Digital Daily » 52-week low

Motorola on the Rebound

John Paczkowski — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:00:34 +0000

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With Maps Navigation, Google Puts Dedicated GPS Makers on a Road to Nowhere

John Paczkowski — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:00:29 +0000

Google is moving into your market.

For tech companies, few words are more frightening, and yesterday we saw why. The mere announcement of Google Maps Navigation sent shares of established GPS device makers like Garmin (GRMN) and TomTom into an ugly downward spiral.

Shares of Garmin lost 16 percent of their value and shares of TomTom plummeted more than 20 percent to a new 52-week low. This, despite the fact that Google’s (GOOG) new turn-by-turn mapping service is currently only available for Android 2.0 smart phones like the Droid from Motorola (MOT).

Clearly, investors already see where this is headed. Who will pay for a Garmin or TomTom unit when they’ve got an Internet-connected smart phone that offers turn-by-turn voice guidance for free? It might be a bit slow coming out of the gate given the current paucity of Android-based smart phones, but once more handsets arrive at market, Google Maps Navigation will undoubtedly have a significant impact on sales of dedicated GPS units.

And if Google brings the service to Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone, as the company hopes to, it’s going to be even worse.

“With this product, Google injects itself into a new market and has the potential to cause serious pain for the existing players, like Garmin and TomTom, while giving potential customers one more solid reason to switch to a Google-powered phone,” said Gabriel Consulting Group analyst Dan Olds. “It’s a lot easier to justify the switch to a new device if it takes the place of two devices, like a phone and a navigation device, and if it does the job better.”

Got Any Networks Without So Much Spam in Them?

John Paczkowski — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 19:00:21 +0000

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Microsoft CEO Making Eyes at Yahoo Again?

John Paczkowski — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:00:45 +0000

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Jerry Yang: Throne of Blood

John Paczkowski — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:11:08 +0000

Yahoo is certainly embracing its new market underperform rating, isn’t it? With rumors of December layoffs in the wind, shares in the company are trading in the $11 range today, after dipping below $12 Wednesday to yet another new 52-week low. That’s about half the price that Mithras Capital Partners suggested Yahoo sell itself to Microsoft last week, a little more than a third of Microsoft’s (MSFT) $31-per-share offer, which Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang claimed “massively undervalued” it, and almost a quarter of the $40-a-share valuation Yahoo believed it deserved.

Appalling. At $11.51, Yahoo’s (YHOO) stock price at this very moment, the company is trading at well below replacement value. “Spend $15 billion, and you could not build a new Yahoo today–not one with this global reach and brand,” Henry Blodget notes over at Silicon Alley Insider. “Wringing compelling upside out of the stock at $12 is not rocket science. At this price, it’s not even basic arithmetic. So we say again: Yahoo at $12 is ridiculous.”

Ridiculous, indeed. Perhaps the government will come along and offer Yahoo a nice $31-per-share bailout–you know, just to bolster investor confidence.

Google's New Corporate Philosophy: "You Can Lose Money Without Doing Evil"

John Paczkowski — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 20:59:35 +0000

Looks like Google’s share price is finally getting that “good old-fashioned correction” that’s been predicted for so long. Another day of widespread losses for technology stocks dragged the company’s once high-flying share price below $350 for the first time in two-and-a-half years. Google (GOOG) shares hit a low of $345.37 Tuesday. Seems those “freakishly high growth rates” associated with the company aren’t much good in this ugly economic climate. Google’s shares have now lost more than half their value since peaking near the $750 mark in November of last year. Most other tech bellwethers are in agony today as well. Microsoft (MSFT), IBM (IBM), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Cisco (CSCO) and Apple (AAPL) are all trading close to their 52-week lows.

Econalypse Now

John Paczkowski — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:03:21 +0000

The government’s $700 bailout of Wall Street, signed into law Friday after weeks of contentious debate, clearly isn’t the panacea for which tech investors, and investors in general, had hoped. Technology stocks stumbled at the opening bell Monday and then fell flat on their faces as investors succumbed once again to the market malaise. The Nasdaq fell 5.4 percent to trade at 1843.04, dragged down by the declining valuations of Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL), Yahoo (YHOO), eBay (EBAY) and others. And Google (GOOG), at $366.73, is fast approaching a new 52-week low. Looks like we’re in for another bloodbath.

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GOOG at $398? Clearly, You're Dyslexic

John Paczkowski — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 17:30:45 +0000

The financial turmoil beating the United States economy into submission has finally begun to beat Google (GOOG), the Great and Powerful, down as well. Which must come as something of a shock to CEO Eric Schmidt, who earlier this month claimed the financial meltdown was unlikely to affect Google. “My guess is the drama is in New York, not here,” he said at the company’s Zeitgeist conference. “It’s business as usual at Google. … This is the sixth or seventh cycle I’ve seen in Silicon Valley. I think we’re better positioned than ever. The company has a very large amount of cash in very, very boring and secure investments. That was the right decision then and especially the right decision now. As a company, we’re fine.”

Allow me to be the first to say: Bull Schmidt.

Google’s share price slipped deep into the mud in trading Monday falling below their 52-week low of $406.38 and then below $400 to $398.50. That’s a price not seen since September 2006, and it’s furlongs away from the company’s 52-week high of $747.24. If $398.50-a-share is “business as usual,” then Steve Ballmer is Sergey Brin’s father. Larry Page’s too.

Yeah, the drama is all in New York. … It’s probably just psychological thing, right?

One last point, here: Yahoo shares are also in the mud at $17.51, as are Apple’s which have fallen more than 17 percent to $105.24 as of this writing.

My guess is that the drama is in New York and not here. Pffft.

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