Internet Telephony: FTEL (Franklin Telecom)
recent price: $2.50
Jeff: The only "penny" I follow is FTEL. If
you are so inclined, here is some further info:
Franklin is in the Internet Telephony business.
They are a hardware manufacturer as well as
a national ISP and Global VOIP (voice over internet
protocol) telecommunications company. The company
has been in business for more than 15 years. They
recently brought in a new COO Peter Buswell who
has really turned the company around.
FTEL: Primary focus: VOIP hardware and other
netowrking equipment.
Recently quarterly sales (approx.)
3/98: 325,000
6/98: 550,000
9/98: 933,000
12/98: 1,240,000
3/98: 2 to 2.5 mil (my guess)
If you look at their recent news releases, you
will see that the market for their products has
been expanding, and will continue to expand (IMO)
Franklin Telecom's DVG (Data Voice Gateway) was
recently named Product of the Year by a trade
magazine, Internet Telephony. I believe that
you will continue to see sequential revenue growth
over the next few quarters and should see the
company turn a profit by 6/99.
FNET is Franklin's majority owned susidiary that is
focused on global VOIP as well as national ISP
services. FNET has been rated in the top ten of
all national ISPs. FNET is beginning deployment of
their global VOIP network and is schduled to IPO this
year. The margins on this foreign VOIP traffic should
be tremendous.
FTEL's stock peaked in late 1997 when VOIP was the latest
wall street craze...after Barron's profiled the industry.
It tanked througout 1998 due to a preferred stock financing
agreement. All of this stock has been converted and should
see no further negative impact from this financing.
There is an VOIP expo starting March 2nd which FTEL will
be attending. I believe positive momentum should start
building this week and continue. I encourage this stock
as a long-term play. It is volatile, so be patient.
My target for this stock is $10 by the end of the year.
Their website is ftel.com
There is further discussion of this company on the Raging
Bull message boards. The FTEL site on SI has been pretty
much deserted. Occassionally, when the knowledgable folks
are talking on Raging Bull, you can find some good info. |
