Category: Technology Stocks

Tech stocks refer to any stock involved in the technology sector, from semiconductor producers to software providers. Tech stocks are often a leading indicator for the economy and the stock market. Technology stocks generally follow the pattern of more innovation in the market & new development of product.

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Mirvac Group Ltd (ASX: MGR) Updates

20025825 - closeup image of businessman drawing 3d graphics
  • High quality portfolio composition with stronger weighting towards Melbourne and Sydney urban areas minimizing risk from submarket weakness from Brisbane. 
  • MGR has secured 90% of expected Residential EBIT for FY22.
  • Strong pipeline of residential projects to come, delivering earnings growth by FY22. 
  • Solid balance sheet. Gearing at 22.8% (at lower end of target range of 20%-30%).
  • Continuing recovery in weak retail sales especially for supermarkets.
  • Strong management team.

Key Risks

  • Deterioration in property fundamentals for Office, Industrial and Retail portfolio, such as delays with developments or lower than expected rental growth causing downward asset revaluations.
  • Tenant defaults as the economic landscape changes (increasingly competitive retail sector especially from online retailers such as Amazon). For instance, retailer bankruptcies causing rising vacancies in the retail portfolio.
  • Generally softening outlook on the broader retail market. 
  • Residential settlement risk and defaults. 
  • Higher interest rates impacting debt margins. 
  • Consumer sentiment towards impact of higher interest rates and effect on retail and residential businesses. 

FY21 Results Summary

Operating profit of $550m was down -9% over pcp and operating EBIT of $704m declined -12% over pcp, negatively impacted by lower development profit and higher unallocated overheads, partially offset by growth in NOI (especially growth in Integrated Investment Portfolio NOI following newly completed office asset developments).However, statutory profit was up +61% to $901m and EPS of 14cpss exceeded management’s earnings guidance of greater than 13.7cpss. 

AFFO declined -23% over PCP, reflecting the lower operating earnings together with increased tenant incentives and normalization of maintenance capex. Total distribution was $390m, representing a DPS of 9.9cpss, an increase of +9%, funded from operating cash flows which increased +41% over pcp to $635m, driven by final fund through receipts following capitalization of Older fleet, lower development spend and stronger cash collection from the investment portfolio. Net tangible assets (NTA) per stapled security increased +5% over PCP to $2.67.

The Company extended its development pipeline, ending the year with $28bn across mixed use, office, industrial, residential and build to rent. Balance sheet remained strong with cash and undrawn debt facilities of $867m, investment grade credit ratings of A3/A- by Moody’s/Fitch, gearing of 22.8% (lower end of target range of 20-30%). The Company saw cost of debt decline -60bps over PCP to 3.4%, with management expecting further reduction in FY22.

Company Description  

Mirvac Group Ltd (ASX: MGR) is a real estate investment and development company. The company operates in Residential and Commercial & Mixed Use space within the real Estate sector. Mirvac Group Ltd is headquartered in Sydney, Australia.

General Advice Warning

Any advice/ information provided is general in nature only and does not take into account the personal financial situation, objectives or needs of any particular person.

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Technology Stocks

Telstra Corporation updates

  • Solid dividend yield in a low interest rate environment. 
  • On market buyback of $1.35bn (post sale of part of Towers business) should support its share price.
  • Additional cost measures announced to support earnings.
  • InfraCo provides optionality in the long-term. 
  • Despite intense competition, subscriber growth numbers remain solid. 
  • Company looking to monetize $2.0bn of assets. 
  • In the long-term, the introduction of 5G provides potential growth, however we continue to monitor the ROIC from the capex spend. 
  • TLS still commands a strong market position and has the ability to invest in growth technologies and areas (e.g. Telstra Ventures) which could provide room for growth.
  • Industry consolidation leading to improved pricing behavior by competitors.

Key Risks

We see the following key risks to our investment thesis:

  • Further cuts to dividends.
  • Further deterioration in the core mobile and fixed business.  
  • Management fail to deliver of cost-out targets and asset monetisation. 
  • Any increase in churn, particularly in its Mobile segment – worse than expected decrease in average revenue per users (or any price war with competitors).
  • Any network disruptions/outages.
  • More competition in its Mobile segment. Merger of TPG Telecom and Vodafone Australia creates a better positioned (financially and resource wise) competitor
  • Quicker than expected deterioration in margins for its Fixed segment.
  • Risk of cost blowout in upgrade network and infrastructure to 5G.

