The E-Commerce and Online Auctions industry has experienced a decade of growth as more and more Americans have become accustomed to making purchases online. The industry was briefly slowed by the recession; however, the economic recovery has been a boon to industry revenue. In the coming years, IBIS finds that continued economic recovery is expected to drive the industry’s strong growth. Rising disposable income and declining unemployment will improve consumer confidence, increasing consumers’ likelihood and ability to buy products.
Moreover, industry revenue tops out at nearly $300B annually with a compounded annual growth rate of 10.3%. But among the bloated industry behemoths like the eBay’s and Alibaba’s of the world, there are micro-niches that smaller companies can take advantage of far outside the realms of the general public purchasing household items or even bidding on “a gently used General Motors vehicle”. What’s this niche? The high energy, high priced luxury & high-end auction business.
This market has taken on a “mind of its own” when it comes to luxury items so much so that long-time auctioneer, Sothebys (NYSE:BID), one of the longest standing luxury item & fine art dealer in the world, has teamed up with Ebay to launch its long-promised digital sales channel. Now, online collectors can fight as equals against entitled Manhattan socialites for Ansel Adams’ photography and Andy Warhol watches. To this point, the market for high end online auction items has been very much limited to investment but the recent interest to “go digital” in a world where ecommerce has grown so big, can open much larger opportunity for those looking to invest in this space.
Leaders in this space like Christie’s and British auctioneer, Bonhams have ways for customers to bid online but like Sotheby’s up until recent, there has not been a standalone destination for active online bidding on products, which are not also being offered through a live auction at the respective auction houses. Interactive Multi-Media Auction Corporation (OTCBB:IMMA) has recently begun seeing increased market activity following an announcement that the company that the company will be hosting its first live auction event sometime during the beginning of the summer (6-8 weeks from April 15 according to press) in San Jose Mexico. The company also highlighted in a recent shareholder 2015 Strategy Report that its consultants have reached out to several “high-profile Hollywood actors” to support the company’s efforts. Beyond this, increased attention has been placed on the trading trend that the stock has seen in recent months.
Similar to the industry as a whole with stocks like EBAY, BID, AMZN, OSTK gaining major headway in the market since mid October 2014, IMMA has also followed suit during its developmental phase leading up to its first live online auction. Though this stock is fairly a new issue, price has increased from March lows of $0.7768 to highs in April of $2.19.
Besides being established within the space, the only real outlier that separates a company like IMMA from others has been price. Ebay trades with a market cap of over $71B, Amazon holds a heft $196B market cap, Sotheby’s weighs in just under $3B, and Overstock.com comes in just over $500M. All of the trade in a range of anywhere from $20-$420/ share. As a development stage company, Interactive Multi-Media has come under the radar with a tiny cap of less than $70M and with a share price that’s nearly 1/15th to that of the lowest priced stock on this list, OSTK. Should IMMA continue down this path and if it can capture at least 0.01% of the total annual revenue that the E-Commerce and Online Auctions industry generates (holding the market cap that same: 63m), that would give IMMA a price to sales ratio of 2.06; similar to that of a company like Amazon (2.13) and more than 50% less than that of Sotheby’s (4.6). The lower the P/S ratio, historically, the more Wall Street potentially values every dollar of the company’s sales. According to analysis of this indicator by Investopedia, “a low P/S can also be effective in valuing growth stocks that have suffered a temporary setback.”
All things considered, the slowed market growth already realized through brick and mortar auction houses has made way for innovation and technology to ignite a paradigm shift for the industry whether these long established companies like it or not. Early adopters could find themselves quickly establishing a market leading foothold and with evidence of companies like Sotheby’s seeing value and aligning themselves with tech based organizations, this could open up a hotbed for M & A of smaller firms similar to that of Interactive Multi-Media Auction Corporation and others.
]]>Reports are rife about EU antitrust regulators giving competitors of Google four weeks for weighing on the proposed antitrust settlement which would force the search engine company to label its own services in search results on the web as well as retrieve links to rival services.
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The company’s latest proposal entails “displaying three sets of results from rival search engines in a box under its own shopping results,” that seems like a reasonable concession on the company’s part.
An industry group which was given partial funding by software giant Microsoft had stated that the settlement is not enough and said that Google is apparently not offering anything which would prevent it from manipulating results or preferencing its own services.
Proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis had said that shareholders of Microsoft Corporation(NASDAQ:MSFT) should vote against re-election of board member and lead independent director, John Thompson, who is attempting to search for a new chief executive.
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Glass Lewis provides recommendations based on corporate governance guidelines and came out with concerns over a possible conflict of interests for Thompson in the role of CEO of Virtual Instruments, a cloud-computing firm selling devices and licenses to Microsoft.
]]>Find Out Why GLCO Will Massively Outperform BBRY
Smartphone maker BlackBerry has disclosed that customers are turning against its products. The firm said that the stiff competition affecting the firm’s operational and financial results which previously affected demand in US is now being seen all over the world including markets where the firm has witnessed very good growth historically.
The firm said that the slowdown was primarily due to rise in the number of inexpensive phones especially based on Android operating system. But, it did not deny that the shortage of apps in its own operating system also resulted in the decline.
The management wrote the information in the last quarter results announced by the firm.
The company delayed the release as well as cancelled the conference call with analysts due to the confidential and nonbinding bid from the largest shareholder, Fairfax Financial Holdings of Toronto.
