Palo Alto police have closed off parts of some downtown streets Thursday afternoon after a man’s body was found in a city parking garage.
Police said the discovery of the body was made by a passerby shortly after noon on the first floor of the Bryant/Lytton Garage. Details about the possible cause of the man’s death were not immediately available from investigators.
The 400 blocks of Bryant Street and Florence Street are shut down while police investigate the case.
PALO ALTO — The inspiration behind a beloved American film character lives in Palo Alto. But as Perry the donkey ages, his medical bills grow with him.
Perry the donkey is familiar to many. He served as the real-life model for Dreamworks’ 2001 film “Shrek.”
“In 1999 he reinvented himself as a movie star,” Mike Holland, one of Perry’s 30 volunteer handlers told CBS News Bay Area.
“Dreamworks contracted with Pacific Data Images to create all the models [for “Shrek”] and the lead designer lives here in Barron Park and he was going through his models and he said ‘I know where there’s a donkey.’ So, they came here and studied Perry. When you’re looking at the body and the donkey in ‘Shrek,’ that’s his body or it was back in 2001, 1999.”
Perry’s entered his golden years, his 30th birthday is on June 9 and the medical bills are starting to add up.
“They’re getting older, they’ve got what the vet refers to as old man problems,” Holland explained. “The increasing medical demands it’s pushing up to $25,000 for the three of them, and $15k for the additional unexpected medical demands that they’ve all three of them have had. We’re at a critical junction,” said Holland.
Support for Perry, along with pals April and Buddy, are entirely community generated, aside from a 2016 grant from the city of $15,000.
That’s in large part because they’re a staple of the Barron Park community.
“We have grandparents who remember playing with the donkeys as kids bringing their grandchildren now, so this is not new. This is going back at least 70 years,75 years, so it’s a neighborhood tradition,” said Holland.
In addition to selling their own merchandise and even compost, the donkeys rely on donations.
That’s when the city of Palo Alto stepped in offering to match community donations of up to $10,000 in a one-time grant.
So far, they’ve matched $4,000 and Mayor Greer Stone said in a statement to CBS News Bay Area that the grant “is a small investment with a big return realized in the form of smiles on children’s faces, outdoor education opportunities, and increased wellbeing for our entire community. We welcome everyone to come to Bol Park and see our beloved donkeys.”
But some see the expense as unnecessary. In a recent city council meeting on May 20, council member Greg Tanaka said he didn’t think this was the best use of their discretionary funds.
“I have to object giving $10,000. This year we have a deficit; this year we’ll have a deficit next year,” he said. “It just seems irresponsible to me, so I don’t support this and I don’t think we should be doing it right now when we’re losing money.”
But Stone argues they have to put that discretionary pot to use before the next fiscal year.
“There’s about $77,000 in the council contingency; it expires July 1 and does not roll over. It’s a great opportunity for the community to interact with these wonderful animals,” said Stone.
For Holland, he can’t see a world without these donkeys, a lineage that’s been in the community since the ’50s, providing a uniquely Bay Area kind of emotional support for neighbors.
“I can’t imagine this not happening I’m not the first person to volunteer here and certainly won’t be the last,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun and we have dozens of people come visit here every day it’s a real tradition funny neighborhood tradition.”
The city has set a deadline of June 23 for patrons to match their grant funds.
It has happened yet again in the Bay Area, another USPS mail carrier has been robbed of their postal keys.
The incident happened just before noon in Palo Alto Thursday.
Police said that a mail carrier in his 60s was delivering mail, when two men demanded his postal keys in the parking lot of the Southwood apartment complex.
The postal worker handed the keys over. But then, the suspects also wanted his wallet and phone, when the victim refused. The suspects knocked the mail carrier to the ground and took off.
Yasemin, who lives at the apartment complex, spoke to NBC Bay Area Friday and gave her reaction to the incident.
“It scares me. I’m a single mother as well. So, it’s really scary. And I’m from Germany, so it’s a different environment,” she said. “I’ve actually feel very safe in Palo Alto, especially in this apartment complex. So it’s a very weird feeling, especially because it’s during the day, right? it’s not at night.”
