Apple posts 2008 Proxy Materials
Filed under: Apple Financial, AppleListen up, finance nerds, Apple has just posted their 2008 Proxy Materials. Are you excited? I'm not... but that might be because I have no idea what proxy materials are (I'm just a simple blogger). Apple notes that they are posting the proxy materials in an electronic format to help save a few trees , as these statements were previously printed out.If you didn't get enough Apple financials from our liveblog of Apple's quarterly results call, this proxy...
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Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News
Unemployment set to top 9%. Today's markets will be focused on the monthly U.S. nonfarm employment report, which often sets the tone for the coming month. Economists predict the workforce declined by 520,000 in May, the smallest decrease in seven months. But unemployment is expected to jump to 9.2%, the highest level in 26 years. While many think the worst may be over for the economy, it's unlikely firms will begin hiring aggressively until recovery goes from being a possibility to a well-rooted certainty. Earlier this week, Fed chief Bernanke warned "sizable" job losses may still occur. Peter Morici does a good job of summarizing expectations for and potential ramifications of this morning's report. Rio scraps Chinalco deal. Rio Tinto (RTP) scrapped a controversial $19.5B investment from Chinalco (ACH) and will instead raise $15.2B from a share sale and $5.8B from an iron ore venture with BHP Billiton (BHP). The new agreements will allow Rio to pay down some of its $38.9B in debt, and deal a blow to China's plans to secure access to raw materials crucial for its economic growth. FDIC gets tough on Citi. The FDIC is pushing for a management shake-up at Citigroup (C), and recently tried to lower the government's confidential ranking of Citi's health in a move that would give regulators greater control over the firm. Among FDIC concerns are the slow pace of change at Citigroup and the lack of senior executives with commercial banking experience. Officials have reportedly reached out to Jerry Grundhofer, former CEO of U.S. Bancorp (USB) and a recent addition to Citi's board, to see if he'd be interested in taking over CEO Vikram Pandit's position. Citigroup officials say the FDIC has overstepped its bounds, and several government regulators disagree with the FDIC's stance as well. Obama to create 'Pay Czar.' The White House plans to appoint a 'Special Master for Compensation' who will make sure companies receiving federal bailout funds abide by executive-pay guidelines. The administration is expected to name Kenneth Feinberg, who oversaw the government's compensation fund for 9/11 victims. Feinberg's appointment could be announced as soon as next week. Breezy times for Intel. Intel (INTC) agreed to buy Wind River Systems (WIND) for around $884M. The surprise move nets Intel a significant software business and makes it a direct competitor with Microsoft (MSFT) in certain areas. A Microsoft spokeswoman said the company is looking forward to continuing its long-term collaboration with Intel, but is also "working with Intel to evaluate what impact today's announcement has on our partnership." GM uses cash to fund Delphi buyout. General Motors, flush with $30B in bankruptcy financing from the government, is putting up over $2.5B to finance a private-equity firm's buyout of bankrupt auto-parts company Delphi Corp. Separately, GM is expected to announce today that it reached a preliminary deal to sell its Saturn division to mega auto dealer Roger Penske, who runs the Penske Automotive Group chain of dealers, for $100-200M. GM executives also said the company is considering a senior management shake-up but declined to provide details. AIG selling Transatlantic stake. AIG (AIG) may raise almost $1B by selling part of its stake in Transatlantic Holdings (TRH). According to a statement released yesterday, AIG offered 26M shares at $38 each. The sale will bring AIG's stake below 20% from 59%. Icahn wins Biogen board seat. Biogen Idec (BIIB) held its annual meeting this week and activist investor Carl Icahn claims he won two seats on the board. Biogen said Icahn won one seat, and the second is 'too close to call.' The showdown over the remaining board seat is the culmination of a months-long proxy fight. Icahn's victory, even if only partial, suggests shareholders are frustrated with Biogen's stagnant share price and the gap in its pipeline of new drugs. Countrywide CEO charged in subprime mess. The SEC charged Countrywide Financial's former CEO Angelo Mozilo with securities fraud and insider trading, winning Mozilo the distinction of