Daily Tech Snippet: Thursday, July 26

• Amazon Expands Drone Testing in Britain:  Amazon has partnered with the British government to significantly expand drone testing, a move that could allow the devices to deliver packages to British homes far earlier than in the United States. Under the partnership, Britain’s aviation regulator will let Amazon test several aspects of drone technology — such as piloting the machines beyond the line of sight of its operators — that the Federal Aviation Administration in the United States has not permitted. The tests, which are an important sign of confidence in Britain after its historic vote last month to leave the European Union, are to begin immediately.The move puts pressure on the F.A.A., which had recently rebuffed requests by Amazon, Google and other drone makers to advance their delivery plans. The tech behemoths and other drone makers have aggressively lobbied the F.A.A. to authorize the devices to significantly reduce costs to transport goods by airplane, freight and trucks. Amazon said it hoped success with the drone trials in Britain would encourage more hesitant regulators in the United States and elsewhere to loosen restrictions. The trials will “help identify what operating rules and safety regulations will be needed to help move the drone industry forward,” the company said in a statement. Amazon will work with British regulators to test drones that fly beyond the line of sight of operators in rural and suburban areas. It will also test whether a single operator can safely command multiple drones at once, as well as technology that lets the machines automatically detect and avoid other planes, buildings and people.

• Analyst Downgrades Apple and Says It Has 'Peaked': With Apple Inc's earnings report just a day away, Wall Street analysts are more at oddsthan ever, and one of them in particular anticipates tough times for the tech giant. "Our opinion [is] that Apple has peaked under the leadership of CEO Tim Cook," Colin Gillis of BGC Financial L.P. said in a note this week. "Our view that that there is risk that the upgrade rate for the next iPhone may slow even more than the upgrade rate cycle of 6s, which has been materially lower than the upgrade rate of the iPhone 6 as per the company." However, others disagree and say that while things haven't been great as of late, things will get better next year. "Amid pervasive investor fear and negativity, we see results/guidance as not great but good enough to start swinging the tide from near-term fear to cautious optimism about the future," Timothy Arcuri of Cowen and Company LLC said in a note. "Given our installed base work, we see a "super-cycle" in '17 and iPhone 7 could even sell a little better than bearish expectations." Even Gillis acknowledges that shares could see a move higher after earnings due to the low expectations. After that bounce, though, his pessimism continues. "[W]hen we ask ourselves 'Do we see Apple gaining or losing its next $100 billion of value,' the answer is losing."

• Sprint says to be cash-flow positive next year, shares soar: Sprint Corp (S.N) reported better-than-expected first-quarter revenue as big discounts attracted more postpaid subscribers, and the No. 4 U.S. wireless carrier said it expected to be cash flow positive next fiscal year after breaking even this year. The company's shares surged more than 28 percent to $5.93 on Monday - their biggest intraday percentage gain ever - after it also said it had enough money to fund its business this year. Some analysts and investors had raised questions about Sprint's financial position after majority owner SoftBank Corp (9984.T) agreed earlier this month to buy UK chipmaker ARM Holdings for $32 billion. Sprint had negative cash flow of $3.17 billion in the financial year ended March 31. "We expect that we will have adequate sources to provide all the capital necessary to fund the business and repay the debt maturities due in FY 16," Chief Financial Officer Tarek Robbiati said on a conference call with analysts.Sprint, in which Japan's SoftBank holds a more than 80 percent stake, said its net operating revenue fell marginally to $8.01 billion. Up to Friday's close, Sprint's shares had risen 27.6 percent since the start of the year.

• Investors realize Nintendo didn’t develop Pokémon Go and shares plummet: Nintendo’s shares plunged after the company said late Friday that the worldwide success of Pokémon Go will not significantly impact its financial results. Nothing Nintendo disclosed about the ownership of the game was new information, but markets were shocked anyway. The stock sank 18 percent to 23,220 yen at the close in Tokyo, the maximum one-day move allowed by the exchange, noted Bloomberg. After the drop, Nintendo’s stock remained flat. In morning trading today, the Kyoto-based company’s shares were down $2.36, or 8.14 percent, at $26.64.On Friday, Nintendo put out a statement pointing out that it owns only 32 percent of the voting power of The Pokémon Company, an affiliated company that holds the ownership rights to Pokémon. Nintendo also owns 13 percent of Niantic, the San Francisco-based mobile developer spun out of Google last year who developed and distributed the game. “Because of this accounting scheme, the income reflected on the company’s consolidated business results is limited,” Nintendo wrote in a notice. Also, Nintendo said that “Pokémon Go Plus,” its peripheral device for use with the application, is scheduled for release and it’s already reflected in the financial forecast. Following Pokémon Go’s release in the U.S. at the beginning of July, Nintendo’s market valuation soared to more than $40 billion, passing Sony.