Investopedia: At A Minimum, Amazon Is Consistent

Although Amazon (Nasdaq:AMZN) is not close to being my favorite internet stock, it's hard for me not to admire the company on multiple levels. Not unlike, Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Amazon isn't afraid to walk and chew bubblegum at the same time, and the company seems unafraid of flouting Wall Street's obsession over short-term growth by investing in multiple projects that likely won't produce meaningful margins for many years. While there's still a worry that investors will lose faith in the company's ability to generate strong margins and cash flows at some later date (and revise their opinion on “fair” multiples accordingly), Amazon seems focused on remaining a disruptive force in multiple markets.

Please follow this link for more:
http://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/072613/minimum-amazon-consistent-amzn-goog-nflx-ibm.aspx

Investopedia: Google Building For A Bigger Future

My first boss on Wall Street (and a long-time friend ever since), Archie Smith, used to say “What do you want, egg in your beer?” when faced with situations where people just didn't seem to be appreciating what they were getting. The expression made no sense to me then, nor does it now, but I do understand the frustration that fueled it. Google (Nasdaq:GOOG) is an enormous company ($14 billion in quarterly gross revenue) still growing at a 20% clip, but investors and analysts hen-peck the company for its ongoing investments into future sources of growth and the prospects for declining margins in the future. While the shares don't seem terribly cheap today, this is not a company that I'd underestimate today.

Read more here:
http://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/071913/google-building-bigger-future-goog-msft-aapl-ebay.aspx

Investopedia: eBay Seems Undervalued, But Wall Street Will Need Convincing

It has to be a source of frustration to some investors that Amazon (Nasdaq:AMZN) can basically ignore margins and cash flow and get away with it, while eBay (Nasdaq:EBAY) delivers double-digit returns on invested capital and ample free cash flow and doesn't seem to get the same love. Given that the company is likely looking at years of ongoing investments to grow its payments business, that may not change right away. Even so, eBay looks like an underrated cash flow generator, with ample balance sheet flexibility to make additional strategic moves and/or return cash to shareholders.

Please continue here:
http://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/071813/ebay-seems-undervalued-wall-street-will-need-convincing-ebay-amzn-pay-intu-aapl.aspx

Investopedia: Wall Street Clearly Underestimating VeriFone's Struggles

Going into this quarter, Wall Street wanted to buy into the idea of a VeriFone (NYSE:PAY) turnaround. Not only were the shares up more than 20% from their low, but the earnings estimate revisions had been pretty mild despite strong share gains at rival Ingenico (Nasdaq:INGIY). Last and not least, instead of being worried about further gains from next-gen payment rivals like eBay (Nasdaq:EBAY), Intuit (Nasdaq:INTU), and Square, many sell-side analysts were speculating as to who was going to buy VeriFone to accelerate their market growth.

Fiscal second quarter results are going to throw a bucket of ice water on a lot of that optimism. Not only are the share losses to Ingenico (and other providers) becoming more apparent, but customer dissatisfaction and industry pricing pressures are looming larger. I won't rule out the possibility that the right CEO hire and the development of a stronger value-added service portfolio could lead to an eventual turnaround at VeriFone, but it's very clearly going to take some time for that to happen.

Please follow this link to read more:
http://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/060613/wall-street-clearly-underestimating-verifones-struggles-pay-ingiy-ebay-intu-goog.aspx

Investopedia: Slower Growth And Better Margins Probably Won't Help Amazon

If you ask most of the sell-side analysts and investors who follow Amazon.com (Nasdaq:AMZN) if they want high growth or stronger margins, I suspect that the answer will be “yes, both of those”. As a company with more than $100 billion in enterprise value and pretty eye-popping profit/earnings multiples, there are a lot of demands on Amazon and a lot of expectations about what the company ought to be. Although I do believe that Amazon's growth is likely to continue to slow (with improving margins) and that the cash flow-based valuation is reasonable, it won't surprise me if the stock stays stuck in this range of $255 to $275 for a little while longer.

Please continue here:
http://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/042613/slower-growth-and-better-margins-probably-wont-help-amazon-amzn-goog-ebay-nflx-aapl.aspx

Seeking Alpha: VeriFone Takes A Big Swing

While investors in VeriFone (PAY) may feel that the board of directors has tolerated operational mistakes for too long already, a far more definite move was made on Monday. After the close, the company announced that CEO Doug Bergeron is stepping down immediately from his role as CEO and leaving the board of directors. This move certainly brings closure to an executive tenure that had recently turned sour, but it also increases the uncertainty of the company's near-term trajectory. On a longer term basis there would seem to be value in the shares, but there's an uncomfortable amount of hope in that thesis.

