Yahoo To Cut 15% Of Workforce By The End Of 2016

Yahoo is working on a new strategic plan according to which it will cut 15% of its workforce and additionally close down five units.

Surprisingly, Yahoo! Inc. reported better than expected results for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2015. During the after hour trading, the stock of the search engine company went down by 1% only. Despite of the fact that it reported better than expected financial results, it provided a poor guidance for the upcoming quarters, which results in the decline of the stock, but the chief executive officer of Yahoo, Marissa Mayer has a revival plan to bring the company back on track.

According to the earnings call, the company reported non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.13. The EPS was completely in line with the estimations of the analysts. However, analysts had predicted the technology giant to report revenue of $1.19 but it managed to beat the consensus of analysts and reported revenue of $1.27 billion for the latest quarter.

The revenue reported by the tech organization reflected a 2% year-over-year growth; additionally the EX-TAC revenue was seen at $1 billion, which indicated a 15% year-over-year decline. The company reported a net loss of $4.35 billion for the year 2015. A number of people stated that this net loss was mainly due to the $4.5 billion goodwill impairment charge. This means that the business paid more for the startup businesses that it acquired during the year. Revenue for 2015 stood at $4.96 billion, which reflected 8% year-over-year growth.

Since the past two years, revenue growth has been flat according to the collected Yahoo statistics. The traffic acquisition cost (TAC) is fairly increasing due to the deals that have been struck with Microsoft Corporation and Mozilla.

According to the guidance provided by the company for the year 2016, the full revenue is likely to be somewhere between $4.4 billion and $4.6 billion. This estimation by the organization is low in comparison to the estimations of analysts, as they are expecting revenue to be $4.78 billion for the year.

Yahoo! Inc. stated that in the first quarter of fiscal year 2016, the technology business is likely to report revenue of somewhere between $1.05 billion and $1.09 billion – which does not live up to the expectations of analysts yet again.

CEO Marissa Mayer said during the earnings call that the New Year will be a transition year for the organization in which the earnings and the revenue is likely to decline but will return to a normal to modest growth in 2017 and 2018. Additionally, she also suggested a new strategic plan that will transform it to bring better days.

As per the strategic plan, the company is expected to close down 5 units and probably cut down 15% of its workforce in the end of 2016 – this indicates that ever since 2012, the total workforce cut will be of 42%. With this cut in the workforce, the business will be able to maintain its focus on its profitable segments.

California Burger King Employees Caused $35,000 Worth Of Damages

A prank call makes the employees of Burger King in California to destroy the restaurant causing $35,000 worth of damages

The famous fast food chain, Burger King Worldwide Inc. has many outlets around the world; it is evidently difficult to control every outlet it has. One of its fast food restaurants in California received a prank call that led to damage of $35,000 in Morro Bay. The prank caller told the employees that there was a gas leak in the outlet.

The Hamburger restaurant employee received a call and were told that it was from a local fire department by the prank caller, telling them about a gas leak. This misinformation led to chaos as the employees started panicking and started to smash the window of the outlet as they were told that would help ventilate the area.

The call was received by the fast food restaurant on a Saturday night, the burger flippers did not use their common sense and thought that their lives were in danger and started to break the windows of the outlet. The manager of the outlet even used a vehicle to break the entrance of the building. The employees did not make a call to confirm whether this information was factual or not, because even if there was a fire leak, the fire department could have known beforehand, it seems that common sense is not that common among these Burger King employees.

The employees who caused damages worth $35,000, who believed they were saving their lives at that time have been suspended according to the owner of the food service in California. The employees only found out that call was from a prankster when the police and real fire department arrived at the scene, and did not find any gas leak in the building but only damage to the windows which was done by the workers for ‘ventilation’.

Investigations are being conducted at this point to identify the caller and the entire chaos. The police told the employees that the fire department are not magician or wizards that they would have known of gas leak beforehand and there is no way of knowing this in any case. Burger King’s employees are becoming famous when it comes to foolishness, a report made headlines when one of the employees stole all of the chicken nuggets from one of the store of the company.

