24/7 Wall St. » CHL

World’s Top Brands Led By Apple, IBM, Google

Administrator — Tue, 22 May 2012 12:04:20 +0000

You may or may not have heard of Millward Brown, but you might not be surprised who they ranked as the world’s top brand: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) took the pole position in 2012. Millward Brown’s 2012 BrandZ Top 100. The study took into consideration the following: Value, Renewal, Relevance, Reputation, Reimagine, Brand Contribution, Personality, Harder BRICs, Disruption, Technology, Digital, Health & Wellness, and Entitlement

Of the top brands, the following came in after Apple:

2. International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM)

3. Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG)

4. McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD)

5. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT)

6. Coca-Cola Corporation (NYSE: KO)

7. Marlboro of Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO)

8. AT&T, Inc. (NYSE: T)

9. Verizon Communications, Inc. (NYSE: VZ)

10. China Mobile Limited (NYSE: CHL)

11. General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE)

The ‘Top Riser” from 2011 to 2012 was Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) with a 74% rise

The full Millward Brown study on these brands gets broken down into segments such as industry, brand growth, geographic, and sectors.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Accounting, Compensation, Consumer Electronics, Consumer Goods, Economy, Editor's Picks, Product Review, Research, Retail, Shareholder Issues Tagged: AAPL, CHL, FB, GE, GOOG, IBM, KO, MCD, MO, MSFT, T, VZ

Nokia to Sell Lumia Phones in China (NOK, MSFT, AAPL, GOOG, CHA, CHL, CHU)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 15:56:29 +0000

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) lost half its market share in China last year, falling from 42% share in the first quarter to about 20% in the fourth quarter. The company wants to turn that around in 2012, and will begin by introducing its Lumia 800c smartphone into China early next month. The phone uses the Windows Phone 7 operating system from Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT).

Smartphones using the Android operating system from Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) have grabbed the market share lead in China with 56% share, and the iPhone from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) claims 9%. Nokia’s older (and cheaper) phones using the Symbian operating system had a 31% share.

Nokia’s first deal for the Lumia 800c has been signed with China Telecom Corp. (NYSE: CHA), but deals are in the works with China Mobile Ltd. (NYSE: CHL) and China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. (NYSE: CHU). The company’s Lumia 900, Lumia 710 and Lumia 610c will be launched in China during the second quarter of this year.

Nokia’s brand is popular in China and the company needs to turn that popularity into sales. But because the Chinese market is more price-conscious than many others, the Lumia 800c, at about $570 without a contract, may be too costly for many potential buyers.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: China, Telecom, Wireless Tagged: AAPL, CHA, CHL, CHU, GOOG, MSFT, NOK

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ACI, CAB, CHL, DKS, DHI, GFIG, GMCR, HLF, JNJ, KBH, KSS, LEN, LPNT, MDT, TOL, WTW)

Administrator — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 13:20:08 +0000

These are some of this Friday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen in Wall Street research calls.

Arch Coal, Inc. (NYSE: ACI) Cut to Market Perform at BMO.

Cabela’s, Inc. (NYSE: CAB) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

China Mobile Limited (NYSE: CHL) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. (NYSE: DKS) Started as Buy at Argus.

D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

GFI Group (NASDAQ: GFIG) Raised to Outperform at Keefe Bruyette & Woods.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE: HLF) Started as Overweight at Barclays.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) Started as Hold at Jefferies.

KB Home (NYSE: KBH) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE: KSS) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.

Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

LifePoint Hospitals, Inc. (NASDAQ: LPNT) Started as Buy at Cantor Fitzgerald.

Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) Cut to Sell at Argus.

Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Weight Watchers International Inc. (NYSE: WTW) Started as Overweight at Barclays.

If you enjoyed the top analyst upgrades and downgrades, you can join our free email newsletter that includes analyst summaries each morning sent right to your inbox. We also cover top issues such as IPOs, special financial exclusives, mergers and more. Sign up in the box below.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: ACI, CAB, CHL, DHI, DKS, GFIG, GMCR, HLF, JNJ, KBH, KSS, LEN, LPNT, MDT, TOL, WTW

What’s Important in the Financial World (2/21/2012) FedEx and TNT, Apple and China Telecom

247wallst — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:34:01 +0000

Greece got its 130 billion euro bailout. Most media outlets and economists made the same observation about the deal. Greece’s economy continues to contract at a rate of about 6%. Unemployment is above 20%. Greece says it can get its debt-to-GDP ratio below 120% by 2020. Very few people believe that, and the International Monetary Fund apparently has issued a report that states as much. There is another Greek bailout coming or, alternatively, it will be pushed out of the eurozone.