most-prominent executive targeted to date in connection to the subprime crisis. Mozilo pocketed over $139 in profits in 2006-2007 while knowingly selling risky subprime loans and failing to disclose the deteriorating quality of the company's assets. Two other former Countrywide executives were also charged with fraud. Hartford to get TARP money, new CEO. Hartford Financial Services (HIG) CEO Ramani Ayer will step down from his post by the end of the year, following through on a departure originally planned for 2008. Ayer, who has been CEO for twelve years, was responsible for crafting the aggressive growth strategy that led to some of the insurer's current troubles. The company is expected to receive as much as $3.4B in TARP funds in the next few weeks. Jobs returning to Apple. Apple (AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs is on track to return to the company this month after a medical leave, possibly in a surprise appearance at Apple's annual software developers' conference next week. Some analysts thought Jobs' sudden departure six months ago and the limited disclosure of his illness would hurt the company, but the stock has risen 68% since Jobs announced his leave vs. a 24% increase in the Nasdaq. Even after Jobs returns, it's unclear whether he'll resume his full set of duties immediately. Jobless claims dip. Initial Jobless Claims came in at 621,000 vs. last week's 625,000 (revised) and consensus of 620,000. Continuing claims dipped by 15K to 6.74M. Productivity higher than expected. Q1 Nonfarm Productivity of 1.6% was better than the 1.2% economists expected, and sharply higher than initial estimates of 0.8%. Unit labor costs grew 3%, slightly above consensus (+2.9%), but lower than previous estimates of 3.3%. Manufacturing sector productivity fell 2.7%, its fourth consecutive decline. Earnings: Thursday After Close Guess? (GES): Q1 EPS of $0.35 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $441M (-9.8%) vs. $437M. (PR) Today's MarketsOverseas markets edged higher Friday and futures are also up. All eyes will be on the nonfarm payroll report at 8:30.
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Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News
Even more firms may gain access to TARP. Sources say the Treasury may use some of its $700B rescue fund to buy stakes in financing companies such as GE's (GE) GE Capital and CIT Group (CIT). Presently the program only includes publicly-traded banks and insurers, although the Treasury is already mulling opening the door to some privately-held firms. The U.S. government could eventually own even more of the American financial system than first envisioned. Yahoo, Google tone down ad tie-up. Yahoo (YHOO) and Google (GOOG) submitted a revised version of their search-ad pact to the Justice Department in the hope gaining approval. New provisions limit the scope of the deal, including shortening the agreement to two years from ten, and capping Yahoo's revenue from the deal to 25% of its search revenue total; previously there was no cap. The revised plan also gives Google advertisers the ability to opt out of having their ads displayed on Yahoo sites. It's unclear whether the changes will suffice to appease regulators who worry the deal will allow Google (GOOG) to monopolize online advertising. Separately, Yahoo said Monday Microsoft (MSFT) executive Jeff Dossett will take the lead position in its online media properties after veteran Scott Moore left "for other opportunities." UBS posts earnings, warnings. UBS (UBS) confirmed a Q3 profit of 296M Swiss francs ($256.3M) helped by credit and tax gains, with outflows of 49.3B francs from its wealth management unit and 34.4B francs from its asset management unit. The world's largest wealth manager, UBS had already reported much of its Q3 results last month when it announced a capital injection of 6B franc from the Swiss government and said it would unload $60B of risky assets into a central bank fund. UBS noted some positive client money flows in October, but warned 'difficult' market conditions would hurt fee-earning businesses and Q4 results would be weighed down by the accounting effects of transferring risky assets. Shares -2.6% premarket. Outlook sours for RBS. Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) abandoned its full-year profit forecast after it wrote-down £1B in October against assets connected to Lehman Brothers and Icelandic banks and as bad loans rose. It also posted £1.4B of markdowns in Q3 before new accounting rules allowed it to claim back £1.2B. CEO Stephen Hester said the latest writedowns, coming in addition to £5.9B in H1, show the bank has too much risk and could face a full-year loss. RBS is in line for a U.K. bailout, and the government could own up to 60% of the bank unless investors buy some of the £20B of stock to be issued later this year. Shares -14.9% premarket. Goldman hedge fund down $1B. A flagship Goldman Sachs (GS) hedge fund - Goldman Sachs Investment Partners - has lost almost $1B of its $6B since its launch in January, further evidence of the crisis facing the industry. "We anticipate that these results will lead to net outflows from the hedge fund industry," managers said, although GSIC itself imposed a two-year lock-in at inception. More than half of its 13% Q3 loss was on positions in commodities, basic materials, metals, mining, energy and agriculture. Tough 2009 for JPMorgan. JPMorgan (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon told employees the firm faces "highly challenging conditions" in 2009, but sees a possible "strong recovery" in 2010. JPM's recent acquisitions of Bear Stearns and WaMu will improve performance in the "longer term," he said. Dimon warned Asia is "going to get worse than you think" as the tidal wave that began with a collapse of the U.S. mortgage market washes over it. Still, longer-term, he sees "very substantial natural growth" in the region. iPod master leaves Apple. Tony Fadell, one of the fathers of the iPod, is leaving Apple (AAPL) for personal reasons, sources say. Former IBM (IBM) executive Mark Papermaster will take his place. During Fadell's tenure, the iPod grew from a curiosity into a major cash cow; Apple sold 54.7M iPods during its most recent fiscal year. But growth has cooled off as saturation becomes a factor in many countries. Still, Apple shows no signs of giving up any of its 70% U.S. market share. Dismal October for automakers. General Motors (GM) said October was likely the auto industry's worst month since WWII after its sales plunged 45%, Ford's (F) fell 30%, Nissan's (NSANY) declined 33%, Honda's (HMC) dropped 25%, while Toyota's (TM) declined by 23%. GM marketing chief Mark LaNeve said he believes there's plenty of pent-up demand, "but until the credit markets open up and consumer confidence improves, the entire U.S. economy, and any industry like autos that relies on financing, will suffer." U.S. auto sales are now down 14.6% YTD. "It's weaker than we were anticipating," J.D. Power's Bob Schnorbus said, warning leaders should take heed: "The auto industry is important to the economy and it should not be taken too lightly." Manufacturing paints bleak picture. The ISM's Manufacturing index fell to 38.9 in October, its lowest level since 1982, and worse than the expected 41.5. The only industries reporting growth were apparel and leather & allied products. Petroleum & coal and nonmetallic mineral products led the laggards. The weaker than expected data increases the risk the current slump will outdo the recessions of 2001 and 1991. Companies are cutting back on investments and hiring as Q3 consumer spending plunged by 3.1% - the biggest decline in 28 years. The survey "indicates a significantly faster rate of decline in manufacturing when comparing October to September," ISM director Norbert Ore said. "It appears that manufacturing is experiencing significant demand destruction as a result of recent events." Prices also rose at a much slower rate: the price index plunged to 37 from 53.5 in September - the lowest level since December 2001. Export orders dropped for the first time in 70 months. September Construction Spending fell 0.3% from August's revised numbers, better than the expected 0.8% drop. Residential private construction -1.3%; non-residential +1.2%. Earnings: Before Open Ameren (AEE): Q3 EPS of $1.17 misses by $0.08. Revenue of $2.06B (+3.2%) vs. $2.29B. Sees full-year EPS of $2.80-3.00 vs. $3.01. Shares -5.3%. (PR) Archer Daniels Midland (ADM): FQ1 EPS of $1.63 vs. consensus of $0.69. Revenue of $21.16B (+65%) vs. $15.98B. (PR) Autodesk (ADSK): Sees Q3 EPS of $0.53-0.55 vs. $0.55 consensus and revenue of $604-607M vs $624M. "The sharp downturn of the global economy is substantially impacting our business... Demand for our products fell dramatically in October in all geographies as the financial crisis worsened. (PR) Cimarex Energy (XEC): Q3 EPS of $2.19 misses by $0.07. Revenue of $576.5M (+67.7%) vs. $568M. (PR) Dean Foods (DF): Q3 EPS of $0.28 misses by $0.03. Revenue of $3.19B (+2.5%) in-line. (PR) Emerson Electric (EMR): FQ4 EPS of $0.88 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $6.7B (+11.1%) in-line. (PR) GrafTech (GTI): Q3 EPS of $0.55 beats by $0.10. Revenue of $316M (+25.7%) vs. $303M. Shares +6.7%. (PR) HCP Inc. (HCP): Q3 FFO of $0.71/share beats by $0.05. Revenue of $270M vs. $242M. Sees full-year FFO of $2.38-2.42 