Wolfson

I've seen shares fall on good results before but this is just silly!

Surely this has got to be a buying opportunity!

Financial Highlights

Revenue increased by 94% to $56.9m (H1 2003, $29.3m)
Gross margin improved to 50% (H1 2003, 46.4%)
Profit before tax increased by 123% to $9.3m (H1 2003, $4.2m)
Diluted earnings per share increased 94% to 5.77c (H1 2003: 2.98c)

Operational Highlights

158 design wins in the period
9 new products introduced in the period
Continued strong uptake of products by major OEMs
Increased sales in Japan and Korea to 29% of group turnover
31 new technical and commercial staff

slightly disagree, the Cirrus should be seen as a positive, after all you could say that this is what dragged the price down from 300p or so....
I doubt of the brokers who have said sell have given much thought to that stance, simple reason being that WLF have now said as well that they will meet broker expectations...
This is a company after all, growing at 55% p.a. & are profitable. I would love to know what the forward pe is & compare this to others in the sector.

a double possitive cirrus & trading to the new forcast = the best possible news
a no brainer imho- the triple possitive 20% gain in last couple of weeks.
back to 180 by spring or sooner depending on the rumour in mail of 2 contracts
in the youth market,dafter

SHARE OF THE WEEK

IAIN DEY


WOLFSON Microelectronics removed one of the biggest shadows hanging over its business last week when it emerged relatively unscathed from a patent infringement suit brought against it by rival Cirrus.

Industry insiders also claim the Edinburgh-based group should be in a position to announce two multimillion-pound contracts wins within weeks.

Wolfson is supplying two of the worlds biggest consumer electronics firms with components for their latest products - which are both being launched in time for the Christmas sales period. But further details are being kept under wraps for now due to the secrecy demanded by the clients.

It is unclear whether either contract involves one of Wolfsons existing clients or a new customer. But most of the worlds biggest electronics firms are already on its books - including Microsoft, Sony and Apple (which uses Wolfsons sound chips in its iPod music player).

The shares may have halved in value in the year since its flotation, but there are signs the group is beginning to get back on the right track

Monday November 22, 02:00 PM
Wolfson Introduces New Mono CODEC for VoIP and Digital Telephones
SAN DIEGO & EDINBURGH, Scotland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 22, 2004--Wolfson Microelectronics plc today introduced the WM8510 mono CODEC, its first product specifically designed for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) devices and digital telephones. The Advertisement

WM8510 delivers high-quality audio performance at low cost. A low power, highly integrated device, the WM8510 significantly reduces design costs and external component requirements.

According to Juniper Research, VoIP will account for over 12% of all telephony revenues by 2009 as VoIP evolves from being a replacement service for the public switch telephone network (PSTN) to a new converged service for the home and business user.

"The WM8510 delivers the performance and features that the fast-growing VoIP market demands," said John Crawford, product manager, Wolfson Microelectronics. "It is designed specifically for digital telephone applications such as desktop phones, conference speakerphones and mobile telephone hands-free kits."

The WM8510 includes a driver for a speaker or headset, two separate microphone inputs (e.g. handset and speakerphone) and two dedicated analog audio outputs with volume control. Advanced sigma delta converters are used along with digital decimation and interpolation filters to give high quality audio at sample rates from 8 to 48ks/s. Additional digital filtering options are available in the ADC path, as is an advanced automatic level control (ALC) function with noise gate. An on-chip PLL is provided to generate the required master clock from an external reference clock. The PLL clock can also be output if required elsewhere in the system.

The WM8510 has a standard audio interface supporting transmission of audio data to and from the chip. The interface supports a number of audio data formats including (mu)-law and (alpha)-law, PCM, I2S, and DSP Mode, and can operate in master or slave modes.

The WM8510 operates at supply voltages from 2.5 to 3.6V, although the digital core can operate at voltages down to 1.62V to save power. The speaker and mono outputs use a separate supply of up to 5V, which enables increased output power if required. Different sections of the chip can also be powered down under software control by way of the selectable two or three wire control interface.

