Forum Archive Index - December 1999

["David Reid" <aspex@ix.net.nz>]

It is hard call on the best of the tech stocks.

Example: Exactly 12 months ago ARM Holdings in UK were the equivalent of £0.784 and yesterday they were £39.70 having risen £6.30 on the day.  I purchased at £21.90 as late as 12th November and their PE is 266.

BUT Merryl Lynch target is £54.00 and the intention of the company is to have one or more of their design of RISC chips in every hand held device world wide. They make NOTHING. They sell their designs only.

Their NTAV is only £0.69

 

Below is an extract of the news feeds from this company fro just the last two months.

I could not believe that any Australasian company woud get anywhere near this

STOP reading here if you wish but ARM really is almost unbelievable

 

14.12.99 :+95, (3448) Goldman Sachs significantly hikes its price targets for the major European semiconductor firms, dealers said. The broker has boosted its target for ARM Holdings by 70 pct to 38 stg, and reiterated its 'market outperformer' rating.  No further details were available on the changes, but brokers attributed the hikes to increasing optimism about the outlook for the semiconductor market globally.
07.12.99 :+32.5, (3343) institutional buying ahead the company's entry to the FTSE 100 on Dec 20 pushed shares in the chip developer ahead 6 pct in morning trade, dealers said. ARM, maker of the risc-chip, will be in 55th place in the FTSE 100 based on last night's prices and will be joined by CMG PLC, another member of the IT sector. With a market value of over 6.3 bln stg, ARM will overtake household names Bass PLC, Boots Co PLC and J Sainsbury PLC. The company's ascent has been little short of phenomenal, rising from 200 pence (since split5:1) when it was floated in April last year. Since October, when the stock was less than 10 stg, valuing the group at 1.89 bln stg, ARM's value has more than tripled on the back of a series of licensing deals with global giants such as Intel looking to utilise the company's unique high-performance, power-efficient processors.
16.11.99 :+131, (2375) as Index funds continued to buy the stock ahead of its, probable, inclusion in the FTSE 100 Index at the next review on Dec 8, dealers said. Brokers also noted positive feedback from a meeting that the company held with analysts at HSBC Securities last night. The broker is expected to initiaite coverage of the stock shortly.
15.11.99 :+114, (2244) Teather & Greenwood publishes a review of the technology sector in which it says performance has "gone ballistic in recent days and weeks" but still finds five stocks to recommend as a 'buy'. Among the large caps, Teather's favoured selection is ARM Holdings PLC which analyst Guy Feld says is "all but assured" of a place in the FTSE 100 in the December review. 03.11.99 :+88.5, (1979.5) Goldman Sachs upgrades its target price on the stock to 2,200 pence from 1,650 previously, dealers said. Goldman Sachs is said to have lifted its target price in the wake of recent deals with U.S. group Intel Corp and Texas Instruments Inc, dealers added. Goldman is said to have retained its 'market outperform' rating, dealers concluded.
02.11.99 :+94, (1891) Texas Instruments and Arm announce that the two companies will collaborate on a DSP and Microcontroller platform for next-generation wireless information devices such as smart phones, personal communicators and wireless Internet-enabled products.  The new Dual-Core platform, will be optimised to run current and future wireless cellular applications such as 2G+ and 3G. The platform, which will be compatible with existing TI and Arm core-based solutions, will offer the increased performance and low power consumption required to run real-time audio and video applications on wireless information devices.  In a separate agreement, TI has recently licensed the ARM10T processor family to extend the performance and capabilities of its existing DSP and Microcontroller platform for 2G wireless applications.
29.10.99 :+216.5, (1728) buys Micrologic Solutions, a Cambridge-based 25- person software solutions house, which provides software and hardware development services and systems consultancy for telecommunications, embedded control, digital protocols and real-time instrumentation applications. Micrologic is a private limited company, with revenues of £1.4m in the year ended 30 April 1999. The consideration for the business is £1.1m, with additional performance related bonuses.
26.10.99 :-78, (1450) Goldman Sachs raises its target price on ARM Holdings to 1,650 pence from 1,250 previously and repeated its 'market outperform' advice, dealers said. No further details were available.
25.10.99 :+198, (1528) company and Intel Corporation announce they have finalised a licensing agreement which will enable Intel to develop a full range of solutions based on current and future versions of the ARM architecture beginning with version 5TE. Through this agreement, Intel will be able to strengthen its presence as a building block supplier to the Internet by designing and building future generations of RISC-based, ARM architecture compliant products.  ARM offers full system-on-chip solutions including processor cores, peripheral intellectual property, development tools, applications software, EDA tools and design services.
22.10.99 :+90, (1330) excited by the rally on Nasdaq overnight and vague talk of a new licensing deal did the rounds.
19.10.99 :+35.5, (1212.5) on the Q3 results etc., Lex say: "ARM has its hands full. Demand is exploding for the sort of power-efficient microprocessors it designs: many end up in mobile phones, game machines and the like. All ARM has to do - admittedly no trivial task - is manage the growth. So far the company is doing a fine job. It is ploughing money into product innovation, with research and development a hefty 28 per cent of revenues. ARM is developing upgrades and winning new licensees. Intriguingly, one of its latest licensees is not the usual semiconductor manufacturer but 3Com, the networking equipment company. This is a bit like dealing with the customer's customer. But it makes sense for ARM. The focus is shifting towards "system-on-chip" design - which incorporates the core functions of a product on a single silicon chip. Moreover, equipment manufacturers, like mobile phone companies, are playing a central role as system developers. Being aligned with them helps ARM ensure that its chips are what the end-manufacturer actually needs. Some of the company's existing semiconductor licensees may feel nervous that ARM is strengthening its own ties with their traditional customers. But ARM's policy of not being too greedy means they are unlikely to get too worried. ARM's challenge is to keep reading the market well, squeezing more out of its products - new tweaks can be relicensed - as well as developing new streams of revenues, such as software to help write code to run on Arm chips. That is a lot to demand. But investors buying stock on a forward p/e of over 100 times have a right to expect a lot."