It’s the second incident in Palo Alto in the last week.
On Saturday, Palo Alto police said they arrested two suspects for two robberies of mail carriers. One happened in Belmont and the other on Ilima Court in Palo Alto, in which one of the suspects pointed a gun at the mail carrier’s head while demanding his keys. One of the suspects is from Sacramento, while the other suspect is a juvenile.
These are not the only incidents this month. In Oakland a couple of weeks ago, a video showed a mail carrier walking through a gate when she was approached, and the suspects then took the worker’s postal keys.
“The motivation to do these crimes is to get the keys, to get something out of the mail, to do a financial crime,” said U.S. Postal Inspector Matthew Norfleet.
Norfleet is asking anyone who notices their credit card or check is missing from the mail to let postal inspectors know.
He added that mail carriers are getting more security than before. He is also asking the public to call police if they see anything suspicious.
Norfleet also noted that there are many open investigations regarding the crimes. A $150,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of any suspects.
“Almost no cases are solved without the assistance of the public,” he said.
After 38 years in business, Jing Jing Gourmet, Palo Alto’s much-loved Szechuan and Hunan restaurant, is set to close its doors this Sunday, May 19.
“The expenses are too much for us,” said restaurant manager Betty Tsai, daughter of restaurant owner Susan Tsai.
In recent years, the cost of rent, labor and materials increased while customers’ dining habits shifted, as fewer people commuted to work nearby, she says.
The restaurant’s lease ends at the end of May. The plan is for the business to find a new location nearby — potentially in Mountain View, Sunnyvale or Santa Clara — and focus on takeout, delivery and catering services, Tsai says.
“We want to express our deepest thanks for your patronage over the years,” the Tsai family announced on the restaurant’s website. “It has been an honor serving this community for 38 years, and we are so grateful for your support and friendship.”
You have just a few days left to enjoy the restaurant’s signature dishes, from tea-smoked duck ($24.50) to kung pao chicken ($17.95), won tons ($12.50), barbecue pork buns ($3) and yuzu citrus cheesecake ($3.50 per slice). Other specialties are the restaurant’s dan dan sauce and candied pecans, according to Tsai.
Details: Open for lunch through Friday. The last day of dinner service will be Saturday at 443 Emerson St. in Palo Alto; jingjinggourmet.com.
Nearby Fletcher Middle School is also under a shelter-in-place order as a precautionary measure, police said.
Officers are at both schools on Arastradero Road, investigating the threat.
This is a developing story, check back for updates.
Happening Now: Officers are on scene at Gunn High School at 780 Arastradero Road investigating an unconfirmed threat towards the school. School officials have placed the campus in a “shelter-in-place” status while officers investigate. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/nQTeEz9GrT
A woman who allegedly took off in an unoccupied Amazon delivery van was arrested by Palo Alto police, they said Sunday.
On Thursday afternoon, an Amazon delivery driver called the police and said that a person had just stolen his van, which was loaded with packages.
The delivery driver had parked the van in the 400 block of West Charleston Road in Palo Alto while he hopped out to make a delivery, leaving the keys in the ignition and the engine running, police said.
When he returned, he saw the van being driven away. He watched it make a U-turn on West Charleston Road and then head southwest on El Camino Real.
Amazon dispatchers worked with police to track the van’s travel, and the woman ended up parking it at an Amazon facility in the 900 block of McLaughlin Avenue in San Jose. All of the packages inside the van were accounted for and the woman allegedly told police that she just needed to get back to San Jose.
The 36-year-old woman was booked into county jail on suspicion of felony vehicle theft and committing a felony while out on bail, which is also a felony.
Palo Alto police dispatch received a call at 12:40 p.m. from an unidentified person who said they were at the entrance to the campus and “intended to commit a shooting.” Police responded to the area to investigate the report.
