewhat. Although it’s not slamming down hard, it may have found it’s short term resistance for now, and search for a support is on the way.

Some stocks that were gaining on the day are as follows:

(NFLX) Netflix gained 3.61% to 93.19 on reasonably thin volume. NFLX recently posted another set of positive results showing an net increase in revenues compared to Q1 2015, and although costs of revenue increased, net income cash flows were up also. Investors seem to have found value in the stock above the $90 level.

On the gainers list today is (AMZN) Amazon, which also recently published a set of results that beat forecasts and gave investors’ confidence that the business is still on a strong footing for growth in its many markets. AMZN gained 3.56% to end the day at $683.57.

With a gain of 3.30% (MDLZ) Mondelez pushed higher to end the day at the 2016 high as the string trend from the February low continues. MDLZ posted strong numbers last week, and even though revenue fell, they still beat all forecasts, and posted a 0.48 EPS, beating estimates by 0.09. It looks like the trend is string and could be a good stock to watch.

Data sourced from: https://www.stockmonitor.com/quotes/

Published first at: http://www.stockpricetoday.com/stock-news/indices-gained-but-outlook-still-uncertain-for-stocks/.

Stocks Gaining and Losing As Market Opens

In early trade today there were some strong moves, particularly in the technology and biotech sectors. Here is a short brief of this morning’s gainers and losers.

eHealth Inc beat forecasts after the market closed yesterday and jumped 21.5% in early trade. After reporting a loss in the same quarter of 2015, it has now reported a first-quarter net income of $18 million. This smashed all analyst forecasts, of 40 cents per share.

SkyWest (SKYW) reported a jump in net income to $27 million for Q1 in 2016, compared to $10 million in the same quarter last year. Stating the improvement in operating margin was primarily due to new aircraft added to profitable flying contracts.

Chip Childs, SkyWest, Inc. Chief Executive Officer, commented on the report saying “The demand for our service and aircraft is strong and we remain focused on continuing to drive incremental improvement in fleet economics to create long-term value for our stakeholders.

On the losing side, Bottomline Technologies (EPAY) reported a loss of $4.2 million for the first quarter of 2016. EPAY posted revenue of $86.2 million in the period, falling short of the consensus of analysts. The stock price was down near 22% in early trade.

Seagate (STX) fell 12% after market opened with a miss on its results. Revenue at Seagate declined 22% year over year to $2.595 billion. CEO Steve Luczo said “Our quarterly results fell short of our expectations as a result of several near-term demand factors. Accordingly, we are aggressively working to position Seagate to respond to new demand levels and are committed to ongoing financial discipline.”

Published first at: http://www.stockpricetoday.com/stock-news/stocks-gaining-and-losing-as-market-opens/.

Weaker Open Looms As Tech Stocks Are In Focus

Futures pre-market were indicating a weaker open for the US Markets, with the Dow Jones, S&P500 and Nasdaq all in the red after disappointment in consumer data.

Economic data released showed consumer spending gained only 0.1% in March, missing Wall Street expectations. Following on from that MarketWatch commented:

The PCE pric Read more ...

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