We've got three new stocks to watch today:
- Activision Blizzard Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) has finalized plans for its new e-sports league.
- Alphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOGL) makes an acquisition to keep its mobile phone division going.
- GlaxoSmithKline Plc. (NYSE ADR: GSK) wins an FDA approval at an opportune time.
Here's what you need to know...
Stocks to Watch Now No. 1: Activision Blizzard Is Ready to Fill Arenas with Its Overwatch League
The Overwatch League is all set to debut at the end of this year.
Activision Blizzard Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) announced this week that teams based in Philadelphia, Houston, and Dallas have joined the nine franchises already established. The 12-team league will kick off preseason play in December, with regular season games beginning in January and running through June. A championship playoff tournament will follow in July.
E-sports competitions already fill arenas, such as the annual "League of Legends" tournament at Madison Square Garden or "Dota 2" championship at Seattle's KeyArena. But the Overwatch League will be the first professional e-sports league to feature city-based franchises like those of Major League Baseball and the National Football League. Team owners include executives from the New York Mets and the New England Patriots.
In addition to nine American teams, the league also features teams from London, Shanghai, and Seoul. As Activision adds new franchises in coming seasons, league commissioner Nate Nanzer says the primary focus will be on locations outside North America.
Activision is already one of our Money Morning Top 10 Outperformers since Money Morning Director of Technology & Venture Capital Research Michael Robinson recommended it to readers in October 2015. It's up over 100% since then.
For today's best way to capitalize on the e-sports boom, Michael has a different pick - one you probably wouldn't expect. Find out what it is here...
Stocks to Watch Now No. 2: Alphabet Steps Up Its Race to Catch Up with Apple's Smartphones
After a week of rumors, it was announced Thursday that Alphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOGL) had purchased part of HTC Corp. for $1.1 billion.
Back in 2012, Alphabet (then known only as Google) purchased Motorola Mobility Inc. for $12.5 billion. The deal is widely considered a dud for Google. Two years later, it sold off the business for less than $3 billion.
While the Motorola deal was a new venture for the company at the time, Alphabet has now had its own line of Pixel phones for the past year. The HTC deal is apparently a move to keep that business running smoothly, as many HTC engineers have been involved in creating phone models for Pixel.
Alphabet is serious about becoming a hardware company, just as Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) is serious about becoming an Internet company. The two biggest companies in the world (by market cap) are racing to become independent of each other.
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Our experts have recently been talking about this trend from both companies.
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Last week, Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald told FOX Business Network's Stuart Varney that at this point it's "immaterial" how many new iPhones Apple sells. Check out what he says is more important and when he thinks Apple will hit a trillion-dollar valuation.
For Alphabet, the venture into hardware is the tip of the iceberg. Thanks to its new, leaner company structure since 2015, Michael Robinson has compared Alphabet to Berkshire Hathaway. Find out how the tech giant is following in Warren Buffett's footsteps.
Stocks to Watch Now No. 3: GlaxoSmithKline's Streamlined Pharma Division Scores with Its New Inhaler
GlaxoSmithKline Plc. (NYSE: GSK) got a big win this week when the FDA approved its Trelegy Ellipta inhaler. Trelegy makes treatment simpler for users. That's because it's a "closed triple" therapy, meaning it includes three medications for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in one inhaler. Previously, patients taking all three needed to use separate inhalers.
The timing of the approval is ideal for GSK, as it will soon face generic competition for its highly successful Advair inhalers, on which the last remaining patent expired earlier this year.
GSK developed the Trelegy Ellipta with Innoviva Inc. (Nasdaq: INVA). Analysts have projected peak annual sales as high as $1.5 billion.
Since appointing Emma Walmsley as CEO in April, GlaxoSmithKline has trimmed down its drug pipeline, scrapping 30 of its candidates and focusing instead on a few prospects in two key areas: pulmonary disease and HIV/infectious diseases. This follows a deal with Novartis AG (NYSE ADR: NVS) in 2014 to unload its cancer drug portfolio and take on part of Novartis' consumer healthcare and vaccines divisions.
In spite of its moves to prune much of its pharmaceuticals division, this latest FDA approval proves what Michael Robinson said back in April: "Glaxo is on track to remain a major player in cutting-edge life sciences."
"This is a firm that has wisely hedged against the most challenging aspects of the changing drug industry," Michael told readers, "by strongly focusing on both its cutting-edge biopharmaceuticals and its cash-producing consumer products."
In short, GSK provides "a nice mix of risk and safety that can't miss."
For those following along with our Money Morning Top 10 Outperformers, here's the latest list:
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About the Author
Stephen Mack has been writing about economics and finance since 2011. He contributed material for the best-selling books Aftershock and The Aftershock Investor. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.