CyrusOne (CONE) Receives Daily News Impact Score of 0.18

News articles about CyrusOne (NASDAQ:CONE) have trended somewhat positive recently, according to Accern Sentiment Analysis. The research group ranks the sentiment of media coverage by monitoring more than 20 million blog and news sources in real time. Accern ranks coverage of publicly-traded companies on a scale of negative one to positive one, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. CyrusOne earned a news impact score of 0.18 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave media coverage about the real estate investment trust an impact score of 46.0004451298303 out of 100, indicating that recent media coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the stock’s share price in the near future.

Here are some of the media headlines that may have effected Accern Sentiment Analysis’s analysis:

Get CyrusOne alerts: Financial Review: Washington Prime Group (WPG) and CyrusOne (CONE) (americanbankingnews.com) Cloud Provider Lume to Provide Retail Colocation from CyrusOne Data Centers (finance.yahoo.com) CyrusOne Inc. (CONE): Most Popular stock: (stockquote.review) Pleasing Stocks: CyrusOne Inc., (NASDAQ: CONE), Oracle Corporation, (NYSE: ORCL) (nysetradingnews.com) Reading Analyst Financial Stock Recommendation:: CyrusOne Inc. (CONE) (nasdaqplace.com)

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CONE shares. BidaskClub downgraded CyrusOne from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “buy” rating on shares of CyrusOne in a report on Thursday, March 1st. Guggenheim set a $65.00 price objective on CyrusOne and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Credit Suisse Group set a $73.00 price objective on CyrusOne and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Moffett Nathanson started coverage on CyrusOne in a report on Monday, April 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $58.00 price objective for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. CyrusOne has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.25.

Shares of CyrusOne opened at $53.65 on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 2.07. CyrusOne has a 1-year low of $43.49 and a 1-year high of $65.73. The stock has a market cap of $5.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.76.

CyrusOne (NASDAQ:CONE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 2nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.10. CyrusOne had a negative return on equity of 0.60% and a negative net margin of 1.33%. The firm had revenue of $196.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $185.86 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 31.7% compared to the same quarter last year. sell-side analysts forecast that CyrusOne will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 28th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. CyrusOne’s payout ratio is currently 58.97%.

In other CyrusOne news, insider Kevin L. Timmons sold 11,465 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.39, for a total transaction of $566,256.35. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 177,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,783,665.77. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.64% of the company’s stock.

About CyrusOne

CyrusOne (NASDAQ: CONE) is a high-growth real estate investment trust (REIT) specializing in highly reliable enterprise-class, carrier-neutral data center properties. The Company provides mission-critical data center facilities that protect and ensure the continued operation of IT infrastructure for approximately 1,000 customers, including 200 Fortune 1000 companies.

Comparing Verint Systems (VRNT) and VASCO Data Security International (VDSI)

Verint Systems (NASDAQ: VRNT) and VASCO Data Security International (NASDAQ:VDSI) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk and dividends.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

Get Verint Systems alerts:

94.7% of Verint Systems shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.1% of VASCO Data Security International shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of Verint Systems shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 22.5% of VASCO Data Security International shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Verint Systems and VASCO Data Security International’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Verint Systems	$1.14 billion	2.48	-$6.62 million	$1.77	24.89
VASCO Data Security International	$193.29 million	4.30	-$22.39 million	$0.43	47.91

Verint Systems has higher revenue and earnings than VASCO Data Security International. Verint Systems is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than VASCO Data Security International, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Verint Systems and VASCO Data Security International, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Verint Systems	0	2	3	0	2.60
VASCO Data Security International	0	1	2	0	2.67

Verint Systems currently has a consensus target price of $48.00, suggesting a potential upside of 8.97%. VASCO Data Security International has a consensus target price of $18.50, suggesting a potential downside of 10.19%. Given Verint Systems’ higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Verint Systems is more favorable than VASCO Data Security International.

Profitability

This table compares Verint Systems and VASCO Data Security International’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Verint Systems	-0.58%	10.57%	4.60%
VASCO Data Security International	-10.76%	6.71%	5.06%

Risk & Volatility

Verint Systems has a beta of 1.03, suggesting that its share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, VASCO Data Security International has a beta of 1.32, suggesting that its share price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Verint Systems beats VASCO Data Security International on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Verint Systems