The police also informed that in the future if such calls are received with life threatening information, one should always make another call just to make sure if the report is true or false. The outlet in Morro Bay is going to reopen on Tuesday at 6:30 which has been closed since Sunday. 

GoPro Inc. Announced Lower Than Expected Revenue for the Fourth Quarter.

The action camera maker is keeping its hope too high; its about time it lowers its expectations.

For the fourth quarter, GoPro Inc. had announced lower than expected revenue on January 13, 2016. The remaining of the financial results along with the Q1FY16’s guidance will be announced by the company on February 3, 2016

GoPro Inc.’s stock is down by 5% which is close to its low record; additionally in a six month’s-time the shares of the manufacturer action camera is down by 82%. This decline in the stock price was mainly due to the failure and low sales of the company’s latest flagship product of the Hero series in the previous two quarters. The Hero series consisted of the Hero 4 Session that was launched back in July of 2015 and since then it has not performed too well in the market as it proved not to be too popular with the consumers.

In order to attract consumers to purchase the Hero 4 Session, the management of the action camera manufacturer had to lower the price of the device twice as it had put a high price tag. However, even this strategy did not attract enough people to buy the product.

The failure of the Hero 4 Session was  not the only reason as to why the stock price when down; additionally the slow growing economy of China was also a major culprit that the stock of the company went below the $10 mark in the beginning of the previous month. 

Investors were furious at the performance of the Hero 4; they were so disappointed in the company that they filed a lawsuit against it last month in which the shareholders accused the management of the camera maker that they had not informed the investors regarding the low demand of the device beforehand.

Another thing that the investors pointed out in the lawsuit was that the management had reported estimated results for the fourth quarter, according to which the company was to generate $500 to $550 million but it failed to live up to its estimations and made $435 million instead – which made the shareholders quite upset. Analysts and investors at this point are more interested in knowing what the first quarter has in store.

The company expects to get as much as $297 million in revenue by the end of March which according to Jeremy David, an analyst at Citigroup, “too optimistic”. He is predicting it to be somewhere around $230 to $250 million – mainly because he is expecting the sales for the first quarter to be low. He is not the only one expecting the sales to be low; at this point Erin Murphy of Piper Jaffray also believes that the sales of GoPro will be lower than the expectations of The Street. She has predicted an estimate of $272 million and slashing the target price to $7.50 from an initial target price of $9.00

Will Apple Remain The Most Valuable Company?

Analysts anticipate that the Silicon-Valley giant, Alphabet Inc. is all set to overtake Apple's position of most valuable company.

When the market closed on Friday, it gave both the investors and analysts on a hot topic for discussion –will Apple be dethroned by Alphabet Inc.? In the closing hours, the tech titan; Apple Inc. stood at the market capitalization of $540 billion while the internet search giant Google’s parent Alphabet Inc. showed the market cap of $524 billion. Both the companies are neck-to-neck with the latter being just $16 billion less.

More than a year ago, Apple had a bolstering market cap of $643 billion while then Google was way far behind at $361 billion. However, things didn’t go well for the Silicon-Valley’s iPhone maker. The last quarter report was the final blow on the company. When the company declared that it has the slowest growth in iPhone sales since its first release in 2008, all hell broke loose.

Not only did the company lose the investors and analysts trust however it is also on the verge of losing its tag of “the most valuable company.” Whereas Alphabet has impressed the investors with its humungous growth in ad market and Internet search. It is also working on other products like video, mobile, web browsing, email, and mapping. Hence, the company witnessed the stock growing up by 43% since the beginning of 2015.

Moreover, the analysts are not quite happy regarding CEO Tim Cook’s attitude towards the company’s performance. The conflict of ideas is widening between the two. While analysts are concerned about iPhone slow rate of sales, Cook boosts about the company’s strong profit. He also persisted that the high tech gadget maker is performing reasonably well in its other businesses. For example, Apple Watch –the luxurious watch –stood with the likes of Rolex. Its iTunes Store and other app store generate strong revenue for the company. Further, the proposed “iPhone 7” may also bring high revenue for the company.

