This Week in Tech: Apple, Amazon, AMD, Intel, and Twitter

A number of meaningful events have occurred in the technology sector this week, including Apple introducing the newest models of its flagship phone, the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.

In this article, let’s take a look at the news surrounding Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD), Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), and Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) last week and use the latest 13F data to see how hedge funds traded the tech stocks in the second quarter.

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Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares were in the spotlight this week after the company introduced the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, both of which lack headphone jacks, as Apple increasingly trends to a more wireless future. According to the products’ specifications, the new iPhone 7’s will have better processors and the entry level model will have double the storage. In a break from tradition, Apple won’t provide pre-order sales volume and first weekend sales data for the new phones like it has before. Because the company believes the figures are “governed by supply, not demand” initially, Apple thinks the data is not relevant. Apple’s sudden reluctance to share that data could also be due to the company facing rumored supply issues, which might lead to first-weekend sales figures that would be a disappointment. Despite the change, however, Apple’s management has reiterated its financial guidance for the September quarter, of $45.5 billion-to-$47.5 billion in sales and between 37.5% and 38% in gross margin. Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 56% to over 15.2 million shares in the second quarter.

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) captured investors’ interest this week after two sources speculated on where the company might seek to expand next. First, according to Bloomberg, Amazon is said to be interested in buying up streaming rights to certain live sports events such as rugby and tennis matches. By grabbing the streaming rights, Amazon would offer something that Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) currently doesn’t. Secondly, according to Business Insider, Amazon is considering opening ‘dozens’ of miniature retail storefronts in malls across the U.S. over the next 12 months. According to the article, the pop-up stores will sell Amazon’s hardware electronics devices such as its Echo speakers and Kindle readers. The ultimate goal of the stores is to drive more traffic to Amazon’s website. 145 funds in our system were long Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) at the end of June.

On the next page, we’ll examine the news that impacted AMD, Intel, and Twitter last week.

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) shares retreated by around 20% this week due to a big equity and convertible note offering. According to the offering terms announced on Friday, AMD will sell $600 million worth of common stock for $6 per share, and will grant underwriters an expiring option to buy an additional 15 million shares at the same price. AMD has also increased its convertible note offering to $700 million from the original $450 million. AMD intends to use the net proceeds to repay debt. Traders sold shares off this week because the offering size is considerable in relation to AMD’s current market cap. The number of funds that we track with holdings in Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) rose by 12 quarter-over-quarter to 25 at the end of June.

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) ended an excursion outside of its core competency this week by agreeing to spin-off its security business. Intel bought McAfee for $7.68 billion several years ago in an attempt to gain more mobile market share, hoping that McAfee’s security adeptness would help Intel sell more mobile chips (where security concerns are important). A few years later, Intel’s mobile market share hasn’t changed that much, and the company agreed to spin-off the division into a new company also called McAfee, to the private equity firm TPG. Under the terms, Intel will retain a 49% stake in the new company and will receive $3.1 billion in cash. The spin-out values McAfee at around $4.2 billion. 57 funds in our database had a bullish position in Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) as of the most recent 13F reporting period, up by three funds from the previous reporting period.

Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) shares fell by around 7% this week as bulls tempered their enthusiasm over a potential sale in the near-term. Hurting the M&A speculation was a CNBC report that said that there were ‘no bids on the table’ for the company at the moment. The CNBC report also said that CEO Jack Dorsey has ‘a few more quarters’ to stage a turnaround. Generally, traders consider Twitter less likely to sell itself if the company is trying to turn itself around organically. If Twitter’s turnaround efforts fail on the other hand, the probability of a sale would be higher (although at what price is another question). 30 funds tracked by Insider Monkey owned shares of Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) at the end of June, up by three funds from the end of March.

Disclosure: None