Morning Buzz: The Manitowoc Company (MTW), Apple (AAPL), Ambarella (AMBA), LiveDeal (LIVE), Google (GOOG)

Shares of Manitowoc (MTW) jumped 10% to $23 in early trade after noted activist investor Carl Icahn disclosed a 7.7% stake in the company. Icahn, who said he acquired his position in the shares believing they were undervalued, stated in a regulatory filing that he intends to talk to company management about separating its crane and food service businesses into two companies.

On valuation measures, Manitowoc shares are currently priced at 23.66x this year’s forecasted earnings compared to the industry’s 10.10x earnings multiple. Ticker has a PEG and forward P/E ratio of 0.83 and 14.33, respectively. Price/Sales for the same period is 0.72 while EPS is $0.96. Currently there are 6 analysts that rate MTW a ‘Buy’, 12 rate it a ‘Hold’. 1 analyst rates it a ‘Sell’. MTW has a median Wall Street price target of $23.00 with a high target of $30.00.

In the past 52 weeks, shares of Manitowoc, Wisconsin-based company have traded between a low of $16.24 and a high of $33.50 and are now at $22.74. Shares are down 9.63% year-over-year and 9.94% year-to-date.

Apple Inc. (AAPL) – The tech giant is in talks with major U.K. banks about launching “Apple Pay” in Britain in the first half of 2015, according to the Sunday Telegraph newspaper.

The publication notes that negotiations are said to be “tricky,” due to the debate over just what customer data the iPhone maker will be able to access.

“It is understood the bank is uncomfortable with the amount of personal and financial information Apple wants to collect about its customers,” the report said. “Some executives fear Apple Pay and the data it delivers to Apple could serve as a beachhead for an invasion of the banking industry.”

Apple shares are trading 0.26% higher in early trading on Monday following the report.

Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded to ‘Underperform’ from ‘Hold’ shares of Ambarella, Inc. (AMBA). In a research note published on Monday, the firm attributed the downgrade to the co.’s forecast for lower gross margins in the second half of fiscal 2015, pricing pressure from its largest customer GoPro (GPRO), and an expected rapid deceleration in Ambarella’s YoY rev growth during fiscal 2015.

Ambarella, Inc. shares are currently priced at 44.23x this year’s forecasted earnings. Ticker has a PEG and forward P/E ratio of 1.35 and 27.07, respectively. Price/Sales for the same period is 8.76 while EPS is $1.21. AMBA has a median Wall Street price target of $60.00 with a high target of $70.00.

Shares are up 82.51% year-over-year and 65.06% year-to-date.

LiveDeal, Inc. (LIVE) gained over 25 percent to $4.12 in early trade after the acquisition and online listing services provider reported year-end financial results from its fiscal year, which ended September 30, 2014.

LiveDeal said net revenues increased by 209% year-over-year, to approximately $7.2 M. This represents the largest annual revenue increase in the company’s history. Total assets increased by more than $15 million since the fiscal year ended September 2013. The company also reported a strong cash position of $8.1 million, compared to cash of approximately $761,000 as of September 30, 2013.

“In 2014 LiveDeal began to make its mark on the industry, demonstrating that both partners and customers truly want their deals ‘real time,’ and we anticipate continued growth in 2015, including expanding beyond our restaurant base, and evolving into a fully-fledged e-commerce site,” said in a statement Jon Isaac, CEO of LiveDeal Inc. “We look forward to the coming fiscal year, when we expect continued significant growth in our revenue, and strategically execute on our business plans to ensure that we are leaders in the industry while providing optimum shareholder value.”

Google (GOOG) — Google’s popular Gmail email service has been blocked in China, in what appears to be the latest attempt by Beijing to reduce the search giant’s presence there.

Shares of Google Inc. are lower by $2.11 to $532 in early trade on Monday.

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