Apple is known as the leader in the mobile device enterprise market. The iPhone is the device of choice for large organizations. Among tablets, the iPad dominates. Investors are hoping Apple can continue to succeed in this area. A recent update from Good Technology gives investors a pulse on Apple's current enterprise state.

iPad Air. iPads dominated Good Technology's fourth-quarter tablet activations.

Good Technology, as the leader in secure mobility, is in a unique position for enterprise device insight. Good's insights for enterprise device trends are derived from all the devices activated across its worldwide customer base. Good's global and diverse customer base includes organizations in the Fortune 100.

The takeaways from the report were clear, and they can be summed up in three points.

1. There are two big winners and one big loser. While Good Technology doesn't have access to BlackBerry activations since uts devices use the BlackBerry Enterprise Server for corporate email access, it did notice a trend in overall device migration: "[M]any organizations are migrating away from BlackBerry to meet end user demand and embrace newer platforms like iOS and Android." These "newer platforms" were almost entirely Apple's iOS and Google's Android. Combined, these two platforms made up 98% of the activations on the Good Dynamics Secure Mobility Platform.

2. Apple is still the star of enterprise. Not only did iOS smartphones alone make up 54% of device activations in the fourth quarter, but iOS devices also claimed the top 10 spots among the most popular devices. To be fair, Apple benefited during the quarter from the recent launch of the iPhone 5s and the 5c.

But Android's share shouldn't be underplayed. Google is a big player in mobile enterprise, too. Android's share of activations was 26%, a massive lead over Windows Phone activations, which were nearly nil at just 1%. Note that Apple's 54% and Android's 26% are not comparable because the Apple share is citing only smartphones. The Android share is citing both smartphones and tablets.

3. In enterprise tablets, Apple is king. With the help of popular iPad sales among enterprises, iOS accounted for 73% of device activations. That's up from 72% in Q3 and 69% in Q2. Put another way, iOS tablets accounted for 91.4% of total tablet activations. Runner-up Android had just an 8.4% share of tablet activations.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said during the comapany's first-quarter earnings call that it recognizes "the enterprise area has huge potential." A number of accounts, Apple says, boast tens of thousands of iOS devices. With magnitude like this, it's certainly important for Apple to maintain leadership in the enterprise market as the smartphone and tablet market continue their global ascent.

The takeaway for investors? Apple is still the clear leader among enterprise mobile devices.

In this video from Wednesday's edition of Market Checkup, Motley Fool health-care analyst David Williamson takes investors through the biggest winners of the day in the biotech space.

Seattle Genetics is first up on the list, coming in as a winner today after reporting $67 million in revenue, which was $8 million above estimates, with its earnings loss at only $0.13 per share, rather than the expected $0.24. David has some concerns about the company for 2014, however. With only $160 million in projected sales of its approved drug Adcetris and an additional $60 million in licensing revenue, the company may find its future in its pipeline, David says, not in its currently approved drug.

Flexion is the next winner on the list, with shares up nearly 15% on its IPO. The company has a phase 2 injectable sustained-release intra-articular steroid treatment for patients with moderate to severe osteoarthritic pain in its pipeline, which is a breath of fresh air after a multitude of companies that have IPO'd recently with little more than concepts and ideas.

And finally, Eagle Pharmaceuticals IPO'd as well today, though shares aren't seeing the same pop that Flexion saw. The company managed to raise $50 million, giving it a market cap of more than $200 million, but after finding that the company hasn't even managed to develop a website for itself yet, David makes the call that biotech enthusiasm has become detached from the true value of these companies, and that a new biotech bubble is here.

Shares of Mallinckrodt were up 10% after the company announced that it's buying Cadence for $1.3 billion. Shares of Cadence performed even better, up about 25% on the buyout news.

The catalyst for the acquisition is painkiller Ofirmev, which was approved in 2010, but with roughly $100 million in trailing-12-month sales, it hasn't been a huge seller. Mallinckrodt believes it can double those sales, and in this video from Tuesday's Market Checkup, Motley Fool health-care analyst David Williamson says he thinks the company will need to reach that goal to fully justify this purchase.

If everything goes well, this purchase should be accretive this year, which is what had the market showing love to both of these companies on the news. Mallinckrodt is focused on growing its specialty pharma side, and already specializes in abuse-resistant painkillers. In the video, David gives investors the story on Mallinckrodt, and discusses why he now sees this spec pharma company as a possible acquisition target itself.

These are not particularly enjoyable days to be an EMC shareholder. While the company's market share in its bread-and-butter storage offerings is quite strong, and EMC has launched numerous products/platforms with good long-term growth potential, the storage market itself has seen a lot of change and turbulence. With that, the Street seems virtually indifferent to the company's good margins and strong cash flows and is focused instead on short-term revenue growth concerns. EMC looks exceedingly cheap on a DCF basis, but readers thinking of buying today need to be prepared to ride out the transition issues of 2014.

Growth a valid talking point...
EMC's recent performance has made questions about its ability to continue to grow pretty relevant. The first three quarters of 2013 saw single-digit revenue growth, despite double-digit growth at majority-owned VMware, with only the fourth-quarter results moving back into the double digits. A refresh of the mid-range VNX line has helped, but high-end VMAX sales have been sluggish as the overall enterprise storage market has weakened.