Analysts argue that iPhone is company’s “core product” and the company’s other core products including iPad and Mac laptops are not having high sales either. Moreover, it is not only the “revenues” which are making the investors and analysts skeptical. The company has also adopted an unfavorable strategy of raising debt to meet its capital return activities. Raising debt to pay dividends doesn’t appreciate the value of the stock.

Amidst all this it looks like that Internet giant may overtake the innovative mobile phone developers soon. Alphabet’s stock is skyrocketing and many analysts are optimistic about its earnings –scheduled on February 1, 2016. Also, in the world of finance, a colossal earnings report can add billions to the value of the company in a single day. The diminishing demand of smartphones and growing market of digital advertising paves the way for Alphabet to stand tall in the Silicon-Valley.

Ebay, Inc. Fell By 20% After The Company Reported Earnings For Q4FY15

The online shopping company has facing immense competition from Amazon and other retailers in the market.

The share price of eBay Inc. fell in the after-market trading on Wednesday since it reported to a flat fourth quarter fiscal year 2015 revenue. The Street had predicted that the company will report revenue of $2.32 billion and so it did – completely aligned with the estimates of the analysts.

Additionally, the online shopping organization was not able to provide an appealing earnings forecast for the upcoming quarter (Q1FY16). According to the estimates of eBay, it will report revenue of somewhere between $2.05 to $2.1 billion. These figures are below the estimates of the analysts who believe it could report revenue of $2.16 billion in the first quarter of the latest fiscal year.

As of January 28, 2016, eBay stock plummets by 20% and was being traded at $23.18 per share. In a time span of six months, the stock has fallen by 5.64%. Despite of the fact that the e-commerce industry is blooming, eBay has not been able to live up to the expectations of the market. Furthermore, the San Jose based organization is predicting earnings per share of 45 cents while the analysts are estimating it be at 48 cents.

Adjusted net income fell by as much as 12% to an amount of $600 million – on a year over year basis it fell by 10% to 0.05, surprising they aligned with the calculations of the analysts. According to the earnings report, there was flat gross merchandise volume – GMV due to the company’s top line which was at $21.9 billion.

However for fiscal year 2016, it is expecting to report revenue generation of $8.5 billion to $8.8 billion along with currency neutral growth of 2% to 5%. Adjusted earnings per share are estimated to be between $1.82 and $1.87 while Wall Street analysts were at least expecting the giant to report EPS of $1.98. Furthermore, they were hopeful that eBay might just post revenue of $8.99 billion for 2016. However, that is yet to find out.

Presently, the biggest competitor in the market is Amazon.com, the retail giant, which has managed to take the bigger piece of the pie. Amazon has provided its customers with Prime Now, faster and free delivery service and many additional options for online shopping. The San Jose, California based retailer is finding it hard to coup with the retail giant’s success.

The entire e-commerce sales grew by as much as 13.6% - making the industry worth $106 billion as of last quarter while the online shopping business managed to have a total value of goods sold on the platform were of $21.9 billion.

Devin Wenig, the chief executive officer of eBay Inc. needs to get his business back on track; mostly it needs to gain back its share of the market from other retail companies. A smartly build marketing strategy to attract merchants and shoppers is highly needed as presently so many alternates/substitutes have come in the market. Customers want a single platform where they can buy and sell product – with a fast delivery system and better experience. 

Tesla CEO Elon Musk led Space X has tested parachutes for astronauts

CEO of Tesla Motors Elon Musk has conducted a test of parachutes to help astronauts in space

Tesla CEO Elon Musk headed organization Space X has taken an astronaut friendly step. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) made an announcement on Thursday that the space company has succeeded in conducting a Crew Dragon parachutes’ test.

NASA launched a video of a parachute test of the Space Exploration Technologies Corporation over Coolige in the US state Arizona. A Dragon capsule’s dummy version was taken by a C-130 aero plane. This is amongst the final tests in the battery of them, required by the Commercial Crew Program of NASA.

