In today's top stories, we look at
Halliburton's
(
HAL
) earnings and the outlook for oil services companies that are
benefiting from increased drilling demand. Amazon (
AMZN
) plans to sell an Android based tablet by this fall as well as
roll out a new Kindle potentially by the end of the summer.
News
Corp.'s
(
NWS
) phone tapping scandal has reached the halls of the British PM,
David Cameron, as his friendship to former News Corp. UK CEO
Rebekah Brooks falls under scrutiny and following the arrest of his
former communications director, Andy Coulson, who was previously an
editor at
News of the World.
Halliburton Reports Solid Earnings and Outlook
Halliburton (
HAL
) announced its Q2 earnings earlier today posting strong revenue
growth of over 35% year over year and 12% sequentially. The growth
was primarily driven by higher pricing and utilization of its US
business where activity Halliburton is benefiting from growing
demand for more complicated drilling techniques to find oil and gas
that is deeper and in denser rock formations. We expect this trend
to continue in the US and globally. China recently announced a
tender offer for companies to bid on drilling in some of China's
massive shale formations. This presents another large growth
opportunity for oil service companies like Halliburton, Slumberger
and Baker Hughes.
We have a
$57
price estimate for Halliburton
, which is ~5% over its current market price.
Amazon New Announcements on the Horizon, Battle Over
Taxes Continues
Amazon is in the hot seat given its battle with states over
collecting sales taxes. This is an emerging source of friction for
online retailers like Amazon that previously have not collected
sales taxes. As states look for ways to plug fiscal deficits, many
analysts see it as a matter of time before the states win this
batter.
However one positive on the horizon is that its reported tablet
is due out this fall and a new Kindle could be released this
summer. The new tablet will run Android according to the NYT and
will add to Amazon's competition with Apple.
See our analysis for Amazon.
Quiz - What is the Downside from News Corp's Woes?
The News Corp. scandal has mushroomed from a racy tabloid
scandal to the halls of the British PM. How much do news
publications including WSJ, Dow Jones, UK Newspaper & others
contribute to News Corp.'s stock value?
- 47%
- 67%
- 34%
-
14%
See our analysis for News Corp