Verint Systems Inc. provides actionable intelligence solutions and value-added services worldwide. Its Customer Engagement Solutions segment provides automated quality management, automated verification, branch surveillance and investigation, case management, chat engagement, coaching/learning, compliance recording, customer communities, desktop and process analytics, digital feedback, email engagement, employee desktop, enterprise feedback, financial compliance, full-time recording, gamification, identity analytics, internal communities, knowledge management, mobile workforce, performance management, robotic process automation, social analytics, speech and text analytics, virtual assistant, voice self-service, voice self-service fraud detection, Web/mobile self-service, work manager, and workforce management solutions. The company's Cyber Intelligence Solutions segment offers cyber security solutions; intelligence fusion center and Web and social intelligence software that enables collection, fusion, and analysis of data from the Web; network intelligence suite, which generates critical intelligence of data captured from various network and open sources; and situational intelligence software enables security organizations to fuse, analyze, and report information, as well as take action on risks, alarms, and incidents. The company also offers a range of customer services, including implementation and training, consulting and managed, and maintenance support services. It sells its solutions through its direct sales team; and through indirect channels, such as distributors, systems integrators, value-added resellers, and original equipment manufacturer partners. The company was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Melville, New York.

About VASCO Data Security International

VASCO Data Security International, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, and markets digital solutions for identity, security, and business productivity worldwide. The company offers DIGIPASS software authenticators; DIGIPASS for Apps, a software development kit; DIGIPASS for Mobile, a mobile authenticator that operates as a discrete mobile application; IDENTIKEY Risk Manager, an anti-fraud solution; and application shielding with runtime application self-protection that neutralizes the threat of attacks on mobile apps. It also provides eSignLive eSignature solution; and eSignLive eVault Manager, a Web-based platform that provides mortgage lenders, auto financers, equipment lessors, and other financial services organizations the means to store, assign, and service electronic mortgage notes, and secured loans and leases. In addition, the company offers VACMAN solutions; DIGIPASS hardware authenticators to support authentication and digital signatures for applications running on desktop PCs, laptops, tablets, and smart phones; and IDENTIKEY Authentication Server, an authentication server that supports the deployment, use, and administration of DIGIPASS strong user authentication. It sells its products to financial institutions, businesses, and government organizations through direct sales force, distributors, resellers, systems integrators, and original equipment manufacturers. VASCO Data Security International, Inc. was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

Trump Says Kim Summit ��Could�� Still Happen on June 12

President Donald Trump pivoted from his abrupt cancellation of a planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying it may still happen on the originally scheduled June 12 date.

Trump told reporters on his way to board the presidential helicopter that U.S. officials are in talks with North Korea after the country’s “very nice statement.” on Friday.

“We are talking to them now,” Trump said Friday, adding that the summit with Kim may proceed and “it could even be the 12th.”

“We would like to do it,” Trump said, and “they very much would like to do it.”

Tracking Trump: Follow the Administration’s Every Move

North Korea’s First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan said Friday that his country still wanted to pursue peace and said it would give Washington time to reconsider talks. He added that North Korea “inwardly highly appreciated” Trump for agreeing to the summit, and hoped the “Trump formula” would help lead to a deal between the adversaries.

‘Phased’ Solution

“The first meeting would not solve all, but solving even one at a time in a phased way would make the relations get better rather than making them get worse,” Kim said in a statement carried Friday by the state-run Korean Central News Agency. “We would like to make known to the U.S. side once again that we have the intent to sit with the U.S. side to solve problem regardless of ways at any time.”

The statement from Pyongyang appeared designed to get the summit with Kim back on track after Trump canceled their planned Singapore meeting, citing “tremendous anger and open hostility” in recent statements from North Korea.

Asked Friday if North Korea was playing games ahead of the summit, Trump responded, “Everyone plays games.”

China’s Reaction

China’s Vice President Wang Qishan found encouragement in the continuing exchanges between the U.S. and North Korea.

“Both sides still leave some maneuver for a discussion,” Wang said Friday on a panel at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in Russia. “So I’m confident that peace and security on the Korean peninsula can be maintained. And it’s between North Korea and the U.S. right now. And a summit is needed to achieve a breakthrough.”

At the Pentagon, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Friday that “the diplomats are still at work on the summit” but declined to say whether he thought the event would take place on June 12. He did say that the leaders of the two nations have had positive interactions. “I’ll let them talk all they want and then I’ll hope and pray the diplomats pull it off,” he said.

North Korea hardened its rhetoric toward the U.S. on Thursday, lashing out after remarks by Vice President Mike Pence and the White House national security adviser, John Bolton, that had linked the country to Libya. Choe Son Hui, vice-minister of foreign affairs, called Pence “stupid” and a “political dummy,” according to an English-language statement from KCNA.

Trump then issued his own threat in a letter to Kim. “You talk about your nuclear capabilities, but ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used,” Trump wrote.