Management's guidance for first quarter 2014 revenue didn't help matters, with the target coming in about 7% below Street expectations. Some of this is due to a deliberate change in manufacturing policy designed to smooth operations (and likely improve margins by reducing costs tied to expediting orders at quarter end), but it does nothing to counter the arguments that storage is no longer a growth market and that, as the market leader, EMC is going to suffer as a result.

...but there are growth opportunities here
EMC's core storage market has slowed. Some of that is due to database appliances that manage more in-memory computing. Some of that is also to do increased adoption of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) offerings from Amazon and Google that reduce enterprise hardware needs. Last, and not least, I would think some of it is also due to buyers simply waiting to see how new alternatives like all-flash arrays and software-defined storage play out.

The good news is that EMC has not run out of growth opportunities. "Emerging" storage products like Isilon and XtremIO are growing exceptionally well (up 73% in the fourth quarter and 66% in the third quarter), and the RSA storage business is likewise growing by double-digits. A newly refreshed mid-range VNX line-up is going to give NetApp and Hewlett-Packard plenty to handle, as these new systems incorporate multi-core processors, virtualization, and flash at attractive price points.

There are also brand new businesses to drive EMC. The ViPR software-defined storage solution allows users to view object-oriented storage as if it were file-based, significantly speeding up performance. This is basically a management-layer offering that will enable companies to set up hyperscale data centers. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say that, with ViPR, EMC is looking to do with storage what VMware (of which EMC still owns 80%) did for servers by pooling heterogenous systems and arrays and automating (and centralizing) the management of them.

EMC also has Project Nile. This is a web-scale storage solution that offers familiar hardware (likely VNX) and new software tools (including ViPR) in a more elastic and scalable fashion. I don't think the name "Nile" is coincidence, as this directly targets part of Amazon's AWS service offering. With pricing similar to the services offered by Amazon and Google, EMC management believes that it can offer a total cost of ownership that is half of that of Amazon or Google.

Amazon's AWS is widely seen as a large threat to EMC's traditional business model as it purports to offer enterprises the storage they need "as they need it." By comparison, the traditional way of buying storage requires multiple system purchases from EMC (or NetApp) and essentially paying for extra, unneeded capacity (at least initially). Given the security concerns that go with external service offerings, this could be a significant boost to EMC's efforts to compete with Amazon AWS by offering a viable, cost-competitive private cloud option.

A tough battle before the cavalry arrives
Nile might be a powerful factor in EMC maintaining its historically strong position in storage against the new service offerings of Amazon and Google. ViPR might be a VMware-like opportunity in storage virtualization. The all-flash XtremeIO might be EMC's gateway into the next generation of faster, more efficient storage systems. Pivotal (in which EMC owns 63% stake, partnering with VMware and GE) could be a multihundred million dollar opportunity that touches on major growth markets like Platform as a Service (PaaS), Big Data, and Cloud apps.

Despite all of those "may's," the reality is that 2014 is going to a battle. IBM, Dell, and Hewlett-Packard may have lost traction in enterprise storage (largely due to under-investment), but NetApp has been stepping up its game. Not only has NetApp been more aggressive in seeking partners, it has moved faster in incorporating flash into its products. NetApp's ONTAP cluster-mode architecture is complex, but it does offer very strong performance (compared to EMC's Isilon). Last and by no means least, NetApp has made ease-of-use and affordability bigger priorities - EMC systems may be more powerful and feature-rich, but they're expensive and not necessarily the easiest to manage.

Longer term, NetApp may have more to lose from the changes in the storage market (migration toward software-defined storage, cloud services, etc.), but they are a tough competitor today. EMC has basically acknowledged as much and is stepping up its marketing efforts as a result. Combine that with sluggish underlying market growth and I can appreciate some of the worries.

The bottom line
Value really doesn't cut it with tech stocks. Even though it takes less than 4% annual free cash flow growth to support a price target near $38, it takes a long time for slow-growing tech stocks to get there due. That puts even more pressure on strong ongoing growth at VMware and RSA, strong adoption of XtremIO, ViPR, and Nile, and converting the attractive potential of Pivotal into real reported revenue.

I am still bullish on EMC. My DCF-based valuation model suggests a fair value of $38, while an ROE/BV analysis suggests undervaluation in the neighborhood of 20%. All of that said, investors will need to be patient. The first quarter will hopefully mark a trough for the cycle, but these shares are not likely to break out higher until the market's worries about the health and growth of the storage market are put to rest.

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over daily movements, we do like to keep an eye on market changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

Investors took a break from the impressive gains that stocks have posted over the past several days, with major-market benchmarks inching downward by the smallest of margins. Yet despite the overall resilience of the market, WellCare Health Plans , ReachLocal , and Jive Software had their shares lose substantial amounts of value today, with earnings news driving all three of their stocks lower.

WellCare fell 9% as earnings came in below expectations despite a 23% jump in revenue for the health insurers. The big problem, though, is that WellCare anticipates a huge amount of added costs due to Obamacare in 2014, and so the company gave guidance that was 20% to 25% below previous forecasts for earnings per share this year. With so many other insurers also vulnerable to the vagaries of the Affordable Care Act, WellCare's performance today bodes ill for the industry as a whole.

