Hambrecht & Quist added INTS to its focus list yesterday and reiterated its buy. The H&Q Focus List has had an excellent record over the years. I believe this recommendation reflects not just the choice of the analyst who must also convince an investment committee of the merits of adding a company to the Focus List. Apparently, H&Q feels that the new CEO at INTS is making very good progress.
Some highlights from the report titled “Adding ISI to Focus List - Foundation Set For Growth Reacceleration” dated March 8, 1999:
H&Q analyst Matt Belkin noted new management, increasing sales momentum, expectation of increased visibility on customers design wins and among the investor community, “We believe the shares are poised for compelling appreciation over the next 12-24 months.”
“New management blood, which by our estimate, has allowed the company to win a significantly greater portion of larger, more lucrative deals. Furthermore, we expect visibility on such deals will increase as management applies a reinvigorated focus on marketing ISI's design win success, both to customers and investors. Finally, though ISI will invest notably in sales capacity over the near-term, we believe our current growth expectations will be proven conservative and that upside through the course of fiscal 2000 is a solid plausibility.”
H & Q estimates for the quarter are sales of $36.7 million and earnings of $0.18 per share. Belkin also noted ISI will record a non-operating charge in the quarter of a few million dollars related to a lawsuit filed by Green Hills, an embedded tools supplier. The $0.18 excludes this non-operating charge. |
