Itil Koko

Selasa, 30 April 2019

Facebook F8 developer conference Day 1: How to watch live - CNET

The past three years haven't been easy for the world's largest social network. Facebook has been beset with scandals, largely caused by self-inflicted wounds and years of negligent behavior.

On Tuesday, the company will attempt to chart a path forward. It's expected to discuss new ideas around its messaging services, photo sharing, artificial intelligence and more.

It's a good bet that CEO Mark Zuckerberg will headline the event, as he has for each of the company's previous conferences. Last year, he discussed new ideas around dating apps, using AI to take on harassment and a new "clear history" tool to increase people's privacy. This year, among other things, it's a safe bet the company will announce the launch date for its newest VR headsets, the Oculus Rift S and Oculus Quest, both of which cost $399.

When it starts

Facebook's developer conference kicks off Tuesday, April 30 at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET). It'll continue Wednesday, May 1, with another keynote at the same time.

Where to watch

We'll be streaming the conference live, on this page.

What we can expect

It's a good bet you'll hear a mix of techno-optimism and some acknowledgment that, despite the "intense year" Facebook had before 2018's F8 conference, this one seems to have been even crazier.

Originally published April 29, 5 a.m. PT.
Update, 9:36 a.m.: Adds details.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.cnet.com/news/facebook-f8-developer-conference-day-1-how-to-watch/

2019-04-30 16:36:00Z
52780281517139

Alphabet had more than $70 billion in market cap wiped out, and it's blaming YouTube - CNBC

Google has a YouTube problem, according to CFO Ruth Porat.

On Monday, after reporting that ad revenue grew 15% versus the 24% it saw a year ago, Google's parent company Alphabet saw its stock punished. It fell nearly 8% Tuesday morning.

According to Porat, YouTube was one of the culprits.

"While YouTube clicks continue to grow at a substantial pace in the first quarter, the rate of YouTube click growth rate decelerated versus a strong Q1 last year, reflecting changes that we made in early 2018, which we believe are overall additive to the user and advertiser experience," Porat said on the company's earnings call Monday.

Porat didn't expand on precisely what changes in YouTube led to the poor ad revenue growth, and Google isn't saying anything beyond her statements from Monday.

But if you wind the clock back a year, it's easy to see what happened.

In the first quarter of 2018, Google began making changes to YouTube's algorithms designed to stop harmful content from appearing in the feed of recommended videos you see on the side of a video page.

The goal was to make it harder to find videos full of conspiracy theories, fake news and all that other detritus that occasionally sent advertisers fleeing from the platform. Instead of YouTube directing you to a conspiracy theory about the latest school shooting, you were shown related videos from "authoritative" news sources the company considered worthy of bringing you accurate information.

On top of that, YouTube has removed millions of channels and videos that violated the company's harmful content policies, most notably Alex Jones.

But all of those garbage videos also kept engagement high. It kept YouTube users tuned in to their feeds beyond the video they came to watch, even if the company said they only made up less than 1% of all videos on the site.

YouTube was literally incentivized to keep its algorithms pumping junk to the top of people's feeds so people would keep watching and the ad dollars would keep flowing. A devastating Bloomberg report earlier this month showed that for years YouTube executives ignored warnings from their own employees that the misinformation and nastiness on the site had gotten out of hand.

For a long time, they chose the money over managing the mayhem.

Today, YouTube says it's serious about cleaning up the issues that have plagued the site for years. But that clean-up appears to have come at the short-term cost of ad revenue growth. (Although it's possible that Porat was referring to other types of changes, or engaging in some selective disclosure to guide investors away from other reasons for the growth slowdown.)

Investors punished the company on Monday by vaporizing more than $70 billion from its market cap.

But if YouTube can fix its content problems and continue to grow beyond its nearly 2 billion users, it has a chance to benefit in the long term.

The new system is still far from perfect, as The New York Times' Kevin Roose pointed out in an interview with YouTube's Chief Product officer Neal Mohan. It's still possible to fall down a rabbit hole of horrible videos on YouTube. But, based on Porat's comments, the changes were effective enough to hurt YouTube engagement.

Still, analysts on Tuesday didn't sound too worried about YouTube's longer term prospects, and cautioned there are other factors playing into the ad growth deceleration.

"YouTube has increased its focus on responsibility and safety, and it adjusted its algorithm in 1Q to reduce recommendations of content that comes close to violating guidelines or is misinformed or harmful," J.P. Morgan analysts wrote in a research note Tuesday morning. They added that, "we don't think there's a single clear answer for Google's [deceleration], but a number of factors are at work."

With billions in market cap gone and analysts already downgrading Alphabet's stock, the biggest question surrounding YouTube today is whether it will continue making improvements to curb the spread of toxic content or be shocked back into inaction for the benefit of its shareholders.