Read more here:
VeriFone Takes A Big Swing

Seeking Alpha: Ingenico Seems To Be Gaining An Edge In Payments

Credit and debit card transactions only continue to grow, but investors have clearly tired of VeriFone's (PAY) uninspiring performance and management missteps. That leaves investors looking to payment processors like Heartland Payment Systems (HPY) or Global Payments (GPN) to play the trend, or European payment and security companies like Gemalto (GTOMY.PK) and VeriFone's co-duopolist Ingenico (INGIY.PK). Unfortunately, not unlike VeriFone a little while ago, it looks like the market already expects a very full growth outlook for Ingenico.

Continue reading here:
Ingenico Seems To Be Gaining An Edge In Payments

Seeking Alpha: Gemalto Offers Growth With Security

When it comes to technology, France doesn't get much love. Apart from a handful of companies like Alcatel-Lucent (ALU), Dassault, and Bull SAS, it's pretty slim pickings for the most part. Gemalto (GTOMY.PK) is a notable exception, though, as this company is a world leader in smart cards and SIM cards and a leading player in the emerging near field communication (NFC)/mobile payment opportunity. Investors already prize Gemalto's growth potential, but these shares are worth a spot on investors' watchlists and may be more interesting to those who believe in a faster adoption curve for mobile payments and smart cards in the U.S. and China.

Please click below for more:
Gemalto Offers Growth With Security

Investopedia: Amazon Seems Due For A Breather

For a company that has generally been very good at what it does, Amazon (Nasdaq:AMZN) gets no small amount of flack for its strategic decisions. Whether it's the decision to compete with Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL) in the tablet and digital media spaces, or its move into markets such as business-to-business MRO retailing and cloud services, there's no shortage of carping about Amazon's margins and its proclivities toward "empire-building."

And yet, Amazon has been a painful company to short. While there have been some notable swoons, the stock is up more than 250% over the past five years - well ahead of eBay (Nasdaq:EBAY) and Google (Nasdaq:GOOG) and on par with Apple's returns given the latter's recent fall from grace. Though I've long been an Amazon bull and believe this company has more innate margin and free cash flow (FCF) potential than the current numbers show, I think valuation is plenty rich for today.

Please follow this link for more:
http://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2013/Amazon-Seems-Due-For-A-Breather-AMZN-AAPL-NFLX-WMT0131.aspx

Investopedia: The Market Seems To Have Shifted From Blind Love To Blind Fear With VeriFone

The stock market is a funny place sometimes; one where you may just find yourself defending a stock you used to criticize pointedly. And yet, that's where I feel I am with VeriFone (NYSE:PAY). I didn't like this stock much back in the "what, me worry?" go-go momentum days and I'm glad I didn't actually short it, as the stock just kept climbing from 2009 to 2011. Now it's a different story. Investors have raised questions about how the company reports organic growth and everybody seems to be getting on board the mobile payments bandwagon. Although VeriFone still carries pretty robust fundamental valuation ratios every value investor looks at, this is a company that looks well-placed for ongoing growth. The question for investors now, though, is whether the company can please a momentum crowd that no longer seems willing to give the company much benefit of the doubt.

Please click here for more:
http://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2012/The-Market-Seems-To-Have-Shifted-From-Blind-Love-To-Blind-Fear-With-VeriFone-PAY-MCRS-SBUX-EBAY0907.aspx

Investopedia: Bull Vs. Bear - The Mobile Payment Revolution Is Coming

Question: Will mobile payments become America's most popular transaction method in the near future?

Bull's Response
While mobile payment systems have been a hot topic for years now, they are finally becoming more real. Although there have been systems available for a while now (including the small dongles that could be used to quickly pay for gasoline at some stations), companies are now trying to find that right mix of hardware and software that will allow them to penetrate the huge North American retail and service space.

