Baron Funds research analyst Ashim Mehra asks, "Can you imagine life without the Internet?" and addresses the rapid evolution in the space. He also discusses specific Internet stocks:
We use the Internet to communicate, shop, play games, interact socially, find restaurant menus, buy theater tickets, book travel reservations, and find information about anything and everything. The Internet has expanded beyond the desktop with smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices. There are more smartphones expected to be sold in 2012 than PCs and notebooks. Moreover, the Internet has become more global, connecting users across borders and boundaries. It is a tool capable of reaching and catalyzing a wide audience. Twitter and Facebook have even been used to spark revolutions. At the same time, the Internet has become increasingly local in providing information about resources and events near you. It has become personal and customizable, providing information that is important to the user while allowing advertisers to target their advertising geographically and demographically.
Top Companies To Buy For 2015: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA)
Alibaba Group Holding Limited, incorporated on June 28, 1999, is an online and mobile commerce company. The Company operates its ecosystem as a platform for third parties. The Company operates Taobao Marketplace, China�� online shopping destination, Tmall, China�� third-party platform for brands and retailers and Juhuasuan, China�� group buying marketplace. In addition to its three China retail marketplaces, the Company operates Alibaba.com, China�� global online wholesale marketplace, 1688.com, its China wholesale marketplace, and AliExpress, its global consumer marketplace, as well as provides cloud computing services. As a platform, the Company provides the fundamental technology infrastructure and marketing reach to help businesses leverage the power of the Internet to establish an online presence and conduct commerce with consumers and businesses. Effective August 01, 2014, Alibaba Investment Ltd, a unit of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, acquired a 10.193% interest n Singapore Post Ltd.
The buyers and sellers discover, select and transact with each other on the Company�� platform. Third-party service providers add value to its platform through service offerings that make it easier for buyers and sellers to do business. The third-party participants in its ecosystem include a payment services provider, logistics providers, retail operational partners, marketing affiliates, independent software vendors and various professional service providers. The Company has developed policies and procedures that maintain the health and sustainability of its marketplaces, including consumer protection programs, marketplace rules, qualification standards for merchants and buyer and seller rating systems. As its ecosystem expands, new jobs are created.
Taobao Affiliate Network is powered by Alimama, its online marketing technology platform. Through this platform, sellers place marketing displays on its marketing affiliates��websites and mobile apps, and sellers pay a performance-b! ased marketing fee primarily based on cost-per-click (CPC), and cost-per-sale (CPS), models. Through China Smart Logistics, the Company provides real-time information to its logistics partners, including key operating metrics, such as distribution center utilization rates, route planning data and order volume forecasts. Independent software vendors (ISVs) provide software tools, as well as systems integration services to sellers.
Tmall is an online platform featuring brands and retailers with each seller having an identifiable online storefront. Users may access Tmall anytime, anywhere through the Tmall Website and the mobile apps and mobile-optimized websites provided by Taobao Marketplace and Tmall. The physical product categories on Tmall include apparel and accessories, electronics and appliances, home furnishings, home appliances, maternity and baby products. Juhuasuan is an online group buying marketplace in China. Juhuasuan offers quality products at discounted prices by aggregating demand from numerous consumers. Juhuasuan mainly does this through flash sales, which make products available at discounted prices for a limited period of time. Juhuasuan offers group buying channels featuring branded and private label products, products made to custom specifications and local services.
AliExpress is a consumer marketplace enables consumers from around the world to buy directly from wholesalers and manufacturers in China. On AliExpress, consumers have access to a variety of products. In addition to the global English-language site, AliExpress operates two local language sites in Russia and Brazil. The product categories on AliExpress.com include apparel and accessories, phones and communications products, beauty and health, computer networking, jewelry and watches. Alibaba.com is an online commerce platform. Sellers on Alibaba.com may pay for an annual Gold Supplier membership to host a premium storefront with product listings on the marketplace.
The Company��! marketin! g technology platform, Alimama, offers sellers on its marketplaces marketing services for both personal computer and mobile devices, which include P4P marketing service and display marketing. Alimama also offers its sellers these marketing services through third parties through the Taobao Affiliate Network. The Taobao Ad Network and Exchange (TANX) automates the buying and selling of billions of advertising impressions on a daily basis by third parties. The Company also offer a data management platform (DMP), connected to TANX. Its DMP allows participants on TANX to evaluate and select online advertising inventory using both behavioral data they provide, as well as data from browsing behavior and shopping history. Its Cloud Computing supports its commerce ecosystem by providing a distributed computing infrastructure to handle the large volume of traffic and data generated on its online marketplaces. Its cloud computing platform offers service offerings, including elastic computing, database services and storage and large scale computing services.
