Patricia Garner

In 2015, Yahoo’s management expects that MaVeNS will contribute more than $1.5 billion of revenue to Yahoo’s overall business.

Twitter’s (TWTR) stock was up 7.45% after Twitter’s CEO’s presentation at Analyst Day on November 12, 2014. Twitter’s investors like what they heard.

BAM exited its position in Newfield Exploration Co. in 3Q14. It accounted for 1.31% of BAM’s second quarter portfolio. NFX is an energy company.

Facebook has been looking to diversify its business from online advertisements to e-commerce. E-commerce is a fast-growing market that Facebook should tap.

Davidson Kempner Capital Management initiated a new position in CBS Corporation (CBS) that accounted for 1.55% of the fund’s 3Q14 portfolio.

For 4Q14, Priceline Group recorded bookings of $10.7 billion—up 17% YoY. Room nights booked grew by 24% and rental car days grew by 16%.

Blue Harbour initiated a new position in Alliance Data Systems (ADS) in 4Q14. It bought 1,153,390 shares worth $43 million. ADS accounts for 1.41% of the fund’s portfolio.

Ireland-based Covidien is a global healthcare leader that offers innovative medical technology solutions and patient care products to providers.

The company has now stopped including results from Microsoft’s Bing search engine through the Facebook search.

Activist investor Carl Icahn said that Apple’s stock is dramatically undervalued and is actually trading at half its intrinsic value. He believes that Apple’s stock should be trading at around $203.

Yahoo! Inc. is a global technology company that provides a variety of products and services. Recently, Yahoo shares climbed higher on third-quarter earnings and revenue that beat analyst estimates.

MLM’s 4Q14 net sales were up 59% to $779.5 million, compared with net sales of $491.4 million in 4Q13. It beat its 4Q14 revenue estimates by $84 million.

In December, Yahoo acquired BrightRoll for $640 million. The acquisition of BrightRoll put Yahoo in a leadership position in the video advertising industry.

There were about 25 hedge funds with Twitter in their top ten holdings in the first quarter. A total of 177 hedge funds also added to their positions in TWTR.

Mobile search monetizes at a lower rate than PC search due to the smaller screen sizes of mobile devices.

JPMorgan’s latest 2Q14 results beat estimates. Meanwhile, net income was down to $6 billion from $6.5 billion in 2Q13. The earnings per share (or EPS) was $1.46, compared to $1.60 in 2Q13.

The rationale for investing in Time Warner Cable could involve its growing subscriber base, which was lagging until last quarter, and the speculation over a deal with Charter Communications.

AQR Capital sold a position in GEO Group Inc. in 2Q14. The company accounted for a 0.0206% position in the fund’s first quarter U.S. long portfolio.

In February, Comcast agreed to buy Time Warner Cable for ~$45.2 billion. This deal will create the largest cable provider in the U.S.

eBay isn’t focused on same-day delivery. The company believes the majority of shoppers don’t like paying shipping costs associated with same-day delivery.

Allison Transmission and its subsidiaries design and manufacture commercial and defense fully automatic transmissions. In 4Q14, net sales grew 11% to $544 million.

Facebook (FB) is expected to announce its Q4 2014 earnings on January 28, 2015. In this series, we’ll analyze how the last quarter of 2014 could turn out.

The online advertising industry is growing at a much faster pace. This is an exciting opportunity for advertisers and marketers around the world.

According to WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum, WhatsApp crossed the 700 million monthly active users (or MAUs) mark globally in January 2015.

On December 15, 2014, Yahoo completed the acquisition of BrightRoll for ~$640 million in cash. It’s the industry’s leading programmatic video advertising platform.

The investment in silver mining stocks appears to be based on the view that the stocks could outperform the market. This is due to a rise in consumer demand for silver.

Programmatic buying allows advertisers to purchase digital media ad space in an automated manner through ad exchanges, real time bidding, and demand-side platforms.

Yahoo’s other area of core business is the display advertising business. It hasn’t been performing well. In 3Q14, its revenue declined by 6% YoY.

Yahoo plans to make Tumblr similar to YouTube and is trying to convince some of Google’s top YouTube stars to make Tumblr their exclusive video distributor.

On May 8, Alibaba Group (BABA) bought 4.8 million class A shares of Zulily (ZU) worth approximately $58 million.

Facebook (FB) launched its Audience Network program early last year in beta. Facebook said that it’s looking to partner with more publishers.

In 3Q14, Coatue Management added to its position in eBay Inc. (EBAY). The stock accounted for 3.37% of the fund’s portfolio for the quarter.

Industry analysts expect online advertising to increase by 17% in 2014, as improving technology makes Internet advertising cheaper and more effective.

