Category: Stock Market

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If you want to know who really controls Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its…

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(Bloomberg) — U.S. prosecutors say Anthony Levandowski should spend 27 months in prison. The autonomous-driving engineer argues that at the height of the coronavirus, that could be a “death sentence.”Ahead of Levandowski’s sentencing next week, government lawyers told a judge that his punishment for stealing trade secrets from Google as he defected for Uber Technologies Inc. is an important lesson to deter “brazen and shocking” conduct in Silicon Valley.Levandowski, who agreed to plead guilty, countered that 12 months of home confinement and community service is enough.Levandowski “raided Google’s repositories and stole proprietary information that would have undoubtedly been useful to him,” prosecutors said in a filing. Had he not been caught, the stolen files might have made the engineer “the savior” of Uber’s self-driving program.“At some level, that is what Levandowski’s actions suggest he wanted, to be seen as the singular inventor of the self-driving car, the way Alexander Graham Bell is credited with inventing the telephone,” the government said.Uber recruited Levandowski from Google and later fired him while the company was fighting a civil lawsuit by Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo over allegations that gave rise to the criminal case.Miles Ehrlich, Levandowski’s lawyer, said it’s important for the court to recognize the difference between what he actually did and the more sinister, sensationalized conduct he was originally accused of — stealing “thousands upon thousands of ‘crown jewel,’ billion-dollar self-driving car secrets from Google,” and selling them to Uber.Ehrlich strategically appealed to a fact that U.S. District Judge William Alsup noted during the course of Waymo’s court fight against Uber: that lawyers combing through Uber’s facilities and data in 12 inspections never produced evidence Levandowski used Google’s trade secrets.Ehrlich urged the court to also weigh the Covid-19 pandemic ravaging prisons. For Levandowski, who has suffered respiratory illnesses and pneumonia in recent years, incarceration could mean a “death sentence,” he said.Levandowski arrived at his plea agreement with prosecutors in March, two weeks after a related civil dispute with Google drove him to file for bankruptcy. Google won a $179 million award against the engineer over his defection to Uber. The bankruptcy made it difficult, if not impossible, for Levandowski to mount what would have been a prolonged and costly effort to fend off the criminal charges.Under federal sentencing guidelines, which judges aren’t required to follow, Levandowski faced as long as 30 months in prison. Without the deal, he could have gotten as much as 10 years. Prosecutors agreed to drop 32 of 33 counts in the agreement. The plea requires Levandowski to pay about $750,000 in restitution to Waymo to cover its costs of assisting the investigation.The criminal case is U.S. v. Levandowski, 19-cr-00377, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco).For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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(Bloomberg) — General Electric Co. predicted slow gains in operations this year and next after the coronavirus pandemic battered results in the second quarter.The jet-engine division has tracked “early signs of improvement” in flight departures on the path to a lengthy recovery, GE said in a presentation Wednesday as it reported results. The company burned through $2.1 billion in industrial free cash in the second quarter, less than the $3.3 billion drain expected by analysts.“It’s really about sequential improvement from here,” Chief Executive Officer Larry Culp said on a call with analysts. “The environment remains challenging. But with respect to those things that are within our control, we think health care is well-positioned to lead, the turnarounds in power and renewables continue, and we’re expecting a multiyear recovery in aviation.”Culp is trying to get GE back on track after the pandemic upended a turnaround he began after taking the reins in 2018. GE posted double-digit declines in orders across all its industrial businesses in the second quarter, with comparable declines in sales in all units except renewable energy. Revenue in the aviation business plunged 44% as the virus gutted air travel and dimmed the long-term outlook for aircraft sales.What Bloomberg Intelligence Says:“Negative order trends across General Electric’s portfolio and high decremental margins are a stark reminder that it will take years for the company to achieve credit-protection measures more consistent with its Baa1/BBB+/BBB rankings.”Joel Levington, Director of Credit ResearchClick here to read the research.GE recorded a $1.8 billion unrealized pretax gain during the quarter on its plan to sell its stake in Baker Hughes over the next three years. The company will use the proceeds to pay down debt.The company’s shares dropped 3.3% to $6.66 at 9:52 a.m. in New York, erasing gains made in premarket trading. GE tumbled 38% this year through Tuesday, while a Standard & Poor’s index of industrial companies fell 12%.The second-quarter results generally matched investors’ low expectations, John Inch, a Gordon Haskett analyst, wrote in a note to clients.“It seems apparent that GE’s fundamentals including cash flow challenges are likely to persist for many quarters/years with no obvious recourse as the company has largely sold what it can,” Inch said.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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Shares of Seagate (STX) fell 8.4% in Tuesday's extended trading after 4Q earnings disappointed. Adjusted earnings of $1.20 per share in 4Q missed analysts’ estimates of $1.29. Revenues of $2.52 billion also fell short of Street estimates of $2.61 billion.Seagate’s CEO Dave Mosley, said that “continued economic uncertainty and COVID-19 related disruptions impacted demand in other key end markets including video and image applications, mission-critical and consumer markets and also impacted profitability as we incurred higher logistics and labour costs."Moreover, Seagate’s 1Q outlook also fell short of analysts’ expectations. The company forecasts revenues and adjusted earnings of $2.3 billion and $0.85 per share, respectively. The Street estimates 1Q revenues and earnings at $2.44 billion and $1.07 per share, respectively.Following the quarterly results, Rosenblatt Securities analyst Kevin Cassidy cut the stock's price target to $63 (30% upside potential) from $65, while maintaining a Buy rating. Meanwhile, RBC Capital analyst Mitch Steves lowered the price target to $48 from $54 along with Cowen analyst Karl Ackerman, who cut the price target to $44 from $50.Currently, the Street has a cautious outlook on STX. The Hold analyst consensus is based on 3 Holds and 1 Sell versus 1 Buy. The average price target of $50.25 implies an upside potential of 3.5%. (See STX stock analysis on TipRanks).Related News: AMD Gains 10% In After-Hours on 2Q Earnings Beat, Upbeat Guidance FireEye Jumps 14% In After-Hours On 2Q Earnings Beat EBay Falls After-Hours Despite ‘Superb’ Beat & Raise Quarter More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * Tesla’s Elon Musk Is Open To Offering Software And Batteries To Competitors * Google Is Negotiating With Samsung For More Presence On Its Devices- Report * Amazon Rolls Out Free Grocery Delivery In London; Jefferies Sees 27% Upside * Mondelez Reports Mixed Q2; RBC Says Risk/ Reward Skews Positive