The company offer search functions on all of its Web pages, mobile apps and many of its marketing affiliates��websites and apps to make it easy for buyers to find products and services within its marketplaces. The Company offers Aliwangwang, a personal computer-based instant messenger that supports text, audio and video communication. The Company developed Aliwangwang to facilitate open communication between buyers and sellers on Taobao Marketplace and Tmall. Buyers and sellers use it as a tool for a range of tasks, including negotiation of prices, customer services and delivery notification, in addition to the basic messaging functions. It offer Qianniu , an integrated platform for communication and productivity tools which allows sellers on Taobao Marketplace and Tmall to manage their operations more efficiently.
Alipay, the Company�� related company, provides payment and escrow services for transactions on Taobao Marketplace, Tm! all, 1688! .com and certain of its other sites, as well as to third parties in China. The Company�� small and medium enterprise (SME) loan business provides micro loans to sellers on its wholesale and retail marketplaces through lending vehicles licensed by the local government.
The company competes with Tencent and Baidu.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By MONEYMORNING.COM]
Give me Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) stock at $70, Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) stock at $200, and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) at $80.
- [By Mike Butler]
Some new additions to the portfolio were Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NASDAQ: BABA) and eBay Inc (NASDAQ: EBAY), with Sony Corp (NYSE: SNE) being a notable exit.
Top 5 Internet Companies For 2014: Symantec Corporation(SYMC)
Symantec Corporation provides security, storage, and systems management solutions internationally. The company?s Consumer segment delivers Internet security, PC tune-up, and online backup solutions and services to individual users and home offices. Its Security and Compliance segment provides solutions for endpoint security and management, compliance, messaging management, data loss prevention, encryption, and authentication services to large, medium, and small-sized businesses, as well as offers solutions through its software-as-a-service (SaaS) security offerings. This segment?s products enable customers to secure, provision, and remotely manage their laptops, PCs, mobile devices, and servers. The company?s Storage and Server Management segment provides storage and server management, backup, archiving, and data protection solutions across heterogeneous storage and server platforms, as well as solutions delivered through its SaaS offerings to large, medium, and small-s ized businesses. Symantec?s Services segment offers implementation services and solutions, including consulting, business critical services, education, and managed security services. The company also provides various enterprise support offerings, such as annual maintenance support contracts, including content, upgrades, and technical support. It sells its products through its eCommerce platform, as well as through distributors, direct marketers, Internet-based resellers, system builders, ISPs, and retail locations worldwide. Symantec markets and sells its products through distributors, retailers, direct marketers, Internet-based resellers, original equipment manufacturers, system builders, and Internet service providers; and its e-commerce channels, as well as direct sales force, value-added and large account resellers, and system integrators. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Mountain View, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Traders Reserve]
For some reason, certain companies can attract buyers no matter the circumstance. I would put Symantec (SYMC) in that category. Shares have gained nearly 20% this year even as Symantec�� prospects deteriorated.
Top 5 Internet Companies For 2014: Amazon.com Inc.(AMZN)
Amazon.com, Inc. operates as an online retailer in North America and internationally. It operates retail Web sites, including amazon.com and amazon.ca. The company serves consumers through its retail Web sites and focuses on selection, price, and convenience. It also offers programs that enable sellers to sell their products on its Web sites, and their own branded Web sites. In addition, the company serves developer customers through Amazon Web Services, which provides access to technology infrastructure that developers can use to enable virtually various type of business. Further, it manufactures and sells the Kindle e-reader. Additionally, the company provides fulfillment; miscellaneous marketing and promotional agreements, such as online advertising; and co-branded credit cards. Amazon.com, Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By prabhat71]
Blackberry (BBRY) seems to be returning from the wild blue yonder. The organization's turnaround looked realistic last month and it conveyed handsomely by posting Wall Street-beating numbers. Furnished with a partnership with Amazon.com (AMZN) and raid into new markets, it is likely that Blackberry will have the capacity to sustain its marvelous run. A closer take a gander at the organization's strategies will make it clear why Blackberry can turnaround.
- [By Chris Neiger]
Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN ) today launched a new online Active and Healthy Living Store aimed at adults over 50 years of age and providing products from categories including nutrition, wellness, exercise and fitness, medical, personal care, beauty, travel and leisure, and entertainment.