Apple Picks China Telecom

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has added China Telecom as a partner in the People’s Republic. The U.S. company needs the help. Apple’s iPhone market share dropped in the world’s most populous nation last year. It is also in the midst of a trademark dispute with local company Proview. Apple does not have a deal with China’s largest wireless carrier — China Mobile (NYSE: CHL). The company has more than 500 million customers, so it is critical to Apple’s success. But China Mobile does not have a system that is compatible with the iPhone specs. Apple has similar problems in the U.S., where its iPhone and iPad do not run on growing 4G networks. Apple may be involved in trademark and IP challenges, but its products do need to run on the most popular carrier technology.

Brent Crude at $121

Brent crude prices moved to about $121 on news of more trouble with Iranian exports. Some economists and the International Energy Agency say that a sharp drop in supply and increase in prices may happen without badly damaging the economy, particularly in Europe. That is unlikely to be the case for two reasons. The first is that the European Union is a huge net importer of oil. The second is that the region’s gross domestic product is already flat or contracting. Individuals and companies are not in a good position to withstand the inflation that would accompany increases in gas and oil prices.

The Fight for TNT

The fight over the ownership of European shipping firm TNT may only be in the early stages. U.S.-based UPS (NYSE: UPS) made a bid of $6.43 billion. Although this is above the market value of the company, its board rejected the offer. The company must think its can make more money for shareholders on its own, or that there will be at least one more offer. The stock market favors the second theory. FedEx (NYSE: FDX) may think it cannot let a prize as valuable as TNT’s network go to its primary rival.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Market Open Tagged: AAPL, CHL, FDX, UPS

Media Digest (2/21/2012) Reuters, WSJ, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:33:31 +0000

Europe reaches a deal to bail out Greece, but not all details are set. (Reuters)

Japan and the U.S. agree on how much Japan will take in cuts to its import of Iranian oil. (Reuters)

Spain’s barter and black market activity rise during the debt crisis. (Reuters)

Twitter and Russian search engine Yandex set a joint venture. (Reuters)

China Telecom will sell the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone while larger China Mobile (NYSE: CHL) lacks the technology to do so. (Reuters)

The International Energy Agency says European markets can handle a drop in oil imports from Iran. (WSJ)

Ford (NYSE: F) says it expects modest gains in the Chinese market. (WSJ)

Large EU-based banks place deposits with central banks around the world to protect their balance sheets. (WSJ)

The improving economy does not help high school drop-outs. (WSJ)

Mexico and the U.S. sign a deal that will increase access to oil and gas drillers that want to operate in parts of the Gulf of Mexico. (WSJ)

Facebook profiles may be useful to predict job performance. (WSJ)

U.S. companies are closer to using global accounting rules, with a push from the SEC. (WSJ)

The price of China’s imports rises, raising the problem of U.S. inflation. (WSJ)

More U.S. companies issue no forecasts for 2012 as the economic future becomes more uncertain. (FT)

Apple may sue Chinese company Proview for defamation as part of a trademark battle between the two. (FT)

The European Central Bank says little about its role in the Greek bailout. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Press Digest Tagged: AAPL, CHL, F

China Passes U.S. as Largest Smartphone Market

247wallst — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 11:02:21 +0000

Last quarter, China passed the U.S. as the world’s largest smartphone market. That means the fortunes of companies like Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) will be decided as much in China as in the U.S. Some smartphone firms have not been aggressive in China. That will cost them dearly in market share and profits over the next few years.

Strategy Analytics reports that:

Smartphone shipments grew 58 percent sequentially to reach a record 23.9 million units in China during Q3 2011. In contrast, smartphone shipments fell 7 percent sequentially to reach 23.3 million units in the United States. China has overtaken the United States for the first time to become the world’s largest smartphone market by volume.

The smartphone manufacturers that have seen success in China are different than those that have done well in the U.S. Strategy Analytics claims the most dominant smartphone companies in the U.S. are HTC and Apple. In China, they are Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and Samsung. Nokia is supposed to be the handset manufacturer in the most trouble in the industry. Apple is supposed to be the most successful. That is not true, if the People’s Republic is factored in.

Apple has been slow to make alliances in China. It has a deal with China Unicom (NYSE: CHU) but not one with the much larger China Mobile (NYSE: CHL). Absent an alliance with the number one carrier in the world’s most populous nation, Apple has a problem.

