IMPCO Technologies (Nasdaq: IMCO) $23.00
High energy prices, coupled with increased environmental awareness regarding global warming, has give a string boost to providers of alternative energy sources. And Wall Street has taken note. A number of fuel cell developers, for example, trade at fairly lofty valuations. Unfortunately, many promising players are hard pressed to show any meaningful revenues.
If you like the sector, but want to avoid some risk, take a look at IMPCO Technologies (Nasdaq: IMCO). While others are just getting started, IMPCO has been boosting sales at a 20% annual clip over the last five years. By Fiscal (April) 2000, IMPCO surpassed that $100 million annual sales mark.
Up until now, IMPCO has focused on building auto, truck, and industrial engines that run on clean burning natural gas. The company has already lined up relationships with firms such as General Motors, Ford, Toyota and Caterpillar. As Robertson Stephens' Lisa Callahan points out, "IMPCO has almost four times the revenue of its next largest competitor."
But in recent quarters, IMPCO has posted disappointing sales growth, as the strong U.S. dollar is impeding international sales. It now appears that sales will stay in the $100-120 million range for this year and next.
Soon thereafter, however, sales could well spurt higher anew. That's because IMPCO has made significant strides in the fuel cell arena. To capitalize on the new technology, IMPCO has created a separate unit, called Quantum.
Callahan figures that "the company's automotive fuel cell technologies are a prefect evolution of its existing product line, giving the company a significant developmental head start over competitors starting from scratch."
Thanks to the recent market rebound, shares of IMPCO have rebounded to $23. Three insiders were savvy enough to buy stock when the stock was back down at $13.75. But the shares still trade for just half of the 52-week high, and trade at a steep discount to competitors on a projected price-to-revenue basis
insidertrader.com |