Correction: An earlier version of this story linked to the wrong YouTube blog post announcing changes to content moderation.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/30/youtube-algorithm-changes-negatively-impact-google-ad-revenue.html

2019-04-30 15:15:55Z
52780278414517

Pending home sales skyrocket in March, signalling a spring rebound for housing - MarketWatch

A single family home with a "SOLD" sign in the yard in Denver, Colorado.

The numbers: An index of pending-home sales surged 3.8% in March, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. Economists surveyed by Econoday had forecast a 0.7% monthly increase.

What happened: The pending-home sales index, which tracks home-contract signings, has been volatile over the past few months, but the trend for housing has generally been down. March marked the 15th straight month of yearly declines for the pending sales index, which fell 1.2% over the last 12 months.

Also on Tuesday, the widely-followed Case-Shiller index showed home prices had risen at the slowest pace since mid-2012 in February.

In March, only the Northeast region saw a decline, of 1.7%. Pending home sales were up 4.4% in the South, 2.3% in the Midwest, and a convincing 8.7% in the West, an area dogged by higher prices and stung by recent tax law changes.

Big picture: Contract signings usually precede closings by about 45 days, so the pending home-sales index is a leading indicator for upcoming existing-home sales reports. The Realtors expect sales of existing homes to be 1.1% lower in 2019 than last year. All eyes are on the busy spring selling season to see if things turn around.

What they’re saying: “There is a pent-up demand in the market, and we should see a better performing market in the coming quarters and years,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist.

Market reaction: The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.15% opened higher on Tuesday as investors weighed rosy earnings.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/pending-home-sales-skyrocket-in-march-signalling-a-spring-rebound-for-housing-2019-04-30

2019-04-30 14:00:00Z
52780281772208

GE burns through $1.2 billion but Wall Street is happy it wasn't worse - CNN

Shares of GE (GE) climbed 7% in premarket trading on Tuesday after the company reported profit and revenue that exceeded forecasts. Wall Street is betting the company's recovery remains intact.

GE's struggles continue to be driven by its slumping power division. Profit tumbled 71% in that unit as orders nosedived.

Yet GE is standing by its 2019 guidance for industrial free cash flow to range between negative $2 billion and zero.

GE's subprime mortgage unit files for bankruptcy

"I am encouraged by the improvements we are making inside GE," CEO Larry Culp said in a statement. "This is one quarter in what will be a multi-year transformation, and 2019 remains a reset year for us."

That's despite the emergence of a new risk: the Boeing (BA) 737 Max crisis. A GE joint venture supplies the engines to the 737 Max, which has been grounded due to safety concerns. GE also owns 29 of the 737 Max aircraft through its airplane leasing business, GECAS.

GE said it is working closely with Boeing while conducting "proactive" maintenance on the engines.

"We are confident in the 737 Max aircraft," Culp told analysts during a conference call.

'Long way to go'

GE emphasized that its better-than-feared results were driven by timing. Orders and customer collections arrived earlier than anticipated and GE said this trend should "balance out" later in the year.

"This is a game of inches and we have a long way to go," Culp said.

Culp, who became GE's first outsider CEO last fall, has moved urgently to try to fix the iconic company after years of bad decisions broke its balance sheet. GE slashed its dividend to a penny, accelerated sales of long-held businesses and promised to rapidly pay down debt.

"GE started its 2019 'reset year' with nice momentum," RBC analyst Deane Dray wrote in a note to clients on Tuesday. RBC Capital had been bracing for negative free cash flow of up to $4 billion.

During the first quarter, GE announced the sale of its BioPharma unit to Danaher (DHR), closed the spinoff of its century-old railroad division and cleaned up its financial arm. GE Capital reached a $1.5 billion settlement with the Justice Department to resolve allegations against its defunct subprime lender WMC Mortgage. Last week, WMC filed for bankruptcy.

"We continue to focus on reducing leverage and improving the underlying performance of our businesses," Culp said on Tuesday.

Aviation continues to shine

GE Power sales fell 14% decline as the fossil-fuels division continues to get hurt by the rise of renewables. However, GE said its power business performed better than expected, and it reported a 6% increase in its orders backlog. GE has moved to fix the power division by cutting jobs and closing plants.

Aviation continues to be a bright spot at GE. The jet engine division reported a 12% increase in revenue as orders rose 7% thanks to strong demand from manufacturers. GE shipped 424 LEAP engines during the first quarter, up from just 186 the year before.

GE continues to wind down GE Capital, the financial arm that nearly ruined the company during the 2008 crisis. GE Capital reported a profit of $171 million, up from a loss of $1.8 billion a year ago.

"GE remains focused on shrinking and de-risking GE Capital, including improving its leverage profile," the company said.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/30/investing/ge-earnings-stock/index.html

2019-04-30 13:02:00Z
52780281587221

General Electric still has a cash problem - Yahoo Finance

The General Electric logo appears above a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

It’s only one quarter into 2019, but GE already looks poised to wrestle with steadying its cash position as it did for most of last year.

