Editor’s Note: Related tickers: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY), Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI)
Apple Can’t Top Microsoft in $17 Billion Sale: Corporate Finance (BusinessWeek)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) paid higher interest rates on a record $17 billion bond sale than Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) did a week ago as the iPhone maker’s slowing growth overshadowed annual cash flow that’s more than twice the amount of the issue. While Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) matched an unprecedented low coupon of 0.45 percent for corporate three-year debt yesterday, investors demanded higher yields for the fixed-rate portions of five, 10- and 30-year securities relative to U.S. Treasuries than similar- maturity notes Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) issued on April 25. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), which gets more than half of its sales from the iPhone, plans to use the money to help finance $100 billion in dividends and buybacks after its shares plunged 44 percent in seven months.
Apple Inc sells $17 billion in bonds in record deal (FinancialExpress)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) sold USD 17 billion in bonds in a record deal spurred by the company’s plan to placate its frustrated shareholders. The Cupertino, California-based company yesterday sold the bonds in its first debt issue since the 1990s to raise money to pass along to shareholders through dividend payments and stock buybacks. The payments are part of an effort to reverse a 37 per cent drop in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price during the past seven months amid intensifying concerns about the company’s shrinking profit margins as it faces more competition in a mobile computing market that Apple revolutionised with its iPhone and iPad lines. Apple has USD 145 billion in cash, more than enough for the USD 100 billion cash return program it announced last week. However, most of its money sits in overseas accounts, and the company doesn’t plan to bring it to the US unless the federal corporate tax rate is lowered.
Billionaire Alisher Usmanov bets on Apple’s growth (ET)
Alisher Usmanov, the Russian billionaire who made a more than 10-fold return from his investment in Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), said he recently spent about $100 million buying Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares in anticipation they will rise. “I believe in the future of this company even after Steve Jobs,” Usmanov, 59, said, referring to Apple’s late co-founder. “When the company lost $100 billion of its market value, it was a good time to buy its shares, as the capitalisation should rebound.” Apple’s stock is almost 40% off its peak in September last year, partly reflecting investors’ concern about slowing sales and profitability. “For the next three years, I believe Apple is a very promising investment,” Usmanov said.
In Google We Trust (WSJ)
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is trusted as much as religious institutions by U.K. consumers, but neither are trusted as much as supermarkets, according to a survey. Some 17% of U.K. adults believe Google has their best interests at heart, found the ‘Future of Britain’ report commissioned by media agency OMD UK Ltd, the same as religious institutions and above banks, the legal profession, the media and political parties. “It is because of the level of interaction that people have with Google,” said Chris Worrell, author of the report and Insight Director at OMD. “People use it on a daily basis, they are very engaged with it and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is useful — it gives you what you want in a no-fuss way. Lots of people don’t have that daily interaction with religious institutions,” he said. “The relationship is more distant.”
Yet Another Allegation That Google Is Dodging Tax In The UK (Forbes)
Reuters has again decided to claim that Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) -0.7% is dodging taxes in the UK. The latest cannonade is over what is the definition of a permanent establishment? And again my criticism of the idea is that they don’t seem to realise which set of law is paramount here. …”Executives from Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) and its auditor Ernst & Young will be called again to a British parliament committee to testify on tax, after a Reuters investigation highlighted inconsistencies in the way Google portrays its activities in Britain, the committee’s chairwoman told Reuters. Margaret Hodge, head of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which is tasked with ensuring value in government financial affairs, said she would summon the companies’ representatives to explain previous comments to the committee in light of the report. The investigation found that while Google executive Matt Brittin said Google doesn’t make sales to UK customers from the UK, some of its staff and UK customers think it does.
IAC Jumps as Google Effect on Search Results Called Temporary (BusinessWeek)
IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI), the owner of websites from Match.com to Newsweek/Daily Beast, jumped the most in nine months after saying its search business is overcoming the effects of a policy change by Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) on search results. IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI) climbed 5.2 percent to $49.50 at 9:59 a.m. in New York. It earlier surged 6.7 percent, the biggest intraday increase since July 25. A recalibration of the algorithm Google, the biggest search-engine company, uses to find relevant websites caused IAC properties such as Ask.com and About.com to appear lower in results last quarter, hurting ad sales, Chief Executive Officer Greg Blatt said today on a conference call. IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI)’s adjustments are moving its sites higher in the rankings, he said.
Microsoft Sued By CopyTele Over Alleged Skype Patent Infringements, Wants To Bring Cases Against 100 More Web Conferencing Services (TechCrunch)
CopyTele, a “patent enforcement entity” based in New York, has filed a patent infringement suit against Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in connection with its Skype IP calling and messaging service, now used by 280 million people every month. The two patents in question come from Secure Web Conference Corporation, a subsidiary of publicly-traded CopyTele. They are 6,856,686 B2 (’686 Patent), and 6,856,687 B2 (’687 Patent), respectively covering “method and apparatus for securing e-mail attachments” and “portable telecommunication security device.” “The Patents-in-Suit, generally speaking, relate to secure web-based peer-to-peer communications,” CopyTele writes in its complaint.
Microsoft brings Google war to Kansas (Yahoo)
Kansas City could find itself a symbolic battleground in a national fight between internet titans amid the debate over privacy for web surfers. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) last week launched a new advertising campaign suggesting it’s your partner in the ever-more-vexing task of online privacy protection. And, although the Seattle-area company doesn’t mention Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) in its various ads – it did single the search giant out in an earlier “Scroogled” campaign – it so far is hitting audiences in just two places: Washington, DC, and Kansas City.
BlackBerry CEO Questions Future of Tablets (Bloomberg)
Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins said the popularity of tablet computers may wane, an indication the company may shelve a follow-up to its ill- fated PlayBook device. “In five years I don’t think there’ll be a reason to have a tablet anymore,” Heins said in an interview yesterday at the Milken Institute conference in Los Angeles. “Maybe a big screen in your workspace, but not a tablet as such. Tablets themselves are not a good business model.”
Research In Motion Ltd (BBRY) New Phone, Landing Here Next (InsiderMonkey)
A couple days back, we talked about how popular the Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) Q10 smartphone has become in the UK. In fact, it is being called the “fastest selling ever at Selfridges,” which is saying quite a bit. While this is good news for Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY), it doesn’t mean the once dominant smartphone company is on its way back to the top of the industry. Instead, there is plenty of work to be done. Up next, the Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) Q10 needs to prove that it can sell just as well in other parts of the world. More specifically, the device needs to perform well in North America.
Update: A prominent hedge fund also issued a slideshow comparing Apple Inc. (NADSAQ:AAPL) with one up-and-coming auto manufacturer.
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Disclosure: none