— With assistance by Justin Sink, Shinhye Kang, Daniel Flatley, and John Micklethwait

(Updates with Chinese vice president’s comment in 10th paragraph.) LISTEN TO ARTICLE 2:45 Share Share on Facebook Post to Twitter Send as an Email Print

Cirrus Logic's Perfect Storm

Sometimes while experiencing life, influences align positively magnifying the in-ordinary to extraordinary. The opposite is also true. A few weeks ago, Cirrus Logic (CRUS) reported its full FY18 year and March quarter results. The headline numbers certainly didn't impress. Yet, often headline numbers deceive. Although short-term, the numbers offered no deception, the hidden reasons for the negative results were influenced significantly by inventory management from a major customer possibly because of coming products changes. The shareholder letter also included a statement many might consider a short-term death clause, "Based on our current visibility and the weaker than anticipated outlook for Q1 FY19, we now expect revenue for the full fiscal year to be down approximately 10 percent year over year." It is important to focus on the words, "current visibility."

Comparison of YoY and Financial Results

First, let us review last year's financial performance. In the shareholder letter, the company wrote, "Revenue for the year was below our expectations due to lower than anticipated smartphone unit volumes." Revenue for FY18 was basically unchanged, flat YoY; earnings were down $0.25 YoY from $4.5 in FY17, due mainly to higher R&D costs. Headcount at Cirrus increased by 150 adding approximately $12 million in employee costs or a reduction of $0.20 in earnings. In calculating the reduction, our basis was $150,000 per employee for a full year. We used half of the full year total cost of $25 million. Margins for FY18 continued to creep up reaching 49.7 versus 49.2 the prior year.

One customer contributed 79 percent of sales (Apple (AAPL)) in the March quarter for FY18 virtually unchanged with the March FY17 quarter of 78%. March's revenue for FY18 was down $20 million YoY at $305 million.

Considering the December and March quarters (YoY), Cirrus' revenue dropped by $20 million for March and $40 million for December. This revenue drop seems strange in that Cirrus now ships an additional DAC product in a slightly higher percentage for Apple iPhones. Driven by iPhone product mix, Cirrus has been enjoying a slightly higher iPhone ASP since the middle of the September quarter. Given that Apple has sold virtually the same number of phones YoY since the September quarter, this $60 million drop in revenue seems disconcerting. We note that in our belief, Apple sold 73 million units in the December 2017 quarter not its headline of 77 million.

Finally, the company purchased 1.4 million shares at an average price of $42 dropping the fully diluted share count to 64.5 million while ending the quarter with approximately $450 million in cash. The market softness left inventories higher at the end of the March quarter ($205 million) than at the end of December ($193 million).

The -10% YoY Revenue Guidance

On the surface, the lower revenue in FY18 and lower -10% FY19 guidance also seems troublesome. A possible loss of 10% in FY19 revenue over FY18 calculates to an additional drop of $150 million. A large portion of the $150 million comes in the June quarter being approximately $80 million ($240 million upper end of June 2018 guidance versus $320 million a year ago). Why the difference when analysts and Apple guidance suggest iPhones sales of 40-45 million units similar to June 2017 quarter? A first analysis of the numbers might suggest that Cirrus lost ASP. We found no evidence supporting this. In fact, while answering a question about Apple, Cirrus CEO, Jason Rhode, commented, "We don't see our opportunities there shrinking or going away in any way."

Analyzing Cirrus' June quarter last year provides insight into a large piece of the difference. The June revenue equaled $320 million of which $245 million was from Apple. Apple sold 9 million iPads equaling $17 million Cirrus revenue and 4 million Macs totally approximately $8 million. Apple sold 40 million iPhones at an approximate ASP of $4.9 or $195 million in revenue. The total products sold represents $215 million or $25 million less than Cirrus reported. It was and is our belief that Apple added some inventory during the June quarter 2017. We didn't see the same increase in inventory with Apple in this year's June guidance. In fact, we calculated the opposite. Our observations in the past suggest that when Apple makes major inventory changes with Cirrus during the June quarter, expect to see new versions of Cirrus parts coming in September. Rhode added depth to this thought, "But I mean, we've got a meaningful number of tape-outs this quarter that are all kind of [revet] zero all-in expensive, fine-line geometry processes, some of which are targeted at the next part in the product line to maintain share, and as usual, try to grow a little bit of content in the process."