GE said Tuesday that its industrial free cash flow —a number closely watched by Wall Street to assess the health of the industrial giant — was an outflow of $1.79 billion in the first quarter. A year ago, GE’s industrial free cash flow was an outflow of $1.77 billion.

On an adjusted basis, GE said its industrial free cash flow was an outflow of $1.2 billion.

Many on Wall Street were looking for a free cash flow outflow of about $2 billion in the quarter.

At a March meeting with investors, GE CEO Larry Culp promised that industrial free cash flow would be down $2 billion to flat this year. He then expects it to be in “positive territory” in 2020 and then accelerate in 2021.

The tepid first quarter cash showing — despite it being better than analysts forecast — has GE in a hole relative to Culp’s guidance. GE ended the first quarter with $73.2 billion in cash and equivalents, up from $68.7 billion a year ago.

For GE, the continued pressured free cash flow is a byproduct of ongoing struggles in most areas of its business — notably the key power business. GE saw operating profit margins decline in two of its six business segments in the first quarter (aviation and power). The renewable energy business swung to a loss of $162 million versus a profit of $77 million a year ago.

Health care remains the standout business for GE — the segment notched 110 basis points of operating margin improvement on the back of sales gains in equipment and services.

Investors chose to ignore the overall lackluster free cash flow early on and instead focus on GE’s profit and cash flow beats. GE’s adjusted first quarter earnings came in at 13 cents a share versus Wall Street estimates for 9 cents a share.

Shares popped 5.7% in pre-market trading.

Even still, GE acknowledged its “better than expected” performance in the quarter was “largely” driven by the “timing of certain items.” Culp said performance for the balance of the year will be more in line with his recent guidance. Meanwhile, Culp reiterated that 2019 would be a “reset year” for GE.

Place your bets accordingly, investors.

Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @BrianSozzi

Why Netflix stock deserves to be shredded after its latest earnings report

Snap stock may be 125% overvalued and due for a crash

Lyft's stock price crash has short sellers salivating

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/general-electric-still-has-a-cash-problem-125825784.html

2019-04-30 12:58:00Z
52780281587221

McDonald's US same-store sales beat on popular bacon-loaded menu - Fox Business

April 30 (Reuters) - McDonald's Corp reported a better-than-expected rise in quarterly sales at established U.S. restaurants on Tuesday, boosted by the burger chain's latest promotions and menu additions, sending its shares up about 4 percent.

During the first quarter, McDonald's launched a new two for $5 deal, tweaked its breakfast menu to add donut sticks, and offered applewood smoked bacon with a selection of its burgers and breakfast sandwiches.

MORE FROM FOXBUSINESS.COM...

The company is modernizing its stores by introducing digital menus and adding wooden tables and faux leather chairs as it seeks to attract diners in a competitive market.

Those efforts helped drive a 4.5 percent growth in same-store sales in the United States, beating the 3.03 percent rise expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv IBES. The beat was also its first in four quarters.

Net income fell to $1.33 billion, or $1.72 per share, in the first quarter ended March 31 from $1.38 billion, or $1.72 per share, a year earlier.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX BUSINESS APP

Excluding one-time items, the company earned $1.78 per share. Total revenue fell about 4 percent to $4.96 billion, due to its move to franchise a majority of its restaurants.

Analysts were expecting a profit of $1.75 per share on revenue of $4.93 billion.

(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/mcdonalds-us-corporate-earnings-1q-2019

2019-04-30 12:07:49Z
52780281684489

GE stock surges 10% after Q1 earnings beat Wall Street - Yahoo Finance

The General Electric logo appears above a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchang. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

General Electric (GE) reported first quarter earnings on Tuesday that beat Wall Street’s expectations, sending its stock soaring as weakness in its beleaguered power unit was partly offset by strength in oil, gas and aviation.

The troubled industrial conglomerate posted adjusted earnings per share of 14 cents on revenue of $27.3 billion. That compared with expectations of 9 cents per share on revenue of $27.11 billion, according to a consensus forecast from Bloomberg.

On a continuing basis, GE’s profit in Q1 was 11 cents per share— more than tripling from the comparable year ago period, when it earned just 3 cents per share.

Those results were enough to send GE’s stock on a tear in pre-market action, rallying by more than 10% from Monday’s close. In early dealings, the company’s shares traded around $10.74, up by more than $1.

GE reported adjusted negative free cash flows—a metric of intense interest to Wall Street—of around $1.2 billion in the quarter. However, that figure narrowed substantially from negative $1.76 billion a year ago.

The company’s most closely-watched segments include its capital, aviation and health care segments. Yet GE is plagued by the underperformance of its power business, which GE expects to pare by about $400 million this year.