FY21 Results Highlights

Relative to the pcp: 

  • On a reported basis, total income fell -11.6% to $23.1bn (within FY21 guidance of $22.6bn to $23.2bn); EBITDA declined -14.2% to $7.6bn; NPAT increased +3.4% to $1.9bn. 
  • Underlying EBITDA of $6.7bn was within FY21 guidance of $6.6bn to $6.9bn. Underlying EBITDA, which includes an estimated $380m Covid impact fell -9.7% on a guidance basis including an in-year nbn headwind of $650m. Excluding the in-year nbn headwind, underlying EBITDA declined by ~$70m. (3) TLS FY21 underlying earnings were $1,191m while net one-off nbn receipts were $561m versus underlying earnings of $1,224m and net one-off nbn receipts of $1,075m in FY20. 
  • Capex of $3,020, was -6.6% lower, but within FY21 guidance of $2.8bn to $3.2bn. 
  • Free cashflow of $4,887m, was up +21.1%. Free cashflow after operating lease payments of $3.8bn beat FY21 guidance of $3.3bn to $3.7bn. (6) Basic EPS of 15.6 cents, was up +2%.

Company Description  

Telstra Corporation (TLS) provides telecommunications and information products and services. The company’s key services are the provision of telephone lines, national local and long distance, and international telephone calls, mobile telecommunications, data, internet and on-line. Its key segments are Mobile, Fixed, Data & IP, Foxtel, Network applications and services and Media.

General Advice Warning

Any advice/ information provided is general in nature only and does not take into account the personal financial situation, objectives or needs of any particular person.

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Technology Stocks

DoorDash Reported Strong Q2 Growth; Network Effect Remains Intact, but Shares Remain Overvalued

The firm is at the early stages in trying to attract a larger piece of what we estimate could be $1 trillion worth of goods and services by 2025 to its platform. DoorDash benefits from the network effects between merchants, deliverers (or “dashers”), and consumers, plus intangible assets, in the form of data, which we believe together warrant our narrow moat rating. Consumers use DoorDash’s app to order food for pickup or delivery from restaurants. Based on data from Second Measure, DoorDash currently is the market leader in the U.S., with 56% share, above Uber’s 26% and Grubhub’s 18%. The firm has over 450,000 merchants, more than 20 million consumers, and more than 1 million dashers on its platform.

DoorDash has also begun to provide similar service to businesses in verticals other than restaurants, such as grocery, retail, pet supplies, and flowers. With strengthening of the network effect, we expect DoorDash to maintain its leadership position in likely a market where there will be only one other viable player, Uber Eats, in the long run. The firm’s network effect should also lower consumer and deliverer acquisition costs, resulting in further operating leverage and GAAP profitability in 2023. 

Financial Strength 

Our $142 fair value estimate of narrow moat DoorDash and continue to view the very high uncertainty rated stock as overvalued. The firm reported mixed second-quarter results with revenue beating the FactSet consensus estimates, while losses were a bit more than expected. While DoorDash and Uber will hold the number one and the number two positions in delivery within the U.S., DoorDash’s stock price may be displaying too much optimism about how quickly and at what cost the firm can diversify its business within and outside of the U.S. market. At current levels, we prefer Uber, as our $69 fair value estimate on the stock represents a 61% potential upside. 

DoorDash’s gross order volume increased 70% year over year and 5% from the first quarter to $10.5 billion. Such growth was driven by an increase in the number of orders (69% year over year) and gross order volume per order (up 1%). The higher take rate resulted in $1.2 billion in total revenue, up 83% from last year. The firm generated a GAAP operating loss of $99 million during the quarter compared with $27 million in operating income in the second quarter of 2020. During the second quarter, sales and marketing as a percentage of revenue spiked to 35% (from 25% last year but slightly more comparable to last quarter’s 31%) mainly due to more aggressive marketing to consumers and drivers.