To read more, please click the link.
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2012/Bull-Vs.-Bear---The-Mobile-Payment-Revolution-Is-Coming-GOOG-EBAY-SBUX-DCM0821.aspx

Seeking Alpha: Investors Fret As Visa Rolls On

I don't want to trivialize a Department of Justice investigation, nor the possibility that the government will force Visa (V) to modify its post-Durbin strategy, but I'll argue that the odds are good that whatever it takes to get this worked out will look like a rounding error in a couple year's time. Although there's a chance that the move toward mobile payment may shake up the business a bit, the sheer power of Visa's network and the realities of consumption-oriented economies argue for a lot of durable value in this company.

Please read more here:
Investors Fret As Visa Rolls On

Investopedia: Is eBay A Trap?

Years of working as an analyst and investing my own money has made me suspicious of any tech stock that seems to offer both growth and compelling value. More often than not, the growth evaporates and that apparent value becomes a value trap. When looking at eBay (Nasdaq:EBAY) it's worth wondering why the Street isn't bidding this one up higher - is there that much doubt about its ability to keep its hold in e-commerce or build PayPal into an even more substantial player in payment processing? (To know about the technology industry, read A Primer On Investing In The Tech Industry.)

Respectable Fourth Quarter Numbers...  
eBay did more or less what it was expected to in the fourth quarter and a little more. Consolidated revenue rose about 35% as reported and 19% on an organic basis. Revenue growth was led by the payments business, up almost 28%, while the marketplace segment saw revenue growth of 16%. GSI chipped in $364 million in revenue this quarter.

Please click below for more:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2012/Is-eBay-A-Trap-EBAY-AMZN-MA-V0123.aspx

FinancialEdge: Is Yahoo's Real Opportunity What You Think It Is?

Flogging the rumors of a Yahoo! (Nasdaq:YHOO) buyout is a well-rehearsed move among financial journalists, over the last year or so. Certainly this one-time internet darling still captures a lot of attention, as did the stories about Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) or Alibaba possibly acquiring it. In all of the discussions of what might happen to Yahoo!, though, it seems like there is relatively little acknowledgment that the company have still have its own independent future. (For other acquisitions, see Biggest Merger and Acquisition Disasters.)

To read the full article, click the link:
http://financialedge.investopedia.com/financial-edge/1211/Is-Yahoos-Real-Opportunity-What-You-Think-It-Is.aspx#axzz1jwK2j7WH

Investopedia: A Look At Yahoo's Past, Present, and Future

Flogging the rumors of a Yahoo! (Nasdaq:YHOO) buyout is a well-rehearsed move among financial journalists, over the last year or so. Certainly this one-time internet darling still captures a lot of attention, as did the stories about Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) or Alibaba possibly acquiring it. In all of the discussions of what might happen to Yahoo!, though, it seems like there is relatively little acknowledgment that the company have still have its own independent future. (For other acquisitions, see Biggest Merger and Acquisition Disasters.)


Although going head-to-head with Google (Nasdaq:GOOG) is unlikely to start producing great economic returns, and the company has certainly missed out on many high-potential business endeavors, there are still a few things that Yahoo! does well. They just may not be the things that people immediately think about as long-term business opportunities.

What Yahoo! Was
Most readers are pretty well-acquainted with what Yahoo! used to be and what brought it to fame and recognition. Yahoo! was one of the first useful search engines on the web and arguably one of the first viable internet businesses.


To read the full article, please click here:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/A-Look-At-Yahoos-Past-Present-And-Future-YHOO-MSFT-GOOG-AMZN1219.aspx

Investopedia: Amazon Still Rather Amazing

E-commerce giant Amazon (Nasdaq:AMZN) may still be deep in the shadows of Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) in terms of its reported sales, but there are precious few companies this size that are producing growth in excess of 40%. Although the Street was spooked by news that this fourth quarter could be a difficult one for this online retailer, investors would seem to have many more years of well above average growth in store with this name. (For more read Steady Growth Stocks Win The Race.)

Tricky Third Quarter Earnings  
Amazon is having no particular difficulty finding top-line growth, but that growth is coming at a cost. Reported revenue rose 44% this quarter, with organic revenue climbing 37%. Growth in media came in at 24%, with North American media sales growing 21%. Electronics and general merchandise looked strong at 59% growth (up 56% in North America), but this result was below most sell-side expectations.

Click below for the full piece:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/Amazon-Still-Rather-Amazing-AMZN-BBY-BKS-NFLX-AAPL-EBAY-GOOG1027.aspx

Investopedia: Will eBay's Numbers Match Its Business?