During the first quarter, orders in its power business plunged by 14% year-over-year—as expected—and revenue diving by 22%. However, gains in GE’s aviation, oil and gas and healthcare segments helped counteract the softness in power.

Aviation revenues surged 12% from a year ago, while oil and gas money saw a 4% jump year-over-year. Yet renewable energy revenues contracted by 3% from the first quarter of 2018, underscoring GE’s continued struggles in power generation.

Analysts at UBS recently declared that “the bottom is in sight” for GE Power, rating the stock as a buy with a target of $13.

In March, GE guided lower expectations for 2019’s earnings growth, as the company struggles to rein in debt and reform its beleaguered power business. CEO Larry Culp said that the segment — one of GE’s most closely watched segments —would improve but remain in the red.

In a statement, Culp reiterated March’s guidance for the company, saying that he was “encouraged by the improvements we are making inside GE. This is one quarter in what will be a multi-year transformation, and 2019 remains a reset year for us.”

GE’s stock, traded on the New York Stock Exchange closed up 1.7% on Monday at $9.73.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/general-electric-reports-q1-earnings-103846095.html

2019-04-30 11:51:00Z
52780281587221

Alphabet's stock tanks with analysts asking, 'Hey Google, what happened to revenue growth?' - CNBC

Google CEO Sundar Pichai testifies during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, December 11, 2018.

Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images

Wall Street analysts were largely caught off guard after Alphabet posted a rare revenue miss in its earnings report on Monday after the bell and they were still confused after the results. Analysts noted a slowdown in advertising revenue growth and repeated calls for the company to be more transparent in its earnings report.

Shares plunged more than 7% in premarket trading.

"We side with the former and maintain our Buy rating, though calls for more disclosure to help us all with these questions were once again a main theme, and with good reason," the analyst added.

Google revenue increased 17%, slower than the 28% pace a year earlier. Advertising sales increased 15%, compared to a 24% growth rate a year ago. Alphabet executives said on the call that the slowdown was due to currency fluctuations and timing of product changes but analysts apparently wanted more.

The parade of transparency calls continued with analysts at J.P. Morgan. "Overall, we expect GOOGL shares to be under pressure in the near-term given sub-20% revenue growth & downward earnings revisions. As noted above, the exact drivers of GOOGL's slowing topline are unclear, & we believe frustration around GOOGL's lack of transparency will only increase," they said.

Revenue deceleration was enough for analysts at Stifel who downgraded the stock to hold from buy. "The unexpected degree of revenue deceleration and lower visibility into the near-term reacceleration / deceleration potential lead us to believe the multiple on shares may be challenged to move meaningfully higher over the next twelve months," wrote Stifel analyst Scott Devitt.

"Hey Google, What Happened To Revenue Growth?" asked RBC analyst Mark Mahaney in his earnings wrap note to clients.

Still, he said, "we're modest buyers on the 7% AM pullback; we'd be material buyers on a material pullback. We don't believe GOOGL is going through a material, sustained growth deceleration."

Here's what major analysts are saying about Alphabet:

Stifel- Downgraded to hold from buy

"We view shares as fairly-valued at current levels and believe the multiple is likely to remain range bound over the next twelve months as a potential deceleration digestion period lies ahead with lower visibility into near-term revenue growth rates. The upside to Street margin in 1Q would be an encouraging trend all else equal, though the topline deceleration path and questions regarding Alphabet's long-term revenue growth trajectory are likely more meaningful to intermediate-term stock performance in our view, while discretionary spending could also cause opex to tick up again in future quarters. At aftermarket prices, GOOGL shares trade at approximately 22x our 2020E GAAP EPS, matching the three-year historical average of 22x forward two-year EPS."

Goldman Sachs- Buy rating and price target to $1,350 from $1,400

"Despite upside to GAAP EPS excluding the EU ﬁne, Alphabet shares will likely be under pressure as Sites revenue growth on a constant currency basis came in below 20% for the ﬁrst time since 1Q15. While a bigger FX headwind was clearly a key reason for the shortfall, management cited the timing of ad product changes as another factor that in some quarters are cited as tailwinds but this quarter was cited as hurting revenue growth. The focus will now turn to 2Q19 results and whether or not net ad growth will reaccelerate."

Barclays- Overweight rating and price target to $1,315 from $1,350

"Google missed every revenue line by 1.5%-4% for 1Q, and we were below consensus. We have to imagine that some of the deceleration is deliberate around product changes, and some is Google resetting the bar. Network trends are likely to get worse as Yahoo and AOL drop out of AFS going forward."

