Editor’s Note: Related tickers: Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY), Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ:GMCR), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Rackspace Hosting, Inc. (NYSE:RAX), Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA): Elon Musk Just Gave This Mind-Blowing Hint (InsiderMonkey)
“There is a way for the Tesla Model S to be recharged throughout the country faster than you could fill a gas tank.” – Tesla CEO Elon Musk
Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is absolutely on fire in Thursday’s market. As of 2 p.m. Eastern, the stock was rolling along at north of $73 a share, up more than 30 percent from its open thanks to a dominant quarterly earnings report Wednesday followed by a scintillating review of its Model S by Consumer Reports that put the car in very elite company. But because the engineers at Consumer Reports were just so nit-picky, it gave Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk some fodder for a hint at something that is coming from the company soon – though he does not say when.
Tesla’s Electric Model S Grabs Consumer Reports Top Rating (SFGate)
Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s electric Model S, Motor Trend’s 2013 “Car of the Year,” received the highest rating from Consumer Reports in an evaluation of the luxury sedan that led first-quarter North American plug-in car sales. The Model S from Palo Alto, California-based Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) scored 99 out of 100 points, the non-profit magazine said in an e- mailed statement. The $89,650 car bought by Consumer Reports “performed better, or just as well overall” as any vehicle it’s ever tested, the Yonkers, New York-based magazine said.
Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) Toys With The Idea Of A Camera-Free Q10 (MarketNewsCall)
These days the camera has become such an integral part of smartphones that it becomes rather a matter for surprise if a phone does not have a high-resolution camera as an accessory. However it looks like Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) may be toying with the idea of a camera-free Q10 smartphone. Talking to the media, Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) Singapore’s country director Charles Dufourcq said that a camera-free version of the BlackBerry Q10 was “technically possible”. He said that it would not be difficult to remove the camera module form the phone, but then it would be an entirely new manufacturing line – which means that it would be a variant of the current Q10, which has an adequate camera.
Research In Motion Ltd (BBRY): Is Carl Icahn Really Interested In Taking A Stake In BlackBerry? (InsiderMonkey)
Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) has been making at least a little bit of noise in the mobile device world lately with the launch of the new BlackBerry 10 operating system, then releases of the Z10 touchscreen and Q10 keyboard handsets in recent months. Though the Q10 isn’t due on U.S. shelves for at least a couple more weeks, the company and the stock has been gaining some positive momentum this year, up 29 percent on the year despite recent slides. Today, shares in Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) have edged up more than 3 percent on the day not so much on anything technical but the dreaded r-word – rumor. There is talk out there that one of our favorite hedge-fund managers, billionaire Carl Icahn, may have bought a stake in the Canada-based mobile device maker…
Green Mountain Looks to New Brewer Line for Next Phase of Growth (WSJ)
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ:GMCR), the maker of Keurig single-serve coffee brewers, is developing a new line of machines that will be compatible with both its K-Cup and Vue coffee pods. The move comes as Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ:GMCR) is under intense pressure to innovate–facing more competition from other brewers, like Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX)‘s new Varismo machine, and off-branded K-Cups that emerged once Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ:GMCR)’s patents expired last autumn. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ:GMCR) has been criticized by hedge fund manager David Einhorn for developing a system he said is reliant on those patents. Although Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ:GMCR) has been the dominant player in single-serve coffee, investors like Mr. Einhorn questioned the sustainability of its rapid growth.
Apple And Amazon Should Rejoice As Microsoft Morbidly Embraces Nook (Forbes)
TechCrunch reports that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) may spend $1 billion to buy Nook outright from Barnes & Noble. In the pre-market Barnes & Noble stock moved up as much as 30% and was still higher by nearly 20% on the day in the afternoon. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has an existing investment in Nook of about one-sixth of the enterprise. Barnes & Noble has done an incredible job with Nook even though it is nowhere near as popular as the Kindle lineup from Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) or iPads from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) started as a book seller. No wonder it is the leader in the eReader market with its Kindle line of devices. Barnes & Noble, with a century of pedigree in books, is the number two player in the e-reader market. However, the Nook’s share has been stagnant. In contrast, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been rapidly increasing its share of the market.
Amazon Is Developing Smartphone With 3-D Screen (WSJ)
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) +1.28% hardware ambitions are broadening. The Seattle e-commerce giant has recently been developing a wide-ranging lineup of gadgets—including two smartphones and an audio-only streaming device—to expand its reach beyond its Kindle Fire line of tablet computers, said people familiar with the company’s plans. One of the devices is a high-end smartphone featuring a screen that allows for 3-D images without glasses, these people said. Using retina-tracking technology, images on the smartphone would seem to float above the screen like a hologram and appear three-dimensional at all angles, they said. Users may be able to navigate through content using just their eyes, two of the people said.
Rackspace Tumbles by a Record as Sales Trail Analysts’ Estimates (BusinessWeek)
Rackspace Hosting, Inc. (NYSE:RAX), a provider of Web-based computing services, plunged as much as 27 percent after its revenue result and forecast trailed analysts’ estimates. Rackspace Hosting, Inc. (NYSE:RAX), which first sold shares to the public in August 2008, fell to $38.58 at 12:23 p.m. in New York, and earlier touched (RAX) $38.30, a record drop. Before today, the biggest one-day decline was 20 percent. Facing stepped up competition in the cloud-computing market from Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), which has lowered prices in its web-services division seven times this year, Rackspace Hosting, Inc. (NYSE:RAX) said sales in the second quarter will be $369 million to $375 million. That trailed the average analyst estimate (RAX) of $384.4 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Chief Executive Officer Lanham Napier said sales to business customers in the first quarter were slower than forecast.
Rackspace results fall short of expectations (CNBC)
Rackspace Hosting, Inc. (NYSE:RAX) said Wednesday that its first-quarter profit rose, but the results fell short of Wall Street expectations. Its stock dropped 17 percent after-hours trading. “We got off to a slow start for the year,” Chief Financial Officer Karl Pichler said in a statement, adding that “our immediate focus is on restoring our growth trajectory.” The San Antonio cloud-computing company manages systems for businesses. Net income was $27.3 million, or 19 cents per share, compared with $23.2 million, or 17 cents per share, a year earlier. But profit dropped 9 percent from the previous quarter and fell short of analysts’ expectations _ they were looking for 20 cents per share, according to a FactSet survey.
