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Technology Stocks : MRV Communications (MRVC) opinions? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mike Winn who wrote (6376)	12/12/1997 11:53:00 PM
From: Sam	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 42804

After Noam and a few others spoke and the slide show concluded the meeting was opened up to questions. In my opinion, in hindsight it was too bad Noam did this. While there were several very intelligent questions or genuine concerns brought up, there also was the most useless stammerings that I have heard in ages. To the point that some in the meeting could no longer contain their laughter. IN my conclusion I will write more about this. Q-(after a few minutes of stammering) So many ridiculous things were covered that it appeared noone, including Noam didnt know what the final question was. I think the ultimate question was why MRVC and NBase hadnt promoted themselves properly. A-Noam finally responded that they were working on it. Q-Same questioner stated that MRVC didnt have enough exposure and its too difficult to get information from the office. A-NOam said that he considered it his duty to answer questions directly when possible. Noam also mentioned that a year ago that investors wanted analyst coverage and they delivered just that. Just a note*** there was a statement made later by a man named Jeff that refuted this claim. He also mentioned that he wished Noam wouldnt spend this much time with individual investors and continue on where his time was more valuable to us all. Q-A question was asked about the structure of MRVC. A-Roughly 150 employees in the US. 150 in Israel. 90 in Europe. And as of late a couple of employees in China. He mentioned that half of the talent was in Israel. He also mentioned the cost savings on duties to the tune of 7.5% and I would assume less in shipping cost due top the distance. Q-Jeff- Where does MRVC fit in with the faster modems being developed? A-At least 1/2 of the wires to the homes are not capable of carrying beyond the capabilities of 56K that is out now. He mentioned the demand constantly increasing in the fiber area along with networking. Q-How will MRVC expand in the future. A-They have a current cash position of 120-130 million dollars. They have the desire after some of the cash is put to work to be able to generate the cash they need to expand. Q-There was a question relating to the challenges MRVC will face. A-On competition they have the desire to continue leading in product and first to market. On production they will be adding people at critical stages. Some of the challeges were that it was hard to attract and retain key employees. It was noted that they have experienced a ZERO turnover rate in engineering. Q-Where do you see MRVC in five years? A-Building value by meeting or exceeding projections. (In other words continuing as they have leading) Q Peter- Regarding the Asian crisis.... How does MRVC plan to insure sales and getting paid? A-Getting paid is not a problem they are experiencing. Sales are generally at 14% with this quarter coming in at the low teens (I assume that would be 13% so roughly very little change). The fujitsu ally remains strong. They are continuing to open new inroads to Asia. Q-Will MRVC go to the retail side? A-Note anytime soon was the answer. Noam mentioned 3com and how he respected their decision to go in the direction they chose, but that wasnt for them. Q-Joe M. - How has Fibronics rolled into MRVC cheme of things? A-They were after and received GigaHUb technology, R&D, expanded marketing and sales. All their goals were accomplished and the GigaHub is on an upswing in sales. Q-How excited are you about Direct IP? A-Direct IP has two factors, increased speed and local area intergrating IP into Gigabit technology. They are currently shipping and integrating Direct IP with Gig. Q-(I hope I got the question right. It was very difficult to understand where the questioner was going with this series of questions. The next four questions are from teh same person ) Is Lucent a lost customer? A-No Lucent is a competitor. Q-Are you concerned with a takeover possibility? A-No we are charting our own way. Q- Are you satisfied with BEST? A-They have done everything they said they would. The secondary was successful and completed last summer. Q-The questioner claimed that it was unfair that BEST reiterate reccommendation was not available to all investors. A-He was answered that it was BEST's reccommendation to their clients. This was the point where the laughter couldnt be contained. And by the way two things for the questioner.... First I for one received a copy of the reiterate a buy. Second, whether you knew it or not BEST had one of their dogs (I mean this with respect) at the meeting. Q- (unknown) Asked about medium range plans. A-MRVC added a new building that will add 33,000 sq feet to their facility. The meeting was adjourned and those that wished could go on to the tour. At the facility we started with a tour of the original building. Believe me when I say they come from humble begginnings. The tour guide was a UCSB grad and did a wonderful job walking us through the site. We then went to what I assume was a building they acquired within the last year, right around the corner from the original MRVC building. We were walked through and shown how the product worked and was assembled. I took the opportunity to speak with an employee as people moved on to the next station. She was very happy with her work and mentioned how much she liked her job. Note that her job was very difficult and tedious.We were shown some more stations and areas and then went to the final leg of the tour in the NBase building. This is where the offices of the management and networking production and checking took place. I am going to leave any technical crap to someone else that is more versed than I am. I will conclude on the next post. Sam