ReachLocal plummeted 15% after shocking investors with a net loss in last night's report. Revenue climbed 11%, but that was less than most had expected. Moreover, with ReachLocal saying that it would boost spending this year and that revenue for the current quarter wouldn't match up to investors' hopes, the local-commerce company has some investors concerned that its focus area might not generate the growth prospects that it needs in order to justify its share price.

Jive Software finished the day plunging 19% after negative revenue guidance for the current quarter and full-year 2014 outweighed earnings figures that were close to what investors had expected to see. The seller of enterprise social-networking and collaboration software believes that it will be able to fend off competition and deliver superior products that its rivals can't match. Yet investors don't seem to be so sure, especially as Jive will have to beat out both established larger companies as well as new start-ups that will threaten it on both fronts.

Chelsea Therapeutics' drug Northera has its Prescription Drug User Fee Act, or PDUFA, date on Friday. The drug treats dizziness and fainting in people with diseases like Parkinson's.

The FDA remains somewhat skeptical about the durability of efficacy of the drug, according to briefing documents, even though an advisory committee voted 16-to-1 in favor of approval. The company has, however, received a similarly positive vote before, and still came up against FDA rejection, so an advisory committee vote does not mean certain approval.

The drug has been sold for decades in Japan, but in this video from Wednesday's Market Checkup, Motley Fool health-care analyst David Williamson says that he's not sure ultimately how the FDA will decide on this one. It could go either way, and is a situation he's going to be monitoring very closely.

In this video from Wednesday's MarketFoolery podcast, host Chris Hill and Motley Fool analysts Bryan White and Bill Barker break down the carbonated-beverage landscape today, and the future of soda.

Dr Pepper Snapple Group reported earnings, and while sales, volume, and profit were all down, shares hit a new all-time high as the company won the expectations game on Wall Street. More broadly, though, this may speak to a secular decline in the consumption of sugary drinks in the United States, as consumers continue to trend toward healthier eating habits. In this segment, the guys discuss this decline and how it may affect the biggest players in the space -- Coca-Cola and PepsiCo -- and they also look at the future of soda. Coke just recently signed a major agreement with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters , leading many to speculate that consumers may soon be able to make some form of Coca-Cola at home via a Keurig machine, something that may directly threaten SodaStream and its business.

TripAdvisor was up today, after the company announced that fourth-quarter earnings met expectations, with revenue jumping 26% on strong display advertising. However, sales and marketing costs took a bite out of profit.

Cardboard king Packaging Corp. of America was up 8% today, after reporting its Q4 numbers. The company beat on the top and bottom lines, and earnings were up big.

Caesarstone , a company that makes quartz countertops among other things, was up today after announcing its fourth-quarter earnings. Strong gains were driven by the housing market's rebound in the United States.

And dialysis provider DaVita Healthcare Partners was up today after beating Q4 expectations, and the company issued upbeat forward guidance as well.

In this segment from Wednesday's Investor Beat, host Alison Southwick and Motley Fool analysts Bill Barker and Bryan White look at four stocks making moves on the market today.

In this video from Wednesday's edition of Investor Beat, host Alison Southwick and Motley Fool analysts Bill Barker and Bryan White look at two stocks for investors' watchlists today. Bryan looks at Zillow ahead of its earnings after hours today, and one metric all investors should be watching with this company, while Bill looks at J.M. Smucker , famous for its Smucker jams and jellies but also the owner of Folger's brand coffee. Bill will be watching closely how the company does in its coffee business when the earnings report comes out.

In this video from Wednesday's edition of Investor Beat, host Alison Southwick and Motley Fool analysts Bill Barker and Bryan White dig deep into the biggest stories impacting investors from the market today.

TripAdvisor was up today, after the company announced that fourth-quarter earnings met expectations, with revenue jumping 26% on strong display advertising. However, sales and marketing costs took a bite out of profit. Cardboard king Packaging Corp. of America was up 8% today. After reporting its Q4 numbers, the company beat on the top and bottom lines, and earnings were up big. Caesarstone, a company that makes quartz countertops among other things, was up today after announcing its fourth-quarter earnings. Strong gains were driven by the housing market rebound in the United States. And dialysis provider DaVita Healthcare Partners was up today after beating Q4 expectations, and the company issued upbeat forward guidance as well. In today's first segment, the guys look at four stocks moving on the market today.

Then, Bryan looks at Zillow ahead of its earnings after hours today, and one metric all investors should be watching with this company, while Bill looks at J.M. Smucker, famous for its Smucker jams and jellies but also the owner of Folger's brand coffee. Bill will be watching closely how the company does in its coffee business when the earnings report comes out.

Facebook has spent countless dollars evolving a social media site with characteristics desired by all social groups. Unfortunately, there has been an ongoing exodus of teens away from the social media giant. The development has prompted some experts to call for the sale of the stock. On the contrary, the exodus of teenage users won't affect the company in the near term. Facebook will still grow due to three crucial revenue drivers. Its Instagram and online video advertising business, along with the mobile sector, can generate enough revenue to mitigate the exodus of teens in the short term.

The prospects in Instagram
Facebook's Instagram monetization initiative has been a great move for the company. The network now has more than 180 million monthly active users. Instagram recently released a product that allows users to send photos and messages directly to one another. Video usage rose after Facebook allowed users to upload videos a year ago. In the fourth quarter, Facebook's average revenue per user, or ARPU, was $1.31. If Instagram can achieve an ARPU of $0.65 in a quarter based on the present number of monthly active users, it will be able to generate more than $500 million in annual sales.