J.P. Morgan - Overweight rating and price target to $1,310 from $1,250

"Overall, we expect GOOGL shares to be under pressure in the near-term given sub-20% revenue growth & downward earnings revisions. As noted above, the exact drivers of GOOGL's slowing topline are unclear, & we believe frustration around GOOGL's lack of transparency will only increase. That being said, GOOGL has maintained 20%+ growth for a very long time—off a large base—and now represents roughly 1/3 of the global online ad market. It also faces increased advertising competition from AMZN, at least on the margin. Our 2019/2020 revenue & GAAP EPS all come down about 2% as improved Other Bets losses partly offset slower Google Segment revenue growth. We maintain our Overweight rating, but prefer other FANG names Facebook, Amazon, & Netflix to Google."

Nomura Instinet- Buy rating and price target to $1,300 from $1,310

"This quarter will no doubt result in a reset to forward expectations, particularly for the ads business, as investors search for reasons for the fairly meaningful deceleration – we expect the stock to trade sideways while we all grapple with whether this quarter was simply a result of product change headaches or if ad budgets are shifting elsewhere. We side with the former and maintain our Buy rating, though calls for more disclosure to help us all with these questions were once again a main theme, and with good reason. We're slightly lowering our forward outlook and our target price moves to $1,300."

Morgan Stanley- Overweight rating and price target to $1,425 from $1,500

"GOOGL's 1Q ex FX Websites revenue came in 1% lower than our estimate…growing 19% Y/Y, the first time GOOGL has grown ex FX less than 20% in 17 quarters (Q3:14). GOOGL pointed to "the timing of product changes in ads" as one of the factors that drove the growth deceleration…but didn't provide any more clarity around what the changes were, whether the impact will be linear by quarter, or whether there will be more changes to come. The fact is we aren't sure what changes GOOGL made in the quarter that drove the deceleration and this is something the Street must figure out. While EBIT, EBITDA, and FCF were all stronger than expected, the forward growth trajectory of Websites revenue (given the scale and leverage in this ~$100bn annualized business) is likely to remain top of mind to determining long-term valuation."

RBC- Outperform rating

"We're modest buyers on the 7% AM pullback; we'd be material buyers on a material pullback. We don't believe GOOGL is going through a material, sustained growth deceleration. 1) The TAM remains $1T+ in global advertising/marketing spend. 2) Based on our extensive survey work, we don't see evidence of changes in Marketers' view of Google – budget allocations, future spend intentions, or perceived ROI (absolute or relative). And 3) We believe GOOGL's investments in Cloud, Internet-connected Homes & Autonomous Vehicles help set the company up for more years of premium growth & profits. And valuation remains reasonable, in our view, at ~20x Core Google '19E GAAP EPS, adjusting for cash."

Bank of America- Buy rating

"Revenue decelerated more than expected, while several peers exceeded expectations (though FB ad growth decelerated 220 bps q/q, much like Google ads) and we would expect Google stock to give back some of the recent gains (stock has rallied from $1,200 in early April, vs S&P index up 4%). Looking forward, while tougher comps may continue to impact 2019 ad revenues, Google could also introduce improvements which could accelerate revenues. While we are disappointed by below-Street revenue (and Google could avoid some stock volatility with better disclosure), we continue to be optimistic on medium-term benefit from machine learning on ad targeting, revenue potential driven by new investments (Google cloud and Waymo) and relatively undemanding core Google valuation. We maintain our Buy rating. Potential catalysts from here include: 1) new products (hardware) at Google I/O on May 7th; 2) YouTube news from upfront; and 3) visibility on Google Cloud or Waymo."

Deutsche Bank- Buy rating and price target to $1,300 to $1,385

"We appreciate quarterly results can be volatile and acknowledge the company's long-term focus, but the magnitude of the deceleration on a constant-currency basis marked the largest sequential move down since 3Q12. Given the magnitude of the change here, particularly given the consistency of growth rates historically, we think Google did a poor job explaining the slow-down. While the CFO flagged timing uncertainty last quarter, the comments were so opaque as to render them meaningless to most investors rather than a proper warning that top line growth would slow. In addition to the sharp deceleration, with gross ad revenue approaching $154B at Google in 2020, combined Google + Face-book ad revs of $237B in 2020 is on track to cross 40% of the global ad market by our estimates. Given slowing growth and rising penetration, we see saturation fears coming back to the fore on Alphabet shares. We reduce our total sites revenue ex-FX in 2019 to 18% (from 20.7%) and reduce our target price to $1,300 (from $1,385 previously) reflecting lower estimates and slightly lower multiples."

UBS- Buy rating

"After a Q4 earnings call message of potential volatile ad revs due to product changes, GOOG's Q1 '19 earnings report reflected that message (our conservative modeling was not enough) US/Europe ad revs decelerated worse than expected (our initial take is that trend is driven by supply/clicks as opposed to demand). Mgmt framed tough YoY comps (we think referencing YouTube product strength from year ago as headwind to volumes) & emphasized that no one product change caused such a headwind. We take a more modest approach to ad revs growth in 2019 to conservatively frame tough comps and/or potential product changes as we attempt to correctly frame the headwind. Leaving aside the short term debate (as a stock overhang), we still see GOOG as a key long term holding and nothing in this quarter changes our view on the structural drivers of revenue growth and FCF generation (AI/machine learning, local advertising, media consumption, cloud computing, hardware & Other Bets) – especially at what we see as a reasonable absolute valuation when measured against growth."

