Apple, Facebook and Yahoo in focus

The much anticipated and leaked launch of the smaller 7 inch version of the iPad is expected from Apple later today at a special event in San Jose, California. Steve Jobs was always reluctant to go down the route of a smaller iPad believing that it harmed the consumer experience. But, the success of the Amazon Kindle and Samsung Galaxy appears to have made Apple revisit this thinking and enter the segment with their own contender. Let’s see what they have in mind!

Quarterly results from Facebook are due after the close today with earnings expected of 6 cents a share. With the shares sitting at $19.5, much needs to be done by Zuckerberg and his management team to recoup the losses since its IPO at the now, very distant $38. Though expectations are beaten down, the company faces significant headwinds with a sub-optimal advertising model for its mobile platform diluting earnings as users migrate from desk tops. 

Yahoo’s shares are likely to move significantly higher today after they were trading up 4.5% to $16.5 on positive earnings news after the close last night.  The results were the first for the new CEO, Marissa Mayer, who recently moved from Google to take the helm.  Third quarter earnings came in at $3.16 billion, or $2.64 a share, compared with a profit of $298.3 million or 23 cents a share in the same period in 2011. Adjusted earnings were 35 cents a share with a net gain of $2.8 billion as a result of the Alibaba stake divestment, this compared with expectations of of 26 cents a share on revenue of $1.08 billion.

Contrarian Investor UK