To check our belief, we calculated by quarter approximate Cirrus part inventories for the last 5 quarters with the June quarter of last year being the beginning quarter. Changes in the value of Apple inventory shown in millions of dollars are listed in the following table. To calculate the results, we used ASPs for iPads and Mac Computers of $2 combined with a rounded number of unit sales from Apple reports. For the June 2018 quarter estimate, the calculation assumed 42 million iPhones sold, plus 4 million Macs, 9 million iPads, revenue of $240 million and 78% of its revenue from Apple, numbers similar to last June. With this approximate model, the beginning surplus of $25 million is the same as the ending surplus. If Apple truly sells 40-45 million iPhones in the June quarter, we expect the Cirrus' revenue to be between $240-250 million. In essence, Apple's inventory management created a huge difference of $80 million between this year's June guidance and last year's June guidance, pretty amazing.

Quarter	June 17	Sept. 17	Dec. 17	March 18	June 18 (Estimate)	Sum
Part Value Differences in Millions	25	84	16	-49	-49	25

We suspect also that the Galaxy S9 unit sales in which Cirrus provides parts might be extremely weak. In Korea, the new Galaxy volumes are at record lows. This might explain Cirrus conference comment, "Let's be mindful of slowing growth in some of the markets that we serve."

The rest of the 10% drop guided by Cirrus for the rest of the year seems to us any way to be from slightly lower iPhone ASPs with Apple no longer including the dongle with new iPhones. In recent articles, we have estimated this loss of revenue at $75 million. The total possible loss of revenue from Apple inventory management and lost dongle is $150 million or 10%. The perfect storm created from Apple inventory management, possible new part updates, weak Galaxy S9 phones, and a future temporary lower iPhone ASP seems to be creating the illusion of major structural issues for Cirrus' key businesses. We believe it is nothing more than a perfect storm of negative issues. The following comment again from the call supports our view. Rhode answered, "We don't see a turning point around optimizing around a small handful of not great quarters because there's nothing really meaningfully changed about the outlook we have for the longer term." We hope our findings help explain the validity of the company's stance.

FY19 Expected Earnings and Cash

Calculating earnings includes several factors, revenue, gross margin, operating costs, tax rates and share count. The first parameter revenue is the most difficult. Near of the end of the last conference call Jason added "And if things turn out to be more exciting, then that way, we can be positively priced." and "I think out takeaway from last year is just be conservative on modeling that sort of thing as it relates to external communication. And then if it's better than that, then we'll be positively surprised." The company views the 10% drop as worse case. In our view, a positive $25-50 million from Apple replenishing inventory with possible new parts begins our base case revenue calculation. We also believe that Cirrus has some new business coming later in the year. If iPhone sales remain flat, we believe that the base case revenue is minus $100 million or $1.4 billion for FY19.

Because gross margins have been increasing slowly, we are modeling this fiscal year at 50%. The companies guided operating costs for the following four quarters at the mid-point of the June quarter GAAP guidance of $133-139 million with $26 million in non-GAAP write offs. The operating costs for the year would be $110 million times 4 or $440 million. The company guided this year's tax rate at 17%. The base case earnings become $1.4 billion times 0.5 - $0.44 billion times .83 or $215 million. The almost $500 million in cash could generate an additional $10 million in interest bringing the total base case to $225 million.

Cirrus purchased 1.4 million shares last quarter with $200 million (5 million shares at $40) still available. We believe that the average share count for the coming year will be 2.5 million lower than the most recent count or 62 million. It could be lower. Our base earnings are $225 million divided by 62 or $3.6.

Ranging Next Year's Earnings

Several positive factors seem to make $3.6 too low. First, in the past several quarters, Cirrus operated near the middle yet lower portion of its guidance. With costs in its crosshairs, we believe that operating costs will actually average near the low end of the June guidance or at $107 million a quarter. With $12 million lower costs, earnings could be $0.15 higher.

The biggest factor is iPhone unit sales. This past year's super cycle turned into a super super super duper duper DUD. We discussed this issue in other seeking alpha articles. In our view, Apple is better managing its coming iPhone product cycle with the alleged three new phones coming in September. Apple could sell an increased number of phones with a product cycle more in tune with its ecosystem. Each 10 million phones sold adds about $0.35 in earnings. With a base case at $3.6, FY19 earnings will likely range from $3.75 to $4.25. Unless Apple throws another DUD cycle, we expect earnings at the upper end of the range.

Technical Charts

The two following self-created charts on Cirrus point out the significance of the $40 price resistance point and the 50 simple moving average. The first chart uses 30-minute bars; the second consists of day bars.

Reviewing the Company Direction

The company included some interesting statements regarding future products and direction.