DoorDash went public in late December 2020, raising $3.3 billion to fund its operations as it continues to invest in growth. The firm likely will not become profitable until 2023. DoorDash holds $4.5 billion in cash and cash equivalents and no debt. The firm has access to a $400 million revolving credit facility from which nothing has been drawn.DoorDash burned $159 million and $467 million in cash from operations in 2018 and 2019, respectively, and generated $252 million in cash from operations in 2020 due to a smaller net loss and higher non-cash expenses, especially a significant year-over-year increase in stock-based compensation to $322 million from $18 million. The firm averaged $66 million, or nearly 6% of revenue, in capital expenditures in 2018-20.

Company Profile 

Founded in 2013 and headquartered in San Francisco, DoorDash is an online food order demand aggregator. Consumers can use its app to order food on-demand for pickup or delivery from merchants mainly in the U.S. The firm provides a marketplace for the merchants to create a presence online, market their offerings, and meet demand by making the offerings available for pickup or delivery. The firm provides similar service to businesses in addition to restaurants, such as grocery, retail, pet supplies, and flowers. At the end of 2020, DoorDash had over 450,000 merchants, 20 million consumers, and over 1 million dashers on its platform. In 2020, the firm generated $24.7 billion in gross order volume (up 207% year over year) and $2.9 billion in revenue (up 226%).

(Source: Morningstar)

General Advice Warning

Any advice/ information provided is general in nature only and does not take into account the personal financial situation, objectives or needs of any particular person.

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Expert Insights Technology Stocks

Narrow-Moat Syneos Reports Strong Q2 Results; Raising FVE to $64 on Improved 2021 Outlook

 global, late-stage contract research organizations, but at the price of a significant debt load. Most of Syneos’ CRO business comes from the most lucrative area of the CRO market: long, complex trials that typically require thousands of patients across the globe and thus have ample room for missteps. Trial sponsors need a CRO not only with strong technical know-how in specific disease areas, but also with the expertise in local country cultures and government relations.

Legacy INC Research was a leader in late-stage clinical research from small- and mid-cap biopharma, while inVentiv Health had better exposure to large pharma. The combined company has a diversified client base and provides a full portfolio of offerings, including staffing solutions and commercialization. While we don’t see significant competitive advantages in the staffing and selling business, both complete Syneos’ portfolio of services and offer flexibility to clients. The lower-margin commercial solutions business has had mixed success, but management’s cross-selling strategy to offer hybrid contracts with both clinical and commercial components should be a boon to the segment.

Financial Strength 

Narrow-moat Syneos reported second-quarter revenue of $1.3 billion, representing nearly a 27% increase year over year. Adjusted EBITDA was $175 million for the quarter, up 47% from the prior-year period. Syneos is recovering well from pandemic-related challenges, as evidenced by its strong year-over-year figures. Due to strong demand across Syneos’ clinical and commercial segments, management has updated its 2021 guidance. Syneos reported solid net new business wins in Clinical and Commercial Solutions, totaling $1.7 billion for the quarter, representing a book-to-bill ratio of 1.33 times. The new business wins contributed to an ending backlog of $11.7 billion for the quarter, up 21% from the prior-year period. 

Syneos ended the quarter with about $261 million of unrestricted cash and total debt outstanding of about $2.9 billion, resulting in a net leverage ratio of 3.8 times. We continue to think Syneos’ positive momentum indicates the operating environment remains strong. Syneos is in middling financial health after the 2017 merger, with about $2.9 billion in total debt weighing down the balance sheet. The deal pushed the company to the top tier of large, global late-stage players, which positions the company to secure deals with large biopharma companies and propel cash generation, but we expect the deal to limit near-term financial flexibility. Syneos’ major debt maturities are pushed out to 2024 and beyond, which provides the company ample opportunity to grow and unearth synergies from the merger.

Bulls Say’s 

  • Syneos’ late-stage contract research business is poised to benefit from stable research and development spending and increased outsourcing in the biopharma industry.
  • High levels of new drug approvals should boost growth in the company’s contract commercialization business.
  • Robust net new business wins should translate to accelerated growth in the contract research segment in the near term.

