Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg via Getty Images Companies can make brilliant moves, but there are also times when things don't work out quite as planned. From an electric car maker winning an eye-opening safety rating to a streaming company backtracking on a controversial usage cap again, here's a rundown of the week's smartest moves and biggest blunders in the business world. General Motors (GM) -- Winner The country's leading automaker has been bouncing back with strong sales in recent quarters, but it's always been a few steps behind some of its more consumer tech-savvy rivals in assessing smartphone integration with its dashboards. Well, GM is hoping to make up for lost ground by becoming the first car manufacturer to team up with Powermat Technologies to start offering wireless charging mats for smartphones in cars. This is a pretty big deal, especially as drivers rely on their phones more and more for everything from streaming entertainment to telematics. This kind of data slurping also bleeds smartphone batteries. Now drivers will have an easier way to charge their phones on the open road than fumbling for USB or electric chargers. Pandora Media (P) -- Blunder Caps aren't a good look on Pandora. The leading music-streaming service revealed Thursday that it will be eliminating the 40-hour monthly cap that it applies to mobile freeloaders. Getting rid of the cap is probably a smart move. Pandora went through this two years ago, eventually realizing that it was losing listeners as it tried to get them to pay up. The same thing was starting to happen now as growth was slowing considerably. The average number of hours streamed by the typical listener has been declining since the cap kicked in, and the end result is that Pandora's share of the overall radio listening market has suffered. Tesla Motors (TSLA) -- Winner You won't find too many stocks as hot as Tesla this year, and apparently the car is even hotter. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration awarded Tesla's Model S with a spectacular overall vehicle safety score. It's the agency's highest score to date, making Tesla's costly sedan the safest car in the country. (.) Naturally that won't be enough to make the electric car the driving choice of the masses when you start at more than $70,000 before a federal tax credit. It will take a few years before Tesla rolls out the more accessibly priced cars for mainstream consumers. However, there are people out there that value safety at any cost, and that's why this safety rating should drum up more sales for the Tesla Model S sedan. Walmart Stores (WMT) -- Blunder After surprising investors with a decline in same-store sales earlier this month, Walmart knows that it will have to try harder to win back shoppers. This week Walmart revealed that it will be beefing up its layaway plans by expanding it to include more products and eliminating the $5 that customers pay to initiate the layaway program. It's easy to question the merits of layaway. Why prepay for a product over the span of two to three months? Isn't it easier to just stash money away under a pillow? Well, it's never that easy for the consumers that resort to layaway. However, Walmart makes the blunder list this week because even as Walmart is promoting that it's doing away with the $5 initiation fee, it's also tacking on a $10 cancellation fee that wasn't there last holiday season. Netflix (NFLX) -- Winner Showtime currently has the exclusive rights to movies put out by Weinstein's TWC and Dimension Films studios during the pay TV window that begins shortly after a theatrical release is available on DVD or pay-per-view. That will change come 2016, as Netflix has just locked up exclusive streaming rights to the movies that the studios will put out starting that year. These are interesting times in the pay TV industry, as consumers are finally having a say in the content that they actually want to pay for. Netflix may have been an unlikely leader in this revolution. Just a few years ago it was merely mailing out DVDs and Blu-ray discs to movie buffs. However, Netflix has embraced streaming to be the disruptor instead of the disrupted. It's paying off again this week with another content deal.
Best Safest Companies To Watch In Right Now: Goldman Sachs Group Inc.(The)
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides investment banking, securities, and investment management services to corporations, financial institutions, governments, and high-net-worth individuals worldwide. Its Investment Banking segment offers financial advisory, including advisory assignments with respect to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate defense, risk management, restructurings, and spin-offs; and underwriting securities, loans and other financial instruments, and derivative transactions. The company?s Institutional Client Services segment provides client execution activities, such as fixed income, currency, and commodities client execution related to making markets in interest rate products, credit products, mortgages, currencies, and commodities; and equities related to making markets in equity products, as well as commissions and fees from executing and clearing institutional client transactions on stock, options, and fu tures exchanges. This segment also engages in the securities services business providing financing, securities lending, and other prime brokerage services to institutional clients, including hedge funds, mutual funds, pension funds, and foundations. Its Investing and Lending segment invests in debt securities, loans, public and private equity securities, real estate, consolidated investment entities, and power generation facilities. This segment also involves in the origination of loans to provide financing to clients. The company?s Investment Management segment provides investment management services and investment products to institutional and individual clients. This segment also offers wealth advisory services, including portfolio management and financial counseling, and brokerage and other transaction services to high-net-worth individuals and families. In addition, it provides global investment research services. The company was founded in 1869 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
Best Safest Companies To Watch In Right Now: Fluor Corporation(FLR)
Fluor Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance, and project management services worldwide. Its Oil & Gas segment offers design, engineering, procurement, construction, and project management services to upstream oil and gas production, downstream refining, chemicals, and petrochemicals industries. This segment also provides consulting services comprising feasibility studies, process assessment, and project finance structuring and studies. The company?s Industrial & Infrastructure segment offers design, engineering, procurement, and construction services to the transportation, wind power, mining and metals, life sciences, manufacturing, commercial and institutional, telecommunications, microelectronics, and healthcare sectors. Its Government segment provides engineering, construction, logistics support, contingency response, management, and operations services to the United States government focusing on the Departme nt of Energy, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense. The company?s Global Services segment offers operations and maintenance, small capital project engineering and execution, site equipment and tool services, industrial fleet services, plant turnaround services, temporary staffing services, and supply chain solutions. Its Power segment provides engineering, procurement, construction, program management, start-up and commissioning, and operations and maintenance services to the gas fueled, solid fueled, plant betterment, renewables, nuclear, and power services markets. The company also offers unionized management and construction services in the United States and Canada. Fluor Corporation was founded in 1912 and is headquartered in Irving, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By The Energy Report]
JH: One of the areas where the U.S. for decades has been the leading technological power is in small nuclear reactors. We've used them on our aircraft carriers and on our nuclear submarines safely and efficiently. The U.S. has an advantage in understanding small modular nuclear reactors. One of the companies that we have followed for a long time that's working on that is Babcock & Wilcox Co. (BWC). There's also Fluor Corp. (FLR), which is working on small modular nuclear reactors. President Obama and the Department of Energy are funding research on the implementation of small modular nuclear reactors.
