Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives notes that it was reported that Apple (AAPL) is in advanced talks to buy Intel's (INTC) Smartphone Modem Chip Business for about $1B. For Apple, this would be a clear "doubling down" on 5G which remains at the centerpiece of the company's smartphone future with these chip assets giving Apple further control over its supply chain and core chip design, he contends. Ives believes it was largely anticipated that Intel would sell off its modem business, and while the speculated $1B is below the "few billions" that were initially contemplated, the analyst believes the stock's positive response to this news is a sign that investors are just happy Intel found a buyer. Further, he believes this divestiture could benefit 2020 profitability, but does not really shift his view of Intel's valuation as the impact on EV/S is less favorable with the stock already trading at the high end of a longer- term range and his model had not specifically contemplated a negative impact of winding down this business in 2020.

Apple saw sales of its iPhones fall 19.1% in the first three months of the year, CNBC's Ryan Browne reports, citing data from Counterpoint Research. Meanwhile, Huawei saw a 69.7% surge in smartphone sales in the country during the same period, Counterpoint said. Reference Link

Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists.  1... To see the rest of the story go to thefly.com. See Story Here

Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists.  1... To see the rest of the story go to thefly.com. See Story Here

Welcome to "Fly Insider," The Fly's weekly recap of notable insider stock transactionsNOTABLE INSIDER PURCHASES: Significant insider purchases reported in the prior week from April 15 through April 19 include:Chairman of Ashford (AINC) Montgomery Bennett purchased 200,000 shares of company stock at $4. 91 per share... To see the rest of the story go to thefly.com. See Story Here

Apple quietly acquired Paris-based AI startup Datakalab on December 17, Challenges' David Pargamin reports. The terms of the transaction could not be learned, but European Commission has been notified of the deal, the author notes. Reference Link

Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists. 1... To see the rest of the story go to thefly.com. See Story Here

The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded Intel Foundry Phase Three of its Rapid Assured Microelectronics Prototypes - Commercial, or RAMP-C, program, the company announced. "The award was announced through the National Security Technology Accelerator's consortium-based Strategic and Spectrum Missions Advanced Resilient Trusted Systems Other Transaction Authority program. The third phase of RAMP-C advances the tape-out and testing of early defense industrial base product prototypes, signifying a critical milestone for the program that highlights the readiness of Intel 18A process technology, intellectual property and ecosystem solutions for high-volume manufacturing. As part of the announcement, RAMP-C customers can begin manufacturing commercial and DIB product prototypes on Intel 18A process technology," Intel stated. Reference Link

Friday's total option volume of 56.7 million contracts resulted in net open interest growth of 6.01 million calls and 5.28 million puts. NVIDIA (NVDA), Tesla (TSLA), Apple (AAPL) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) saw the greatest growth. Top five new positions opened include 50k Lyft (LYFT) May-24 20 calls, 44k Energy Transfer (ET) 4/26 weekly 16.5 calls, 43k Las Vegas Sands (LVS) Sep-24 41 calls, 23k Tesla (TSLA) 4/26 weekly 162.5 calls and 21k Papa John's (PZZA) Jun-24 57.5 puts.