Aerial coverage from NBC Bay Area’s SkyRanger just before 2:30 p.m. showed no police activity on campus and it appeared the incident was cleared.
Wednesday is shaping up to be a good day to own cybersecurity stocks: Powerful fourth-quarter earnings from network security company Fortinet(NASDAQ: FTNT) sent its stock up by 3%, and provided a tailwind to shares of peers CrowdStrike(NASDAQ: CRWD), and Palo Alto Networks(NASDAQ: PANW). Through 11:45 a.m. ET, those two stocks were up 5.8% and 7%, respectively.
Reporting its fourth-quarter results Tuesday after the close, Fortinet beat expectations on both the top and bottom lines. Instead of the $0.43 per share (adjusted) profit on $1.41 billion in sales it was expected to report, the company earned $0.51 per share on sales of $1.42 billion.
Fortinet Q4 sales and earnings
TheFly.com has counted no fewer than 16 analysts raising their price targets on Fortinet in response to its report. And yet, how good was Fortinet’s news, actually?
You might be surprised to learn that it actually wasn’t all that great. True, sales for the quarter grew by a respectable 10% year over year. But billings — which foreshadow future revenue growth — grew by only 8.5%, implying a slowdown may lurk just around the corner.
Non-GAAP profits exceeded expectations, and were up a strong 16%. But earnings as calculated according to generally accepted accounting principles were only $0.40 per share for the quarter — flat year over year. Worst of all, free cash flow plummeted by 67% to just $165 million.
Most of these numbers, by the way, reflected a significant slowdown in growth compared to Fortinet’s performance earlier in the year. Over the course of 2023, Fortinet scored sales growth of 20%, billings growth of 14%, non-GAAP profits growth of 37% — and GAAP earnings growth of 38%. (To give credit where credit is due, however, its free cash flow for the year did grow 19%.)
What does Fortinet’s earnings beat mean for CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks?
So yes, Fortinet “beat earnings.” And yes, investors in peer cybersecurity companies CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks have reason to breathe a sigh of relief … for now. All that being said, as an investor in one of these three stocks (Palo Alto), Fortinet’s performance in Q4 actually has me feeling just a tiny bit nervous. Consider this:
On top of the slowdown seen in Q4, Fortinet’s guidance for the first quarter — and for 2024 as a whole — holds reasons for worry. Management is predicting that sales in Q1 will land in the $1.3 billion to $1.36 billion range. The entirety of this range falls short of Wall Street’s consensus expectation of $1.37 billion. Similarly, for the year, Fortinet predicts revenues between $5.72 billion and $5.82 billion — but Wall Street wants to see $5.93 billion.
Granted, on earnings, the near term looks a bit better. Fortinet’s Q1 guidance for non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.37 to $0.39 implies the company thinks it could beat Wall Street’s forecast for $0.37 per share. But the midpoint of the company’s earnings guidance for the year implies the company might struggle to earn the $1.67 per share that analysts are expecting it to earn — and Fortinet gave no guidance at all for GAAP profits, nor for free cash flow.
Now, look ahead to the upcoming earnings reports from Palo Alto Networks (due Feb. 20) and CrowdStrike (due March 5). In each case, Wall Street has its expectations set high, predicting that Palo Alto will report 24% quarterly earnings growth in Q4 … and that CrowdStrike will grow its profits by 75%. Those are aggressive targets. Even more worrisome is the fact that analysts will want to see both companies express similarly high hopes for 2024. To avoid disappointing investors, Palo Alto must promise to keep on growing its earnings at 24% for another year. CrowdStrike, meanwhile, must promise an accelerating growth rate: 92% growth.
With both of these stocks already trading at extremely high multiples to forward earnings — 64.5 for Palo Alto and 81.3 for CrowdStrike — they look priced for perfection. Any stumble on earnings day — be it in the actual results they report or the future earnings they predict — could send either or both stocks plummeting.
Caveat investor.
Should you invest $1,000 in Fortinet right now?
Before you buy stock in Fortinet, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Fortinet wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Stock Advisor provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month. The Stock Advisor service has more than tripled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*.