"We expanded our product portfolio to span a more diverse range of solutions for flagship and mid-tier devices and continued to increase our penetration of the Android market with new and existing customers. The company also introduced innovative new technologies that we believe will drive meaningful growth opportunities in both existing and new adjacent markets, including our 28-nanometer voice biometrics component and 55-nanometer audio and haptic boosted amplifiers." With respect to haptics, "We are pleased to have secured our lead design win with first-generation haptic products which is expected to begin shipping later this year and we are engaging with customers on our second-generation component." By the way, the second-generation product includes an always on (AWO) feature.

Cirrus also added that the largest OEMs are designing both wired and wireless active noise cancelation headsets. This by itself could be a huge revenue generator.

The shareholder also contained this bit of information, "As we look further out, we recognize that our business model requires a substantial investment in future R&D efforts, and we are actively engaged in adjacent domains that we believe will provide new opportunities beyond audio and voice as we leverage our mixed-signal and low power signal processing expertise." Haptics development is one of the new businesses. We also saw an interesting job opening a few months ago for a position to work in a new instrumentation/sensor group with the first products being new advanced microphones.

We found this statement made during the conference call extremely interesting, "And while it's always nice to have a really great strategy, it's also really nice to have your primary competition, particularly in China and the rest of the Android space, it's always nice to have your competition have a bunch of, I would say, challenges pop up at the same time."

What Are We Doing?

Several indicators including short interest, resistance points, mutual fund purchases and company buying taken together give a mixed signal (pun intended). The short interest is still high almost 10 million shares up from its low several quarters ago of 3 million. The chart confirms a very significant resistance point at 40. Our included charts also confirm a reasonable bottoming of the stock near $35.

But, for us, two important factors turned positive, the mutual fund company, FMR, began purchasing last quarter adding 1.25 million shares. FMR has long been an extremely successful trader of Cirrus. Several years ago, with Cirrus trading near $10, FMR purchased selling out in the high $30's to low $40's. FMR, again some years ago, purchased Royce's near 7 million shares under $20 and recently sold most of its shares above $60. The mutual fund is once again buying. Last quarter, the company purchased 1.4 million shares commenting that it planned to continue doing so. We are buying slowly at prices under $40. We also are trading out recent purchases near $40 if we began to suspect continued resistance under $40. We are following the company and FMR. Sometimes perfect storms happen. When understood, they create buying opportunities. Still enduring them isn't fun.

Disclosure: I am/we are long CRUS.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Additional disclosure: We are long Cirrus and adding shares from time to time. We are also selling the recent share additions as we continue to sense resistance.

Best Small Cap Stocks To Invest In 2018

tags:TSLA,QDEL,IART,

Small cap proppant and fracking stock CARBO Ceramics Inc (NYSE: CRR) reported Q4 2017 earnings before the market opened on Thursday as the Company struggles to transform/diversify itself and emerge from the oil and gas industry downturn.

Q4 revenue increased�108% year-over-year and 20% sequentially to $60.3 million with the�increase primarily attributable to increases in oilfield ceramic technology products, industrial ceramics, oilfield sand and environmental product revenues. The net loss was $17.4 million versus $15.2 million.

Full year 2017 revenue grew 83% to $188.8 million as revenue generated from the Oil and Gas sector grew 84% and revenue generated from the Industrial sector grew 76%. The net loss was $253.1 million versus a net loss of $80.2 million. Cash and cash equivalents stood at $68.169 million on December 31st versus $91.680 million a year earlier.

Best Small Cap Stocks To Invest In 2018: Tesla Motors, Inc.(TSLA)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By ]

  But what should investors do with the stocks of Facebook, Amazon and Tesla (TSLA) , three market darlings that fell out of favor this month? Cramer weighed in with his opinions.

• [By Wayne Duggan]

  Venture capitalist Tim Draper, who was an early investor in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA), Skype and Hotmail, over the weekend said bitcoin will be bigger than all three of these companies combined and could even end up being bigger than the internet. Draper also reiterated his 2022 price target of $250,000 for bitcoin.

• [By ]

  TheStreet's founder Jim Cramer is giving it straight to his 1.1 million Twitter followers Wednesday on the sinking ship known as Tesla (TSLA) . "If Tesla's Model 3 assembly line goes down for a few more days then I think it would be fair if (CEO Elon) Musk said he now does have to raise money because of changed circumstances. He can get around the new new equity call easily with that," Cramer tweeted. All eyes are on Musk as he works to increase Model 3 production at the same time he is losing top engineering talent and trying to pull off a reorganization. Stories I have read this week peg Tesla's Model 3 production at about 500 cars per day, or 3,500 a week, up from roughly 2,000 a week several weeks ago. Still, to Cramer's point, one more shutdown for Tesla's facility in Fremont, Calif., could bring about the capital raise Musk has denied he needs. Buyer beware on the stock.   

