Nike A Good Buy Or Goodbye – CWEB.com

Nike (NKE) reported strong third quarter numbers after the bell on Thursday.

However, growth prospects are relatively limited, with material margin enhancement unlikely due to the already expensive pricing of the company’s core products.

The stock is overvalued at this levels and with the current trade war with China    Nike (NKE)    will take a big hit.

So Nike has demonstrated some excellent growth over the past several years, though that growth has become choppy recently.

Investors would be wise to avoid the name until the price comes down because the market is assuming a high perpetual growth rate.

• Revenue up 3% on a currency-neutral basis.
• Gross margins declined 70 basis points.
• SG&A increased 11% led by a 15% surge in demand creation expenses.
• Income before taxes plunged 12% to only $1.2 billion.

Nike actually needs China to hide slumping North America results.    However, in North America, sales fell from last year.

Mark Parker, CEO and Chairman:

As we close Q3, we now see a significant reversal of trend in North America, as momentum accelerates through the scaling of new innovation platforms and differentiated NIKE Consumer Experiences expand across the marketplace.

Nike (NKE)  continues to struggle as a result of fierce competition in North America, particularly from Adidas.

Adidas (OTCQX:  ADDYY) continues to outperform Nike (NYSE:  NKE) in the key North American market.

A trade war with China will be a negative result for  Nike (NKE)  since the company has huge growth in the international markets so far.

CWEB Analyst’s have issued a Hold Rating for    Nike (NKE)    

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Walmart Said To Be In Talks With Humana To Provide Health Care – CWEB.com

Walmart  (NYSE:WMT)  in early talks to buy health insurer Humana  (NYSE:HUM)  as retailers are increasingly moving into the health care space.

Those on Medicare with Humana insurance Walmart wants to partner with even considering purchase.

Walmart  may be looking to dive deeper into the rapidly evolving health care market by acquiring the insurer Humana  (NYSE:HUM)  , according to reports.

Health-care spending accounted for about 18 percent of the U.S. economy last year, and continues to surge with an aging population, pricey medications, and a complex regime of reimbursements and middlemen.

Walmart  (NYSE:WMT)  and Humana    (NYSE:HUM)  already work together on prescription drug plans for individuals in the U.S. Medicare program. The plans offer some prescriptions for as little as $1, as long as customers pick up their drugs at a Walmart or Sam’s Club.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) is jumping in the late session, up 13.5%, on a  Wall Street Journal  report that Walmart (NYSE:WMT) is seeking closer ties that could include an acquisition.

CWEB Analyst’s have Reiterates a Buy Rating for  Walmart (NYSE:WMT) and a price target of $150 within 12 months.

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General Mills Is Raising $1 Billion For Blue Buffalo Purchase – CWEB.com

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) announces a secondary offering of about $1Billion worth of stock, with underwriter greenshoe of up to $100M.

Proceeds will be used to help fund the Blue Buffalo Pet Products acquisition.

General Mills intends to use the net proceeds from the Equity Offering, together with the net proceeds from a contemplated senior unsecured notes offering (the “Notes Offering”), the incurrence of debt under General Mills’ U.S.commercial paper program and cash on hand to finance its previously announced acquisition (the “Acquisition”) of Blue Buffalo Pet Products, Inc. (“Blue Buffalo”) and to pay related fees and expenses.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and BofA Merrill Lynch are acting as joint book-running managers and representatives of the underwriters for the Equity Offering. Barclays Capital Inc., Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC are also acting as joint book-running managers for the Equity Offering.

General Mills is a leading global food company that serves the world by making food people love. Its brands include Cheerios, Annie’s, Yoplait, Nature Valley, Fiber One, Häagen-Dazs, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Old El Paso, Wanchai Ferry, Yoki and more. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, General Mills generated fiscal 2017 consolidated net sales of $15.6 billion, as well as another $1.0 billion from its proportionate share of joint-venture net sales.

CWEB Analyst’s have Reiterated a Buy Rating for  General Mills (NYSE:GIS)    and a Price Target of $79 within 12 months.

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Is Micron Undervalued Or Fair Play – CWEB.com

Micron Technology (MU) has been quite interesting trade.