Hot Canadian Companies To Own For 2014: Under Armour Inc.(UA)
Under Armour, Inc. develops, markets, and distributes performance apparel, footwear, and accessories for men, women, and youth primarily in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It offers products made from moisture-wicking synthetic fabrics designed to regulate body temperature and enhance performance regardless of weather conditions. The company provides its products in three fit types: compression (tight fitting), fitted (athletic cut), and loose (relaxed) extending across the sporting goods, outdoor, and active lifestyle markets. Its footwear offerings comprise football, baseball, lacrosse, softball, and soccer cleats; slides; performance training footwear; and running footwear. The company also provides baseball batting, football, golf, and running gloves, as well as licenses bags, socks, headwear, custom-molded mouth guards, and eyewear that are designed to be used and worn before, during, and after competition. Under Armour sells its products through retai l stores, as well as directly to consumers through its own retail outlets and specialty stores, Website, and catalogs. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Johanna Bennett]
Investors also�bid up shares of Under Armour (UA) to $80.31, a 1.5% rise. And athletic-gear retailer Finish Line (FINL) jumped 7.3% to $24.02 following their own earnings homerun.
- [By Steve Symington]
If you've ever lamented the day you had to give up your stylish 1990s workout gear, the creative minds at Under Armour (NYSE: UA ) have something awesome for you.
- [By Philip Saglimbeni]
The consumer retail segment is one of my favorite areas to invest in, as it remains a relatively easy business for investors to evaluate and understand. For the most part, all that is necessary for a successful investment in the retail industry is a consistently strong and unique core product line that has the potential for significant expansion. While there are numerous mid-cap companies that I feel offer this kind of aggressive growth, one of which I own in Under Armour Inc. (UA) and another that I'd like to own in Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (KORS), there are surprisingly not many small-cap companies that meet this criteria.
- [By Jon C. Ogg]
Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UA) was raised to Neutral from Underweight at J.P. Morgan.
Here are the iPhone 5 suppliers getting a solid boost in demand.
Best Safest Companies To Watch In Right Now: Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras(PBR)
Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. primarily engages in oil and natural gas exploration and production, refining, trade, and transportation businesses. The company?s Exploration and Production segment involves in the exploration, production, development, and production of oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and natural gas in Brazil. This segment supplies its products to the refineries in Brazil, as well as sells surplus petroleum and byproducts in domestic and foreign markets. Its Supply segment engages in the refining, logistics, transportation, and trade of oil and oil products; export of ethanol; and extraction and processing of schist, as well as holds interests in companies of the petrochemical sector in Brazil. The Gas and Energy segment involves in the transportation and trade of natural gas produced in or imported into Brazil; transportation and trade of LNG; and generation and trade of electric power. In addition, the segment has interests in natural gas transportation and d istribution companies; and thermoelectric power stations in Brazil, as well engages in fertilizer business. The Distribution segment distributes oil products, ethanol, and compressed natural gas in Brazil. The International segment involves in the exploration and production of oil and gas, as well as in supplying, gas and energy, and distribution operations in the Americas, Africa, Europe, and Asia. Further, the company involves in biofuel production business. Petroleo Brasileiro was founded in 1953 and is based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Tyler Crowe and Aimee Duffy]
Brazil's oil production numbers are up, but the 3.8% jump in April over the previous month doesn't sound as pretty when compared to year-over-year production, which is still down 4.9%. With Petrobras (NYSE: PBR ) bringing several of its aging offshore rigs back on line after maintenance, the renaissance of Brazil's oil business will not be found in its production numbers... not yet.
- [By Selena Maranjian]
The biggest new holdings are Chevron�and Salesforce.com. Other new holdings of interest include Brazilian oil giant Petrobras (NYSE: PBR ) , which has seen its stock fall over the past few years. The company is weighed down by a lot of debt, but there are also promising signs from it, such as rising production numbers as some offshore rigs are brought back into service. Some are hopeful that solid car sales in Brazil will boost Petrobras' business.
No comments:
Post a Comment