The market for single cup roasters is estimated at $4 billion, according to Reuters. Single cup coffee roasters are growing in popularity, especially in business offices and waiting rooms. Naturally, coffee roasters like Green Mountain Coffee (GMCR) and Starbucks (SBUX) want a piece of the action.
The single cup roasters provide several advantages to having coffee in larger coffee pots. For one thing, coffee which sits for hours in a pot loses some of its fresh flavor or becomes bitter. Enter the single cup roaster. You simply pop a small container of coffee in the machine, and viola, you get a single cup of coffee with little or no mess, and always fresh.
Starbucks and Green Mountain Coffee End Battle for Single Cup Roasters
Continue reading Starbucks and Green Mountain Coffee End Battle for Single Cup Roasters
Will Buffett Back Away from His Deal with BYD, the Chinese Auto Maker?
Warren Buffett invested $232 million in BYD (BYDDF), a Chinese auto maker during the financial crisis, as reported by Reuters. As of December 2010 Buffett's 225 million shares were worth $1.18 billion. In 2009, the shares were valued at just under $2 billion. So from 2009 to 2010, Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) lost about 40% of his investment.
But that is just the beginning. Now there is criticism surrounding the new Chinese car, dubbed the hybrid car F3DM.They center around two major areas, authenticity of the design and the overall workmanship of the car itself.
Continue reading Will Buffett Back Away from His Deal with BYD, the Chinese Auto Maker?
Facebook Invades Netflix and RedBox's Turf
The sale of DVDs is going the way of the PC -- both have seen their market share dwindling. In a world of instant information, streaming videos are replacing DVDs. Last year, DVD sales fell by 43% to $7.8 billion from $13.7 billion in 2006, The Wall Street Journal reported.
There is another accompanying trend that reinforces streaming videos. Customers are spending more time online. Add the multiplier of time spent on social networks and it's streaming video hands down.
Google's New Venture to Add Revenue to YouTube
Google (GOOG) is ever searching for new opportunities. This time they want to enhance their YouTube site, which is noted for allowing and promoting home videos.
Google has a successful money stream called its partner program for YouTube. If you become a partner you agree to let Google place ads on your video and to let Google rent your video.
Continue reading Google's New Venture to Add Revenue to YouTube
Nintendo to Launch First 3D-Gaming System Without Glasses
Once the master of the game, Nintendo (NTDOY) has fallen behind in the gaming industry. It reported a 46% drop in profits in its recent quarter, as reported in Reuters. Nintendo is trying to do "catch up" with rivals Apple's (AAPL) iPhone and Google's (GOOG) Android, both or which have strong gaming platforms.
Nintendo is launching the first handheld 3D gaming system without glasses later this month. Nintendo of America's president, Reggie Fils-Aime, expects that the 3DS will sell even faster than its original DS device, which sold 150 million units to date.
Continue reading Nintendo to Launch First 3D-Gaming System Without Glasses
American Express Partners with Foursquare to Attract Customers
The mobile revolution is spawning a variety of business relationships to attract new customers. The latest is the partnership between credit card holder, American Express (AXP) and the social network Foursquare Labs Inc.
Both companies are capitalizing the growing segment of online purchasing. American Express had roughly $100 billion in online transactions last year. Online spending is growing at a 20% rate, compared to15% for overall spending, as reported in the Wall Street Journal.
Continue reading American Express Partners with Foursquare to Attract Customers
DirecTV Could Unlock Further Upside from Latin America
DirecTV (DTV) competes with satellite pay-TV providers like Dish Network (DISH), cable companies like Comcast (CMCSA) and Time Warner Cable (TWC), and telecom operators like AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ). The company recently released its Q4 2010 earnings and we have updated our price estimate to $48.63 as a result of continued subscriber gains and ARPU growth both in the U.S. and Latin American businesses. Our price estimate stands at a roughly 5% premium to market price.
However, we may still be conservative in our price estimate given the traction that DirecTV is getting in the Latin American region. Below we discuss some highlights of growth for DirecTV's Latin American operations and examine the potential upside to our base forecasts.
Continue reading DirecTV Could Unlock Further Upside from Latin America
ARM Holdings Licenses Chip Makers
ARM Holdings (ARMH) is far away from Silicon Valley. Its headquarters are on the campus of Cambridge University in England. ARM holdings has carved out a unique niche in the computer chip market.
It is a different kind of chip maker. Its core business is licensing chip designs to larger companies like Apple (AAPL), Samsung (SSNLF) and Qualcomm (QCOM.), as reported in the New York Times.