Magnetar reduced its position in AAL in the third quarter. The position accounts for 1.17% of the fund’s total portfolio in the third quarter.

Facebook’s (FB) direct video uploads and autoplay video ads are garnering lot of attention from viewers as well as advertisers.

Magnetar started a new position in BABA in 3Q14. The position accounts for 4.05% of the fund’s total portfolio in the third quarter. BABA is the largest e-commerce player in China.

Facebook’s average ad price increased rapidly in 4Q14 mainly because of ad redesign, improved ad targeting, and the launch of accurate measurement tools.

The Yahoo-Mozilla deal is driving millions of queries to Yahoo each month, which will boost Yahoo’s search-related ad revenue in coming quarters.

User engagement is an important parameter for Internet companies. It helps drive ad pricing. Tumblr is helping Yahoo increase its user engagement.

Search advertising includes getting traffic through unpaid organic search or free listings and buying traffic through paid search listings.

Mobile advertising is a type of advertising that involves communicating promotional or advertising messages. The messages are sent through mobile phones or wireless networks.

Yahoo (YHOO) increased the growth rate in its mobile advertising business. By the end of 2014 it will start getting more traffic from mobile than desktop.

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg is often questioned about Facebook’s high-priced acquisition of WhatsApp, which generated revenue of only $20 million in 2013.

Highbridge Capital Management is an alternative investment management organization. It was founded in 1992. The company has developed a diversified investment platform.

DXJ tracks the performance of the WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Index. The Index and the fund are designed to provide exposure to equity securities in Japan.

Yahoo (YHOO) is expected to announce its fiscal 4Q14 earnings on January 27, 2015. Yahoo had robust third quarter results. Its revenue was $1.09 billion.

Gemini is a platform that combines mobile search and native advertising. It helps advertisers manage and optimize their ads.

Mobile devices are an important revenue driver for Facebook.

In 4Q14, Coatue Management sold its position in eBay (EBAY). Coatue sold 5,820,987 shares of eBay. It represented 3.37% of the fund’s 3Q14 portfolio.

Investors were disappointed with Alibaba’s 4Q14 results, and the company saw a 10% decline in its value the day it announced its earnings.

Maverick Capital increased its position in Northstar Realty Finance (NRF) by more than $21 million in stock. Northstar represented 1.06% of the fund’s total portfolio in 4Q14.

Increased user engagement is one reason Facebook’s ad pricing has increased. Average price per ad has increased due to its redesigned right-hand column ads.

AQR Capital increased its position in Apple from 0.86% in the previous quarter to 1.24% in the fund’s second quarter U.S. long portfolio.

After the separation of eBay and PayPal, eBay management plans to pursue an IPO (initial public offering) or sale of eBay Enterprise.

During the earnings conference call, Yahoo’s management said that in 2014, more than 600,000 applications were integrated with the Flurry software development kit.

In addition to its partnership with Paperless Post, Yahoo (YHOO) also launched contact cards in Yahoo Mail to increase user engagement.

Yahoo’s price per ad decreased about 20% in 4Q14 compared to 24% in 3Q14, mainly due to a shift from higher priced premium inventory to native ads.

Braintree is growing rapidly, helping PayPal extend its reach in the mobile payment market.

Yahoo’s mobile search business continues to increase at a fast rate. It shows that the company’s investments in mobile are finally paying dividends.

By acquiring KKR Financial Holdings, KKR increased the scale and liquidity of its balance sheet and added over $2 billion in net assets to support the continued growth of its business.

Twitter (TWTR) upgraded its direct messaging tool by allowing users to have private group chats with as many as 20 other friends or strangers who follow them.

eBay’s non-GAAP operating margins declined from 29.2% in 4Q13 to 27.7% in 4Q14. eBay still hasn’t recovered from the events that caused the decline.

Ad exchanges help advertisers reach the most accurate audience in real time, so that they can maximize their campaign performance.

On March 6, 2014, grocery store operators Safeway and Albertsons announced a merger agreement valued at approximately $9 billion.

Chilton Investment Company increased its position in McDonald’s. It accounts for 0.96% of the fund’s third quarter US long portfolio. MCD is a fast food restaurant.

In the first quarter of 2015, Mackenzie Financial added a new position in Newmont Mining (NEM).

TPG-Axon Capital Management LP is a privately owned $4 billion hedge fund firm. It was founded by Dinakar Singh in February 2005.

Despite the slow user growth, Facebook continues to be the leading social network in terms of monthly active users.

In 4Q14, around 112 hedge funds created a new position in Priceline Group—including Eton Park. Its other top new positions were CDK Global, EQT, and KLX.

Maverick Capital increased its position in Novartis (NVS) by more than $22 million in stock. It represented 0.75% of the fund’s total portfolio in 4Q14.