- [By Chris Neiger]
Unfortunately for many traditional PC makers, they're not the ones benefiting from the popularity of tablets. If we take a look at IDC's data from the end of January, we see that Apple leads, with the most tablet shipments, followed by Samsung, and then Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN ) with it's Kindle line.�
- [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]
3dsystems.com3D Systems made these sugar cubes with a 3-D printer There were plenty of winners and losers this week, with a leading toy maker posting strong growth across its product lines and one of this year's most hyped smartphone rollouts struggling to connect with consumers. Here's a rundown of the week's smartest moves and biggest blunders. Fire Phone -- Loser It has been widely assumed that Amazon.com (AMZN) hasn't gained a lot of traction with its first foray into proprietary smartphones, but now we have confirmation directly from the leading online retailer. Amazon took a $170 million accounting hit on Thursday to write down the value of its Fire Phone inventory and supplier commitment costs. Amazon isn't ready to throw in the towel on the smartphone, but it clearly miscalculated in a big way by not pricing it more aggressively. It may not have much of a choice now. Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) -- Winner The restaurant industry's market darling lived up to the hype with another blowout quarter. Revenue and earnings climbed 31 percent and 56 percent, respectively, over the prior year. The most stunning nugget in Chipotle's report is that comparable-restaurant sales soared 19.8 percent during the quarter. Yes, the average Chipotle rang up 19.8 percent more in sales than it did during last year's third quarter. A springtime menu price increase has helped spice up sales, but Chipotle continues to be a fast-casual rock star. The stock did disappoint the market by initiating a lackluster outlook for 2015. That was enough to find the bears outnumbering the bulls. However, it's hard to generate a nearly 20 percent spike in store-level comps without being called a winner. 3D Systems (DDD) -- Loser 3-D printing may be one of the coolest technologies to arise in years, but consumer adoption has been slow. Printing physical objects sounds cool -- and there are plenty of consumer and industrial applications -- but the high prices of printers have kept 3-D p
Top 5 Internet Companies For 2014: IAC/InterActiveCorp (IACI)
IAC/InterActiveCorp engages in the Internet business in the United States and internationally. The company�s Search segment develops, markets, and distributes various downloadable toolbars; provides search, reference, and content services through its destination search and other Websites, including Ask.com and Dictionary.com; and aggregates and integrates local advertising and content for distribution to publishers on Web and mobile platforms, as well as markets and distributes mobile applications through which it provides search and additional services. Its Match segment offers subscription-based and advertiser-supported online personals services through its Websites comprising Match.com, Chemistry.com, OurTime.com, BlackPeopleMeet.com, and OkCupid.com, as well as through mobile applications and Meetic-branded Websites. The company�s ServiceMagic segment offers Market Match service that matches consumers with service professionals; Exact Match service, which enables con sumers to review service professional profiles and select the service professional that meets their specific needs; and 1800Contractor.com, an online directory of service professionals. This segment also offers Website design and hosting services. Its Media and Other segment operates CollegeHumor.com, an online entertainment Website that targets young males; Vimeo, a Website on which users can upload, share, and view video; and Pronto.com, a comparison search engine. This segment also engages in the creation of video content for various distribution platforms; and operates as an Internet retailer of footwear and related apparel and accessories, as well as focuses on multimedia business. The company was formerly known as InterActiveCorp and changed its name to IAC/InterActiveCorp in July 2004. IAC/InterActiveCorp was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Lawrence Meyers]
Rather than pick the obvious candidates, I also like to look for great stocks to buy that might not be on most investors��radar. Here are three such stocks to buy:
InterActiveCorp (IACI)InterActiveCorp (IACI) is Barry Diller�� conglomerate of internet companies, not terribly different from John Malone�� Liberty Interactive (LINTA). The strategy for IACI stock has been to wait for a leader in a given sector to emerge and then buy it up, or at least a portion of it. These businesses either have a history of generating lots of cash flow, or have the potential to do so.
- [By Rex Crum]
Additionally, Devitt initiated coverage of IAC/InterActive Corp. (IACI) �with an equal weight rating and best-case stock price scenario of $67 a share.
- [By Brian Stelter]
I hesitated, but she insisted that I come to the headquarters of Barry Diller's IAC (IACI) for an in-person demonstration of the product, which she called an "online TV platform." Once I was there, I understood. "Surprisingly high-quality signal," I scribbled in my notebook. "Place- and time-shifting!"
- [By Eric Volkman]
Rhyu joins the company from IAC's (NASDAQ: IACI ) Match.com, where he has filled the roles of both CFO and chief administrative officer since 2011. Previous to that, he was a senior vice president at News Corp's (NASDAQ: FOXA ) Dow Jones & Company. He also served as corporate controller for both Sirius XM Radio and GrafTech International (NYSE: GTI ) .
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