Rich Smith has positions in Palo Alto Networks. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends CrowdStrike, Fortinet, and Palo Alto Networks. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Stock splits excite investors for two reasons. They reduce the price per share, and they often hint at a competitively advantaged company with solid financials. Stock splits generally follow substantial share price appreciation, and that rarely happens to companies that lack sound fundamentals.
With that in mind, Chipotle Mexican Grill(NYSE: CMG) and Palo Alto Networks(NASDAQ: PANW) rewarded shareholders with monster returns of 345% and 395%, respectively, over the last five years. That share price appreciation makes both companies stock-split candidates in 2024. More importantly, it shows that both stocks can create value for patient shareholders, and investors should aspire to own such companies.
To that end, whether they split their stocks or not, Chipotle and Palo Alto are worthwhile long-term investments.
1. Chipotle Mexican Grill
Chipotle owns more than 3,300 fast-casual restaurants across North America and Europe. The company has built a reputable brand by focusing on “food with integrity.” Specifically, it sources only responsibly raised meats that have never been treated with hormones or antibiotics. It uses only organically grown produce and fresh ingredients, meaning no preservatives, freezers, or can openers are involved in food preparation.
That strategy clearly resonates with consumers, as Chipotle regularly outperforms its peers in key metrics like same-store sales and customer traffic. Indeed, the company reported 5% same-store sales growth in the third quarter, more than double the restaurant industry average, and traffic increased by 4% despite a decline in traffic across the broader industry.
Total revenue rose 11% to $2.5 billion in the third quarter, driven by new restaurant openings and strong same-store sales. Better yet, generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) net income jumped 23% to $11.32 per diluted share due to operating margin expansion and stock buybacks. Management also highlighted better staffing, as well as improvements in throughput and digital order accuracy.
To summarize, Chipotle continued to grow at a steady clip while making progress on strategic priorities. The company also guided for 285 to 315 new restaurant openings in 2024, which represents a 9% increase in store count, and management expects that pace to approach 10% in 2025. That lays the foundation for solid sales growth.
Indeed, Morningstar analyst Sean Dunlop expects Chipotle to grow revenue at 13% annually over the next decade. In that light, the current valuation of 6.7 times sales appears reasonable despite being a premium to the three-year average of 6 times sales. Investors should consider buying a small position in this stock today.
2. Palo Alto Networks
Palo Alto provides solutions for network security, cloud security, and security operations, and the company is working to consolidate its platforms. For instance, its network security portfolio includes next-generation firewalls and a secure access service edge. The company recently unified those products under Strata Cloud Manager, a zero-trust management platform powered by artificial intelligence.
Similarly, Palo Alto recently introduced Cortex XSIAM (extended security intelligence and automation management) to unify a broad range of security operations products. Cortex XSIAM leans on machine learning models to detect, investigate, and respond to threats across networks, endpoint devices, identities, and cloud workloads.
According to Morgan Stanley, Palo Alto holds more market share in network security and cloud security than any other vendor. Additionally, Forrester Research recently recognized the company as a leader in zero-trust platforms, citing a stronger current offering and a stronger growth strategy than any other vendor. The report awarded Palo Alto perfect scores in device security, cloud application protection, and automation.
Palo Alto gave a strong performance in the most recent quarter. Revenue rose 20% to $1.9 billion, and non-GAAP net income soared 75% to $266 million. Investors can expect a similar growth trajectory in the future. Palo Alto should benefit from an increasingly sophisticated threat landscape, regulatory tailwinds like new reporting requirements for public companies, and growing demand for cybersecurity automation.
To quote Argus analyst Joseph Bonner, “What makes Palo Alto stand out from its sector peers is not just best-in-class technology integrated into a comprehensive cybersecurity platform, but also its rapid product innovation cycle, focus on next-generation cloud security, secure access at the service edge, and automated security operations.”