Intel raises sales forecast

By Jon Ann Steinmetz

Mercury News Assistant Business Editor


Register here to get this column by email.

Oooh, Intel just this minute gave its mid-quarter update, and it's pretty darn optimistic. Bloomberg News says the world's largest computer-chip maker said fourth-quarter sales will exceed its previous forecasts as demand grows for laptop and desktop personal computers.

Sales will be $9.3 billion to $9.5 billion, the Santa Clara company said in a statement. In October, Intel forecast sales of $8.6 billion to $9.2 billion. Gross margin, or the percentage of sales remaining after deducting production costs, will be 55 percent to 57 percent.

The raised forecast was ``driven by strong worldwide demand'' for the company's processors, Intel said in the statement.

The company's having a conference call later today to talk about it; check tomorrow's paper (or Web site, of course) for the full scoop.

WLF been looking strong in the past few days.

wolfson not only looking strong but could reach 250p by spring given new contracts and 30%to 40%estimated eps growth in 2005

SUNDAY TIMES:
Inside the City:
* Hitch a ride on the back of the iPod (Wolfson Electronics, Pixology) - Rentokil Initial: investment sentiment will be driven by the calibre of the incoming chief executive

Looking good already. is this a start to a big recovery?

LONDON (AFX) - Shares in Wolfson Microelectronics climbed 8 pence to 128 as
The Sunday Times pointed out that the group is being baled out by the iPod.
Apple is responsible for about 10 pct of Wolfson's business, and iPod sales more
than doubled in the last quarter alone, said the newspaper.
With Sony about to launch its portable PlayStation, some are wondering
whether Wolfson has secured another important new customer for its chips, The
Sunday Times added.

Just joined you guys, in the fight back.

cheers GF.

Monday December 6, 02:01 PM
Wolfson Opens Logistics Hub in Malaysia
SAN DIEGO & EDINBURGH, Scotland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 6, 2004--Wolfson Microelectronics plc today announced the opening of a new logistics center in Ipoh, Malaysia, to allow faster and more flexible shipment to its customers in the region, particularly ADVERTISEMENT


China and Japan.

According to Wolfson, the new hub will improve the efficiency of its logistics operations and enable it to reduce the cost of work in progress.

"The new logistics hub in Ipoh has been designed to help us cope with the increased demand for our devices in Asia, and represents a logical extension to our already very significant operations there," said John Urwin, operations director of Wolfson Microelectronics. "We already manufacture most of our wafers in the Asia Pacific region, and use two contractors based in Ipoh for assembly and test. The addition of a hub gives us a complete operational capability within Asia."

Wolfson's customer base of consumer electronic manufacturers is located predominantly in Asia, particularly in China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea. Wolfson continues to expand its customer base in the region, most notably in Japan and where it has recently won significant design-ins for major new digital consumer products that are to be launched under global brand names next year. The company now has offices in Taipei, Shenzhen, Tokyo and Seoul.

About Wolfson Microelectronics

Wolfson Microelectronics plc is an award winning, fabless semiconductor company based in Edinburgh, UK. Wolfson develops and markets high performance mixed signal semiconductors for multimedia and communications applications worldwide. The company currently has sales offices in the USA, Japan, China, Taiwan and Korea. For further information please contact: sales@wolfsonmicro.com.

For more information about Wolfson Microelectronics products and services in the US, call: (858) 676 5090. For additional information, visit: http://www.wolfsonmicro.com/

On the up from yesterday. Some nice buying going on.

cheers GF.

Moving nicely higher and looks like we might get rid of the traders in this one today.

cheers GF.

Ended the day positively.

cheers GF.

WOLFSON DOWNGRADED TO 'NEUTRAL' FROM 'BUY' BY MERRILL LYNCH

Ithink the neutral will turn positive very quickly again when we get first sight of a new contract win. The whole markets down today, and it reminds me really of last xmas when we had a poor run up and then after xmas the markets went ballistic from the 6th onwards for about a month.

cheers GF.