EBay (Nasdaq:EBAY) is a strange business in many respects. Along with Amazon (Nasdaq:AMZN), eBay has been out there almost since the beginning of the internet as a public phenomenon, and it has managed to avoid the malaise and irrelevance that has withered AOL (NYSE:AOL), Yahoo (Nasdaq:YHOO), and a host of businesses that have either taken low-ball bids or gone out of business altogether.


And yet, there are some oddities to eBay's numbers. Though eBay basically dominates online auctions and has built an impressive business out of PayPal, the company's returns on invested capital are not all that spectacular and the company's free cash flow margin has been in prolonged decline. The question, then, may not be so much about eBay's future growth prospects as it is about how much of that growth will ultimately benefit shareholders.

Satisfactory Third Quarter Results
All in all, eBay's third quarter report was fine. Reported revenue rose 32%, while organic revenue growth was more on the order of 18%. The company's marketplaces business saw revenue growth of 17%, while PayPal revenue grew 32% on a 14% increase in registered accounts and 31% increase in net payment volume.


Read more here:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/Will-eBays-Numbers-Match-Its-Business-EBAY-AMZN-V-MA-PAY-MSFT-IBM1021.aspx

Investopedia: Hewlett-Packard Still Can't Get It Right

Perhaps activist shareholders at Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) should agitate for a shareholder vote on whether the board of directors ought to be legally compelled to change its name to "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight." For years now this company has been wracked with poor decisions in and out of the boardroom and the company's latest attempt to address what ails it seems like a long shot at best.

Out With the Old  
There had been rumblings that now-former CEO Leo Apotheker was on thin ice at Hewlett-Packard, and those rumors came to a head Thursday night with the announcement that he was leaving the company. While the press release makes it sound as though Apotheker resigned, the phrasing and the broader context of the rumor mill make it pretty clear that this was a "jump, or we push" sort of situation.


To read the full article, please click this link:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/Hewlett-Packard-Still-Cant-Get-It-Right-HPQ-DELL-IBM-EBAY-EMC-LXK-AMZN0925.aspx

Investopedia: VeriFone Not Lacking In Growth Or Confidence

Consumers may be more reluctant to open up their wallets at retailers these days, but retailers and service providers are still quite willing to spend their own money on technology to make it easier for consumers to spend. To that end, payment solutions provider VeriFone (NYSE:PAY) is continuing to see excellent growth and momentum, and management is not lacking in confidence about the company's prospects.


A Strong Third Quarter
VeriFone has a solid reputation for surpassing analyst estimates and this quarter was no exception. Revenue jumped 21% from last year (8% sequentially), and the company beat the midpoint of analyst estimates by about 6%. Business in the U.S. was weak (on difficult comps), as North American sales fell 1% from last year. Growth was quite strong everywhere else, though - reported results from Europe jumped 56%, while Asia and LatAm grew 42% and 23%.

After the quarter ended, VeriFone completed its acquisition of Hypercom. Hypercom's last 10-Q (ended June 30, 2011) showed revenue of over $119 million and growth of 15% (though down about 13% in the Americas), but investors should remember that divestitures mean that the company will not reap 100% of that former business.



Read the full piece at Investopedia:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/VeriFone-Not-Lacking-In-Growth-Or-Confidence-PAY-GOOG-EBAY-HPY-IBM-DHR-V0912.aspx

Investopedia: The Vistaprint Roller Coaster Screams Down Again

For as long as small business marketing specialist Vistaprint (Nasdaq:VPRT) has been on my watchlist, it has been an unusually volatile stock. That's not so unusual for a stock that frequently trades at such rich valuation multiples, but it also seems to reflect a fairly twitchy investor base for this company. While the idea of a pure-play service company targeting small-to-mid-sized businesses is clearly appealing, it seems that nobody really has a good sense of what constitutes a "fair" price for the enterprise. 

A Good End to the Year, But...   
Vistaprint ended its fiscal year with 27% reported revenue growth, and 20% growth on a constant currency basis. That compared pretty favorably to analyst expectations, and 17% order growth was a solid number (as was the 68% of business coming from repeat customers). 


To read more, click below:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/The-Vistaprint-Roller-Coaster-Screams-Down-Again-VPRT-FDX-ODP-AMZN-EBAY-INTU-LNKD0805.aspx