With that in mind, Palo Alto is targeting annual sales growth of 18% over the next three years. That projection makes its current valuation of 15.9 times sales seem fair, though it is a premium to the three-year average of 10.2 times sales. Patient investors should feel comfortable buying a small position in Palo Alto stock today.
Should you invest $1,000 in Chipotle Mexican Grill right now?
Before you buy stock in Chipotle Mexican Grill, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Chipotle Mexican Grill wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Stock Advisor provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month. The Stock Advisor service has more than tripled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*.
Trevor Jennewine has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Chipotle Mexican Grill and Palo Alto Networks. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Wall Street analysts revealed bold predictions on four portfolio stocks this week, as investors digested the latest inflation data and December earnings season kicked off. Here’s a summary of each report, along with the Club’s updated take on each. Morgan Stanley Wall Street’s take: HSBC cut Morgan Stanley’s rating to hold from buy on Monday, citing weaker guidance for the firm’s wealth management business. “We have cut our earnings estimates notably for Morgan Stanley in recent months even as the share price has risen, leading to a material increase in the PE (c15x 2024e) despite a softening outlook for wealth management (a higher multiple business) revenue,” analysts wrote ahead of the bank’s Jan. 16 earnings release. MS 1Y mountain Morgan Stanley 1 year The Club’s take: We don’t blame analysts for stepping to the sidelines. Bank stocks have had a stellar performance over the past couple of months, and when expectations are high heading into earnings it can lead to sell-the-news events. And to be fair, weakness in its Wealth Management unit was the driver behind the stock’s near 7% decline on earnings in October. Still, Morgan Stanley has strong growth prospects from its investment banking segment, a business we see improving on a better macroeconomic outlook and a pickup in deal activity. The company is scheduled to report its fourth-quarter earnings next Tuesday before the opening bell. Apple Wall Street’s take: Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Apple to neutral from buy on Wednesday, citing limited growth opportunities. “While we expect the iPhone to return to growth in CY24, we see little room for upside over the next few years, and an anticipated underwhelming March quarter could impact confidence in this outlook. At the same time, there appears to be rising regulatory risk that may impact Apple’s ability to monetize its ecosystem,” analysts argued. AAPL 1Y mountain Apple 1 year The Club’s take: After Apple’s nearly 50% gain in 2023, it’s fair to assume shares may cool off in the new year. In fact, we trimmed our Apple position, along with seven other tech holdings, in anticipation of investors allocating to other high-quality areas of the market. Still, our “hold it, don’t trade it” mantra on the company stands. Ongoing services revenue growth and the upcoming launch of the Vision Pro have the potential to change the narrative around sluggish iPhone sales. Palo Alto Networks Wall Street’s take: Morgan Stanley named Palo Alto Networks the bank’s top cybersecurity pick on Wednesday. The firm highlighted “multiple growth drivers” for the stock, along with rising security threats, regulatory guidelines and generative artificial intelligence as tailwinds for the sector broadly in 2024. “PANW remains our top security pick, given our confidence in durability of growth, broader platform adoption and low expectations with valuation increasingly attractive at 22X EV/CY25 FCF for 20%+ FCF CAGR,” analysts contended in the research note. “Our most recent checks indicate a notable demand uptick in CQ4 vs CQ3, with Next-Gen offerings (Cortex XSIAM, SASE) contributing more meaningfully to topline growth. Given recent underperformance and relatively mixed investor sentiment, we see a more favorable setup here.” PANW 1Y mountain Palo Alto Networks 1 years The Club’s take: We’ve said time and time again that Palo Alto will outperform its peers and gain market share as businesses consolidate their security budgets around providers that offer a full suite of solutions. This multiyear theme has helped the company become the first in its group to record a $100 billion market cap , a long-held goal by management. But $100 billion won’t be the ceiling due to Palo Alto’s leadership in one of the most important investment categories of IT spending. Salesforce Wall Street’s take: Baird analysts upgraded Salesforce stock to buy from hold on Thursday. “We underestimated the company’s willingness to deliver margins, which drove strong performance last year. With current valuation (~25x NTM FCF) near historical lows, top-line growth and expectations muted (Street +11% next two years), we see upside from current levels,” the analysts wrote. “Price increases, the potential return of front office spend, and crisper sales execution should drive upside.” CRM 1Y mountain Salesforce 1 year The Club’s take: Baird’s comments were a call made too late. The cloud software stock already surged 98% in 2023 as CEO Marc Benioff & Co. embraced the input of activist investors and committed to margin expansion. But after a historic run like this, investors shouldn’t jump the gun as gains of this size are bound to be followed by a breather. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long AAPL, PANW, CRM, MS, WFC. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., December 13, 2023.