Company Profile 

Syneos is a global contract research and outsourced commercialization organization that provides services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms. Its clinical solutions segment offers early- to late-stage clinical trial support that ranges from specialized staffing models to strategic partnerships that oversee nearly all aspects of a drug program, while the company’s commercialization solutions includes outsourced sales, consulting, public relations, and advertising services.

(Source: Morningstar)

General Advice Warning

Any advice/ information provided is general in nature only and does not take into account the personal financial situation, objectives or needs of any particular person.

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Technology Stocks

Envestnet Inc to Ramp Up Investment Spending to Focus on Financial Wellness

Digital tablet display the stock market data

In 2015, Envestnet acquired Yodlee, which makes up the firm’s data and analytics segment. Yodlee’s revenue consists of its core data aggregation, alternative data to asset managers, and analytics to advisory firms. We do believe this segment is less moaty, as Yodlee faces competition from Plaid and MX Technologies as well as many alternative data providers. Following Visa’s announced (but ultimately nixed) acquisition of Plaid at a high valuation (we estimate over 20 times forward revenue), media reports have indicated that Envestnet is looking to sell Yodlee. For now, we believe Envestnet is comfortable keeping Yodlee in its product portfolio.

Envestnet believes marketplace exchanges can add to growth. In 2019, the company launched an insurance exchange with six national carriers to connect an advisor’s clients with annuity products. In addition to the insurance exchange, Envestnet launched Advisor Credit Exchange to help advisors address the lending needs of their clients. Envestnet is also focusing on growing asset-based revenue by providing value-added services such as impact portfolios, direct indexing, and tax overlays.

Financial Strength

Overall, Envestnet’s financial strength is sound. in our view, The company has used leverage for acquisitions. As of Dec. 31, 2020, Envestnet has approximately $385 million of cash and $756 million in convertible note debt. This equates to a net leverage ratio of about 2 EBITDA. While it’s true that the firm’s wealth solutions segment contains asset-based revenue, net of direct asset-based cost of revenue, these fees are less than 40% of the firm’s revenue. In addition, we estimate that 40% of Envestnet’s AUM/A are not in equities. Given this and the fact that the rest of Envestnet’s revenue is mostly recurring in nature, we’re comfortable with the company’s level of debt.

Bull Says

  • Envestnet has leading market share, and its product suite offers greater breadth than competitors.
  • Envestnet could pursue strategic alternatives with Yodlee.
  • Envestnet should continue to benefit from the trend of advisors leaving wire house firms to start their own practices and the shift from commission-based to fee based advice.

Company Profile

Envestnet provides wealth-management technology and solutions to registered investment advisors, banks, broker/dealers, and other firms. Its Tamarac platform provides trading, rebalancing, portfolio accounting, performance reporting, and client relationship management software to high-end RIAs. Envestnet’s portfolio management consultants provide research services and consulting services to assist advisors, including vetted third-party managed account products. In November 2015, Envestnet acquired Yodlee, a provider of data aggregation.

 (Source: Morningstar)

General Advice Warning

Any advice/ information provided is general in nature only and does not take into account the personal financial situation, objectives or needs of any particular person.

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Technology Stocks

NortonLifeLock Merging With Avast to Expand Reach within Consumer Security Market; Maintain $21 FVE

Our $21 fair value estimate for no-moat NortonLifeLock after announcing its intention to merge with fellow consume cybersecurity firm Avast. The news follows NortonLifeLock recently acknowledging rumors of Avast combination talks, and we believe this merger is in line with NortonLifeLock’s plan to use mergers as a growth accelerator with a focus on extracting overlapping costs. The deal puts Avast’s enterprise value between $8.6 billion and $9.2 billion, depending on how Avast shareholders elect to receive a majority stock or cash option. We updated our model with the assumption that the merger occurs in the middle of 2022 as expected, helping the company rapidly expand its revenue growth rate and achieve its reiterated adjusted earnings target of $3 per share in the coming years.

NortonLifeLock gains international reach, especially within the important German market, and helps bolster its opportunity with the small business segment through this merger. The combined company will be renamed at a later point and together have about 40 million direct customers and over 500 million total users, as well as about $3.5 billion in combined revenue with a blended adjusted operating margin of 52% (presynergies). 

