Wyatt Research Week in Review: April 26-May 2

The Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) harvest was plentiful this earnings season.
On Monday, Apple reported earnings per share of $2.33 for its fiscal 2015 second quarter – up 40% year-over-year and well above analysts’ projections of $2.16 per share. Revenue was $58 billion, up a healthy 27%.
The bigger news for income investors was that Apple will expand its capital allocation program to $200 billion from a previous $130 billion authorization.
The capital returns increase includes an 11% quarterly dividend hike to 52 cents a share. But more importantly, Apple has increased its stock buyback authorization to $140 billion from the $90 billion level announced last year.
Coming on the heels of the Apple Watch launch on April 24, it was an eventful few days for the world’s largest company by market capitalization.
Twitter’s (NYSE: TWTR) week, by contrast, was nothing to tweet home about.
Its quarterly report was ugly. Revenue was $436 million, which missed the consensus estimate of $456.2 million. The revenue figure was also below the company’s projected range of $440 million to $450 million.
In response, Twitter shaved its full-year revenue guidance to a range of $2.17 billion to $2.27 billion, down from its previous projection of $2.3 billion to $2.35 billion.
To make matters worse, the lackluster results were leaked early. Shortly after 3 p.m. Tuesday, market research firm Selerity began tweeting Twitter’s first-quarter earnings results, even though Twitter wasn’t due to release earnings until after the market close.
The Nasdaq OMX Group has since owned up to the mistake of briefly posting the premature results on Twitter’s investor relations page, which is hosted on the Nasdaq site Shareholder.com.
With the rough revenue figure exacerbated by the leak, Twitter shares plummeted. It ended Tuesday’s trading session down 18.2% for the day.
Be sure to check the Wyatt Investment Research website on Monday for coverage of Berkshire Hathaway’s (NYSE: BRK-B) annual shareholder meeting, taking place Saturday in Warren Buffett’s beloved Omaha, Neb.
But for now, here are some of my favorite articles from the week:
Top 5 Dividend Increases for May – The power of dividend increases can’t be overstated. From 1972 to 2010, S&P 500 dividend growers posted gains of 9.3%, versus 7% for the entire index. And Wyatt Research analyst Marshall Hargrave has identified the top five stocks upping their dividends in May.
Buffett Doubles Down on Auto Dealerships – Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway bought over 80 auto dealerships earlier this year, and Buffett has said he’d like to buy more in the next few years. Here’s why.
Go Really Big for Long-Term Reliable Income – Which companies would you put your money on to be around in the next century? Wyatt Research expert Steve Mauzy is thinking big – specifically, these Big Oil stocks.
Play the Cloud with This Blue Chip Tech Stock – While it isn’t the ultra-growth stock that aggressive investors often seek, this cloud investment is a position you can buy and hold – and not worry about.
The GMO War: Chipotle vs. The World – Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) announced Monday that it will become the first national restaurant chain to stop using genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Chief Investment Strategist Ian Wyatt explains here why the move could give Chipotle stock a big boost.
Buffalo Wild Wings Stock Sinks as Chicken Costs Go Wild – Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD) has only one major Achilles’ heel it cannot control, and it’s in the company’s name: wings. Namely, the price of chicken wings.
Nokia Reinvents Itself (Again) with Alcatel-Lucent Deal – Nokia (NYSE: NOK) was the dominant mobile phone manufacturer in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Then smartphones happened. Can it bounce back by buying Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU)?
Comcast Abandons Time Warner Deal: Now What? – Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) officially ended its attempt to acquire Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC)  in a deal that was valued at $45 billion. What’s next for the cable industry?
Apple Boosts Dividend, Buybacks After Monster Quarter – I mentioned above that Apple easily beat analysts’ expectations for quarterly earnings. Click here to get the full breakdown on Apple’s fruitful performance.
Have a great weekend!