Alibaba Unit Secures Hong Kong Virtual Banking License
Alibaba (BABA) looks to be on track to expand its financial services business in Asia.
Retail & Wholesale
Market Realist tracks the latest news on stock performance, acquisitions, and earnings in the retail and wholesale sectors.
eBay Joins Peers in Opening Physical Stores
eBay is not the first to go offline to connect with small businesses in an attempt to bridge the gap between online and offline retail.
Amazon Is Leaving China after 15 Years in the Country
e-Commerce giant Amazon (AMZN) will retreat from its domestic marketplace business in China as of July 18.
Bill Ackman Thanks Warren Buffett for His Fund’s Comeback in 2019
Bill Ackman has made a huge comeback in 2019.
What to Expect of Home Depot’s Revenue in 2019
Home Depot’s (HD) management team expects its revenue to rise 3.3% this year, which also accounts for an extra week of operations in 2018.
Is Kroger Losing to Walmart, Target, and Costco?
Kroger (KR) stock underperformed the broader markets in the first quarter and fell 10.5%. In comparison, the S&P 500 rose 13.1%.
Can Whole Foods Expansion Help Revive Amazon’s Revenues?
Amazon (AMZN) has been struggling due to slow revenue growth and higher investments in 2019 in hiring and capital spending.
Alibaba Stoking Another Fire against Amazon in India
Alibaba (BABA) is preparing to inject $50 million in fresh funding in BigBasket, India’s top online grocery retailer.
Alibaba’s Recent Africa Deal Could Worry Amazon
Kenya is one of the African countries where Alibaba and Amazon are battling for e-commerce market share.
How Bed Bath & Beyond’s Valuation Stacks Up with Peers
Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) posted its third-quarter earnings on January 9, 2019.
How Best Buy’s Valuation Compares with Peers’
As of March 22, Best Buy’s (BBY) 12-month forward PE ratio was 12.3x, while specialty retail peers GameStop (GME) and Aaron’s (AAN) had PE ratios of 5.2x and 12.9x, respectively.
Dollar Tree’s Strategic Plans: Better Results in Fiscal 2019?
Analysts expect Dollar Tree’s sales to rise 3.8% to $23.7 billion in fiscal 2019. The adjusted EPS is expected to fall 2.2% to $5.33.
Do Analysts Expect JCPenney’s Revenue to Improve in 2019?
Currently, analysts expect JCPenney’s revenue to decline in fiscal 2019.
PayPal Is Left with Big Shoes to Fill in EMEA Leadership
The departure of PayPal’s (PYPL) longtime executive Louise Phelan leaves the company with big shoes to fill in a key market region.
How Did Kroger’s Margins Fare in 2018?
Kroger’s gross margin improved to 22.0% in the fourth quarter from 21.9% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017.
Could NIO Be on Warren Buffett’s Radar after Recent Stock Fall?
Chinese electric carmaker NIO (NIO) continued to burn cash in the fourth quarter.
The Top Five Investors in NIO, the ‘Tesla of China’
According to Reuters, Baillie Gifford was the largest investor in NIO as of December 31.
What’s Hurting CVS and Walgreens Stocks?
Walgreens Boots Alliance stock (WBA) fell 6.4% on March 1 after Baird’s reduction in target price.
Home Depot’s Valuation Compared to Its Peers
Among the 33 analysts that follow Home Depot, 72.7% recommended a “buy,” while 27.3% recommended a “hold.”
Why Wall Street Fell in Love with Electronic Arts Stock
Electronic Arts (EA) gained 6.8% today as of 10:45 AM EST.
Cloud Infrastructure Continues to See Spectacular Growth
The global cloud infrastructure space has continued to grow strongly.
Why Microsoft Bought DataSense
Microsoft (MSFT) recently announced that it had bought education data management platform DataSense from BrightBytes.
Amazon Is Trying New Cost-Cutting Approach
Amazon (AMZN) recently began using robots to deliver packages to customers in parts of Seattle on an experimental basis.
Digging Deeper into Lowe’s Strategies
After streamlining its business, Lowe’s is focusing on four key areas to drive its sales.
How Home Depot Aims to Drive Its Sales
Home Depot’s integrated retail strategy To counter Amazon (AMZN), Home Depot (HD) has been focusing on its integrated retail strategy, One Home Depot. The strategy integrates its offline and online channels to enhance customers’ experience, which could be hard for Amazon to replicate. In last year’s third quarter, the company’s online sales grew 28%, and […]
What Next for Amazon in India amid New Retail Rules?
India’s new e-commerce rules could make life tougher for Amazon and Walmart (WMT), according to CNN.