“The DRAM and NAND flash memory market  growth forecasts for 2018 have been adjusted upward to 37% for DRAM (13% shown in MR18)and  17% for NAND flash (10% shown in MR18)…The big increase in the DRAM market forecast for 2018 is primarily due to a much stronger ASP expected for this year than was originally forecast. IC Insights now forecasts that the DRAM ASP will register a 36% jump in 2018 as compared to 2017, when the DRAM ASP surged by an amazing 81%. Moreover, the NAND flash ASP is forecast to increase 10% this year, after jumping by 45% in 2017. In contrast to strong DRAM and NAND flash ASP increases, 2018-unit volume growth for these product segments is expected to be up only 1% and 6%, respectively.” —  IC Insights.

Micron’s common stock is cheaper than those of its suppliers and partners.

The company is headed towards a 60% net profit margin in FY2018 with a focus on SSDs and graphics memory.

Micron’s leadership position in the automotive sector will be a strong advantage over its competitors when autonomous driving kicks in.

Micron Technology  (MU)  designs and manufacturers semiconductor memory (DRAM) and storage (NAND) technologies which can be found in servers, graphic cards, and cars or devices like smart phones, tablets and laptops and many electronic devices.

Shipments of PCs have recovered this year, and demand across all end-markets for storage products is booming.

Along with Samsung and SK Hynix, Micron  (MU)  is part of the triumvirate that controls the global memory market.

CWEB Analyst’s have issued a Buy Rating for  Micron Technology (MU)  and a Price Target of $80 within 12 months.

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TOP Ship A Deja Vu That Is Bleeding The Investors – CWEB.com

Top Ship (TOPS) had a lot of reporting in 2017. Here are some of the good point’s reported in 2017 and why you should stay away before investing in this sector.

Conversion of Series C preferred shares to common shares is almost complete.

In 2017 Kalani Investments was leaving the Greek shipping stock stage as a consequence of class action lawsuits and SEC subpoenas.

Reserve split  No. 8, so the fifth in 2017, is imminent due to ongoing dilution efforts and to regain compliance with Nasdaq listing requirements.

Limited US shareholder protection as TOP Ships is a Marshall Islands incorporated company. Less regulation as a “foreign private issuer” company on the Nasdaq as well.

Unlike US based companies however, the company is not obligated to file quarterly reports (10-Qs) or to provide current reports (8-Ks.

TOPS CEO  (TOPS)   Evangelos Pistiolis, are exempt from the reporting and  with respect to their purchase and sale of securities which makes it very dubious to invest in security like that.

What most shareholders don’t know is that rights and fiduciary responsibilities of directors under the laws of Marshall Islands are not clearly established like they usually are for the directors in the United States.

And again in 2018 Deja Vu. Top Ship  (TOPS) has done the same exact thing. A reverse split of 10/1 so it can avoid delisting from the NASDAQ if a stock goes below $1. Just recently in 2018 the stock has felt to as low 0.16 cents a share.

After the RS the stock can be diluted & sold back to pennies again on same or next day and history has shown us that time and time again with Tops.

Please be aware of the extreme risks which come with Top Ship Stock  (TOPS) and take a close look at Yahoo Charts to get an idea what this company has done with only 26K Market Cap.

CWEB Analyst’s have issued a Sell Rating forTop Ship Stock  (TOPS)

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DropBox IPO Closes Its 35% Up On First Day Of Trading – CWEB.com

Dropbox (DBX) closes its first day of trading up over 35%.

The stock opened at $29 this morning and rose as much as 50% intraday.

Dropbox’s market valuation was $12.67B at the opening price. The company had a $10B valuation during its last private fundraising round.

The first major tech IPO of the year!

The company has now unveiled its filing, meaning the actual IPO is likely very soon, probably late March.

The filing shows that Dropbox  (DBX)   had $1.1 billion in revenue for last year. This compares to $845 million in revenue the year before and $604 million for 2015.

The company is not yet profitable, having lost nearly $112 million last year. This shows significantly improved margins when compared to losses of $210 million for 2016 and $326 million for 2015.

The filing shows that Dropbox  (DBX)   had $1.1 billion in revenue for last year.

Dropbox, which has a freemium model, says it has 11 million paying users, just a small fraction of the over 500 million registered users who use its cloud services for free.

Its average revenue per paying user is $111.91

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Is Verizon Undervalued At Its Current Price – CWEB.com

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) has been in a solid downtrend since early February, and it is presently influencing another bearish break to out of a multi-week consolidation and now underneath a key up-drifting support level. Treasury yields are moving higher which is putting weight on the solid 4.99% profit yield  (VZ)  is at present advertising.