NortonLifeLock expects to achieve $280 million of annual gross cost synergies, fully realized by the second year post-merger. We believe the merged company will be shareholder centric, with a plan to return 100% of free cash flow through the existing $0.125 quarterly dividend and future share buybacks.

Financial Deals Post – Merger

NortonLifeLock will finance the deal with cash and $5.35 billion of new debt facilities, which the company expects to rapidly pay down post-merger. Avast shareholders are expected to own between 14% and 26% of the combined company, depending on their election, post-merger. In the majority stock option, Avast shareholders receive $2.37 in cash and 0.1937 shares of NortonLifeLock whereas in the majority cash option, Avast shareholders receive $7.61 in cash and 0.0302 shares of NortonLifeLock. In the majority stock option, NortonLifeLock plans to increase its buyback program by $3 billion.

Current NortonLifeLock CEO Vincent Pilette will be the CEO, Avast’s current CEO will become President, and NortonLifeLock’s CFO will retain her role for the combined company. The merged company will have dual headquarters, with Avast in Prague, Czech Republic and NortonLifeLock in Tempe, Arizona. While we appreciate the combined company expanding its geographical footprint, we expect a concerted focus on reducing costs to reel in operating and fixed costs.

Company Profile 

NortonLifeLock sells cybersecurity and identity protection for individual consumers through its Norton antivirus and LifeLock brands. The company divested the Symantec enterprise security business to Broadcom in 2019. The Arizona-based company was founded in 1982, went public in 1989, and sells its solutions worldwide.

(Source: Morningstar)

General Advice Warning

Any advice/ information provided is general in nature only and does not take into account the personal financial situation, objectives or needs of any particular person.

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Technology Stocks

Syneos Reports Strong Q2 Results; Raising FVE to $64 on Improved 2021 Outlook

the new entity, into the upper echelon of large, global, late-stage contract research organizations, but at the price of a significant debt load. Most of Syneos’ CRO business comes from the most lucrative area of the CRO market: long, complex trials that typically require thousands of patients across the globe and thus have ample room for missteps. Trial sponsors need a CRO not only with strong technical know-how in specific disease areas, but also with the expertise in local country cultures and government relations.

Legacy INC Research was a leader in late-stage clinical research from small- and mid-cap biopharma, while inVentiv Health had better exposure to large pharma. The combined company has a diversified client base and provides a full portfolio of offerings, including staffing solutions and commercialization. While we don’t see significant competitive advantages in the staffing and selling business, both complete Syneos’ portfolio of services and offer flexibility to clients. The lower-margin commercial solutions business has had mixed success, but management’s cross-selling strategy to offer hybrid contracts with both clinical and commercial components should be a boon to the segment.

Financial Strength 

Narrow-moat Syneos reported second-quarter revenue of $1.3 billion, representing nearly a 27% increase year over year. Adjusted EBITDA was $175 million for the quarter, up 47% from the prior-year period. Syneos is recovering well from pandemic-related challenges, as evidenced by its strong year-over-year figures. Due to strong demand across Syneos’ clinical and commercial segments, management has updated its 2021 guidance. Syneos reported solid net new business wins in Clinical and Commercial Solutions, totaling $1.7 billion for the quarter, representing a book-to-bill ratio of 1.33 times. The new business wins contributed to an ending backlog of $11.7 billion for the quarter, up 21% from the prior-year period. 

Syneos ended the quarter with about $261 million of unrestricted cash and total debt outstanding of about $2.9 billion, resulting in a net leverage ratio of 3.8 times. We continue to think Syneos’ positive momentum indicates the operating environment remains strong. Syneos is in middling financial health after the 2017 merger, with about $2.9 billion in total debt weighing down the balance sheet. The deal pushed the company to the top tier of large, global late-stage players, which positions the company to secure deals with large biopharma companies and propel cash generation, but we expect the deal to limit near-term financial flexibility. Syneos’ major debt maturities are pushed out to 2024 and beyond, which provides the company ample opportunity to grow and unearth synergies from the merger.

Bulls Say’s 

  • Syneos’ late-stage contract research business is poised to benefit from stable research and development spending and increased outsourcing in the biopharma industry.
  • High levels of new drug approvals should boost growth in the company’s contract commercialization business.
  • Robust net new business wins should translate to accelerated growth in the contract research segment in the near term.