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/30/alphabet-stock-slammed-as-analysts-cite-lack-of-revenue-growth-and-transparency.html

2019-04-30 11:21:40Z
52780278414517

GE burns through $1.2 billion but Wall Street is happy it wasn't worse - CNN

Shares of GE (GE) climbed 6% in premarket trading on Tuesday after the company reported profit and revenue that exceeded forecasts. Wall Street is betting the company's recovery remains intact.

GE's struggles continue to be driven by its slumping power division. Profit tumbled 71% in that unit as orders nosedived.

Yet GE is standing by its 2019 guidance for industrial free cash flow to range between negative $2 billion and zero.

That's despite the emergence of a new risk: the Boeing (BA) 737 Max crisis. A GE joint venture supplies the engines to the 737 Max, which has been grounded due to safety concerns.

"GE is also working arm in arm with Boeing while actively monitoring the grounding of the 737 MAX fleet," the company said.

"We continue to focus on reducing leverage and improving the underlying performance of our businesses," Culp said on Tuesday.

GE continues to wind down GE Capital, the financial arm that nearly ruined the company during the 2008 crisis. GE Capital reported a profit of $171 million, up from a loss of $1.8 billion a year ago.

"GE remains focused on shrinking and de-risking GE Capital, including improving its leverage profile," the company said.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/30/investing/ge-earnings-stock/index.html

2019-04-30 10:59:00Z
52780281611582

Vodafone found security flaws in Huawei equipment in 2011, 2012 - Reuters

FILE PHOTO: The Logo of Huawei is seen at its showroom in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China March 29, 2019. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

LONDON (Reuters) - Telecoms group Vodafone found security flaws in equipment supplied by China’s Huawei to its Italian business in 2011 and 2012, the two companies said on Tuesday.

Vodafone, Europe’s biggest telecoms group, said it had found security vulnerabilities in two products and that both incidents had been resolved quickly. Bloomberg reported the news first.

Huawei, the world’s biggest producer of telecoms equipment, is under intense scrutiny after the United States told allies not to use its technology because of fears it could be a vehicle for Chinese spying. Huawei has categorically denied this.

Britain last week sought to navigate its way through the bitter dispute between the two countries, deciding to block Huawei from all core parts of its 5G network and restrict access to non-core parts.

Huawei said it was made aware of historical vulnerabilities in 2011 and 2012 and that they had been addressed at the time.

“Software vulnerabilities are an industry-wide challenge,” it said. “Like every Information and Communications Technology vendor we have a well-established public notification and patching process, and when a vulnerability is identified we work closely with our partners to take the appropriate corrective action.”

Reporting by Kate Holton and Jack Stubbs, editing by Louise Heavens

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-huawei-security-vodafone/vodafone-found-security-flaws-in-huawei-equipment-in-2011-2012-idUSKCN1S60N0

2019-04-30 08:37:00Z
CBMiiAFodHRwczovL3d3dy5yZXV0ZXJzLmNvbS9hcnRpY2xlL3VzLWh1YXdlaS1zZWN1cml0eS12b2RhZm9uZS92b2RhZm9uZS1mb3VuZC1zZWN1cml0eS1mbGF3cy1pbi1odWF3ZWktZXF1aXBtZW50LWluLTIwMTEtMjAxMi1pZFVTS0NOMVM2ME4w0gE0aHR0cHM6Ly9tb2JpbGUucmV1dGVycy5jb20vYXJ0aWNsZS9hbXAvaWRVU0tDTjFTNjBOMA

Vodafone Found Hidden Backdoors in Huawei Equipment - Bloomberg

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

Vodafone Found Hidden Backdoors in Huawei Equipment Bloomberg

Vodafone Group Plc has acknowledged that it found vulnerabilities going back years with equipment supplied by Huawei Technologies Co. for the carrier's ...

View full coverage on Google News
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-30/vodafone-found-hidden-backdoors-in-huawei-equipment-jv3fmbrc

2019-04-30 06:50:00Z
CAIiEMAFhEAtUruiF_WfhzMo9VwqGQgEKhAIACoHCAow4uzwCjCF3bsCMIrOrwM

Senin, 29 April 2019

Wall St. gains as soft inflation data supports accommodative Fed - Investing.com

© Reuters. Traders work on the floor at the NYSE in New York

By Shreyashi Sanyal and Amy Caren Daniel

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Monday, with the and the Nasdaq hitting record highs, as consumer spending rose in March and benign inflation data underscored the Federal Reserve's accommodative stance on interest rates.

