Consumer Reports magazine just named the Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) Model S the top car for 2014. However, this prestigious title was not enough to budge New Jersey’s final ruling to ban direct sale of Tesla through the company. On Tuesday, the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission voted to ban the direct sales of vehicles in the state, forcing Tesla to sell cars via dealerships. Despite the disappointing news, Robert W. Baird analyst Ben Kallo is still recommending BUY Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), remaining confident in the stock. While Barclays analyst Brian Johnson is acting with caution, recommending HOLD TSLA instead. Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) stock opened at $231.50 in last session, and closed at $241.49, while the day range of TSLA stock is $231.11-$247.50.The stock showed a negative weekly performance of -4.42%.
EPL Oil & Gas Inc. (NYSE:EPL) agreed to be bought by main rival Energy XXI Ltd (Nasdaq:EXXI) Wednesday in a $2.3 billion deal billed as creating the biggest publicly owned independent oil producer on the U.S. Gulf of Mexico shelf. EPL Oil & Gas Inc (NYSE:EPL) stock opened at $37.62, in last session and closed at $37.50, by gained 28.82%. The 52 week range was $37.32-$39.26.Company’s market capitalization is $1.47 billion.
Acquisitions are a more than likely event at Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the coming year. The iPhone maker has a massive cash hoard of $159 billion, which fact puts an ugly question mark on its ability to create value for its investors. However, in the recent earnings call Tim Cook refused to expand share buyback plans or dividend payment to shareholders, saying he “might need” the cash to buy some interesting ventures. He also reaffirming investors he will bring in more innovation to the stagnating portfolio of the iPhone maker. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock gained 0.10% and finished the last session at $536.61. The EPS of the stock remained 40.32.Company’s market capitalization is $478.90 billion.
Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) has been one of the most successful startups of all time. Considering how ubiquitous it is, it’s hard to imagine that all this started only in July 2006. It has an Alexa rank of 10 meaning it’s the tenth most visited website on the planet. Not a mean achievement considering the company is less than 10 years old. For a company with about 2,000 employees and revenue of $300 million leading to a loss of $511 million in Q42013, it certainly has an outsize cultural impact. Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) stock opened the session at $54.25, and closed the session at $54.50. The 52 week range of the TWTR stock remained $38.80-$74.73 and the day range was $53.88-$55.30.