Here are some things going on this morning in your world of tech:
Shares of chip technology licensing firm ARM Holdings (ARMH) are down 82 cents, or 2%, at $40.63, after the company this morning said CEO Warren East, who's been in the job for twelve years, and is a nineteen-year veteran in total, will step down July 1st and be replaced by ARM's president Simon Segars.
As first reported yesterday by The Wall Street Journal, Liberty Media (LMCA) this morning announced it will purchase a 27% stake in cable operator Charter Communications (CHTR) for $2.62 billion, or $95.50 per Charter share.
Liberty chairman John Malone remarked, “We are pleased with Charter�s market position and growth opportunities and believe that the company�s investments in its high-capacity digital network which provides digital HD and on demand television, high-speed data and voice, will benefit its customers and shareholders alike.”
Liberty shares are up 89 cents, or 0.8%, at $111.55, while Charter shares are up 86 cents, or 1%, at $98.90.
Reuters's Noel Randewich this morning reports Intel (INTC) is pushing ahead with the build-out of its unit developing interactive television, which was first revealed at an AllThingsD conference last month, adding 60 people to an existing 300-person team. Intel stock is up a penny at $21.27.
Following rumors of a smart wristwatch from Apple (AAPL), Bloomberg's Jungah Lee this morning writes that Samsung Electronics (005930KS) is in a “race” to make a smart watch of its own, quoting Lee Young Hee, a mobile executive VP, as saying the company has been “preparing the watch product for so long,” adding that the “issue here is who will first commercialize it.”
Samsung shares rose ?30,000, or 2%, to ?1,475,000 in Seoul trading today.
But Toni Sacconaghi with Bernstein Research, reiterating an Outperform rating and a $725 price target on Apple, this morning writes that he's skeptical as to how many people outside of Apple “loyalists” would want such as device. He estimates perhaps as many as 25 million being sold the first year of the product coming out, perhaps at a $250 retail price, but with a lower gross margin of 30% or so, below corporate average.
“Although an Apple watch is unlikely to be significant financially for the company, we do believe that the successful introduction of the device could illustrate that innovation remains high at Apple.”
Apple shares this morning got another vote of confidence from the Street, which Topeka Capital Markets's Brian White this morning writes that Apple will complete “three phases” for stock recovery this calendar year: “creating a safety net around Apple's stock with a larger cash distribution is the first phase necessary to stabilize Apple's stock price, followed by a trough in the profit cycle and the ability to open up new, large market opportunities.”
Apple shares this morning are up $2.83, or 0.6%, at $458.55.
Shares of Dell (DELL) are up 14 cents, or 1%, at $14.32, after Bloomberg's Serena Saitto and David Carey last night reported that Blackstone Group (BX) is considering making a competing bid for the company higher than the $13.65 per share proposed by CEO Michael Dell and private equity firm Silver Lake Management LLC, cutting unnamed sources. The article only mentions a $15 price that a survey of analysts by Bloomberg came up with, on average.
Shaw Wu with Sterne Agee, who has a Neutral rating on the shares, writes this morning, this morning advises investors to take the mney and run: “The sobering reality is the PC business continues to deteriorate with market research firms now forecasting double-digit unit declines in 1Q13. However, we continue to believe an already high debt load will likely limit a buyout team's ability to raise its offer materially from current levels.”
JMP Securities's Ron Josey this morning initiates coverage of Internet names, including Google (GOOG), to whom he assigns a Market Outperform and an $850 price target. Other favored names include Priceline (PCLN), eBay (EBAY), AOL (AOL), and Zillow (Z).
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