The agency contracts thorough the program to private companies likes SpaceX, to transfer astronauts from and to the International Space Station ( ISS). When the Crew Dragon spacecraft of the Corporation succeeds in completing its crew certification, the capsule will be allowed to transfer members of crew from and to ISS.

In 2014, contracts were awarded both to Boeing and SpaceX for carrying astronauts from and to ISS. In November last year, the Corporation succeeds in receiving its first crewed mission order. According to schedule, the first crew carrying flights would take off in 201y.At the moment, NASA makes a payment to the Russian Federal Space Agency for ferrying US astronauts from and to ISS. The Soyuz TMA spacecraft of Russia takes 210 minutes for returning to the Earth, and does land in Kazakhstan.

SpaceX, founded by business tycoon Elon Musk, succeeded in first winning a cargo contract from NASA in 2006. It’s cargo mission first took off in 2012. The original design of capsule that the Corporation is currently employing to transfer cargo was also pioneered for carrying human passengers.

The newer Crew Dragon Capsule’s parachute system is more modernized than parachute arrays from earlier tests, with drogue parachutes and 4 main parachutes. Drogue parachutes cut down the capsule’s speed before the deployment of main parachutes.

Astronauts who do travelling in the Crew Dragon capsule will be travelling in style. By taking comfort in consideration, Crew Dragon was pioneered- high quality seats and cabin controlled by climate will be keeping astronauts glad on their way to ISS. The emergency space system of Capsule has been pioneered for keeping them safe.

The water landings of the capsule recall the Apollo capsule splash downs of NASA. After getting equipped with propulsion engines, the Corporation succeeded in completing a hover test in November and expects that it will finally be equipped with the capability to attain a propulsive landing.

Christian Science Monitor has reported that private contractor Sierra Neva was also awarded a cargo resupply contract by NASA previously this January. The Dream Chaser shuttles of company have been pioneered like mini versions of familiar space shuttles of NASA and are capable of landing on traditional runways.

IBM Ties Up With Shop Direct To Redesign Financial Platform

IBM and Shop Direct offers new financial services-products to customers.

IBM today made an announcement that it has signed a deal with British retailer Shop Direct under the $70 m plan of the retailer for redesigning its platform for financial services, managing, and hosting app through the hybrid cloud model of the company.

The new platform will be providing a number of personalized financial products or services to Shop Direct's customers for playing a role in making the brands of the retailer more affordable for consumers.

The announcement made today expands the current digital transformation tie up between the retailer and the cloud computing organization announced in February, 2015, which saw the IBM Cloud and its consulting services help the Shop Direct respond to shifting demands made by customers in a cloud-enabled and mobile-connected world.

That decade long services contract succeeded in moving the online seller to a hybrid cloud model. Officials of IBM stated that agreement was a significant landmark in the IBM cloud's deployment for both – IBM and Shop Direct.

CEO of ShopDirect, Alex Badlock, announced the new Personalization Partnership with IBM by stating, "This deal will broaden that relationship as we work with IBM to give Shop Direct groundbreaking capabilities to use our unique understanding and relationship with our customers to offer financial services products tailored to them."

The shift to the cloud is already helping Shop Direct to offer consumers with agile experiences across a variety of digital touch points. The organization is now collaborating with the American company to offer consumers with a more personalized facility and much more immersive and engaging customer experience.

Shop Direct Financial Services is amongst the biggest non-bank lending organizations in Britain. The new platform will let it establish its successful plan for cloud technology. The e-commerce organization will transform its credit facilities and collaborate with IBM for offering consumers with a variety of financial facilities options, more options for serving themselves and more personalized experience.

The new venture will be separating the retail systems from Shop Direct's financial systems  and offer a new platform for financial facilities on the IBM hybrid cloud. This platform would allow sellers to bring together data and apps across numerous sources and from private and public clouds  to provide a variety of adjustable credit product offerings that meet consumer requirements, respond rapidly to newly offered deals that enter the market, and introduce credit offerings quickly at better cost.

Previously this week, IBM announced that Indian lifestyle goods retailer 'Chumbak' chose IBM Cloud to provide support to its business processes as the enterprise is positioning itself  to grow at an accelerated pace.