Tech Business Recap: Facebook Downgraded, YouTube Loves Professional Channels

Time Warner Cable (NYSE:TWC), Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) and other cable television operators can now withhold non-sports programming from their rivals, following a ruling by the FCC which allowed program-sharing requirements to expire Friday.

Shares of Facebook’s (NASDAQ:FB) were downgraded from Neutral to Sell Monday morning by Richard Greenfield at BTIG, who said that “we see a growing tension between the Facebook user experience and monetization.” Basically, the firm faces a dilemma as how to maximize revenue from ads and not annoy users. For his part, Greenfield believes that Facebook is trying harder to obtain ad revenue through mobile, and that will generate problems in the future. In late afternoon trading, the shares are trying hard to stay above $20.

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YouTube (NASDAQ:GOOG) will invest in 60 additional professional channels, looking towards adding French, British, and German content. The online video major already has spent hundreds of millions in its channels and presently claims that 25 of them average more than 1 million views a week.

Hewlett-Packard Company’s (NYSE:HPQ) breakup is now considered to be more likely by UBS, which recommends that the firm be divided into enterprise and PC/printers. Based on a sum-of-the-parts analysis, UBS calculates that shares are worth $20 for which the analyst has a Sell rating with a target of $14, citing recent underperformance and lack of willingness on the part of management to conduct near-term structural changes.

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