Hopes of a trade resolution, upbeat earnings and a dovish Fed have been powering a rally in the benchmark index this year. The index crossed its record high of 2,940.91 hit on Sept. 21 for the first time this year, restoring investors' faith in the decade-long bull run.

A Commerce Department report showed U.S. consumer spending increased by the most in more than 9-1/2 years in March, but price pressures remained muted, with a key inflation measure posting its smallest annual gain in 14 months.

Tame inflation may lead the central bank to cut interest rates, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said in a television interview on Monday.

"We're in a sweet spot where the rates are low and the economy is strong and there is no possibility of rates rising, and that is an environment that markets like," said Paul Brigandi, managing director and head of trading at Direxion in New York.

"The strength of the consumer and the overall economy doing well leads to strength in banks as a strong consumer leads to more lending activity."

Financial companies rose 1.41%, leading gains among the 11 major S&P sectors, while the banking sector gained 2.12%.

The Federal Reserve starts a two-day meeting on Tuesday, at the end of which a decision on interest rates will be announced.

In yet another busy week of earnings, about 160 S&P 500 companies, including Google-parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:) Inc and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:), are set to report their quarterly results.

Analysts now expect profits of S&P 500 companies to fall just 0.2%, a sharp improvement from a 2% fall estimated at the beginning of the month, according to Refinitiv data.

As trade talks enter their last leg, U.S. negotiators head to China on Tuesday to try to hammer out details to end the protracted tariff spat between the two countries.

At 13:04 p.m. ET the was up 34.32 points, or 0.13%, at 26,577.65. The S&P 500 was up 7.45 points, or 0.25%, at 2,947.33 and the was up 21.29 points, or 0.26%, at 8,167.69.

The defensive utilities and real estate, led the declines among the seven major S&P sectors trading in the red.

Among stocks, Ingersoll-Rand jumped 5.93%, the most among S&P companies, after the Wall Street Journal reported Gardner Denver Holdings Inc is nearing a deal to acquire a unit of the air conditioner maker.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.01-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.83-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded 36 new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 69 new highs and 19 new lows.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/stock-futures-edge-lower-ahead-of-inflation-data-1849226

2019-04-29 16:26:00Z
52780280536278

Burger King plans to roll out Impossible Whopper across the United States - CNN

On April 1, Burger King started testing the vegetarian burger, using a plant-based patty from Impossible Foods. The test took place in St. Louis and "went exceedingly well," a spokesperson for Restaurant Brands International (QSR), Burger King's parent company, said. The spokesperson added that the sales of the Impossible Whopper are complementary to the regular Whopper.

That's exactly what Burger King wants.

With the Impossible Whopper, Burger King is primarily targeting meat eaters who seek more balance in their diet. The new product is designed to "give somebody who wants to eat a burger every day, but doesn't necessarily want to eat beef everyday, permission to come into the restaurants more frequently," Chris Finazzo, president of Burger King North America, told CNN Business when discussing the initial test.

Burger King started testing out the Impossible Whopper in St. Louis.

The Impossible Whopper is supposed to taste just like Burger King's regular Whopper. Unlike veggie burgers, Impossible burger patties are designed to mimic the look and texture of meat when cooked. The plant protein startup recently revealed a new recipe, designed to look and taste even more like meat. That version is being used in Burger King's Impossible Whoppers.

The company plans to expand to more markets "in the very near future" before making the sandwich available nationally by the end of the year. Burger King had about 7,300 US locations at the close of last year.

There's public interest in plant-based protein because of concerns about animal welfare and the environmental impact of factory farming, and because some consumers are interested in reducing their consumption of meat for health reasons.

Soylent was a tech company that sold food. Now it wants to go mainstream

And the interest appears to be growing. The global market for meat substitutes is forecast to grow from an estimated $4.6 billion in 2018 to $6.4 billion by 2023, according to research firm MarketsandMarkets.

Beyond Meat, Impossible Food's primary competitor, thinks that the potential is bigger. In an SEC filing detailing plans for the 10-year-old company's IPO, Beyond Meat projected that over time the plant based-meat market could reach $35 billion in the United States. Beyond Meat plans to start trading in early May.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/29/business/burger-king-impossible-rollout/index.html

2019-04-29 15:33:00Z
CAIiEHMt4i1Wtq0Y1MvIQPYP7-MqGQgEKhAIACoHCAowocv1CjCSptoCMPrTpgU

U.S. consumer spending posts biggest gain since 2009 - Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumer spending increased by the most in more than 9-1/2 years in March, but price pressures remained muted, with a key inflation measure posting its smallest annual gain in 14 months.

FILE PHOTO: People are seen with shopping bags in Times Square in New York City, U.S., November 23, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

The surge in consumer spending reported by the Commerce Department on Monday sets a stronger base for growth in consumption heading into the second quarter after it slowed sharply in the first three months of the year. Tame inflation, however, supports the Federal Reserve’s recent decision to suspend further interest rate increases this year.