Nokia has ridden its success with low-priced phones in China to a strong position in the smartphone industry there. Nokia’s market share in smartphones has dropped throughout the rest of the world, though. Most analysts believe that its alliance with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) to put Windows Mobile onto its new smartphones will be the key to its eventual growth. That is not entire true. Not as long, at least, as it is a leader in the People’s Republic.

China has become a critical — if not the critical — market for the success of smartphone companies. Nokia’s lead in the People’s Republic is a sign that the company is not dead, as well as that Apple is not as dominant in the business as most believe.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: China, Telecom Tagged: AAPL, CHL, CHU, MSFT, NOK

The Future of Wi-Fi Is Dim, at Best

Douglas A. McIntyre — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 11:29:29 +0000

The Wireless Broadband Alliance predicts that “global public Wi-Fi hotspot numbers are set to grow from 1.3 million in 2011, to 5.8 million by 2015, a 350% increase.” The organization has no way to know that, but the conclusions of its report are interesting anyway. The forecast shows that without growth in China and Japan, the use of Wi-Fi will not rise nearly as rapid as expected by the association. The report also does not talk about the effect of 3G and 4G networks.

“China Mobile alone plans to deploy a million hotspots and Japan’s KDDI plans to grow its 10,000 Wi-FI hotspots to 100,000 within six months,” the reports says. What it does not say is that Wi-Fi use may not be the method by which most Chinese and Japanese get online. Japan is already well along deploying superfast 4G networks. China has begun to aggressively install 3G systems. Outside the two large Asian nations, 4G has begun to become standard in South Korea, the U.S., the UK and much of the EU.

The Wireless Broadband Alliance has every reason to promote its view of the future. Its members are in the business of the manufacturing and deploying Wi-Fi technology. The association says 3G and 4G networks will interoperate with Wi-Fi seamlessly. But well-built broadband infrastructure will make Wi-Fi unnecessary in many geographic locations.

The future of Wi-Fi is actually very limited. It quickly has become the technology of the past decade. Smartphone and tablet PC users connect to most networks through companies like AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon Wireless. The Wireless Broadband Alliance and the success of its members are yesterday’s news.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Wireless Tagged: CHL, T

Analyst Sizes Up China iPhone Progress (AAPL, CHL, CHU)

Administrator — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 15:18:03 +0000

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) remains a key focal stock for many investors as it continues to take market share and as it continues growing international. This morning came a research note with a maintained “Buy” rating and $500 target from Stern Agee’s Shaw Wu, but what is interesting about this call is that the focal point is over the growth of the iPhone in China and the coming incremental earnings it may bring.

The report notes that the success of wi-fi could actually eliminate the need for a 3G TD-SCDMA model. The note discusses frequent inquiries about the progress with China Mobile Ltd. (NYSE: CHL) and the iPhone. Wu noted that China Mobile is becoming important even with no official deal between it and Apple as China Mobile recently disclosed that it has some 10 million iPhones on its network and that is without support for its proprietary 3G TD-SCDMA network.

Customers are buying unlocked and unsubsidized iPhones from Apple and in the black and gray markets for prices of roughly $675 to $945 and they are using Wi-Fi and the older 2G network for coverage. China Mobile is also said to be enticing iPhone customers by offering free gift card promotions for its Wi-Fi service.

The firm believes that Apple and the Chinese carrier remain firmly engaged and its sources indicate that iPhone prototypes using the TD-SCDMA chip sets have been under beta test for some time.

One hurdle is believed to be App Store economics, because Apple does not share revenue with carriers while the market for mobile apps in China is becoming a big deal. Effectively, China Mobile wants a larger piece of the action. Wu has noted, “we view the signing of China Mobile as a carrier partner as a big deal. We believe it greatly expands Apple’s China opportunity where China Mobile has more than 628 million subscribers vs. 189 million for China Unicom (NYSE: CHU). We estimate that China represents 15% of revenue and believe China Mobile could potentially double Apple’s market there.” That could be another $2.50 to $3.50 in incremental earnings per share.

Apple shares are up 1.5% today at $405.68 and the 52-week trading range is $297.76 to $426.70.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls, China, Telecom, WiMAX, Wireless Tagged: AAPL, CHL, CHU

China Drives Away Investors on Hard Landing Concern

247wallst — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 12:35:52 +0000

If there is any single signal that China may be in for a hard economic landing, it is the performance of the local stock markets on the mainland and in Hong Kong. China announced GDP rose 9.1% in the third quarter. That would be a tremendous feat by the standards of any other large country. The news drove the Hang Seng down 4.2%. It is now off over 20% for the year compared to the S&P 500, which is flat.