Company Profile 

Syneos is a global contract research and outsourced commercialization organization that provides services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms. Its clinical solutions segment offers early- to late-stage clinical trial support that ranges from specialized staffing models to strategic partnerships that oversee nearly all aspects of a drug program, while the company’s commercialization solutions includes outsourced sales, consulting, public relations, and advertising services.

(Source: Morningstar)

General Advice Warning

Any advice/ information provided is general in nature only and does not take into account the personal financial situation, objectives or needs of any particular person.

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Technology Stocks

Marvell Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MRVL) Maintains FVE $40 & Aiming to take the Cloud and 5G Markets

The concept of 5G network with magnifying glass on modern circuit board, high-speed mobile internet and new generation networks technology background

Marvell is the leader in DPUs and PAM-4 optics, and the clear second in the enterprise and cloud Ethernet markets. Marvell’s recent financial history has been choppy, as result of CEO Matt Murphy’s aggressive overhaul of the business’ focus. Marvell has emerged as a strong competitor in the networking chip market, following a multiyear business pivot to acquisitions, divestitures, and organic development to focus on high-growth cloud, 5G, and automotive markets.

Between data processing units, or DPUs, optical interconnect, and Ethernet solutions, Marvell has one of the broadest networking silicon portfolios in the world, and we think it is primed to steal market share from incumbent Broadcom with bleeding-edge technology. Marvell has the right portfolio to invest aggressively in organic growth going forward, but don’t rule out further acquisitions to bolster its competitiveness and enter adjacent markets.

Company’s Future outlook
Marvell’s 2021 acquisitions of In phi and Innovium will give it a path to robust and sustained top-line growth in the cloud market and expect significant margin expansion over our 10-year forecast even as it invests to compete with larger rivals. Nevertheless, the market is assuming nearly immediate operating synergies from these two acquisitions, which take some time and the shares are significantly overvalued at this point and caution investors to await a greater margin of safety. The reorganization is squarely in the firm’s rearview mirror now, and forecast mid-teens sales growth and immense margin expansion over the next 10 years. The combination of 2021 acquisitions In phi and Innovium under Marvell’s umbrella will create a dangerous combination to Broadcom in the high-performance switching arena and enable share gains.

Company Profile
Marvell Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MRVL) is a leading fables chipmaker focused on networking and storage applications. Marvell serves the data center, carrier, enterprise, automotive, and consumer end markets with processors, optical interconnections, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and merchant silicon for Ethernet applications. The firm is an active acquirer, with five large acquisitions since 2017 helping it pivot out of legacy consumer applications to focus on the cloud and 5G markets.

(Source: Morningstar)

General Advice Warning
Any advice/ information provided is general in nature only and does not take into account the personal financial situation, objectives or needs of any particular person.

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Technology Stocks

Nvidia’s (NASDAQ NVDA) Revenue Continues To Rise, Despite Concerns about Cryptocurrency Demand

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The firm had record showings in both gaming and data center segments, but we are concerned with the surge of demand for Nvidia’s gaming GPUs used in cryptocurrency mining (specifically Ethereal), as we view this application as a volatile one that could lead to lower GPU sales if crypto prices trend down.

Nvidia continues to execute well in growing its data center business thanks to its A100 GPU for Artificial Intelligence and networking products from its 2020 Mellanox acquisition. Nvidia is paying a high multiple for ARM’s earnings. The Fair value estimate of Nvidia is $515 per share. First-quarter sales grew 84% year over year to $5.7 billion, with gaming and data center revenue up 106% and 79%, respectively. Data center sales benefitted from the inclusion of Mellanox and continued adoption of Nvidia’s A100 GPUs. Gross margins during the first quarter grew 100 basis points sequentially thanks to a more favorable product mix. Nvidia’s gaming’s GPUs are receiving an artificial boost from crypto mining that could be difficult to sustain.

The chief growth drivers are expected to be gaming; data center, and crypto mining processors, or CMPs. CMPs are optimized for crypto mining power efficiency and will provide Nvidia’s management some visibility into the contribution of crypto mining to total revenue.