Fed officials are scheduled to meet on Tuesday and Wednesday to assess the economy and deliberate on the future course of monetary policy. The U.S. central bank in March dropped forecasts for any interest rate increases this year, halting a three-year policy tightening campaign. The Fed raised borrowing costs four times in 2018.

Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, surged 0.9 percent as households stepped up purchases of motor vehicles and spent more on healthcare. Consumer spending edged up 0.1 percent in February. Data for January was revised up to show consumer spending rising 0.3 percent instead of the previously reported 0.1 percent gain.

The release of the February spending data was delayed by a five-week partial shutdown of the federal government that ended on Jan. 25. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast consumer spending jumping 0.7 percent in March.

When adjusted for inflation, consumer spending increased 0.7 percent in March. This so-called real consumer spending was unchanged in February. The data was included in last Friday’s first-quarter gross domestic product report.

March’s surge in real consumer spending suggested an acceleration in consumption was likely in the second quarter. Consumers spending increased at a 1.2 percent annualized rate in the first quarter, the slowest in a year. The overall economy grew at a 3.2 percent rate last quarter.

U.S. Treasury yields were little changed after the consumer spending and inflation data. The dollar held steady against a basket of currencies. U.S. stock index futures were trading slightly lower.

TAME INFLATION

In March, spending on goods rebounded 1.7 percent, with outlays on long-lasting manufactured goods such as cars shooting up 2.3 percent. Spending on goods fell 0.5 percent in February. Outlays on services increased 0.5 percent last month, driven by healthcare spending, after rising 0.4 percent in February.

Inflation was benign, with the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index excluding the volatile food and energy components unchanged in March after edging up 0.1 percent in February. That lowered the year-on-year increase in the so-called core PCE price index to 1.6 percent, the smallest increase since January 2018, from 1.7 percent in February.

The core PCE index is the Fed’s preferred inflation measure. It hit the central bank’s 2 percent inflation target in March last year for the first time since April 2012.

In March, personal income ticked up 0.1 percent after rising 0.2 percent in February. Wages rose 0.4 percent in March after advancing 0.3 percent in the prior month.

Savings fell to $1.03 trillion in March from $1.16 trillion in February. The saving rate dipped to 6.5 percent last month from 7.3 percent in February.

Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy/us-consumer-spending-posts-biggest-gain-since-2009-idUSKCN1S516T

2019-04-29 12:38:00Z
CBMib2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnJldXRlcnMuY29tL2FydGljbGUvdXMtdXNhLWVjb25vbXkvdXMtY29uc3VtZXItc3BlbmRpbmctcG9zdHMtYmlnZ2VzdC1nYWluLXNpbmNlLTIwMDktaWRVU0tDTjFTNTE2VNIBNGh0dHBzOi8vbW9iaWxlLnJldXRlcnMuY29tL2FydGljbGUvYW1wL2lkVVNLQ04xUzUxNlQ

Burger King plans to roll out Impossible Whopper across the United States - CNN

That's exactly what Burger King wants.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/29/business/burger-king-impossible-rollout/index.html

2019-04-29 11:18:00Z
CAIiEHMt4i1Wtq0Y1MvIQPYP7-MqGQgEKhAIACoHCAowocv1CjCSptoCMPrTpgU

Itil Koko

Selasa, 30 April 2019

Facebook F8 developer conference Day 1: How to watch live - CNET

When it starts

Where to watch

What we can expect

Alphabet had more than $70 billion in market cap wiped out, and it's blaming YouTube - CNBC

Pending home sales skyrocket in March, signalling a spring rebound for housing - MarketWatch

GE burns through $1.2 billion but Wall Street is happy it wasn't worse - CNN

'Long way to go'

Aviation continues to shine

General Electric still has a cash problem - Yahoo Finance

McDonald's US same-store sales beat on popular bacon-loaded menu - Fox Business

MORE FROM FOXBUSINESS.COM...

GE stock surges 10% after Q1 earnings beat Wall Street - Yahoo Finance

Alphabet's stock tanks with analysts asking, 'Hey Google, what happened to revenue growth?' - CNBC

GE burns through $1.2 billion but Wall Street is happy it wasn't worse - CNN

Vodafone found security flaws in Huawei equipment in 2011, 2012 - Reuters

Vodafone Found Hidden Backdoors in Huawei Equipment - Bloomberg

Senin, 29 April 2019

Wall St. gains as soft inflation data supports accommodative Fed - Investing.com

Burger King plans to roll out Impossible Whopper across the United States - CNN

U.S. consumer spending posts biggest gain since 2009 - Reuters

TAME INFLATION

Burger King plans to roll out Impossible Whopper across the United States - CNN

Spotify has 100 million Premium users - Engadget

Sponsored Links