Best Small Cap Stocks To Invest In 2018: Quidel Corporation(QDEL)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Birchview Capital LP decreased its stake in Quidel Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL) by 12.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,975 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the period. Quidel makes up 1.2% of Birchview Capital LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Birchview Capital LP’s holdings in Quidel were worth $1,760,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Quidel (NASDAQ:QDEL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by Barclays in a research note issued on Thursday. They currently have a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays’ price target suggests a potential upside of 8.06% from the company’s previous close.

Best Small Cap Stocks To Invest In 2018: Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corporation(IART)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Integra Lifesciences (NASDAQ:IART) had its price objective hoisted by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase from $57.00 to $65.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the life sciences company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase’s price target points to a potential upside of 2.23% from the stock’s current price.

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Check out these big penny stock gainers and losers

  Losers MDC Partners Inc. (NASDAQ: MDCA) fell 23.4 percent to $5.25 in pre-market trading after a first-quarter earnings miss. Hudson Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: HDSN) shares fell 15.1 percent to $3.48 in pre-market trading after the company reported downbeat Q1 earnings. Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) fell 14 percent to $13.15 in pre-market trading after the company posted downbeat Q2 earnings and lowered FY18 organic growth guidance. Myomo, Inc. (NYSE: MYO) fell 13.2 percent to $3.10 in pre-market trading after reporting downbeat quarterly results. Rowan Companies plc (NYSE: RDC) shares fell 10.7 percent to $14.13 in pre-market trading after climbing 8.50 percent on Wednesday. BT Group plc (NYSE: BT) fell 9 percent to $14.80 in pre-market trading after the company reported Q4 results and announced plans to cut 13,000 jobs over the next three years. Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXEL) fell 8.3 percent to $19.90 in pre-market trading after the company disclosed that IMblaze370 Phase 3 pivotal trial of atezolizumab and cobimetinib in patients with heavily pretreated locally advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer did not meet primary endpoint. Infinera Corporation (NASDAQ: INFN) fell 8.2 percent to $10.80 in pre-market trading after reporting Q1 results. Synaptics, Incorporated (NASDAQ: SYNA) shares fell 7.4 percent to $43.00 in pre-market trading. Synaptics reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter, while sales missed estimates. Randgold Resources Limited (NASDAQ: GOLD) shares fell 7.4 percent to $76.23 in pre-market trading after reporting Q1 earnings. Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: IART) shares fell 7 percent to $59.36 in pre-market trading. Integra LifeSciences priced its 5.25 million share public offering of common stock at $58.50 per share. Array BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ: ARRY) shares fell 6.9 percent to $12.75 in pre-m

Transocean And The Floaters Business - Some Thoughts

Image: Semisub Transocean Leader

Investment Thesis

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) is one of the best offshore drillers with a record backlog of about ~$12.4 billion as of 05/2/2018 - not including options that could add over $8 billion - after the acquisition of Songa Offshore.

RIG is my most significant long-term investment in the offshore drilling sector, and I recommend accumulating the stock for the long term and, above all, ignoring what I call the "market noise" that tends to darken or brighten the picture unnecessarily.

The stock has done quite well recently, after tumbling in February to $9+ despite the company again beating analysts' estimates in the fourth quarter. The stock is back to $13.75, after reaching a low at below $7.50 in August 2017.

However, looking at the 1-year chart above, we conclude that it is essential to trade a good part of your holding to take advantage of the volatility attached to the offshore drilling sector. About 30% seems right, at least for me.

Just a thought or two

Even though you may think otherwise, the offshore drilling industry is not doing exceptionally fantastic, though oil prices have been ultra-bullish recently due to a renewed geopolitical instability that favors a bullish oil price environment that I see as temporary. How "temporary" and how "high" is the question.

What is clear is that RIG moves in tandem with oil prices, and the strong momentum will keep pushing the stock higher only if oil continues to go higher. Or so it seems.

RIG data by YCharts

On the other hand, offshore drillers are visibly grappling to survive, while waiting for a potential recovery that appears elusive because oil operators are slow to contract again, and the industry suffers a persistent rig oversupply keeping dayrates at rock-bottom.

Nonetheless, oil prices are beginning to show significant momentum lately and are solidly trading above $70 per barrel, and now flirting with $80 a barrel - a rate not touched since November 2014.

Consequently, rig contracting activity and utilization should be on the rise; asset values should increase, and optimism is starting to get some serious momentum. Yes, "optimism" is one ingredient that the market never lacks at the beginning.

Still, contracting is not stellar, and beside some pockets of strength like the North Sea segment for the harsh-environment jack-ups and HE semisubmersibles and the Middle East, the floaters segment is still hibernating.