WOLFSON OPENS LOGISTICS HUB IN MALAYSIA

Monday, December 6, 2004


Edinburgh, UK, 6 December 2004 Wolfson Microelectronics plc (LSE:WLF.L) has today announced the opening of a new logistics centre in Ipoh, Malaysia, to allow faster and more flexible shipment to its customers in the region, particularly China and Japan.

According to Wolfson, the new hub will improve the efficiency of its logistics operations and enable it to reduce the cost of work in progress.

Commenting, John Urwin, Operations Director of Wolfson Microelectronics, said, The new logistics hub in Ipoh has been designed to help us cope with the increased demand for our devices in Asia, and represents a logical extension to our already very significant operations there. We already manufacture most of our wafers in the Asia Pacific region, and use two contractors based in Ipoh for assembly and test. The addition of a hub gives us a complete operational capability within Asia.

Wolfsons customer base of consumer electronic manufacturers is located predominantly in Asia, particularly in China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea. Wolfson continues to expand its customer base in the region, most notably in Japan and where it has recently won significant design-ins for major new digital consumer products that are to be launched under global brand names next year. The company now has offices in Taipei, Shenzhen, Tokyo and Seoul.

About Wolfson Microelectronics
Wolfson Microelectronics plc (LSE: WLF.L) is an award winning, fabless semiconductor company based in Edinburgh, UK. Wolfson develops and markets high performance mixed signal semiconductors for multimedia and communications applications worldwide. The company currently has sales offices in the USA, Japan, China, Taiwan and Korea. For further information please contact: sales@wolfsonmicro.com

For more information contact:
Wolfson Microelectronics plc, Westfield House, 26 Westfield Road, Edinburgh, EH11 2QB, United Kingdom, Tel: +44 (0) 131 272 7000, Fax: +44 (0) 131 272 7001. Web: www.wolfsonmicro.com

http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/041206/183/f7zgt.html

Is this a problem for WLF??

Disney to launch titles on Blu-ray technology
By Michiyo Nakamoto in Tokyo
Published: December 9 2004 15:29 | Last updated: December 9 2004 15:29

The battle to set the standard for next-generation digital recording media took another twist on Thursday with the announcement that Walt Disney would launch titles on the Blu-ray Disc format promoted by Sony and Matsushita.


Disney's move divides the allegiance of Hollywood studios in half, with Disney, Sony Pictures Entertainment, MGM and possibly 20th Century Fox supporting the Blu-ray format, while Paramount, Universal, Warner Brothers and New Line Cinema have committed to a rival format, known as HD-DVD.

The split has reinforced concerns that consumers will be saddled with two competing formats battling for dominance. Disney, like most other Hollywood studios, said its format preference was non-exclusive, which raises the prospect of further intense lobbying by both camps.

Last month, the HD-DVD group, which includes Toshiba, Hitachi and Sanyo, appeared to have taken the lead over Blu-ray, when its four Hollywood supporters announced their backing. Together those four represent about 45 per cent of DVD titles sold in the US, according to DVD Exclusive Research. The participation of Disney, which owns 17 per cent of DVD titles sold in the US, will boost the Blu-ray camp's share to 36 per cent Sony Pictures and MGM together hold 19 per cent.

Although 20th Century Fox has joined the Blu-ray Disc Association, it has not committed to the format. If it does, that would give the Sony camp a further 11 per cent of the market. Disney's support for Blu-ray is an important victory for Sony, which has invested heavily in the technology and explained its recent decision to acquire MGM as in part motivated by the need to win support for the format.

Blu-ray already has the backing of 90 consumer electronics and PC manufacturers globally.

Disney said on Thursday it would launch content in the Blu-ray format when the hardware launches in North America and Japan. The near-even split among Hollywood studios is likely to spur further lobbying of the studios by both camps.

The next-generation DVDs, which are capable of recording whole movies inhigh definition, are expected to be adopted widely at about 2006. HD-DVD will be cheaper to produce because the format is similar to current DVDs, while Blu-ray discs have the advantage of being more suited to network applications, according to Sony

Expecting these to make solid gains this week.

cheers GF.