The firm’s North American sales were $414 million during the period whereas the all other regions excluding Asia accounted for almost $686 million, about 42 percent. The firm came out with losses of over $1 billion for the quarter due to the inventory write-down on the firm’s 10 operating system, which was pitted against competitors such as Samsung and Apple.
Bernstein Research‘s Carlos Kirjner assessed the threat to Google Inc(NASDAQ:GOOG) of AT&T‘s that it would be delivering Internet access of up to one billion bits per second in Austin, Texas by next year using fiber-optic lines.
Kirjner, having an Outperform rating on Google shares, with a price target of $1,000 price target, stated that AT&T is taking a leaf out of Google’s book. He opined that this is in reaction to Google’s building its own fiber network and service in Austin, which would begin from 2014.
It is difficult to gauge the impact of AT&T’s reaction on Google at this juncture.
]]>Seriousness on a lighter note
Despite his ouster, Mason continued to maintain his trademark sense of humor and said in a public letter that that those who are wondering why he was shown the door have not been paying attention. Digital coupons slowed down as fast as they had boomed and Mason’s tenure spanned it all. He was at the Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) helm when the company topped the market with its daily offers and discounts for various products and services. He had also dismissed the buyout offer from Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) in 2010. The following year, Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) had marked up a market capitalization worth $16.7 billion just a day after it turned into being a public company.
Reaching Breakpoint
Masons tenure also saw Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) tripping over plunging shares, accounting missteps and an inability to tackle a dropping demand and increasing competition. There was a large amount of pressure for him to leave but had been given a few more quarters to prove his mettle. Shares had plunged by a shocking 24 percent and that was the last straw. Shares upped 13 percent after the Mason ouster announcement. He was the co-founder of Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) along with Bradley Keywell and Lefkofsky. Mason’s stake of $212.6 dropped drastically to $938.7 million which was its value at Initial Public Offering. Mason had been fighting a losing battle with trying to focus on retailing products on the internet as the demand for online discounts and offers was fading.
Mason assumes accountability
Mason assumed responsibility for every one of Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN)’s shortfalls. He wrote in a letter that the company’s material weakness, the controversial metrics in the S1, falling below their own expectations in addition to the stock price that has been suspended at one quarter of the company’s listed price, all speak for themselves and that as a CEO he assumes accountability for them all. For a person who had very little prior experience in business and came from a music background Mason turned the Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) culture around and made the company a fun place to work in. A prominent analyst said that he as well as many others had felt that Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) would give Mason some more time but that the latest news had been pretty bad. And so, Mason leaves the Groupon ranks on a serious yet lighter vein.
Shares of Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) went down by 24.28% to close at $4.53
Shares of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) went up by 0.18% to close at $801.20
]]>Search Engines:
Google has grabbed 67% of the search engine market in January, with Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ:YHOO) claiming only 30% of the search engine market. While Google stock has gained, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares have steadily declined and are now trading at 8.4%; less than its previous year’s market price.
According to market experts Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock is trading at an unprecedented discount of 56% to Google, when you look at the price-to-earnings ratio. This is the highest gap between the stocks of the two companies, since the iPhone was introduced in July 2006.
Digital Ads:
Google Inc., headquartered in Mountain View, California has dominated the online & digital advertisement market in the U.S., cornering more than 41% of the marketing revenues in 2012. When you consider the mobile advertisement revenues, it commands a market share of 53%, while Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB), the world’s largest social media company, barely amounts to 8.4%.
As if that is not enough, Google also dominates the search engine-powered advertisement market, garnering 75% of the market’s revenue potential.
The company also earns when it runs advertisements next to the search results, on the search engine results page. It also continues to evolve new ways to reach its users on behalf of its clients and advertisers, through all the new devices that regularly hit the market, like smart phones and tablets. It also facilitates the running of different advertisements for different market segments at different times to help companies reach their targeted audience.
So, it is no wonder that Google, a company that is ready to embrace change and innovate is going from strength to strength, enriching the lives of everyone connected to it!
The shares of Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) were up 1.76% to close at $806.85. The shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) were up 0.95% to close at $28.05. The shares of Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) were up 2.15% to close at $28.93. The shares of Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ:YHOO) were up 1.31% to close at $21.29.
]]>North Korea is a secretive country, where few people have access to the Internet, while foreign visitors are escorted wherever they go.
Google is, of course, not allowed anywhere with its Street View cars and labelling points of interest and roads is not easy for the company.
Working with Google Map Maker, a feature which allows anyone with an interest in cartography to add to and update maps of familiar places, a group of enthusiasts has been busy adding data to maps of North Korea. However, the company didn’t say exactly who updated the maps, or where the mappers are located, Digital Trends reported.
“This effort has been active in Map Maker for a few years and today the new map of North Korea is ready and now available on Google Maps,” Jayanth Mysore, senior product manager of Google Map Maker, wrote in a blog post.
He added, “While many people around the globe are fascinated with North Korea, these maps are especially important for the citizens of South Korea who have ancestral connections or still have family living there.”
Google’s Chairman Eric Schmidt had visited North Korea a couple of weeks ago on a surprise visit. It was reported to be a humanitarian mission.
He had appealed to the country’s leaders to give the people its freedom to use the Internet or continue to face problems.
“As the world is becoming increasingly connected, their decision to be virtually isolated is very much going to affect their physical world, their economic growth and so forth,” he said at the time.
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