Online video advertisement as a growth driver
Facebook is expected to begin video ads for its advertising campaign. With daily visitors of more than 755 million, Facebook's huge data set about its users has the potential to generate substantial revenue. The company intends to reach targeted demographic groups, and the initiative will attract new advertisers. Under an optimistic scenario, video ads can bring more than $1 billion into the company's coffers.

The mobile advertising sector
Facebook's recent performance does not indicate it has been severely affected by a shrinking teen user base. The company saw revenue growth in 2013 due to its success in the mobile sector. It increased its daily active users to 556 million by the end of 2013, up 49% from the same time in the year prior. The tweaks to the way ads appear on Facebook's News Feeds for mobile devices enabled the company to reap higher engagement and financial results. Facebook's mobile usage is growing at a rapid rate. The company's fundamentals are following suit.

Competitors
Google is Facebook's online advertising rival. Through its YouTube subsidiary, Google has a significant proportion of the online video ads market. Estimates put the company's online video ads revenue at roughly $5.6 billion in 2013. According to eMarketer, the online video advertising market in the U.S. is expected to grow from $4.14 billion in 2013 to $9.06 billion in the next four years. YouTube recently launched a new initiative to help channel creators bring in new fans. Ultimately, it could enable Google to get a significant amount of the future online video advertising revenue.

Twitter has a lot of teenage users. However, only a tiny portion of them left Facebook for it. Twitter has a strong foothold on the mobile sector. It recently launched a UK alert service for emergencies. In fact, more than 75% of Twitter's 232 million users access the site through mobile devices. Consequently, the company earns 70% of its advertising revenue from its mobile division. It should earn more from the mobile sector due to the future trend in the market.

Conclusion
Though Facebook is faced with a shrinking base of teen users, the development won't affect the company in the near term. Its Instagram and online video advertising sectors can generate a substantial amount of revenue to make up for the loss of teen users. Additionally, Facebook's mobile advertising division will enable the company reap higher engagement and financial results in the short term.

Activision Blizzard , Zynga , and even Glu Mobile have soared in recent weeks following increased optimism surrounding video game developers coupled with bullish reaction to earnings. Many investors like these companies as investments following strong console sales with the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One, but are any a buy moving forward.

Investing in games
One fact investors must understand about the gaming industry is that it's volatile to say the least.

The success of a game developer often hinges on its ability to create franchises out of games, best-sellers, and to evolve with the wants of the consumer. Clearly, all of these factors to success are highly unpredictable. Yet, Activision, Zynga, and Glu Mobile are all trading at or near 52-week highs.

These companies have all reported quarterly earnings in the last month, and have seen a positive reaction. Yet, have the gains come and gone?

The king of games
Activision Blizzard is trading at levels it hasn't seen since the 1980s, as games such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Skylanders have been a hot commodity with consumers.

The company reported fourth quarter earnings on Feb. 6 that beat expectations. However, Activision's five-day 15% return really comes down to two things. First, management believes that the much anticipated release of Destiny could result in the company's third billion-dollar franchise . Second, subscribers to World of Warcraft had been declining in recent quarters, but in the fourth saw a 200,000 rise to 7.8 million total subscribers .

Still, despite the anticipation for new titles and the presence of subscription growth, Activision's guidance was below analyst estimates at $4.6 billion for 2014. In other words, growth will be near flat this year.

Therefore, with the stock soaring higher and expectations already high, the stock looks vulnerable for a large pullback due to a lack of measurable growth.

A dead cat bounce?
In the last two years, Zynga's shares have fallen more than 65%, which is a great testament to why companies in this space must continue to produce best-sellers.

Yet, many are buying into the notion of a rebound, especially following the company's fourth quarter earnings beat. Furthermore, Zynga acquired a competitor called NaturalMotion for $527 million and decided to cut another 314 jobs.

With that said, both cutting jobs and acquiring NaturalMotion seem like a desperate move on behalf of the Internet gaming company. NaturalMotion has a game called CSR Racing which is very popular on iOS devices. But, as Zynga's learned, a hit today doesn't necessarily translate into riches tomorrow.

Furthermore, Zynga's bookings (revenue) for the quarter represented a 44% year-over-year loss, a familiar trend for longs. And according to the company's outlook for 2014, fundamental losses will continue, as $780 million in bookings represents a year-over-year loss and a significant decline from 2012's $1.28 billion.

Hence, Zynga's recent pop might very well be a dead cat bounce rather than a fundamental recovery.

Moving in the right direction
Glu Mobile was the final gaming company to report earnings, and has soared 25% since beating expectations.

Glu Mobile is much smaller than its peers Activision and Zynga - having quarterly revenue of just $42.8 million - but is the only company to have posted year-over-year growth. In fact, Glu's 62% revenue increase and its guidance for both the upcoming quarter and full-year were significantly better than the consensus; Glu was the only company to issue guidance better than expectations.

This is a company that develops games in iOS, Android, and Amazon, which are all growth markets of the gaming industry. While the company is not yet profitable, its growth can not be questioned.