Company’s Future Outlook
We estimate crypto mining related demand contributed around $400 million to $500 million in GPU sales during the quarter. It is expected that the firm’s automotive segment to resume growth in the coming years as its autonomous solutions are adopted and its legacy infotainment business is ramped down. Specifically, Nvidia’s automotive design win pipeline exceeds $8 billion through fiscal 2027. Management expects second-quarter sales to be at a midpoint of $6.3 billion, which implies 63% year-over-year growth and was also ahead of our estimates. For the second quarter, CMP sales are expected to be $400 million. Nvidia’s channel inventories remain lean, and management expects the firm to be supply constrained into the second half of the year. While we anticipate strong growth for Nvidia in the coming quarters, we remain vigilant of signs of weaker crypto-mining demand for its GPUs should crypto prices fall.

Company Profile
Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) is the leading designer of graphics processing units that enhance the experience on computing platforms. The firm’s chips are used in a variety of end markets, including high-end PCs for gaming, data centers, and automotive infotainment systems. In recent years, the firm has broadened its focus from traditional PC graphics applications such as gaming to more complex and favorable opportunities, including artificial intelligence and autonomous driving, which leverage the high-performance capabilities of the firm’s graphics processing units.

(Source: Morningstar)

General Advice Warning
Any advice/ information provided is general in nature only and does not take into account the personal financial situation, objectives or needs of any particular person.

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Technology Stocks

ViacomCBS Posts In-Line Q2, but Streaming Momentum Clearly Building

Top-line growth of 8% was driven by the rebound in advertising, the return of live sports, and continued streaming growth. The firm’s streaming platforms posted a strong quarter both in terms of new subscribers and monetization. ViacomCBS also announced a distribution deal with Sky to launch Paramount+ in 2022 in its Western European markets.

Global streaming subscribers increased by 6.5 million during the quarter to 42.4 million, and Pluto, a free platform, added 2.8 million monthly active users to end the quarter at 52.3 million. The recent results and the Sky agreement reinforce our view that the long-term guidance of 65-75 million streaming subscribers by 2024 is very conservative. 

While Paramount+ is only available in 25 markets, we expect much wider distribution by 2024, making the high-end target of another 33 million net adds seem very modest.

Streaming revenue exploded, up 98%, as ad revenue bounced back at Pluto and the smaller streaming platforms like Showtime and BET+ continued to grow their subscriber bases. Streaming subscription revenue improved to $481 million, up 82% year over year and subscription average revenue per user increased 4% sequentially.

 On the ad side, streaming revenue jumped by 102% to $502 million as Pluto continues to improve engagement with domestic time watched per MAU up 45% in the quarter. The June launch of Paramount+ Essential, a lower priced ad-supported tier, should help boost advertising growth.

TV Entertainment revenue increased 23% year over year. Broadcast ad revenue was buoyed by the return of the NCAA Final Four and golf tournaments along with the overall rebound in ad demand. 

Affiliate revenue, up 10%, was driven by strong reverse compensation and retransmission fee growth at the CBS broadcast network. Adjusted EBITDA for the segment dropped by 45% to $216 million as the firm continues to invest in Paramount+.

Cable networks revenue grew by 8% versus a year ago to $3.5 billion. Cable ad revenue increased by 24% as the higher pricing in the U.S. and international growth more than offset lower ratings. 

Affiliate revenue was up 9% as the expanded online distribution from services like YouTube TV and rate increases more than offset the ongoing cordcutting trend.

Company Profile

ViacomCBS is the recombination of CBS and Viacom that has created a media conglomerate operating around the world. CBS’ television assets include the CBS television network, 28 local TV stations, and 50% of CW, a joint venture between CBS and Time Warner. The company also owns Showtime and Simon & Schuster. Viacom owns several leading cable network properties, including Nickelodeon, MTV, BET, Comedy Central, VH1, CMT, and Paramount. Viacom has also built several online properties on the strength of these brands. Viacom’s Paramount Pictures produces original motion pictures and owns a library of 2,500 films, including the Mission: Impossible and Transformers series.

(Source: Morningstar)

General Advice Warning

Any advice/ information provided is general in nature only and does not take into account the personal financial situation, objectives or needs of any particular person.