Cisco (CSCO) plunged last week, as it was impacted by weakness in emerging markets, while Yahoo continued to appreciate.
Cisco Has Emerging-Market Headache
Cisco’s first-quarter results disappointed and its second-quarter guidance disappointed further. The company previously warned that the government’s spying was impacting revenues in China and in the last quarter, the problem became more obvious.
Brazil, which protested loudly to Snowden’s revelations, stating that it may require national data to be stored within the nation, also cut orders on Cisco. Russia also turned more conservative. Back in the U.S., there were increased uncertainties related to the government shutdown that hurt its business. Still, this was one of its stronger markets.
With revenue growth missing expectations and Cisco’s commitment to R&D spending, which is very necessary considering the competitive landscape, it’s not surprising that profits declined.
Despite the challenges to revenue growth that led to a very disappointing revenue guidance, Cisco expects to generate a flattish gross margin and slightly stronger operating margin in the next quarter.
Google’s YouTube Could Grab TV Ad Dollars
Google (GOOG) may have taken an important step toward diverting ad dollars from TV. The company has thus far kept Nielsen (NLSN) and other rating agencies at bay, offering its own rating system to advertisers. Of course, advertisers prefer an independent source that would also enable comparison with competing platforms. As a result, some advertisers hesitated to transfer spending to the YouTube platform.
Google has announced that not only Nielsen, but also comScore would be able to tag its site and collect research data. The inclusion of Nielsen is particularly important because it already has a system in place to track the effectiveness of TV ads. So it is in a good position to provide comparative analysis to both Google and the advertisers. Moreover, many advertisers already have an account with Nielsen, which makes the whole arrangement highly convenient.
Therefore, this could be the next big thing for YouTube monetization. If the analysis shows that it is more effective than TV, there is likely to be a flow of ad dollars to the platform.
Yahoo Steps Up Video Monetization Efforts
Even as Google steps up its efforts to improve monetization of YouTube, Yahoo (YHOO) is taking steps to monetize its own video offerings. The only difference being, YouTube is a well-established video platform, while Yahoo’s video content remains a fledgling effort. Still, the company recently built up its offerings and we expect further partnerships with media companies.
For now, Yahoo appears to have struck a winning deal with Starcom, which is an advertising agency with clients like Allstate (ALL), Kraft (KRFT), Kellogg’s (K) and Hallmark. The agreement is to combine Yahoo and Starcom’s consumer data (both personal and the content they like to view) in order to deliver highly targeted video ads.
|
Company |
Last Week |
Last 6 Months |
|
AAPL |
+0.96% |
+21.17% |
|
FB |
+3.98% |
+86.70% |
|
YHOO |
+6.52% |
+33.75% |
|
GOOG |
+2.43% |
+13.68% |
|
MSFT |
+0.48% |
+8.52% |
|
INTC |
+2.17% |
+2.00% |
Other stories you may have missed–
A Second Source for Apple Chips: Apple (AAPL) has identified Globalfoundries, which formed as a spin-off from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) to make chips for its iPhones and iPads. Samsung will assist according to Albany Times Union, but none of the companies’ representatives confirmed the story.
New iPad Mini from Apple: Apple did not make a big deal out of the refreshed iPad Mini, which started selling last week. The lack of publicity for the first mini with retina display is thought to have been the result of significant supply shortage.
Facebook Joins GSMA: Facebook (FB) has joined the GSM Association of mobile partners to further its ambitions about taking Internet connectivity to the world. Earlier this year, it founded Internet.org for the purpose. Facebook has a high penetration rate in the U.S. and other parts of the connected world, but its future growth will no doubt depend on the proliferation of the Internet, so this is the direction the company is moving.
Facebook could be serious about SnapChat
Yahoo Auctioning Domain Names: Some of Yahoo’s premium domain names have not really been doing that well, so the company is going to make a few million offloading them. The list includes sandwich.com, av.com, and crackers.com.
Google Now is Updated: Google Now has added some features: it now includes a news update card, Waze traffic updates, in-store pickups (telling you when you package is ready) and real time rugby scores.
Google Scores Major Win in Book Dispute: Google’s win against the Authors guild could mean that the company will now be able to continue scanning books to create the world’s largest digital library. The question before the judge was whether Google’s provision of scanned excerpts to prospective buyers could be construed as fair use under copyright law. The judge found Google’s actions justified, particularly since they helped sales for publishers and others.
Upcoming Events: Microsoft will host its annual meeting on Nov 19 and Intel its Investor Day on Nov 21.
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