Why Whole Foods’ Losses May Not Bother Amazon
According to a recent Wall Street Journal report, Amazon’s Whole Foods business isn’t profitable despite its sales having increased since Amazon took over.
What Could Hurt Walmart’s Profitability in 2019?
Walmart (WMT) had impressive earnings in the first three quarters of fiscal 2019. Walmart beat analysts’ expectations.
Inside PayPal’s Marketing Spending
PayPal (PYPL) spent $326 million on marketing activities in the third quarter compared to $313 million in the second quarter and $285 million in the first quarter.
How PayPal Stock Compares to Its Peers
On December 28, PayPal (PYPL) opened the trading session at $85 and closed at $83.26. It posted an average volume of 6.85 million.
A Closer Look at Facebook’s Profitability Ratio
Facebook’s (FB) TTM (trailing -12- months) gross margin stands at 84.26%, compared to the industry and sector averages of 40.63% and 43.56%, respectively.
Why Wall Street Expects Kroger’s Revenue to Rise in 2019
In the first three quarters of 2018, Kroger (KR) posted revenue of $93.07 billion, which represents growth of 1.6% from $91.63 billion in the corresponding three quarters of the previous year.
Home Depot Has Outperformed Lowe’s Revenue Growth in 2018
In the first three quarters of 2018, Home Depot posted revenues of $81.71 billion—6.1% growth from $77.02 billion in the first three quarters of 2017.
Did AutoZone Resume Its Promotional Strategy in Q1 2019?
AutoZone’s performance is mainly divided into two business segments: DIY (do it yourself), or Retail, and DIFM (do it for me), or Commercial.
IBM Continues to Win Contracts for Its Blockchain Solutions
In July, IBM launched a blockchain solution specifically for the financial service industry, LedgerConnect.
The Real Reason IBM Acquired Red Hat
In October, IBM (IBM) shocked the world by acquiring Red Hat (RHT) for $34 billion, marking its largest acquisition to date.
Alibaba Foresees Tempered Revenue Growth amid US-China Worries
Alibaba reported soft revenues in the second quarter of fiscal 2019, as the e-commerce giant is struggling to gain momentum amid the growing tensions between the US and China.
Alibaba Grows Its Cloud Footprint in Europe
Alibaba (BABA) has recently opened its first data centers in the United Kingdom as it seeks to expand its cloud footprint in Europe.
Is China the Land of the Setting Sun?
China’s major indices are still down 25-30% this year alone.
Cold War 2.0: Why It Looks Like a Real Possibility
The trade war is expected to be a long-term affair, according to several observers including Alibaba’s (BABA) Jack Ma.
Can IBM’s Blockchain Retain Its Market Share?
According to a report by the IDC, total spending on the blockchain platform is expected to climb by 122% to $2.1 billion.
Net Margins for Alibaba and Amazon: A Comparison
Alibaba’s net income remained at 20.1 billion yuan in the quarter ended June 30, 2018, just like the quarter ended in June 2017.
How Alibaba’s and Amazon’s Operating Costs Have Grown
Alibaba’s operating expenses increased 92% to 29.2 billion yuan ($4.4 billion) in the quarter ended June 30, 2018.
Who Has Higher Gross Margins: Alibaba or Amazon?
Alibaba’s gross profit improved 14% to 37.2 billion yuan ($5.6 billion) in the quarter ended June 30, 2018.
Comparing Nordstrom’s Top-Line Growth with Peers’
Nordstrom’s (JWN) revenue grew 6.7% to $7.6 billion in the first half of fiscal 2018. In the second quarter, which ended on August 4, the company’s revenue grew 7.2% on a year-over-year basis to $4.1 billion.
How JD.com’s Segments Have Performed
JD.com’s (JD) essential reportable segments are the JD Mall and New Businesses segments.
Advance Auto Parts’ Valuation Multiples in Q3 2018
As of August 14, Advance Auto Parts’ forward EV-to-EBITDA multiple was 10.8x. Currently, Advance Auto Parts’ forward PE multiple is 20.8x.
Comparing Etsy’s Valuation to Its Peers’
Analysts expect Etsy’s 2018 revenue to be $588.7 million, up 33.4%, while its EPS are expected to be $0.47 compared to $0.48 in 2017.
Why IBM’s Cloud Vendor Ranking Is Sliding
IBM’s (IBM) ranking among cloud vendors is sliding, and it turns out Alibaba (BABA) and Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Google may have played a role in its repositioning.
What Did Alibaba See in Trendyol?
Alibaba (BABA) recently struck a deal to buy a stake in Turkey-based online marketplace Trendyol.