Ctrip.com International, Ltd., or Ctrip, is a leading travel service provider of accommodation reservations, transportation ticketing, packaged tours, and corporate travel management in China.

In November 2014, on Twitter’s (TWTR) engineering blog, the company posted that it indexes every public tweet since 2006.

Maverick Capital lowered its position in TransDigm Group in 3Q14. The position accounts for 4.19% of the fund’s total portfolio in the third quarter.

Adobe Systems is one of the largest and most diversified software companies in the world. 4Q14 revenue grew 3% year-over-year to $1.073 billion.

Allegion provides security solutions for homes and businesses, employing more than 8,000 people and selling products in more than 120 countries across the world. Allegion reported third-quarter 2014 net revenues of $546.7 million, up 3.3% compared to the previous year.

Marcato manages a select number of passive and activist investments across all industries with a primary focus on opportunities in middle-market public equities. At the end of 3Q14, the fund’s U.S. long portfolio was worth $2.81 billion, slightly up from $1.89 billion in 2Q14.

Boardwalk Pipeline owns ~14,000 miles of natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) pipelines, as well as underground caverns for natural gas and NGL storage.

Bridgewater Associates increased its position in Juniper Networks from 0.07% in the 1Q portfolio to 0.21% in the fund’s 2Q portfolio.

On November 19, 2014, Mozilla entered into a five-year strategic partnership with Yahoo (YHOO). It made Yahoo the default search engine for Firefox users in the US.

According to a Bloomberg report in March, Vipshop’s Guangzhou-based share price doubled this year after surging 369% in 2013. This was the biggest advance on the Bloomberg China-U.S. Equity Index.

Chilton Investment Company sold its position in Spansion (CODE) that had accounted for 1.16% of the fund’s 1Q U.S. long portfolio.

Now’s U.S. revenues fell due to the company’s central U.S. pipe yard relocation, reduced project revenues, and the implementation of a new quoting system.

Hillshire reported fiscal 4Q14 net sales of $1.1 billion, up 10.7% in comparison to the corresponding period last year.

Founded in October 1993 by Lee S. Ainslie III and Sam Wyly with assets of $38 million, Maverick Capital is currently worth more than $6 billion.

Coatue Management added a new position in Level 3 Communications Inc. (LVLT) during the third quarter. The stock accounted for 1.46% of the fund’s 3Q14 portfolio.

Google maintained growth rates of 17%–18% over the last couple of years. It should be able to manage a healthy growth rate in 2015 as well.

Facebook’s (FB) Messenger already offers a feature that let people send voice clips to their friends without having to type out the text.

Since its inception in the early 90’s, online advertising has exponentially increased in growth.

Maverick Capital lowered its position in Baidu, Inc. in 3Q14. The position accounts for 0.36% of the fund’s total portfolio in the third quarter.

Iridian exited its position in Philips 66 (PSX), which accounts for 3.20% of the fund’s third quarter portfolio.

Iridian lowered its position in Avis Budget Group, Inc. (CAR), which now accounts for 2.46% of the fund’s third-quarter portfolio.

Iridian sold its position in Tyco International Ltd. (TYC), which accounts for 1.90% of the fund’s second quarter portfolio.

Marcato Capital added to its position in Avis Budget Group (CAR) . The stock accounted for 5.84% of the fund’s portfolio for the quarter ending in September.

Marcato Capital added to its position in Lear corporation (LEA) during 3Q14. The stock accounted for 11.13% of the fund’s portfolio for the quarter ending in September.

In its latest amended filing to SEC, JAT Capital revealed it has an activist stake equal to 9.36% of the company’s shares outstanding. It upped its stake to 5.96 million shares, pushing the company’s management harder to consider strategic alternatives.

Despite continued growth, Twitter is still a small player in the online advertising market. Twitter needs the support of as many advertisers as possible to become a major player in the digital advertising world.

Zillow, Inc. operates the leading real estate and home-related marketplaces on mobile and the Web. Zillow reported quarterly revenue of $88.6 million, up 66% over 3Q 2013.

Mondelez is a global snacking powerhouse and a world leader in biscuits, chocolate, gum, candy, coffee, and powdered beverages. It owns billion-dollar brands and reported net revenues of $8.4 billion.

Consolidated revenues were $523.4 million in the second quarter of 2014, compared to $650.5 million in the second quarter of 2013. The 19.5% decrease came from loss of revenue resulting from the sale of 418 company-operated restaurants to franchisees.

Ingersoll-Rand is a global diversified firm. The company’s reported revenues increased 5% to $3,385 million, beating estimates by 6%. It expects revenues for full-year 2014 to increase by approximately 4%.