The mainland’s major index, the Shanghai Composite, has fallen 17% in the past year. Between the two markets are the listings of giants China Mobile (NYSE: CHL), China Petroleum (NYSE: SNP) and China Life Insurance (NYSE: LFC). It is extraordinary that telecom, energy and financial services industry shares should drop so sharply when none has any direct relationship to the others.

The four concerns about China’s financial health persist. The first is that inflation still lurks even though China’s economy has slowed. The sharp increase in food prices has many economists worried that real wages cannot keep up with the cost of living. And China counts on its middle class to consume a large portion of the output of the nation’s impressive manufacturing sector. Inflation will cause discretionary income to fall.

Property values, particularly in the largest cities, are high by historic measures and compared to similar real estate around the world. Any sharp slowdown in China’s GDP will undercut the ability developers to expand and rent these properties. Individual home owners could be left with large numbers of underwater mortgages. Analysts fear a rapid drop in property values similar to those in Japan three decades ago. Japan’s real estate fiasco helped ruin its GDP expansion, and the recovery from that took several years. By some standards, Japan’s economy has never recovered completely from the blow.

The chance of a trade war with the U.S. has increased sharply in the past several weeks. What was unimaginable has become possible. The U.S. Senate has agreed to a bill that would result in sanctions against China because of its currency problems. The Treasury Department recently delayed its biannual analysis of nations that have used their currencies to put the U.S. at a disadvantage with regard to trade balances. The Obama administration hopes quiet negotiations will resolve the yuan valuation issue. The belief that will work continues to dwindle.

And, the most significant concern about a sharp stall of China’s growth is Europe. Austerity and high unemployment have turned the EU economy back toward recession. If the sovereign debt crisis worsens, the recession could be deep and long. The EU economy is still the largest by GDP, about $2 trillion more than the U.S. A drop in demand for China’s exports could put manufacturing in the People’s Republic into a tailspin.

Stocks markets, some experts say, trade based on investor perceptions of what economies and earnings will be six months to a year into the future. China is in great trouble if there is truth to that.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: China Tagged: CHL, LFC, SNP

Media Digest (9/27/2011) Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 10:16:25 +0000

World stocks rise on the hope that the eurozone will address its financial problems. (Reuters)

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares fall because of rumors that iPad production is low. (Reuters)

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK) to buy back shares. (Reuters)

The SEC may charge S&P because of ratings of mortgage-backed securities. (Reuters)

Nokia Siemens will move into the router business. (Reuters)

Asian firms that launched mobile operating systems will have little success against Apple and Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android. (Reuters)

The inspector general of the FHFA said Freddie Mac could have recouped billions of dollars in claims over default mortgages. (WSJ)

Eastman Kodak (NYSE: EK) shares fall as the company takes $160 million from a credit facility, which raises issues about its cash balance. (WSJ)

U.S. officials will review whether Motorola Mobility (NYSE: MMI) paid bribes to get business in Europe. (WSJ)

The Air Line Pilots Association sues United Continental (NYSE: UAL) over work rules. (WSJ)

Utica Shale in Ohio may be one of the next large shale oil fields. (WSJ)

UAW negotiations with Ford (NYSE: F) accelerate. (WSJ)

Lenovo and Compal to jointly launch a tablet PC. (WSJ)

The ECB cuts its purchase of sovereign bonds issued in the region. (WSJ)

The OECD and the International Labour Office say unemployment is a large risk to recovery in the developed world. (WSJ)

Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) reaches a deal to distribute Fox premium content. (WSJ)

Problems at Nokia (NYSE: NOK) hurt its suppliers. (WSJ)

A third of natural gas found in North Dakota is wasted as production companies cannot use it. (NYT)

Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) may cut a large number of jobs. (NYT)

Martha Stewart rejoins the board of Martha Steward Omnimedia (NYSE: MSO). (NYT)

China suspends some military ties with the U.S. as it objects to American sales of arms to Taiwan. (FT)

Google+ gains subscribers quickly. (Bloomberg)

China Mobile (NYSE: CHL) has more cash than Apple. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Press Digest Tagged: AMZN, BRK, CHL, EK, F, GOOG, GS, MMI, MSO, NOK, UAL