The 4.99%dividend yield may resemble sufficiently appealing profits that lure new speculators, It’s vital to see that a rising profit yield is essentially a side-effect of a stock that is dropping. We anticipate that  (VZ)  will keep tumbling to levels of support $46.

Verizon Communications Inc.  (VZ)  stock has had a battle so far in 2018. The shorts are wagering enormous bets that rising interest rates will keep on pressuring Verizon.

Short sellers relying upon rising interest loan rates, seem to view the AT&T Inc. (T) -/ Time Warner Inc. (TWX) – antitrust trial as a potential bullish close term impetus for the stock and are concentrating on Verizon.

CWEB Analyst’s have Reiterated a Buy Rating for  Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ)    and a Price Target of $60 within 12 months.

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Is Exxon Mobil A Buying Opportunity For 2018 – CWEB.com

Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) is looking to build a new facility on the Gulf coast. The decision should be announced later this year, with the facility starting up as early as 2021. Per the press release- The project would be one of 13 new facilities as Exxon plans its efforts to facilitate expansion its chemical manufacturing capacity in North America and the Asia Pacific by about 40 percent.

For 2018, the average WTI crude oil price is expected to be $56 leading with its Crude Oil & Natural Gas Liquid segment. Exxon ’s intention to invest $50 billion in the United States through the next five years- propelling the company’s goal of doubling annual earnings by 2025.

Exxon    (XOM)  expects its earnings to grow 135% by 2025 Exxon has a high dividend yield that makes it an attractive investment. If crude goes up to $60 per barrel, it will bode friendly for the shareholders.

The debt to capitalization ratio of Exxon is the lowest. The ration is at 11.15, much lower than 41.89, 31.53 and 21.15 for BP p.l.c. BP, Royal Dutch Shell plc RDS.A and Chevron Corporation CVX, respectively.

Key points to consider for investment in the stock:

Exxon    (XOM)  also has a healthy free cash flow and is the highest in its sector. Exxon generated $14.7 billion of free cash flow, up almost 148% from $5.9 billion in 2016.

Exxon    (XOM)  has a strong return of 7.7% on capital. Shell Corporation has a 5.58%, 4.23% and 2.91% for Shell, Chevron Corp. Chevron Corp (CVX) and BP PLC (BP)

CWEB Analyst’s have initiated a Buy Rating for Walmart  Exxon  (XOM)  and a Price Target of $130 within 12 months.

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Comcast Offers $31 Billion Takeover Bid For European Pay-Tv Giant Sky – CWEB.com

Comcast Corporation (CMCSA) is a global media company with one of the largest video, high-speed Internet, phone services, wireless and security and automation service providers in the United States. It owns Comcast Cable and NBC Universal.

The largest pay-tv company in the UK is set to be purchase SKY for $31 billion, including their streaming TV unit-, the very successful on-demand services, such as Now TV, that competes with Netflix, the satellite TV business broadcast rights to European sports, and a massive content library.

NBC and Sky’s programming, revolve around more traditional pay TV content —news, entertainment, and sports. Regionally focused content is difficult to scale across the globe, so it won’t be anytime soon that Netflix will become a competitor.

The return on equity (ROE) is impressive for Comcast as compared to Charter Communications. The current ROE for Comcast is 16.5%. Charter Communications, Comcast’s largest competitor is at 1.1%. The industry ROE is 13.8%.

Comcast promoted Republican lobbyist and aide Mitch Rose will head Comcast’s 50-person legislative office along with a multi-million-dollar lobbying budget in Washington as it faces a bundle of disagreeable problems with the Trump administration Republican-controlled Congress.

Notably, Comcast spent $15.3 million in lobbying in 2017, it is the 14th-largest influence spender among commercial interests in Washington Comcast will likely win the bid over Fox.

Disney is also interested to buy Sky as part of its prospective $52.4-billion takeover of Fox. The Comcast bid for Sky certainly detonates The Disney-Fox deal.

Century Fox (FOXA)

Sky Plc (OTCQX:SKYAY)

Comcast Corporation  (CMCSA)

Walt Disney Co NYSE: (DIS)

CWEB Analyst’s have Reiterated a Buy Rating for  Comcast Corporation (CMCSA)    and a Price Target of $68 within 12 months.

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