LTBG should sparkle tomorrow:
BUSINESSWEEK INVESTOR -- INSIDE WALL STREET
Why Lightbridge Could Light Up
Pat Farley follows software companies at Kopp
Investment Advisors, a $3 billion money-management
firm that specializes in small-cap outfits. One of Farley's
top picks nowadays is an obscure, and very small,
specialty software company called Lightbridge
(LTBG). He feels that Lightbridge, with a mere $150
million market capitalization, is an undiscovered gem.
Among other things, Lightbridge makes fraud-
management software for telecommunications carriers,
to make sure that phone companies don't have any
glitches when they ''activate'' new customers. How's
that for specialization? Farley notes that the market has
been immune to Lightbridge's charms. One reason is a
bit of bad luck in the first quarter of 1998, when
Lightbridge shares plummeted 20% in one day, from
18 1/8 to 14 5/8, after the company said first-quarter
earnings would fall short of expectations. Shares in the
Burlington (Mass.) company have rebounded this year,
but Farley believes the company's strong growth
prospects justify even higher share prices. He also
believes Lightbridge is ripe for an acquisition, although
no suitor is in the wings just now.
Farley reckons that earnings in 2000 will top 40 cents a
share and that Lightbridge will reach a price-earnings
ratio of 30 by the end of the year. This would send
Lightbridge's share price above 12, a nifty premium
over its current 9. Definitely something to phone home
about. |
