Hommik on vaikne olnud, kuid suurimad uudised arvatavasti Applelt (AAPL), mis kaupleb eelturul üle 3% plusspoolel. Kuigi esialgu uskusid paljud, et Jobs ei ole asjaoludest teadlik, kinnitab 10-K praegu vastupidist. Iseenesest võiks see lisada kaalu eilsetele kommentaaridele juhiriski osas.
10-K: The independent counsel and its forensic accountants (“Investigative Team”) reviewed the facts and circumstances surrounding stock option grants made on 259 dates. The Investigative Team spent over 26,500 person-hours searching more than one million physical and electronic documents and interviewing more than 40 current and former directors, officers, employees, and advisors. Based on a review of the totality of evidence and the applicable law, the Special Committee found no misconduct by current management. The Special Committee’s investigation identified a number of grants for which grant dates were intentionally selected in order to obtain favorable exercise prices. The terms of these and certain other grants, as discussed below, were finalized after the originally assigned grant dates. The Special Committee concluded that the procedures for granting, accounting for, and reporting stock option grants did not include sufficient safeguards to prevent manipulation. Although the investigation found that CEO Steve Jobs was aware or recommended the selection of some favorable grant dates, he did not receive or financially benefit from these grants or appreciate the accounting implications. The Special Committee also found that the investigation had raised serious concerns regarding the actions of two former officers in connection with the accounting, recording and reporting of stock option grants.
Briefing: AAPL Apple Computer: Details from 10-K (80.87 ) -Update- From today's 10-K: "During the relevant period, the Company made two grants to CEO Steve Jobs. The first grant, dated January 12, 2000, was for 10 million option shares. The second grant, dated October 19, 2001, was for 7.5 million option shares. Both grants were cancelled in March 2003 prior to being exercised, when Mr. Jobs received 5 million shares of restricted stock. With respect to the grant dated January 12, 2000, the Board on December 2, 1999, authorized a special "CEO Compensation Committee" to grant Mr. Jobs up to 15 million shares. The evidence indicates that the CEO Compensation Committee finalized the terms of the grant on January 12, 2000, although the Committee's action was memorialized in a UWC transmitted on January 18, 2000. Because the measurement date is the originally assigned grant date, the Company has not recognized any stock-based compensation expense from this grant. If the Company had determined that the measurement date was the date when the UWC was executed or received, then additional stock-based compensation would have been recognized. The grant dated October 19, 2001 was originally approved at a Board meeting on August 29, 2001, with an exercise price of $17.83. The terms of the grant, however, were not finalized until December 18, 2001. The grant was dated October 19, 2001, with an exercise price of $18.30. The approval for the grant was improperly recorded as occurring at a special Board meeting on October 19, 2001. Such a special Board meeting did not occur. There was no evidence, however, that any current member of management was aware of this irregularity. The Company has recognized $20 million in stock-based compensation expense for this grant, reflecting the difference between the exercise price of $18.30 and the share price on December 18, 2001 of $21.01."
BusinessWeek Online reports long-term growth investor Richard Driehaus of Driehaus Capital Management says the prospects are hot for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR). Driehaus calls Green Mountain the "best retail story out there. This is like the razor to Gillette (PG) or the printer cartridge to Hewlett-Packard (HPQ)." Some investors got the jitters when the co reported an earnings hit for its fiscal fourth quarter ended Sept. 30: Net income dropped 37%, to $1.5 mln, or 19 cents per share, mostly because of costs related to its June acquisition of Keurig, which sells single-cup brewing systems. They overlooked that sales zoomed 87% in the quarter, in part because Keurig added $21.6 mln to revenues. Sales have been brisk at Macy's (FD), Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY), Target (TGT), and Costco (COST), says Mitchell Pinheiro of Janney Montgomery Scott, who on Dec. 6 reiterated his "buy" rating and his 12-month price target of 60. He sees EPS jumping from $1.07 in fiscal 2006, to $1.51 in 2007. Driehaus adds that because the co now roasts, distributes, and sells organic coffee products, its vertical business model will allow it to ink more deals the way it did last year with McDonald's (MCD), which in part credits better sales at 650 of its New England and New York stores to better-tasting coffee. Driehaus figures the stock could quadruple in a few years.
5 oil service names mentioned positively in Weekday Trader: Barron's Online reports exploration and production companies EnCana (ECA) and EOG Resources (EOG), driller GlobalSantaFe (GSF), oilfield-services giant Halliburton (HAL) and services-equipment maker National Oilwell Varco (NOV) all look reasonably priced and should continue producing strong cash flow and earnings. More than half of EOG's natural-gas reserves are in the U.S., with significant projects in Texas. EnCana's North American reserves are in spots including Alberta's oil sands and Rocky Mountain coal beds. These reserves are known and offer opportunity with low risk, and each co is competitive on costs, says Sheraz Mian, an analyst at Zacks Investment Research. While those reserves are not reflected in 2007 earnings or cash flow estimates, their value in the future justifies loftier valuations for each stock, Mian says. Neither stock looks pricey, though EOG is slightly more expensive, trading at 12.1 times estimated earnings for 2007, while EnCana is trading near 10.6 times next year's earnings, according to Thomson Financial/Baseline. Halliburton shares have not rallied along with other international providers of equipment, technology and expertise for rigs. One reason is the co's exposure to North American natural-gas projects where future growth and spending is more uncertain than deep-water plays. "You will see most of the deep-sea drillers show huge [earnings] increases next year," says Donald Hodges, who owns GlobalSantaFe in the Hodges Fund. "They have the financial strength to make additional acquisitions, buy shares or pay larger dividends." Another beneficiary of oilfield-services spending is National Oilwell Varco. The shares are trading at a 25% discount to their 10-year median p/e ratio, based on forward earnings, and a discount to competitors, taking into account the merger that created the co earlier this year, says Geoff Kieburtz, an analyst with Citigroup.