Clearly, 2014 revenue is based on the growth outlook of analysts, but with the exception of 2013, Glu Mobile has been rather consistent. Furthermore, 2012 was expected to be somewhat of a lagging year, as many of the company's top catalysts occurred in the fourth quarter and now into 2014.

These catalysts include new games Eternity Warriors 3, RoboCop, and Deer Hunter 2014. Thus, by all accounts it appears the company is moving in the right direction.

Final Thoughts
Glu Mobile is far from being a powerhouse in this industry, but with solid growth and an attractive valuation of $380 million, it likely presents more upside than its fundamentally weakening peers.

With that said, successful video games often lose momentum fast, and the outlook for these companies can change in a matter of months. Therefore, understand that this is a risky space, and despite the fact that its trending higher right now doesn't mean that next month will be the same story.

Thus, a company as small as Glu is easy to monitor, and with many new releases in early 2014, the stock has the potential to soar considerably higher.

Sprint announced financial results that beat expectations by nearly every measure. Revenue of $9.142 billion beat consensus of $8.971 billion by $171 million. Earnings per share of -$0.26 were ahead of consensus of -$0.33 by $0.07. Subscribers were $53.9 million and smartphone sales accounted for 95% of the new postpaid customers. Sell side analysts have been updating their models and highlighting the Enterprise Value to EBITDA multiple to justify their buy ratings but individual investors should be wary. Looking beyond the quarter, the investment characteristics of Sprint are weak.

Sprint's growth business isn't growing
Wireless subscribers have been the bread and butter for the telecom business since customers started cutting the cords a decade ago. The growth contribution initially came from growing mobile subscribers then converting those subscribers to higher margin voice/data plans. Unfortunately, mobile appears to be largely tapped out for Sprint with a slight wireless subscriber decline and 95% of postpaid customers already buying smartphones leaving little room for growth in pricing. Making matters worse, this includes the subscribers from the recently acquired Clearwire and US Cellular businesses.

Lack of a dividend
Whether you're a growth investor or income investor, the presence of a dividend helps dampen a stock's downside when the outlook gets darker. Since Sprint is the only major telecom to not offer a dividend, this puts shares at a substantial disadvantage to AT&T  and Verizon Communications  which are offering yields of 5.7% and 4.5% respectively.  

So there's no growth and there no income, at least its stable.  Well, not exactly.

The pricing war is beginning
AT&T cut pricing on its plans for families that use four smartphones in early February.  The revised pricing plan reduces the monthly expense from $200 to $160 and seems to be aimed at Verizon which charges $260 for a similar plan.  Both AT&T and T-Mobile have been offering credits of $450 as an incentive to switch carriers.  Not leaving the handsets out of the competition, both AT&T and Sprint offered new customers an iPhone 5s for $100 when signing a two year agreement.  Verizon, on the other hand, has been vocal about wanting to keep out of a pricing war but cut its $35 activation fee for new customers who sign up between February 10 and February 17.      

Sprint can't be acquired or stop its network build out
When Softbank acquired the 70% interest in Sprint, it promised the FCC that it would remain a separate CDMA carrier and, in time, become an all-LTE carrier.  Prior to the acquisition, the plan was to complete the roll out by 2017 and whether the company holds to this exact time frame or not, the project involves significant capital expenditures. This agreement seems to lock Softbank into a massive multi-year network expansion.  Shareholders could be stuck owning minority interest (30%) of a company that can't match its costs with revenues.

Valuation is tough to justify
The only way analysts have been able to make sense of the valuation is through Enterprise Value to EBITDA. However this ignores two important realities of the telecom business, equipment wears out and the company has to pay debt. Sprint has $32 billion dollars of debt on its books but analysts back out the amortization of the debt payments. Even worse, the depreciation of equipment is backed out yet Softbank is going ahead with a muti-year LTE build out. However, these issues haven't stopped the Barclay's analyst from maintaining the firms $9 price target  or the Wells Fargo analyst from touting the expanding EBITDA margin. 

Use the stocks strength as an opportunity to sell
While Sprint offers a high quality service for its customers and arguably the best nationwide data plan available, the shares have no basis for their current price and individuals should use the name as a source of funds. There's no growth or income benefit from owning shares and the valuation used to justify sell side price targets omits some large reinvestment costs that are necessary in a capital intensive business.  This issue could receive greater scrutiny if the price war that has been brewing increases its ferocity.  There are just better places to put your money.

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over daily movements, we do like to keep an eye on market changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

With little major economic news and Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen done with her visit to Congress, the major indexes ended today's session mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the day down 30 points, or 0.19%, while the S&P 500 lost 0.03%, and the Nasdaq gained 0.24%.

Weather concerns may have affected the Dow. With the second big winter storm hitting parts of the Southeast today and expected to run up the Eastern Seaboard tonight and tomorrow, investors sent shares of insurance company Travelers lower by 1.14% today. You wouldn't think some snow would have people sounding alarm bells, but after the havoc the Jan. 28 storm wreaked on Atlanta, some investors clearly aren't taking any chances and are getting out before Travelers has to make any payouts.

Another big Dow mover today was Cisco which closed the regular trading day up just 0.49% but lost 4.16% in the extended trading period after reporting earnings. Revenue of $11.2 billion and earnings per share of $0.47 did squeak past analysts' expectations of $11.0 billion and $0.46, but management said third-quarter revenue is likely to fall 6%-8% on a year-over-year basis. As my colleague Alex Dumortier noted earlier, Wall Street was expecting this decline, so this drop in the after-hours seems a little overdone.  

