| | | Patience, Peter! You are 77; I am 78, and I've been in SNDK since 1998. When I bought SNDK originally, the price per share was equal to the cash and marketable securities per share, meaning that the company, its management, patents, plant and equipment were valued at close to zero. The case today is that cash and marketable securities are a larger percentage of book value than for most companies in the tech sector. Although SNDK doesn't have all the essential proprietary technology, they have enough to give them a technological edge, and with it, better gross margins than their competitors.
Combine the above factors with a continuing expansion in demand for solid state drives for individual or enterprise applications, and you have what I believe is a credible investment in a market that, overall, is no bargain.
Consider the alternatives. Over the last year or so, one could have made an almost entirely risk free investment in 3M (Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing), getting access to a firm that also has a growth position in various kinds of electronic technology, in addition to its more traditional products like Post-it Notes, and you would have gotten a large gain in share price along with a decent dividend. However, the overall demand for 3M products is not increasing nearly as fast as that for SNDK products. If nothing else, it's an argument for diversity of holdings. At present, I'll continue holding SNDK until I'm convinced that the shares are more fully valued.
Art |
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