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters
Wall Street analysts revealed bold predictions on four portfolio stocks this week, as investors digested the latest inflation data and December earnings season kicked off. Here’s a summary of each report, along with the Club’s updated take on each.
Arora Nikesh, Palo Alto Networks CEO & Chairman at the WEF in Davos, Switzerland on May 23rd, 2022.
Adam Galica | CNBC
Palo Alto Networks shares jumped as much as 9% in extended trading on Friday after the security software vendor reported earnings that exceeded analysts’ estimates.
The stock had dropped 16% in August leading up the report as investors worried that the company’s decision to announce results late on a Friday suggested the release may include troublesome numbers.
Here’s how the company did for the quarter ended July 31:
Earnings: $1.44 per share, adjusted, vs. $1.28 per share, adjusted, as expected by Refinitiv.
Revenue: $1.95 billion, vs. $1.96 billion as expected by Refinitiv.
Revenue in its fiscal fourth quarter increased 26% from $1.6 billion a year earlier, Palo Alto said. Net income climbed to $227.7 million, or 74 cents a share, from $3.3 million, or a penny a share, a year ago.
For the first quarter, Palo Alto expects revenue of $1.82 billion to $1.85 billion, and sales for the year are expected to be $8.15 billion to $8.2 billion. That’s below analyst expectations of $1.93 billion for the fiscal first quarter and $8.38 billion for the full year, according to Refinitiv.
Palo Alto announced its earnings date on Aug. 2. West coast tech companies typically report earnings no later in the week than Thursday afternoon, giving investors an opportunity to process the numbers and trade the stock based on those results before the end of the week. Historically, companies with bad news often bury the numbers after the close of trading on Friday.
A federal judge showed growing impatience Thursday with FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s use of the internet while on bail, suggesting that incarceration might eventually be the most effective way to prevent him from communicating on electronic devices in ways that can’t be traced.
Judge Lewis A. Kaplan did not immediately change a $250 million bail package that lets Bankman-Fried live with his parents in Palo Alto, California, while preparing for trial on charges that he cheated investors and looted customer deposits at FTX, his cryptocurrency trading platform.
But he raised the possibility for the first time that jail might be the only way to ensure Bankman-Fried won’t outfox the government by using electronic devices in ways that can’t be tracked.
“There is a solution, but it’s not one anybody’s proposed yet,” Kaplan said as Bankman-Fried sat passively at the defense table. He then noted that there may be many devices in Bankman-Fried’s family home that the government will not be tracking, even with any new rules imposed on his bail conditions.
“Why am I being asked to set him loose in this garden of electronic devices?” he asked prosecutors.
Claims of encrypted messages sent
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos said a more “drastic alternative” would be to ban Bankman-Fried’s use of all electronic devices, but he added that it would be difficult for him to prepare for a trial tentatively set for October if that were to occur.
The judge noted that Bankman-Fried, according to prosecutors, “has done things that suggests to me that maybe he has committed or attempted to commit a federal felony while on release.”
Kaplan was alluding to a claim by prosecutors that Bankman-Fried sent an encrypted message over the Signal texting app on January 15 to the general counsel of FTX US.
According to prosecutors, the message said: “I would really love to reconnect and see if there’s a way for us to have a constructive relationship, use each other as resources when possible, or at least vet things with each other. I’d love to get on a phone call sometime soon and chat.”
