btw, is there any competing technologies that threaten their position in flat screens???? tia. larry
Yes, some possible huge competition for Genesis.
Fletch
Barrons 2/4: GNSS One of few tech stocks with real momentum last year was Genesis Microchip. Genesis' chips scale graphics to fit the varying sizes and shapes of flat panel displays for computers. Sales more than doubled in the nine months ended December, to $107 million, while earnings tripled to $18 million, or 80 cents a share. Analysts forecast EPS of $1.24 for the fiscal year ending March 2002, rising to $2.25 by March 2004 -- so investors have boosted Genesis shares fivefold in the last year to a recent 60. That's a $1.2 billion market valuation.
"The flat panel market is galloping, and we own a huge chunk of it," says Genesis spokesman Robert Hunter.
Maybe too huge a chunk, once the soon-to-be-completed merger with rival Sage boosts Genesis market share past 60%. A money manager who has shorted Genesis shares says that flat panel makers would like to see more competition among their chip suppliers. They soon will, says the publicity-shy short-seller. He foresees a sharp drop in the price of chips like Genesis'. European chipmaker STMicroelectronics is making a concerted push into flat panel chips. Unlike Genesis, STM owns its own chip factories. STM can make the chips for around $4.50 each, says the investor, compared to a $6 acquisition cost for Genesis. If STM drives down sales prices for the chips to $8, as it plans, the money manager expects Genesis' gross margins will fall from 45% to 25%. That could even push Genesis into the red. |