Improving Hotel Occupancy Levels Spell Upside for Priceline's Stock
Priceline.com Incorporated (PCLN) mainly competes with Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz in online travel services like bookings for air tickets, hotel stays and car rentals. Priceline recently released its Q4 2010 results.
Two highlights of the results are a 44.3% year over year increase in gross travel bookings, and a 68% rise in international revenues compared to same quarter last year. Rising international revenue reiterates our view that Priceline (through its acquisitions like Booking.com and Agoda) should be able to leverage its foothold in European and Asian markets.
Continue reading Improving Hotel Occupancy Levels Spell Upside for Priceline's Stock
Alcatel-Lucent Launches Tiny New Cell Phone Antenna System
This is a technology truism: "New technology breeds more new technology." Let's take the explosion of mobile data. Smartphones and iPhones are creating a huge traffic jam in wireless communication. At present we are using fixed cell towers to transmit data from towers to the Internet. The need to handle the mobile explosion is putting extreme pressure on present tower operators to upgrade their equipment or build new towers. This is a cumbersome, time consuming process.
Continue reading Alcatel-Lucent Launches Tiny New Cell Phone Antenna System
Yahoo's Search Profit Margin to Expand, Offering Additional Upside to Stock
Yahoo (YHOO), which competes with Google (GOOG) and AOL (AOL) in the search business, is seeing a relatively stable profit margin of 42% since 2008 by our estimates, and we expect the margin to rise slightly over the coming years as Yahoo benefits from its partnership with Microsoft (MSFT). In 2009, Yahoo and Microsoft signed a deal whereby Yahoo will not only use Microsoft's search technology on its websites but will also keep a majority of the ad revenues. Yahoo is also making efforts to control costs by cutting its workforce, which should improve profitability in the short term.
Continue reading Yahoo's Search Profit Margin to Expand, Offering Additional Upside to Stock
Apple Unveils iPad 2
It's like being at a Broadway show waiting for the curtain to rise. You've heard that the star is ill and may not be in this performance. You look at the playbill to see who will fill in. And now the show begins.No, it's not Broadway, it's Apple's (AAPL) new iPad. The same anticipation was there. Participants were wondering if Steve Jobs will appear on stage or whether Tim Cook, the man who runs the company in Jobs's absence, will be in this performance. And voila! On Wednesday, the star of the show, Steve Jobs appeared with resounding applause to introduce the new iPad.
Americans Get Ready for the First Chinese Hybrid Car
The first Chinese hybrid car, the F3DM, will hit U.S. showrooms next year from BYD Co. Ltd. (BYD). BYD, which stands for Build Your Dream, sold 240,000 F3DMs last year and Warren Buffet likes the company so much that Berkshire Hathaway invested $230 million in BYD in 2008. In fact, the latest BYD model will be on display at Berkshire's big meeting in May, as reported in New York Times.
BYD is a diversified energy company. In addition to its hybrid models Its products include solar panels, solar shaded parking systems, home energy storage systems and charging equipment and LED lighting. BYD plans to open showrooms in the Los Angeles area.
Continue reading Americans Get Ready for the First Chinese Hybrid Car
Chasing Value: Newcastle Earnings Shatter Estimates
This morning before the market opened, Newcastle Investments (NCT), one of my 2011 stock picks (see Chasing Value: 2011 Picks Dust the S&P) reported earnings that stomped all over analysts estimates. The company reported that in the fourth quarter of 2010, income applicable to common stockholders ("GAAP income") was $197 million, or $3.18 per diluted share, compared to $17 million, or $0.31 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2009.
For the full year 2010, GAAP income was $657 million, or $10.96 per diluted share, compared to a loss applicable to common stockholders ("GAAP loss") of $223 million, or $4.23 per diluted share, in 2009.
Continue reading Chasing Value: Newcastle Earnings Shatter Estimates
JPMorgan Chase Ups Forecasts for Tablet Sales
When it comes to picking trends, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) has nailed the latest market to experience explosive growth. It is the fast-growing tablet market, as reported in Reuters.
Morgan's analyst, Mark Moskowitz, has upped his forecasts for tablet sales in 2011 and 2012. For 2011 he raised his numbers from $24.9 to $26.1 billion. For 2012 his numbers are increased from $34.1 billion to $35.2 billion. Unit sales were upped by over 1 million to 48.1 in 2011 and 79.6 in 2012.
Continue reading JPMorgan Chase Ups Forecasts for Tablet Sales
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