Federal prosecutors have told Kaplan that Bankman-Fried’s communications indicate he may be trying to influence a witness with incriminating evidence against him.
“Too much room for circumvention”
On Thursday, prosecutors asked Kaplan to more severely limit Bankman-Fried’s use of electronic devices and the internet, including banning him from messaging applications and requiring the installation of a device-monitoring program on his cellphone and computer.
A day earlier, they wrote in court papers that his “behavior shows that the existing conditions leave too much room for circumvention of restrictions aimed at preventing inappropriate conduct, including contacting witnesses and accessing cryptocurrency assets.”
They described Bankman-Fried as “a technologically sophisticated person with both the ability and the inclination to seek workarounds of more narrowly drawn bail conditions.”
Mark Cohen, Bankman-Fried’s lawyer, called the proposals by prosecutors “draconian” and said they would make it hard for lawyers and the defendant to prepare for trial. But he soon found himself on the defensive as Kaplan noted his client’s apparent bail violations, including accessing an encrypted internet site to watch the Super Bowl.
The judge mocked Bankman-Fried’s use of an encrypted method to watch the game, noting that it was on any television. Cohen responded that there wasn’t a TV in the house.
“I think we understand your comments today, your honor, that there is no margin for error,” Cohen said. “That if there are any violations, we will be at a very different proceeding.”
Of the eventual bail restrictions, the judge said: “I want this to be tight, not just tight in characterization, but tight in fact.”
Bankman-Fried has been confined with electronic monitoring to his parents’ home since his December arrest on charges that he cheated investors and that diverted their deposits, in part to finance political donations and make risky trades at Alameda Research. He has pleaded not guilty.
There was a serious “security incident” recently at the Palo Alto, California, home owned by the parents of the disgraced former boss of the crypto exchange FTX Sam Bankman-Fried, lawyers representing Bankman-Fried in his fraud case said.
2022 was a bad year for many investors, with most stocks — especially tech — plummeting to levels not seen since 2008. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index dropped more than 33% in 2022, while the S & P 500 fell nearly 20%. But there could be some opportunities in the chaos, with a number of companies trading at steeper discounts on a price-to-earnings basis than they have in recent history. A price-earnings ratio is the current share price of a stock divided by its earnings per share. Forward P/E incorporates a company’s forward-looking, estimated earnings per share from Wall Street analysts. CNBC Pro screened for analyst favorites using these criteria: Stocks trading at a lower forward price-to-earnings ratio relative to their average five-year forward P/E multiple, “Buy” ratings from at least 60% of analysts covering them, Upside to average price target of 50% or more. The following names appeared on the screen. Cybersecurity firms CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks are two names that showed up. Both are trading at significant discounts to their average five-year forward P/E multiples, with CrowdStrike at an 88% discount — the highest on the list — and Palo Alto at a 20% discount. Palo Alto’s CEO said earlier that it was seeing tailwinds from customers looking to slash costs in a worsening economy. CrowdStrike said in December that new earnings growth had slowed , but some investors were still optimistic on the stock. Josh Brown and Cathie Wood snapped up more of it , with Brown saying he views CrowdStrike as a long-term prospect. More than 70% of analysts covering these two stocks give them a buy rating. They also see big upside potential — 70% for CrowdStrike and 55% for Palo Alto. Wall Street has been particularly bullish on the cybersecurity sector recently, despite the volatile market. Canada-based payments tech firm Nuvei also made the list, trading at a discount of nearly 70% to its average five-year forward P/E multiple. The firm recently made a $1.3 billion acquisition that’s set to boost its operations in the United States. It’s had a good start to the year, with its stock surging nearly 24% in January so far. Hong Kong-based real estate firm ESR Group stood out for its 100% buy rating. The company is trading at a respectable discount of 42%. Other firms such as cloud service companies Datadog and Zscaler also showed up on the screen. — CNBC’s Maggie Fitzgerald contributed to this report.
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is set to be released from federal custody after his attorneys struck a deal with prosecutors on a bail amount of $250 million, according to multiple reports.
