Hello everyone,
I am new to this thread as well the stock, bought in at 13 3/4 last Thursday. That news about Motorola is true and was reported Thursday. IMO the MOT story is already factored in the stock price. The stock buyback is the big news on Monday and Bloomberg already reported PLXS as one of the Hot Stocks To Watch.
Here is the interview last Thursday including the Motorola story.
INTERVIEW-Plexus sees stronger Q3, Q4
CHICAGO, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Plexus Corp expects sales growth to rebound in its third and fourth quarters after first-half shortfalls due to Motorola Inc's MOT.N decision to move in house some assembly work that Plexus had been doing, said Plexus chief financial officer Tom Sabol. In an interview with Reuters, Sabol said, "Q2 will be impacted as well. What basically has happened is that Motorola, a major customer, has decided to move a program back in house."
Plexus shares were off 11-5/16 to 13-11/16 Thursday in over-the-counter trading on the company's announcement that sales in its fiscal first quarter ending December 31 would be below Wall Street expectations. The shortfall will extend to the second quarter, as well, Sabol said. "We should do $100 million in sales in the second quarter" versus $96.7 million in the year-ago period, he said.Sabol said two new Plexus customers are ramping up production and should give a boost to sales in the company's fiscal third and fourth quarters. "We see those quarters being fairly strong at this point in time ... There should be 15 percent year-over-year sales growth in those quarters," Sabol said.
Motorola remains a major customer and is in discussions with Plexus about other programs, said Sabol. Neenah, Wis.-based Plexus is a contract developer and manufacturer of electronics products. In its fiscal first quarter ended December 31, 1996, Plexus earned $2.9 million, or $0.39 per share, on net sales of $87.4 million. Early Thursday, the company said it expected this quarter to earn $0.21 to $0.24 per share on net sales of $93 million to $97 million. The company said it expects to report earnings on or about January 19. The company said it expects gross margins in the first quarter to equal or top the year-ago level of 11.4 percent.
Plexus chairman Peter Strandwitz said, "We believe the company is well positioned for solid long-term growth and profitability because of our recent geographical expansions to Raleigh, N.C., Minneapolis and Milpitas, Calif., together with an expanded direct sales force and the continued strong demand for our unique product realization capabilities."
REUTERS
Rtr 16:18 12-18-97
Copyright 1997, Reuters News Service
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