vs. $2.29. (PR) Holly (HOC): Q3 EPS of $1.00 beats by $0.13. Revenue of $1.72B (+42.3%) in-line. (PR) Louisiana-Pacific (LPX): Q3 EPS of -$0.38 misses by $0.08. Revenue of $390M (-17.5%) in-line. (PR) Magna International (MGA): Q3 EPS of $0.17 vs. consensus of $0.90. Revenue of $5.53B (-9%) in-line. (PR) Marvel Entertainment (MVL): Q3 EPS of $0.64 beats by $0.19. Revenue of $182.5M (+47.7%) vs. $146M. Sees full-year EPS of $2.45-2.65 vs. $1.93 and 2009 EPS of $1.00-1.35 vs. $1.94. (PR) Myriad Genetics (MYGN): FQ1 EPS of $0.30 beats by $0.16. Revenue of $74M (+52.4%) vs. $70M. (PR) NiSource (NI): Q3 EPS of $0.03 in-line. Revenue of $1.42B (+11.8%) vs. $1.36B. (PR) PPL Corp. (PPL): Q3 EPS of $0.45 misses by $0.15. Sees full-year EPS of $2.00-2.05 vs. $2.29, and 2009 EPS of $1.60-1.90 vs. $2.17. "Many of the pressures that affected our results in 2008 also are expected to continue into 2009..." (PR) Rowan (RDC): Q3 EPS of $1.00 beats by $0.13. Revenue of $527M (+5%) vs. $540M. "Continuing weakness in capital markets and commodity prices will, eventually, affect customer demand for our products and services, though we have experienced little impact thus far." (PR) St. Joe (JOE): Q3 EPS of -$0.12 misses by $0.12. Revenue of $32.8M (-57.6%) vs. $47.3M. (PR) Talisman Energy (TLM): Q3 EPS of $0.72 beats by $0.08. Revenue of $2.82B (+50.9%) vs. $2.89B. (PR) Tenneco (TEN): Q3 EPS of $0.01 misses by $0.22. Revenue of $1.5B (-3.8%) in-line. (PR) Tenet Healthcare (THC): Q3 EPS of -$0.06 misses by $0.03. Revenue of $2.14B (+5.2%) vs. $2.21B. Shares +14.1%. (PR) W&T Offshore (WTI): Q3 EPS of $0.79 misses by $0.03. Revenue of $290M (+13.6%) vs. $276M. (PR) Earnings: Monday After Close Automatic Data Processing (ADP): FQ1 EPS of $0.54 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $2.18B (+9.5%) in-line. Shares -2.5%. (PR) Coldwater Creek (CWTR): Sees Q3 sales of $225M vs. $265M consensus, and EPS of -$0.07 to -$0.09 vs. $0.03 consensus. "The overall macro-economic environment has proven to be substantially more challenging than anticipated." Shares -5.9%. (PR) Comstock Resources (CRK): Q3 EPS of $1.20 beats by $0.20. Revenue of $169M (+103.7%) vs. $158M. (PR) Embraer (ERJ): Q3 EPS of $0.32 misses by $0.07. Revenue of $1.55B (+8.1%) vs. $1.63B. (PR) EOG Resources (EOG): Q3 EPS of $2.34 beats by $0.10. Revenue of $3.22B (+226.5%). Shares +1.9%. (PR) Forest Oil (FST): Q3 EPS of $1.26 misses by $0.12. Revenue of $474M (+51.5%) vs. $465M. (PR) Herbalife (HLF): Q3 EPS of $0.89 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $M in-line. Sees Q4 EPS of $0.65-0.70 vs. $0.91, and 2009 EPS of $3.50-3.55 vs. $3.71. Shares -13.5%. (PR) MasterCard (MA): Q3 EPS of $2.47 beats by $0.22. Revenue of $1.34B (+23.7%) vs. $1.27B. Gross dollar volume rose 12.3%. "As we are not immune from the long-term effects of the current economic environment, we have significantly accelerated the focus on our cost structure..." Shares +8%. (PR) Mohawk Industries (MHK): Q3 EPS of $1.10 misses by $0.02. Revenue of $1.76B (-9%) in-line. (PR) Open Text (OTEX): Q3 EPS of $0.53 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $183M (+11.4%) vs. $179M. Shares -1.1%. (PR) Pepco Holdings (POM): Q3 EPS of $0.59 misses by $0.11. Revenue of $3.06B (+10.4%) vs. $2.73B. (PR) Pitney Bowes (PBI): Q3 EPS of $0.67 misses by $0.03. Revenue of $1.55B (+2.6%) vs. $1.6B. Sees full-year EPS of $2.75-2.82 vs. $2.85. (PR) St. Mary Land (SM): Q3 EPS of $1.20 beats by $0.08. Revenue of $324M (+31.4%) vs. $329M. Shares +1.2%. (PR) Viacom (VIA): Q3 EPS of $0.62 beats by $0.07. Revenue of $3.41B (+4.2%) vs. $3.32B. Shares +1.5%. (PR) Today's Markets Asia closed mixed Tuesday. Tokyo was the standout, +6.27% to 9,115. Shanghai -0.76% to 1,707. Hang Seng +0.28% to 14,384. BSE Sensex +2.84% to 10,631. European markets posted strong morning gains. London +1.75%. Paris +2.1%. Frankfurt +2%. U.S. futures are markedly higher at 7:00 AM. Dow +1.88% to 9506. S&P +1.96% to 988.50. Nasdaq +2.18%. Crude +1.16% to $64.65. Gold +1.49% to $737.60. Tuesday's Economic Calendar 7:45 ICSC Retail Store Sales8:55 Redbook10:00 Factory Orders5:00 PM ABC Consumer Confidence Index Notable earnings before Tuesday's open: ADM, AEE, AMSC, DF, DNR, EMR, ENTG, EXPD, FE, GTI, HCP, HL, HNT, HOC, JEC, JOE, LPX, MAC, MGA, MYGN, NI, NNN, NXG, PPL, PQ, RDC, TDC, TEN, THC, TLM, VNO, WTI, XEC Notable earnings after Tuesday's close: AMMD, BRE, CBL, DCT, FCH, HRP, JKHY, ME, NHP, PXD, UPL, USU, VTR Seeking Alpha editor Rachael Granby contributed to this post. Get Wall Street Breakfast by email -- it's free and takes only seconds to sign up. After you finish reading Wall Street BreakfastSeeking Alpha's Market Currentswill keep you current all day long.
