CHICAGO, Oct. 07, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include the eBay (Nasdaq:EBAY-Free Report), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ-Free Report), Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL-Free Report), Google (Nasdaq:GOOGL-Free Report) and Alibaba (NYSE:BABA-Free Report).
Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.
Here are highlights from Monday's Analyst Blog:
Technology Stock Roundup
Last week, eBay (Nasdaq:EBAY-Free Report) announced its decision to separate PayPal from its marketplaces business and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ-Free Report) followed soon after, announcing the spin-off of its personal computing and printing business unit.
eBay Sets PayPal Free
Online marketplace eBay has decided to spin off its payments arm PayPal by the second half of 2015. CEO John Donahoe said that the changing competitive landscape made the split inevitable and the company has been moving in that direction with its Braintree acquisition among other things. A standalone PayPal will likely be more agile and attract more talent (Dan Schulman, president of the American Express Enterprise Growth Group has agreed to be PayPal CEO).
Some people are saying that Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL-Free Report) entering the payments business may have influenced the decision. But this may not be the case considering the measures eBay has taken to fortify PayPal and the fact that Apple Pay only works with the latest Apple devices, which still leaves open a pretty big market.
What is more likely the case is Paypal's own strength, which has been growing over time, means the company is no longer that dependent on eBay for its revenue (currently less than a third of revenue share and falling), and its stronger margins indicate that it may now be able to finance its own innovations. eBay, on the other hand, is going to lose its fastest-growing business, but it will get to keep more of its cash.
Whether this opens the door to its acquisition by either Google (Nasdaq:GOOGL-Free Report) or Alibaba (NYSE:BABA-Free Report) is something the market will continue to speculate on. Donahoe of course says there are no such plans as he readies himself to quit.
H-P Separates from PC Business
The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend that Hewlett-Packard has finally decided to spin off its personal computing and printing business in a tax-free distribution of shares next year, retaining enterprise hardware and services. Although no official announcement has been made yet, available details suggest that this time it's for real.
Previous CEO Leo Apotheker almost made this happen back in 2011, but investor uproar ultimately forced him to backtrack. His successor, Meg Whitman, started out in favor of maintaining status quo, but her term involved a ton of cost-cutting actions that still didn't help the company focus on its high-margin opportunities. It's not yet clear how the company will split the brand name, but the consumer business would likely struggle (even more) without it.
Whitman is expected to be CEO of the enterprise business and chairman of the PC business. Dion Weisler is expected to be elevated to CEO of the PC business and independent director Patricia Russo is to chair the enterprise business.
Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.
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