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The Points Guy ranked Delta as the best airline to fly in 2020.

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Gates said that the spread of the “outrageous” video shows how social media companies struggle to contain damaging misinformation before it gains wide attention.

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Ciena breaks out of a consolidation with a buy point a little above 57. Tried to break out on July 6, faltered, found support at 50-day and moved higher. Earnings growth/estimates strong. Revenue gains small. Growing Huawei bans/curbs good news for Ciena.

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(Bloomberg Opinion) — Consumers fearful of catching the coronavirus are adapting their transport habits: Crowded airplanes are now unappealing, while being cocooned in a car feels safe.Car rental firms have had a close-up view of this rapid shift in consumer behavior because most generate more than half of their revenue at airports.This dependence looked like it would be disastrous for the entire car rental sector, but on Tuesday evening two of the world’s largest car rental groups — Paris-based Europcar Mobility Group and U.S. operator Avis Budget Group Inc. — gave quite different assessments of their prospects. That has a lot to do with how they’ve managed their large debts and costs.Absent a takeover offer, Europcar which is partly owned by private equity group Eurazeo SE, looks to be heading for a financial restructuring, whereas Avis’s fortunes are rapidly improving. The latter’s shares have more than trebled since their March low. The stock surged another 14% in after-hours trading on Tuesday, after the group said it expects to start generating positive cash flow again.This transatlantic divide is surprising for a couple of reasons. First, unlike in Europe, where the virus has been under fragile control, the coronavirus is still ripping through the southern United States. Second, U.S. car rental firms were denied a bailout from Washington, and Hertz Global Holdings Inc. and Advantage Rent A Car both filed for bankruptcy in May. In contrast, Europcar was able to tap state-backed loans.Europcar has also enjoyed one other big advantage: It can often return unwanted vehicles to their manufacturers. U.S. rental firms have to sell these themselves, since they typically purchase most of their vehicles outright. When used car auctions shut down during the height of the pandemic, the American companies found it difficult to downsize their fleets. Used car prices plunged and became a factor in forcing Hertz to seek bankruptcy protection.Now with showrooms reopening, second-hand car sales have rebounded. Even formerly car-shy New Yorkers have discovered it’s useful to have a vehicle.Hence, Avis has been able to reduce its fleet by around one quarter, and coupled with cost savings and job cuts, it burned through far less cash than expected during the second quarter. Importantly, Avis has also retained access to capital markets: It raised $500 million from debt investors in May, albeit by offering an eye-watering 10.5% coupon. Thanks to the Federal Reserve’s aggressive market interventions and Avis’s own resilient performance, those junk bonds now trade well above par. If only Europcar could say the same. The depressed price of the French group’s 600 million euros of 4.125% coupon bonds due in 2024 reflect worries that holders won’t get all their money back.Maybe they won’t. On Tuesday Europcar reported a first-half loss of 286 million euros and warned its existing capital structure “weighs on its ability to ensure a proper path to recovery.” It is therefore evaluating “short and long-term alternatives” to address its capital structure and “liquidity constraints.”Europcar has 1.7 billion euros of debt, including 320 million euros of state-guaranteed loans and excluding vehicle-related borrowings, but only 400 million euros of unrestricted cash. Following several acquisitions, there’s also 1.2 billion euros of goodwill on the balance sheet, which far exceeds the group’s 235 million-euro market capitalization. The best hope for Europcar shareholders, who’ve lost 90% since the stock’s peak in 2017, is that someone makes a bid for the company. Eurazeo was looking at exiting its remaining 30% stake even before the novel coronavirus emerged. Now Volkswagen AG, which sold Europcar to Eurazeo for 1.3 billion euros in 2006, is exploring an offer for its former subsidiary, Bloomberg reported last month.Acquiring Europcar might help VW expand its range of mobility services, including for renting and leasing electric vehicles. Europcar’s airport outlets are likely to remain depressed for several years, but its commercial vehicle and urban car-sharing businesses are performing better. There are also opportunities in the long-term rental market: Europcar’s “drive safely back to work” marketing effort hopes to persuade commuters nervous of public transport to borrow a car for a few weeks. Still, taking on Europcar’s problems would be a big distraction for VW, which has plenty of its own issues right now. The U.K.’s decision this week to impose a quarantine on holidaymakers returning from Spain doesn’t bode well for overseas tourism bookings.Unless more government help is forthcoming, Europcar’s debt holders may have to cut the rental firm some slack.    This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Chris Bryant is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering industrial companies. He previously worked for the Financial Times.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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