However, Jeremy Thigpen, CEO, had some encouraging comments in the most recent conference call about the deepwater market:

With this supply dynamic playing out, combined with current offshore breakeven economics for most projects at levels ranging from the 40s to as low as the low 20s, it's not surprising to see increasing customer interest in the offshore developments. In fact, if oil prices can remain constructive for the next few months, we believe that operator budgets for 2019 could reflect a return to offshore projects sanctioning for 2019 and beyond as the deepwater space has become a more compelling investment proposition for our customers.

Noble Corp. (NYSE:NE), which released its first-quarter 2018 results recently, is another example. Robert W. Eifler, Noble's Vice President and General Manager - Marketing and Contracts, said on the company's latest conference call:

While fixture activity in the deepwater space has developed more slowly this year than we had hoped, global liquids demand has remained strong; breakeven costs offshore are now largely below $50 per barrel; projects sanctions doubled 2017 over 2016; and we believe that we remain on the cusp of notable improvement in the segment.

Unfortunately, the deepwater recovery is still on hold after six months of calling it "knocking at the door." Hopefully, it will materialize in H2 2018, at least that is what Ocean Rig UDW (NASDAQ:ORIG) is suggesting.

One important element that Mr. Pankaj Khanna, ORIG CEO, developed was that a lot of floaters active tenders are actually going on, representing 60 rig years to be awarded soon, with the lion's share in the North Sea.

Source: Last ORIG Presentation

One example of this surge in activity in the North Sea particularly is the recent contract awarded by Azinor Catalyst to the semisub Transocean Leader:

Azinor Catalyst said on Tuesday that the Transocean Leader, a semi-submersible, will be provided to drill a well to appraise the company��s Agar �� Plantain opportunity. The company is currently in the advanced stages of planning and preparation for the well which, subject to the receipt of required regulatory approvals, is scheduled to spud in 3Q 2018.

One caveat that tells me a lot about this rally

It is now clear that the deepwater and ultra-deepwater have not shown any definitive signs of a nascent recovery, despite the fact that we are experiencing a bullish momentum in oil prices, which are now trading at nearly $80 per barrel and look like a magic bullet for the offshore industry somehow. I think I have demonstrated this idea above.

We should be optimistic, though! But realistic.

Signs abound to justify a recovery later this year, or so it seems. The actual number of tenders around the world for floaters is impressive, but are they telling the true story? Not totally, in my opinion, and here is why.

The offshore drilling industry needs a strong backlog that reverses the long trend of destruction that offshore drillers experienced since 2014, as the Transocean quarterly backlog trend chart illustrates below.

(Note: Do not pay attention to the last two quarters, because RIG acquired Songa Offshore and over $3 billion of backlog. Without this acquisition, the backlog would be below $9 billion by now.)

One caveat that should never be set aside in assessing the health of the Industry is explained by Pankaj Khanna, who said in the last ORIG conference call:

However, the length of programs awarded is quite short as reflected by the graph on the left. This reflects the phenomenon of the last couple of years, where most of the development projects have been field expansions, Phase 2s and tie-backs and very little exploration. Therefore, most oil companies have been taking rigs for a well-by-well campaign

About the nature of the floaters recovery

The deepwater and the ultra-deepwater are expected to recover later this year. However, this positive statement may not be sufficient to create the turnaround that the offshore industry desperately needs. At least for two reasons, essentially:

The length of the future program awarded is too short to fuel real optimism and reverse the backlog erosion experienced since 2014.

Oil operators are not investing enough exploration CapEx right now. Hopefully, this trend will change and could be considered the second phase of the recovery in H2 2019. However, we should expect a slow "U" recovery, not a "V" recovery.

One explanation for this slow "reaction" from the oil operators is probably due to US shale. A large sustaining CapEx is necessitated to maintain and grow production in the shale due to the rapid depletion experience by a shale well, as illustrated by W&T Inc. (NYSE:WTI) in its last presentation and quarterly results that I covered recently.

The rig oversupply is concerning worldwide, besides the North Sea segment. The result is that the dayrate will not climb for a long period of many months or years after the recovery begins. This is true for floaters and jack-ups as well. Bassoe explained that the new economics weigh heavily on the overall attrition strategy, as I have explained in this article that I recommend you to read. However, while it is more oriented to the jack-ups segment, it gives some important insights on the general situation. Conclusion

Investors will have to be patient. The recovery is on its way, but will be at an "escargot" pace, in my opinion, and the benefits expected to the balance sheet will not be extraordinary despite the sheer exuberance of the actual market. Let's keep in mind, the offshore drilling industry is a service and will not profit directly from oil prices as oil producers do.