Outside the Dow, shares of Zillow finished the day up 2.67% in anticipation of an after-hours report. But once investors got a look at the numbers, the stock fell 2.22%. EPS of $0.19 and revenue of $58.03 million both beat expectations, but the GAAP net loss was $12.5 million for the full year of 2013, compared with GAAP net income of $5.9 million in 2012. Higher costs, especially in advertising, accounted for the loss, and investors ought to be cutting the company some slack, considering the advertising seemed to pay off: Average monthly unique users grew to 54.4 million during the fourth quarter. That's a 57% year-over-year increase. Zillow is now double the size of its two closest competitors in terms of combined Web and mobile traffic. Tthat's the kind of growth and market position I want to see as an investor, and that's why I won't be selling my shares of Zillow anytime soon.  

The Indian smartphone industry is growing at a spectacular pace. According to a recent report by IDC, smartphone sales in India rose to 12.8 million units in the third quarter of fiscal year 2013, a 229% year-over-year increase. Yet, the party is far from over for smartphone vendors. 

With per-capita income and smartphone penetration rising in the country, the research firm expects the Indian smartphone industry to retain its elevated growth rate over the coming quarters as well. Let's see what Apple , Nokia , and BlackBerry are doing to capture this expected growth. 

Smart marketing
Apple is known for its expensive, but high-quality products across the globe. Consequently, its market share in India -- comprised primarily of middle-class citizens -- is limited to just 2%. The company is, however, aggressively trying to shed its "expensive" tag to attract the massive base of budget-conscious Indian consumers. 

Apple reintroduced its iPhone 4 in India last month, with a price tag of about $330. Singapore-based market tracker Canalys believes that the company can launch a promotional buyback scheme to further drive down the price. Since smartphones priced within a $250-$330 band represent 8% of the total smartphone sales in the country, a budget-friendly iPhone 4 might boost Apple's growth. 

The company is also aggressively promoting its high-end models. It has initiated a buyback program for its iPhone 4s, 5c, and 5s, in which the company offers a minimum of $83 for any working smartphone. In addition, consumers also get the option to finance new devices for up to a nine-month period, thereby increasing the affordability of Apple devices. 

Considering that Indian consumers are value driven, Apple's promotional campaigns look good on paper. However, it remains to be seen whether consumers will prefer an outdated iPhone 4 to other competitive offerings.

Portfolio expansion
Nokia, on the other hand, operates with a 5% market share in India -- the world's second largest market after China. The company is leaving no stone unturned to grow this number quickly. 

Nokia's Asha series consists of 10 java-based cell phones within a competitive price band of $60-$120. Plus, the Finnish giant introduced five new Lumia devices this year. Its Lumia range now consists of 11 Windows-based smartphones with price tags ranging from $140-$770. These diverse price-points attract a wide spectrum of mobility enthusiasts and cost-conscious consumers. 

In addition, Nokia will also launch a low-cost Android-based smartphone later this month; rumors suggest the Nokia Normandy will be priced between $50-$99. 

Instead of expecting Nokia to amass fortunes from this launch, however, investors should instead welcome this move as a shift in product direction. If its Android smartphone is well-received in emerging markets, the Finnish giant might launch more such devices and expand its market share.

Flawed strategy
BlackBerry, however, is struggling in India. Its market share has plunged from 14.8% in 2010 to just 1.6% in 2013. There are plenty of reasons to suggest that the company's decline may still continue. 

• It's been over two years since the company updated the hardware of its mid-range Curve devices. Consequently, the latest, feature-rich alternatives are devouring BlackBerry's market share.
• In addition, BlackBerry's latest OS 10 devices, the Z10, Q10, and Z30, carry hefty price tags of $450, $600, and $670, respectively. This exceeds the budget of an average Indian consumer. 
• BlackBerry India is also dealing with brain drain. To secure their future, more than half a dozen high-ranking executives have left the company and joined Apple, Samsung, and Micromax over the last 3 months. 

Clearly, the one-time smartphone leader needs to sort these issues out.

Foolish final thoughts
Apple and Nokia seem to be firing on all cylinders. By targeting the massive base of cost-conscious Indian consumers, both the companies offer an optimistic outlook. However, to thrive in India, BlackBerry needs to quickly innovate and price its products more competitively.

After a nearly 200-point gain yesterday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average  started off the morning pushing north of 16,000, but ultimately closed down 31 points or 0.2%. Global markets were up for a sixth straight day, lifting American equities in the morning on promising trade data from China as investors seemed to forget about the emerging-market currency crisis just weeks ago.

Later in the day, a negative update from Procter & Gamble  on its 2014 outlook seemed to weigh on the broader market as shares of the consumer-goods giant finished down 1.7%. P&G's changed its guidance primarily because of recent foreign currency fluctuations, though it maintained expectations for organic growth at 3-4% and constant-currency EPS growth of 12%-14%. It said it would incur a one-time charge of $0.08 to $0.10 in Venezuela because of changes in importation laws, and that overall sales growth would be negatively affected 2%-3% from global currency changes. EPS growth was revised down to 3%-5%. Though losses caused by exchange rates are essentially cosmetic and not reflective of the organic health of the company, Procter & Gamble's announcement was felt across the market, because it reflects conditions that many other multinational businesses are experiencing and their earnings are likely to suffer because of it.

