Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : e.Digital Corporation(EDIG) - Embedded Digital Technology -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Christopher Gates who wrote (1809)	1/20/1999 9:11:00 AM
From: Walter Morton	Respond to of 18366

Here it is Christopher: uniontribune.com The former Norris Communications has two hot buttons in its new name: a dot and a digital. As of last week, the new name is e.Digital Corp., and the new ticker symbol is EDIG. Maybe the new name has helped a bit. The stock started the year at 5.8 cents and closed Friday at 9.5 cents, up half a cent. That's still a long way from the $3.90 high of October 1994. According to the proxy statement, the board wanted to change the name to Digital Systems Development. Then someone got the idea for e.Digital, and the proxy was changed. Shareholders approved the new monicker, as well as an increase in common shares from 120 million to 200 million, at a meeting last week. A name like e.Digital makes sense because the company is now "an engineering company specializing in developing portable digital recording technology to interface with the Internet," says president and chief executive Alfred H. Falk. But this company has one big problem: credibility. That may be the reason for the name change. It has made huge claims in the past that have not come through. Falk agrees with skeptical observers: "If I were in their shoes, I would feel the same way, but what we're doing now is real. We have the contracts to show it," he says. "We have a contract with Intel to develop a specialized digital voice recorder that will utilize advanced speech-to-text and text-to-speech technology," says Falk. The present arrangement with Intel is for less than $1 million, according to a company statement. "We are also working with Lucent Technologies with regard to developing portable digital music players to interface with the Internet," says Falk, noting that e.Digital also recently got a $3 million contract from Lanier Worldwide. Falk says that e.Digital can turn profitable in the middle of this calendar year, although the 1999 fiscal year, which will end in March, will be another loser. The company had big operating losses in its previous three fiscal years. In its report to the Securities and Exchange Commission for the first nine months of fiscal 1999, the company stated that because of big operating losses, "there is substantial uncertainty about future operating results." The company said in that report that for the next twelve months, it would need $750,000 to continue operating, and "there can be no assurance that additional funding will be available or on what terms." The $750,000 may be supplied through the contracts the company has received, although "there might be additional debt financing," says Falk. The company is one of three involving the ebullient and ever-optimistic Elwood G. (Woody) Norris. He owns 5 percent of e.Digital, 28 percent of American Technology Corp. and 10 percent of Patriot Scientific Corp. American Technology, which specializes in sound reproduction technologies, lost $4.6 million for the year ended Sept. 30, compared with a loss of $2.8 million the previous year. The per-share loss swelled to 42 cents from 30 cents as sales declined to $244,000 from $1 million. The company's revenues formerly had come mainly from consumer electronic products, such as ear radios and mini-headphones, but now it is working on things like jet noise-reduction technologies. The stock closed Friday at $5.50, up 13 cents, but as recently as last May was trading at almost $11. Patriot Scientific makes a microprocessor chip. The company has been around since 1989: "We're coming out of the development stage," says Lowell Giffhorn, chief financial officer. For the second quarter ended Nov. 30, Patriot lost $1.1 million, a slight improvement over the $1.2 million loss of the same quarter of the previous year. For the first half, the loss was $2.1 million vs. a loss of $2.4 million in the previous year's period. The stock closed Friday at 50 cents, up six cents, but sold at $3.89 in May of last year. Don Bauder's e-mail address is don.bauder@uniontrib.com. uniontribune.com Thanks for the tip.