Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Safeway & iPhone 5S

Safeway Falls Short & Apple 5S Rumors

By Andy Cao-Pham & Pasha Zand

Market Performance:

Friday, April 26, 2013
On Thursday, April 25th, the Dow Jones Industrial Index closed up at +24.50 (+0.17%) at 14,700.80, whereas on Friday morning the DJIA opened down -43 points but closed at 14,712.55 only down -11.75.


Some notable movers, included Apple and JCPenney, who seemed to rally after poor performances from last week and earlier in the beginning of this week. On Friday Apple rose up 2.2%. Although Apple reported its first quarterly earnings drop in a decade earlier in the week, Apple raised its dividend by 15% to $3.05 a share.J.C Penney was able to gain almost 12% by close Friday due to hedge fund investor George Seros reportedly having a 7.9 percent stake. This was viewed as a strong vote of confidence and helped raise stock prices.

Some notable fallers on Friday we highlighted where Amazon, Expedia, and Safeway. Amazon fell 7.24% on Friday due to reports late Thursday that Amazon’s first quarter profits had fallen. It also didn’t help that Amazon issued a lower than expected revenue for the second quarter. The online travel site Expedia also reported first quarter loses on Thursday that resulted in a 9.87% drop. Those two examples show that stock prices are dramatically affected by quarterly earnings. On the contrary, Safeway met expectation and experienced first quarter earnings but still had a historic drop on Thursday. Not only are stock prices affected by earnings but by investor expectation as well.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Having been up by as much as 132 points, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (US:DJIA) ended with a gain of 106.20 points at 14,818.75, a level putting it 46 points from its record close, set April 11. U.S. stock indexes advanced on Monday, lifting the S&P 500 to a record close, the S&P 500 index (US:SPX) ended up 11.37 points at a 1,593.61, with technology the best performing of its 10 major sectors. The S&P 500 is up 1.6% for the month, and a positive finish to April would deliver a sixth straight month of gains.


Some notable headline gainers included Apple Inc, which rallied 3% on Monday after a leaked document reportedly indicated that it may launch iPhone 5S earlier than anticipated. Apple shares advanced for a third day on speculation that iPhone 5S could roll out as early as July. Several news outlets are citing a document, purportedly leaked from KDDI, which showed that the Japanese carrier will begin taking preorders for the new iPhone in June for a July launch. Also, Microsoft has seen its stock rising to 14% over the past three months. Keeping with the technology trend, Blackberry Inc. saw its shares rise 2.4% to $15.38 on Monday morning also. 

Financial News #1:
Safeway: Not Good Enough

Safeway took a dramatic hit Thursday as stock prices fell 14% followed by a 4.2% drop Friday. Thursday’s free fall was the worst daily percentage drop in a decade. The reason behind Safeways poor outing is due sales not being as strong as investors had hoped for. Despite having first-quarter earnings rise and match analysts expectations, investors were not pleased. High expectations from investors came from Safeway’s partnership with ExxonMobil in March 2013 to create a new loyalty and gas rewards program for its members. Similar to Giant Foods Gas rewards, Safeway investors expected higher earnings due to the loyalty and gas rewards program. In addition, Safeway has been experiencing increased competition as dollar stores and competitors like Wal-Mart have expanded their grocery and food departments.


Financial News #2:

Apple: iPhone 5S Rumors


Over the past few days, Apple’s stock value  has unprecedentedly vaulted which relates to the leaked contents of the pre-order form of the iPhone 5S. On Monday April, 29th documents displaying that the company intends to release the new product between the June-July timeframe and introduce its next generation of the iPhones, was reportedly leaked. While mere speculation, the information quoted in the purportedly leaked material does coincide with Apple's upcoming conference, which is scheduled to take place in June. If the iPhone 5S were to be announced at the conference, it would be one week prior to the June 20 pre-sale date referred to in the supposed KDDI document. This is a clear attempt by apple to hype up its new product with hope of garnering investor’s interest once again. Timothy D. Cook, company’s chief executive, recently dropped a hint about “exciting new product categories” which may suggest that the company is preparing a move into a new market. 



Citations:

www.marketwatch.com
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mondays-movers-conceptus-sturm-ruger-2013-04-29?link=MW_story_hoverstory
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/p-500-closes-record-led-035128022.html
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=AAPL&ql=0
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/24/technology/as-profit-slips-apple-increases-efforts-to-reward-shareholders.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&ref=applecomputerinc&adxnnlx=1367309167-XB/Gu3lyD46frHjseYLIkw




Andy Cao-Pham & Pasha Zand


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