Another big-name stock moving down after hours was Whole Foods Market , as shares fell 7% after its earnings report missed expectations on all counts. The organic grocer posted earnings of $0.42, below estimates of $0.44, while revenue rose 9.9% to $4.24 billion, short of the consensus at $4.3 billion. Same-store sales were solid, improving 5.4% during a quarter where many retailers saw lackluster sales, but guidance also disappointed the market as Whole Foods said it now sees 2014 EPS of $1.58-$1.65, down from previous guidance at $1.65-$1.69 and below the analyst consensus at $1.68. For the year's sales, it expects top-line growth of 11%-12% and same-store sales of 5.5%-6.2%.

Despite the shortfall, management sounded optimistic about the future, saying it expects store count to eventually more than triple in the U.S. to 1,200 or more. Still, today's report should be a reminder to investors that the company's P/E of 38 carries high expectations with it and that a grocery chain can only grow so fast. Competition from Trader Joe's and other upstart alternative brands may also be giving the company a run for its money.

Finally, Angie's List  shares were getting dumped after hours, dropping 15% after the recommendation website badly missed earnings estimates in its quarterly report as adjusted per-share profit came in at $0.05, short of the consensus at $0.13. Revenue skyrocketed 48.9% to $68.8 million, but that wasn't enough to convince investors that the company is capable of making meaningful profits anytime soon. Its guidance also missed the mark as it sees sales of $71.5-$72.5 million, while the Street was expecting $74.2 million.

Image source: Cisco.

Networking equipment giant Cisco Systems reported results for the second quarter of fiscal year 2014 after Wednesday's closing bell. The report more than satisfied analyst estimates, with reasonable forward-looking guidance. But the return to sustainable growth will take longer than analysts and investors had hoped. In after-hours trading, Cisco shares fell more than 4% on the news.

Cisco delivered second-quarter results at the top end of management guidance. Sales fell 8% year over year to $11.2 billion and non-GAAP earnings also moved 8% lower, landing at $0.47 per share. Wall Street estimates were sitting at the midpoint of Cisco's guidance ranges, so this report qualifies as a positive surprise.

Looking ahead, Cisco expects third-quarter sales to fall roughly 7% year over year, yielding about $0.48 of non-GAAP earnings per share. That's in line with current analyst targets.

"I'm pleased with the progress we've made managing through the technology transitions of cloud, mobile, security and video," said Cisco CEO John Chambers in a prepared statement.

He also reminded investors of "our plan to return to growth over the next several quarters." That sounds like a long stretch to analysts who were expecting a return to year-over-year sales and earnings growth in no more than two or three quarters.

The company also increased its quarterly dividend by 12% in this release. The forward dividend yield will rise from 3% to 3.5% on the combination of higher payouts and lower share prices.

Those researching Air Canada today will find two very different types of headlines. One type highlights how the airline posted its best numbers in its entire 77-year history, and the other points to a disappointing earnings report. Here I'll break down why this record year disappointed Bay Street, why shares fell over 20% on the day of the report, and how investors could profit from this drop..

The report
As a standalone document, Air Canada's earnings report would look positively upbeat. Adjusted earnings for 2013 were six times greater than 2012 earnings and Air Canada CEO Calin Rovinescu called 2013 a "watershed year" on the conference call.

But earnings reports don't exist by themselves; they exist in comparison with analyst expectations. Posting adjusted earnings of $0.01 per share, analyst estimates were too high with expectations of $0.11 per share.

Further depressing shares is the expectation of lower results for the current quarter. With more severe weather in January, many investors are cautious on results for the current quarter.

Currency concerns also weighed on the stock, as the drop in the Canadian dollar relative to the U.S. dollar hurt current results and some investors worried this exchange rate would hurt future results.

Overreaction
For long-term investors, I would consider this degree of a sell-off to be disproportionate to the content of the report. Looking at the progress Air Canada has made, as well as its current performance, shares have plunged back into value territory.

One issue that long-term investors should be able to look beyond is the weather-related component of the report. December and January have been exceptionally severe, prompting major flight cancellations and even the temporary stoppage of operations out of Toronto Pearson International Airport. Unless this level of winter severity has become the new normal, Air Canada should be able to shake off this problem for future earnings.

The other issue has a greater future role to play. The slump in the Canadian dollar compared with the U.S. dollar has driven up costs for Canadian carriers. Both Air Canada and WestJet were knocked off their highs in January, when the currency took a sudden drop below the $0.90 USD level. Since then, the Canadian dollar has move back closer to $0.91 USD.

Even a few cents can make a difference for airlines where major expenses are priced in a foreign currency. However, Air Canada and WestJet have recognized these concerns and have both raised fares 2% to partially compensate for greater costs. If the Canadian dollar remains low, more fare increases could be in store for the future.

Air Canada is taking additional measures to compensate for the currency drop. The carrier is continuing to slash costs. With these measures being implemented, Air Canada expects cost per available seat mile, or CASM, to fall 2.5% to 3.5% for the full year of 2014. These CASM reductions even take into account the current weakness in the Canadian dollar, as Air Canada expects the currency to trade at a rate of $1.10 CAD to $1, USD which is about the current exchange rate.