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Apple posts first quarter 2008 results
Filed under: Apple Financial, AppleWe are in the process of liveblogging Apple's financial conference call, but Apple has already posted their quarterly results for all to read. Here's what Apple sold this quarter: 2,319,000 Macs (44% more than last quarter) 22,121,000 iPods (5% more than last quarter) 2,315,000 iPhones Revenues clocked in at $9.6 billion and a net profit of $1.58 billion.Best. Quarter. Ever.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Apple: "the iPhone is a gaming console"
According to extremely reliable and embarrassingly handsome Engadget sources, at an iPhone event held today, John Geleynse (AKA Director of Technology Evangelism at Apple) made some statements regarding the iPhone platform that should seriously raise a few eyebrows. During an ADC "iPhone Tech Talk" in San Jose, Geleynse apparently waxed excited about the potential for the handheld as a viable threat to the DS (and the PSP by proxy), calling the iPhone a "gaming console" and claiming that "it's not a phone, it's a console experience." Pretty bold talk about a device that has yet to really prove its gaming mettle, but nothing new from the Apple camp as far as we're concerned. Considering these comments alongside those from a recent interview in which Greg Joswiak compared the touch to the DS, it seems clear that the company is making a noticeable effort to push this angle. Adding some fuel to that fire is PR that just went out announcing a series of EA "sneak peek" events at Apple Stores around the US. In their words:Throughout the month of December Apple Stores in New York, LA, San Francisco and Chicago will host special "EA Games Sneak Peek" events where Electronic Arts will discuss why the iPod touch and iPhone are amazing platforms for mobile gaming...While there's no question the iPhone and touch have made inroads when it comes to gaming, it still isn't clear that there's going to be anything beyond a casual interest for these devices. Then again, if the Wii's success has proven anything, it's that there's plenty of cash in casual if you can make it appealing enough. And you know how Apple feels about appealing products and money.Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming, HandheldsApple: "the iPhone is a gaming console" originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News
Shareholder sues BoA. A Bank of America (BAC) shareholder has filed a legal suit against the company, seeking class action status on behalf of all shareholders eligible to vote on the acquisition of Merrill Lynch. The suit names Kenneth Lewis and John Thain as defendants and faults the two for failing to disclose the full extent of Merrill's losses; the Dec. 5 vote to approve the merger was based on an Oct. 31 proxy statement that hadn't been revised to reflect Merrill's poor Q4 performance. Sony slips. Sony (SNE) warned it will post a ¥260B ($2.9B) annual operating loss on falling demand, a strengthening yen and restructuring costs. The forecast is down from an earlier projection of a ¥200B profit, and far worse than earlier consensus estimates of a ¥100B loss. It will be Sony's first operating loss in 14 years, and its biggest loss ever, as the company has fallen behind Apple (AAPL) in portable music, Nintendo (NTDOY.PK) in video games and is losing money on its flat screen TVs. As part of the restructuring plan, Sony said it may consolidate TV production in Japan into one plant, but analysts call for more drastic steps to turn the company around. Shares -2.8% in Japan (7:00 ET). Rescue buyout for Satyam? Media reports say Indian firm Larsen & Toubro, which holds around a 4% stake in Satyam (SAY), is considering presenting a rescue plan to Satyam's board. Investment banking and government sources said L&T would put a price on its bid once KPMG and Deloitte, Satyam's new auditors, release updated audit results. L&T denied the reports. Satyam's board will begin a two-day meeting today to discuss how to secure emergency funding. AIG selling prized business. AIG (AIG) has begun the sale of its prized Asian life insurance unit, and hopes to pull in as much as $20B on the unit to help repay its government loans. The unit boasts 20M policyholders across 13 countries, employs 200,000 tied agents and last year made an aggregate operating profit of around $2B. AIG has expressed an interest in selling 49% of