WJ,
<< How can I hear the conference call?>>
Call Viola at IR and ask her to send you a tape. Maybe if enough people pester them, they will see that it really is better to provide better access to conference calls on a more timely basis.
<<As I understand it, they first lost the chipset business, then got the laser contract. Is this why they are 2 to 3 months behind plan?>>
I'm not sure which came first. My impression was that the pump modules order has a longer leadtime, whereas chipsets were in production already.
<<How does the loss of the chipset business affect their total revenues? Will the pumps make up for this and drive growth?>>
I was told that margins from both products are similar %-wise, but that pumps sell for 3x the price of the chipsets but ship in 1/2 the volume. That suggests a 50% increase in revenues to SDL from LU from what they were previously doing in chipset revenues. I do not know the absolute amounts or overall effect upon the revenue model. Perhaps this will be a little clearer in the cassette.
<<What do you feel about prospects after talking with management?>>
They are nice people. They are working hard to keep up with the big boys in an exploding market. They have relatively little bargaining power due to their small size. They are trying to diversify the range of their product offerings to help smooth their results. They have alot to learn about damage control and PR as I alluded to earlier. They may have lost some credibility on the street by not providing better guidance. As I said earlier, I like the gorillas: LU, GLW, NT, but if you still like small caps, average down. I'll know more after I hear the tape.
SC |