Value
With Air Canada shares closing Feb. 12 at $6.22, shares are at their lowest level since the 2013 rally. At the peak of the rally, Air Canada shares were beginning to approach shares of other airlines in valuation, but the latest drop puts them squarely back in value territory.

Consider that, despite the lackluster Q4, Air Canada's adjusted 2013 full-year adjusted earnings still came in at $1.20. This gives the airline a current price-to-earnings ratio of only 5.2. Virtually every other publicly traded airline has a higher P/E ratio than this. In fact, even if earnings remained the same for 2014, a forward P/E ratio of 5.2 is still well below industry levels.

In the long-term, I still maintain my estimate that Air Canada shares can trade at 10 times earnings based on fundamental improvements in operations and international expansion that diversifies beyond the home market of Canada. At 10 times earnings, a level still below the industry average, Air Canada shares could trade nearly 100% higher.

The bottom line
The Q4 earnings report did miss estimates, but the long-term outlook for Air Canada shows this degree of sell-off to be unwarranted. With Air Canada shares trading at such a sharp discount to the industry, I view this sell-off as an opportunity to acquire shares at a lower valuation.

Although I have owned Air Canada shares since they were below the $2 level, the growth and value aspects of the airline would have me acquiring additional shares if this stock didn't already make up such a disproportionate share of my portfolio. For investors currently with less exposure to Air Canada stock, this investment if definitely worth a further look at these levels.

Image source: NVIDIA.

NVIDIA Corporation just reported fourth-quarter results, beating analyst estimates by a wide margin. NVIDIA shares jumped as much as 6% in after-hours trading action.

Non-GAAP earnings of $0.32 per share was a 9% year-over-year decline, but analysts would have settled for $0.18 per share. On the top line, Street firms expected a 5% year-over-year decline, but NVIDIA delivered a 3% sales surge instead.

"Quarterly revenue came in well above our outlook, driven by PC gaming, capping an outstanding year for our GPU business," said NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang in a prepared statement.

In a separate document, NVIDIA showed sales of the mobile Tegra processor line plunging 37% year over year, but the much larger graphics division delivered a 14% revenue surge. Notebook graphics processors "declined slightly" but graphics cards for desktop PCs more than made up for that weakness.

Looking ahead, NVIDIA set first-quarter revenue targets around $1.05 billion. The expenses outlined in this guidance work out to non-GAAP earnings of roughly $0.22 per share. Analysts were looking for adjusted earnings of $0.13 per share on $1.0 billion in first-quarter sales.

The public continues to be amazed by the kinds of items that 3-D printers are able to create, at a fraction of the cost of typical production, such as prosthetic limbs and parts for spacecraft. Still, 3-D printing has not had much of an effect on the everyday consumer, because neither the machines nor their printed products have had much of a presence in our daily lives. What will take 3-D printing to the next level is to make the printers more of an individual consumer product. 3-D printer companies are already working on building smaller and more affordable units. Meanwhile, other non-maker companies are preparing for 3-D printing growth as well.

A Cube personal 3-D printer starts around $1300. Source: 3-D Systems.

One company that is proving to be an innovator in the printer-making space is 3D Systems . With the release of the Cube printer, consumers can have their own 3-D printer at home, starting at around $1300. While 3D Systems' stock price has been shaky in the last few months (including a sell-off in November and another dip the last two weeks), shares have still increased over 73% in the last year, but the stock's P/E multiple of 172 may scare value-focused investors away. Another option to gain from 3-D printing growth is through companies that aren't making the machines, but are preparing their own products for the growth of 3-D printing. Here are three companies doing that now.

The Hershey Company  has reported that they are planning to team up with 3D Systems to bring printable candy to consumers homes. Hershey has a history of innovation, and was ranked No. 28 on the Forbes list of most innovative companies in 2013. William Papa, Hershey's vice president and chief R&D officer said, "We believe that innovation is key to delivering relevant, compelling consumer experiences with our iconic brands. ... Whether it's creating a whole new form of candy or developing a new way to produce it, we embrace new technologies such as 3D printing as a way to keep moving our timeless confectionery treats into the future."

Microsoft has created the first operating system which would allow for 3-D printing to be a native element with its latest OS update, Windows 8.1. The company has gone even further by creating an app for the everyday consumer to be able to utilize 3-D printing as well. Making 3-D printing so easy that the average consumer can do it is sure to be a key component of Microsoft's 3-D strategy. That way, the company will be able to profit from this rising tech trend, without changing its core business. 

Adobe Systems is another tech company that is making 3-D printing easy. With the latest update to the company's well-known Photoshop program, Adobe has introduced the ability for users to print directly from the application with a 3-D printer. Graphic artists, inventors, product designers, or any other professional that uses design or creates products, can now print directly from the program in many different materials, such as ceramics, metals, and full-color sandstone.

Foolish takeaway: 3-D printing growth is not just for the machine makers
The companies that have received the most press about 3-D printing are companies like 3D Systems that actually build the printers. However, these companies are not the only ones innovating in the 3-D printing space and preparing for its continued growth. Like the examples above, other companies are in a position to win from this growing industry. Because the 3-D printer companies are trading at such high multiples, betting on some of these other companies might be the best way to make a value play in the 3-D printing industry.