the unit, but would consider a complete sale, and could be willing to accept shares as acquisition currency. Potential bidders include HSBC (HBC), Prudential Financial (PRU) and China Life (LFC). Apple regains some shine. Apple (AAPL) posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings yesterday (more details below), giving depressed shares a healthy boost with gains of over 8% after hours. Overseas demand for iPods, Mac computers and iPhones offset a slowdown in U.S. sales, pushing quarterly sales past $10B for the first time vs. consensus estimates of the first profit drop in five years. The company posted a cautious outlook for FQ2, forecasting EPS of $0.90-1.00 vs. $1.13 consensus and revenue of $7.6-8B vs. $8.2B. Germany's 'Bad Bank Light.' The German government is working on a new 'Bad Bank Light' rescue plan that could help the industry get hundreds of billions of euros of bad assets off its books. According to media reports, the government would take on the bad assets of banks and absorb associated losses, and would also get a claim on future gains. A similar model was successfully used with East German banks after reunification in 1990. The government could take as much as €300B-€400B in bad assets, though the banks themselves would choose which assets to divest. BoJ forecasts deflation. Bank of Japan voted unanimously to maintain interest rates at 0.1%, and lowered its assessment of the economy. BoJ now sees a longer contraction until recovery starts to kick in by the second half of fiscal 2010. Japan will slip back into deflation during the contraction. Retail sales. Retail chain store sales rose 1.1% from a week ago, ICSC reported, and fell 1.8% Y/Y. "Being a low volume month with little incentive to spend will continue to make January a tough month for retailers." According to Redbook, national chain store sales fell 2.5% in the first two weeks of January, worse than the expected -2.2%, noting retailers don't tend to read too much into January. Shops are building very cautious inventories for the spring season. Housing index drops. NAHB's Housing Market Index came in at a record low of 8 vs. 9 consensus. However its index of prospective buyers rose to 8 vs. 7 in December, while its index of home sales for the next six months inched up to 17 from 16. "Clearly, conditions in the nation's housing market aren't getting any better," said NAHB chairman Sandy Dunn, "and they aren't going to get any better until the federal government takes substantial action to encourage qualified buyers to get back in the market." Earnings: Thursday Before Open AmerisourceBergen (ABC): FQ1 EPS of $0.73 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $16.9B (+4.6%) vs. $17.2B. (PR) AU Optronics (AUO): Q4 EPS of -$0.95 misses by $0.42. Revenue of $1.80B (-62.5%) vs. $1.81B. (PR) Baxter International (BAX): Q4 EPS of $0.91 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $3.13B (+4.1%) vs. $3.15B. (PR) Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB): Q4 EPS of -$3.82 misses by $3.83. Tier 1 capital ratio of 10.59%. Net loss of $2.2B from goodwill impairment, credit actions, higher credit costs and market valuation adjustments. (PR) KeyCorp (KEY): Q4 EPS of -$1.13 misses by $1.11. Revenue of $1.045B (-15.6%) vs. $1.176B. (PR) Knight Capital Group (NITE): Q4 EPS of $0.56 beats by $0.18. Revenue of $330.2M (+28.2%) vs. $261.8M. (PR) Lockheed Martin (LMT): Q4 EPS of $2.05 beats by $0.13. Revenue of $11.1B (+2.7%) in-line. (PR) Nokia (NOK): Q4 EPS of $0.26 misses by $0.02. Revenue of $12.7B (-19.2%) vs. $13.1B. Shares -10.4% premarket.(PR) Potash (POT): Q4 EPS of $2.56 beats by $0.28. Revenue of $1.87B (+30.7%) vs. $1.85B. (PR) SunTrust Banks (STI): Q4 EPS of -$1.08 misses by $1.15. Revenue of $1.93B (+8.8%) vs. $2.16B. (PR) Taiwan Semi (TSM): Q4 EPS of $0.07 in-line. Revenue of $1.96B (-32.1%) vs. $1.95B. (PR) UnitedHealth (UNH): Q4 EPS of $0.78 in-line. Revenue of $20.45B (+9,4%) vs. $20.35B. (PR) Earnings: Wednesday After Close Amdocs (DOX): FQ1 EPS of $0.55 in-line. Revenue of $754M (+1.6%) vs. $792M. Sees FQ2 EPS of $0.47-0.51 vs. $0.57 and revenue of $700-720M vs. $793M. (PR) Apple (AAPL): FQ1 EPS of $1.78 beats by $0.39. Revenue of $10.17B vs. $9.75B. Gross margins 34.7% vs. 31.9% consensus. Macs 2.52M in line. iPhones 4.36M vs. 4.6M. (8-K) Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI): Q4 EPS of $1.79 beats by $0.05. Revenue of $4.37B (+3%) in-line. Commits $2.7B in capital expenses for 2009, $150M lower than 2008. (PR) eBay (EBAY): Q4 EPS of $0.41 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $2.04B (-6.5%) vs. $2.12B. Sees Q1 EPS of $0.32-0.34 vs. $0.40, and revenue of $1.8-2.05B vs. $2.1B. Skype growth 26% to $145M. Active users +1% to 86.3M. Gross merchandise volume +1% to $11.47B. (PR) F5 Networks (FFIV): FQ1 EPS of $0.40 in-line. Revenue of $166M (+7.4%) in-line. While some sales are being pushed into later quarters, others are postponed indefinitely. (PR) Kinder Morgan Energy Partners L.P. (KMP): Q4 EPS of $0.24 misses by $0.29. Revenue of $2.29B (-6.4%) vs. $3.41B. (PR) Polycom (PLCM): Q4 EPS of $0.42 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $263M (-0.1%) in-line. (PR) Seagate Technology (STX): FQ2 EPS of -$0.23 misses by $0.18. Revenue of $2.27B (-33.6%) vs. $2.46B. Sees FQ3 revenue of $1.6-2B vs. $2.19B. (PR) Today's Markets Asia markets closed lightly up. Nikkei +1.9% to 8,052. Hang Seng +0.6% to 12,658. Shanghai +1.0% to 2,005. BSE +0.4% to 8,814. In Europe at midday, London +1.2%. Paris +0.8%. Frankfurt +1.0%. U.S. futures: Dow -0.6%. S&P -0.6%. Nasdaq +0.3%. Crude +1.4% to $44.18. Gold +0.01% to $850.20. Thursday's Economic Calendar 7:00 MBA Mortgage Applications 8:30 Housing Starts 8:30 Jobless Claims 4:30 PM Money Supply Notable earnings before Thursday's open: ABC, AUO, AVT, BAX, BBT, BEN, CIT, CMA, CY, EAT, ESI, EXC, FITB, HBAN, IGT, JNS, KEY, LMT, LUV, MTB, NITE, NOC, NOK, ORI, POT, SHW, STI, TCB, TSM, UNH, UNP, UST Notable earnings after Thursday's close: AMD, CBST, CNI, COF, ED, FII, GOOG, ISRG, MSCC, MSFT, PBCT, SNV, SYNA, TPX, WERN, WFR Seeking Alpha editor Eli Hoffmann contributed to this post.
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Apple releases 2009 proxy statement
Filed under: Apple FinancialYesterday, Apple released a proxy statement detailing the financial compensation that executives enjoy as part of their participation on the board of directors. Steve Jobs retained his $1 salary for 2008, but has over 5.5 million shares of Apple stock, which is worth over $500 million on paper. Jobs is worth about $5.7 billion, thanks largely to the fact that he's Disney's largest individual shareholder. Fidelity Investments continues to be Apple's largest investor with over 46 million shares of stock. There are five shareholder proposals up for voting this time around: Proposal 1 asks to re-elect the board of directors, consisting of Steve Jobs, William Campbell, Millard Drexler, Al Gore, Andrea Jung, Arthur Levinson, Eric Schmidt, and Jerry York. Proposal 2 asks for more transparency surrounding Apple's political contributions. Proposal 3 asks the company to adopt a statement supporting universal health care for everyone, and not just employees. Proposal 4 asks the company to release a report on corporate strategies surrounding climate change and greenhouse gas emissions before July. Proposal 5 asks to adopt a policy that gives shareholders more input on executive compensation. (Thanks, Scott!) The board of directors, perhaps not surprisingly, recommends approving the first proposal, and rejecting the other four. The proxy statement is available from Apple's Investor Relations website, and will not be mailed to shareholders unless requested. [Via MacDailyNews.]TUAWApple releases 2009 proxy statement originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Apple's new "green" notebook ad
Filed under: Apple Corporate, Apple, Macbook Pro, MacBookApple aired a new television ad here in the US earlier tonight. It touts the MacBook's low power consumption, recyclable enclosure and lack of some of the toxins present in other computers.Activist group Greenpeace has been pressuring Apple to adopt more environmentally-friendly production methods and materials over the last couple of years, and last month responded favorably to Apple's efforts to go green. Additionally, Apple has posted a page to their website describing not only their efforts toward environmental responsibility with the MacBook, but their overall efforts as a company. At the risk of sounding like a tree-hugging hippie, let me say, well done Apple!TUAWApple's new "green" notebook ad originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Friday Favorite: Mac HelpMate