However, investing in an offshore drilling company such as RIG is an excellent long-term strategy, especially if you take some profit on the way when the market is overoptimistic and accumulate again when the market is overly pessimistic. A simple look at the 3-year chart is self-explanatory.

Author's note: Do not forget to "Follow" me on the oil sector. Thank you for your support, I appreciate it. If you find value in this article and would like to encourage such continued efforts, please click the "Like" button below as a vote of support. Thanks!

Disclosure: I am/we are long RIG.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

New Starbucks Policy: No Purchase Necessary to Hang in Our Stores

Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) says that customers no longer need to be customers to hang out in its stores.

Source: Shutterstock

The change in policy was outlined by the company in a letter that was sent to employees on Friday. The letter says that employees are to treat all guests in its stores, on its patios and in the rest of its establishment as if they are customers.

This is a change over the previous policy that Starbucks had when it came to guests just sitting around in its stores. Previously, it was up to store managers to decide how to deal with these guests. However, the company does still request that guests act in an appropriate manner. It also says that store managers can still call police on disruptive or dangerous customers, reports CNNMoney.

The official change to Starbucks’ policy concerning customers comes after other recent talk about its bathrooms. The company used to only let paying customers use bathrooms. That change was announced by the company just a couple of weeks ago.

All of these policy changes at Starbucks are coming about following the controversial arrest of two black men at one of the chain’s Philadelphia locations. The company apologized for these arrests and said that its store manager was in the wrong. The change to its bathroom and customer policies come after hashtags calling for a boycott of the company started to spread on social media.

As of this writing, William White did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

Compare Brokers

Vale (VALE) Shares Bought by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its stake in shares of Vale (NYSE:VALE) by 12.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 781,510 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 86,443 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Vale were worth $9,941,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Vale by 247,063.2% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,651,050 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,192,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650,382 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. bought a new stake in Vale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,941,000. BT Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in Vale by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. BT Investment Management Ltd now owns 1,694,251 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,721,000 after acquiring an additional 105,548 shares during the last quarter. Aperio Group LLC grew its holdings in Vale by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Aperio Group LLC now owns 323,421 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,955,000 after acquiring an additional 32,715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC grew its holdings in Vale by 281.9% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 20,781 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 15,340 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.03% of the company’s stock.

Get Vale alerts:

VALE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Credit Suisse Group set a $17.00 target price on shares of Vale and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $16.00 target price on shares of Vale and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 3rd. Macquarie lowered shares of Vale from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 27th. Jefferies Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $14.00 price objective on shares of Vale in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $15.00 price objective (up from $11.00) on shares of Vale in a research note on Thursday, March 1st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Vale presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.63.

NYSE:VALE opened at $14.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.53. Vale has a 52 week low of $7.65 and a 52 week high of $15.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.42 billion, a PE ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 1.63.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.60 billion. Vale had a net margin of 13.53% and a return on equity of 14.89%. equities research analysts forecast that Vale will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

About Vale

Vale SA, together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells iron ore and iron ore pallets for use as raw materials in steelmaking in Brazil and internationally. It operates through Ferrous Minerals, Coal, and Base Metals segments. The Ferrous Minerals segment produces and extracts iron ore and pellets, manganese, ferroalloys, and others ferrous products and services, as well as engages in the provision of related railroad, port, and terminal logistics services.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VALE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Vale (NYSE:VALE).

Royal Wedding 2018: 9 Things for Prince Harry & Meghan Markle Fans

The Royal wedding 2018 — also known as 2.0 — is happening this weekend.

Here are nine things that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle fans should know about:

The Royal wedding is taking place on May 19, 2018 at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in England, which is about an hour’s drive from London. The service will start at noon, which is approximately 7 a.m. EST, at St. George’s Chapel. Guests will start to arrive between 9:30 and 11 a.m. in the UK the day of the wedding. Kensington Palace unveiled that the royal family will show up by 11:20 a.m. local time, followed soon after by Prince Harry and Prince William. After this, Meghan and her mom will head to the castle by car. At 1 p.m., the two will be officially married and then they will take a carriage ride through Windsor Town, which will take around 25 minutes. You can watch the royal wedding on TV through CBS, NBC, ABC, PBS and BBC. HBO will also be airing the wedding with commentary from Molly Shannon and Will Ferrell at 7:30 a.m. EST. Following the wedding ceremony, there will be a formal reception at St. George’s Hall after the service for Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and the guests from their congregation. The royal couple will then have a private evening reception for their close friends and family at Frogmore House. Compare Brokers