Filed under: Software, Cool tools, Troubleshooting, Friday FavoriteI'll open this Friday Favorite with a caveat -- Mac HelpMate is not an app that just anyone is going to want to license. However, if you're a Mac consultant and/or do system support for many Mac users, this is an application you should consider. Mac HelpMate is the brainchild of Dean Shavit, an Apple Certified System Administrator based in Chicago, Illinois. Dean's goal in producing Mac HelpMate was to eliminate many of the issues that Mac support professionals deal with when trying to perform remote support tasks for their clients. What are those issues? Usually, they consist of trying to reach the end user's network through a maze of firewalls and routers. For example, one of the major issues with Apple's Back To My Mac remote access and control technology is that it doesn't work with many cable or DSL modems that don't support UPnP (Universal Plug-and-Play) or NAT-PMP (NAT - Port Mapping Protocol). Mac HelpMate provides zero-configuration remote access through a proxy server run by Shavit's company, eliminating the hassles of trying to talk clients through configuration of their Macs and network hardware.Continue reading Friday Favorite: Mac HelpMateTUAWFriday Favorite: Mac HelpMate originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 26 Dec 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Boxee releases new alpha, adds Netflix support
Filed under: Multimedia, Software, Video, Mac mini, Apple TV It's a pretty awesome day to be a Netflix fan. Not only is the Watch Instantly service officially available for OS X, it's also now working via boxee, my favorite media center application!Boxee pushed out an impromptu update last week for Apple TV owners, specifically to address issues with the 2.3 firmware update. Today's update is targeted at all boxee versions and adds a host of new features, including the big dog: Netflix support for US customers. Note: Netflix support is currently only in the Mac version of boxee. The boxee team is working hard to bring it to the Apple TV, but they need to work around some of the hardware limitations. They'll be posting updates on the boxee blog on their progress.Here's the rundown: Netflix support for Mac users Improved Hulu performance and a new Hulu interface, including access to your personal Hulu queues Access to TheWB.com (US only unless you use a proxy) The Boston Globe's Big Picture blog - amazing photos from around the world MTVMusic - songs/artists in your collection are now linked with music videos New YouTube interface, improved performance and .h264 support Custom interfaces and improved playback for CNN, Flickr and Picasa All in all, this is a pretty stellar update. When I talked to the team from boxee last week, they made it clear that Neflix was the #1 priority. That they got Netflx running in boxee in under two weeks is nothing short of amazing. Yes, I do wish that support would be extended to Apple TV users, but I can be patient. If you haven't tried boxee, you can go to http://boxee.tv/tuaw and get an invite. You'll need an Intel Mac running OS X 10.4 or OS X 10.5 or an Apple TV. Boxee is also available for Ubuntu 7.10 and 8.04, though I'm unsure if the team was able to implement Netflix support for Ubuntu yet.Give it a shot and tell us what you think in the comments! TUAWBoxee releases new alpha, adds Netflix support originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 04 Dec 2008 11:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Apple, Walmart to do $99 4GB iPhone?
Look, we know you've been holding out for the iPhone to hit Walmart before you pick it up, sandwiched between the fishing gear and row upon row of exercise videos -- and we don't blame you. You'll ride your shopping cart down the wide aisles like a chariot, and when you get home with the phone you'll dial up all your friends and let them know how much cheaper your iPhone was than theirs. What was that? Yeah, the new word on the street is that Walmart is getting a 4GB iPhone 3G for a mere $99, according to Boy Genius Report, and while BGR was previously reporting a November 15th launch date at Walmart, and can't vouch for the accuracy of this new report, Walmart training materials (pictured above) have been seen in the wild, so there's a grain of truth to this madness somewhere. Plus, a $99 iPhone just sounds so Walmart-ey, doesn't it?[Via Mac Rumors]Filed under: Cellphones, HandheldsApple, Walmart to do $99 4GB iPhone? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Dec 2008 09:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments