apple
- 26 Jul 2004 13:25
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

goldfinger
- 14 Dec 2004 11:09
- 161 of 407
In the blue again azhar and fellow wolfers, would be nice if Zaks TA does come about and we get a move up to 180p.
cheers GF.
goldfinger
- 14 Dec 2004 11:46
- 162 of 407
Some news here to really get the heart pumping....................
SUNEXCLUSIVE 14/12/04
Paystation
Watch the Birdie ... portable changing handsfor 500
A BRITISH company is one of the likely winners from SONYS new PlayStation Portable.
Sun City can reveal that a chip designed by WOLFSON MICROELECTRONICS is in every single device.
And the Edinburgh-based company earns a $1 royalty payment for each Playstation sold.
The gizmos went on sale in Tokyo on Sunday and thousands of fans queued through the night to get their hands on one.
The Playstation Portable will go on sale in Europe in Spring.
But it is already changing hands on internet auction site EBAY for 500, though the retail price in Japan is around 106.
Sony expects to sell half a million Playstation Portables in Japanese stores alone before the end of 2004.
Wait for it ... queues on launch day
As well as games, the device can play music and video files, potentially making it a rival to APPLES iPod, which also includes a Wolfson chip.
Wolfson, led by chief executive David Milne, yesterday refused to confirm its chips are being used by Sony.
But a stock market source said: This is real proof they can make a breakthrough in the mobile handset market something investors previously doubted. The shares rose 2.5p to 128
cheers Gf.
goldfinger
- 14 Dec 2004 12:24
- 163 of 407
Flying nearlly up 11% now.
cheers GF.
goldfinger
- 14 Dec 2004 12:38
- 164 of 407
Heres proof its been confirmed it is a WLF chip.
Its the inside of the new playstation handheld. The chip on the bottom-right that has the letters "WM" is wolfson's chip.
cheers GF.
goldfinger
- 15 Dec 2004 00:54
- 165 of 407
There you are WM on the chip top.
cheers GF.
goldfinger
- 15 Dec 2004 11:49
- 166 of 407
Moving ahead nicely again.
cheers Gf.
mickeyskint
- 15 Dec 2004 12:22
- 167 of 407
GF
How far up do you see it going?
MS
mickeyskint
- 15 Dec 2004 15:21
- 168 of 407
This could recover a lot of the lost ground of earlier in the year.
MS
seawallwalker
- 15 Dec 2004 15:59
- 169 of 407
MS - yes it could, but on the other hand if China is flattening out still, and gains wil evaporate as they have twice before.
For the long term, it is a winner but patience is needed.
After all, the whole world eats chips!
goldfinger
- 15 Dec 2004 23:14
- 170 of 407
Especially Hary Ramsdens, superb. MS, keep watching as ever no target given.
cheers GF.
goldfinger
- 16 Dec 2004 00:37
- 171 of 407
Looking forward to more gains tomorrow.
cheers GF.
goldfinger
- 16 Dec 2004 14:15
- 172 of 407
Another storming day.
cheers GF.
mickeyskint
- 16 Dec 2004 14:23
- 173 of 407
Another gem GF well done.
MS
goldfinger
- 16 Dec 2004 14:53
- 174 of 407
Cheers Mickey, hoping we get some coverage in tip sheets etc. See Hamworthy is doing well today aswell. NICE.
cheers GF.
goldfinger
- 19 Dec 2004 13:45
- 175 of 407
It just gets better, hows this for good news...........................
scotland on sunday
Sun 19 Dec 2004
printer friendly email article
Wolfson land deal to supply chips for 02 mobile phone
IAIN DEY
CITY EDITOR
WOLFSON Microelectronics looks to be due another sales boost after it emerged that one of its sound chips is powering O2s new top-selling X3 mobile phone.
Although the Edinburgh-based firm was unable to comment, industry sources said BenQ, the Taiwanese electronics giant manufacturing the phone, has just placed another large order for Wolfson chips.
The deal follows the revelation that Wolfsons technology is being used in Sonys new portable Playstation - a contract that analysts believe could be worth as much as US$15m (8m) to Wolfson in its 2005 financial year.
Dells new handheld computer and Treos latest Palm gadget are also believed to be carrying Wolfson chips.
News of the deals follows a torrid spell for the company since it floated on the stock exchange 15 months ago.
One industry source said: "Theres been a bit of doubt in the City about Wolfsons ability to crack into the market for portable devices, which is one of the next big growth areas. But here are four big portable products from big companies that have all been launched for Christmas with Wolfson chips in them."
The source added: "All the companies are bound by confidentiality clauses on these contracts, but now the products are out, you can see that there are Wolfson chips in them."
Wolfson is supplying its chips for the O2 phone through a sub-contracting deal with Cambridge-based Audiomosaic, which is supplying BenQ in turn. The phone, which incorporates an MP3 player and a video camera, is expected to be one of the big sellers in the mobile market over the next few months.
Wolfson is expected to make US$1 (51p) for every portable Playstation sold. The device was launched in Japan a week ago and will go on sale in Europe in the spring. It is being sold for about 100 in Japan, but demand is so strong that it is changing hands for five times that value on internet auction site eBay.
Although Wolfson cannot comment on the deal, analysts at Cazenove have seen a picture of the circuit board in the device, which shows the Wolfson chip in place.
Sony expects to ship 3.5 million portable Playstations before the end of Wolfsons financial year in March, and 12 million to 15 million units in each of 2005 and 2006.
Cazenoves Francois Meunier said: "We believe this will help rebuild investor confidence in the long-term prospects of the company."
cheers GF.
mickeyskint
- 20 Dec 2004 13:03
- 176 of 407
Why the drop today profit taking maybe? I feel sure that this will return to it's IPO price.
MS
azhar
- 28 Dec 2004 22:33
- 177 of 407
This was the year the iPod finally took off. The original version of the digital music player had been around since October 2001, and it had repeatedly won applause for its stylish design and ease of use. But until this year, the media acclaim had run far ahead of sales.
With the iPods status as a fashion icon assured, Jobs and Apple have continued to drive sales with constant promotion and fresh innovation. This has led to the 1,000-song mini iPod even sleeker and more fashionable than its grown-up sibling, and just the right size for a girls handbag. More recently there has been the iPod photo, which besides music can store and display 25,000 pictures.
Sales have accelerated through the year, reaching 2m units and $537m in the third quarter. With many American and British teenagers putting an iPod at the top of their Christmas wish-lists, analysts are forecasting that sales in the Christmas quarter could double again to 4m units.
This growth is supported by, and is encouraging, a revolution in the music industry. Jobs was in London in June for the European launch of Apples iTunes online store, which has almost single-handedly created a market for the legal downloading of music over the internet.
Despite numerous attempts to replicate iTunes simple pricing, Apple claims it retains a 70% share of the market in legal downloads. Ten days ago the company announced that more than 200m songs had now been bought and downloaded from iTunes.
Combined, iPod and iTunes have transformed the profile of Apples business. After several years of flat sales, Apples turnover has doubled in 18 months from about $6 billion to about $12 billion
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,8209-1415496,00.html
azhar
- 03 Jan 2005 15:16
- 178 of 407
From the Sunday Herald:
Former glamour stock Wolfson Microelectronics will demonstrate that it is still firmly on the growth track in 2005 even if some of the numbers do not match up to the stock markets early inflated expectations.
While its customers in the DVD market may have experienced a disappointing Christmas, brokers still expect a modest profits increase to around 16m for 2004 while Evolution Securities reckon that the group could make as much as 31m in the current period.
Wolfson shares have shown signs of recovery at the current level of around 14lp down from a peak of 322p although some remain wary of its exposure to China and the Far East.
goldfinger
- 12 Jan 2005 23:37
- 179 of 407
And more good news centered really around Apple and its new products..........
SAN FRANCISCO (AFX) -- Shares of Intel Corp. gained more than 2.7 percent Wednesday as analysts applauded higher-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and an upbeat outlook for 2005.
Intel revenue rose 9.8 percent compared with the fourth quarter a year ago on better-than-expected sales of its computer chips.
Shares of Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel closed trading up 62 cents at $23.16 Wednesday. More than 140 million shares traded hands compared to the company's normal daily volume of 68.8 million.
Piper Jaffray on Wednesday upgraded Intel to 'outperform' from 'market perform,' saying its improved outlook on the stock is driven primarily by 'a strong gross margin ramp during 2005 and a higher absolute level during 2006,' even though the company might lose processor share in 2005.
The stock was also upgraded to a 'strong buy' by JMP Securities. Analyst Krishna Shankar described the quarter's results as a 'blow out' and said Intel 'is finally entering the sweet spot of its margin expansion and earnings acceleration phase as the company aggressively ramps new products.'
Wells Fargo Securities kept its 'sell' rating on the stock, which it believes is overvalued above $19 per share. In a note, analyst Tad LaFountain said the extent of the company's overvaluation has been 'substantially reduced' thanks to Intel's doubling of its cash dividend to 8 cents per share for 2005.
With results better than expected, Merrill Lynch raised is 2005 earnings target for Intel 'significantly' to $1.21 per share from $1.06 per share, but also questioned the chip company's estimates for the second half of the year.
'Intel deserves credit for its ability to maintain margins at the level it has. In the end, though, we're still looking at a company that is stretching in order to achieve 4 percent earnings growth this year,' Merrill's Wednesday note to investors said.
The stock remained a favorite for Goldman Sachs, which said Intel was currently 'selling below fair value.' Goldman Wednesday raised its earnings estimate for 2005 to $1.25 to $1.14 while cautioning that the bellwether stock's earnings might give only a temporary lift to the sector.
'We expect the company's positive outlook on 2005 demand may improve near-term sentiment in the sector. However, we continue to believe that overall semiconductor growth in 2005 will be in the low single digits, and that Q1 guidance will be seasonal or worse for many companies,' according to a research note.
Net income at Intel for the period ended Dec. 25 was $2.12 billion, down 2 percent from $2.17 billion for the same period a year ago. Earnings per share were 33 cents, unchanged from the fourth quarter of 2003, as Intel reduced the number of its shares outstanding through a stock buyback program.
Revenue rose to $9.6 billion from $8.7 billion a year earlier. Analysts were expecting earnings of 31 cents a share on revenue of $9.4 billion, according to consensus estimates from Thomson First Call.
Intel's semiconductors are used in more than 80 percent of the world's PCs and laptops, and the company benefited as consumers bought more computers during the quarter. The chipmaker also cut its inventory more than expected as it worked off a product glut that hurt its results in prior quarters.
Based on the revenue number, 'PC demand was a little bit stronger than people thought,' Jeremy Lopez, an analyst with the research firm Morningstar, said Tuesday.
Intel issued a sales forecast for the first quarter that was in line with analysts' estimates, cheering investors.
For the first quarter of 2005, Intel forecast sales would be in the range of $8.8 billion and $9.4 billion -- in line with analysts' consensus target of $8.9 billion. Gross margins for the quarter are expected to be about 55 percent.
Leaner inventory, narrower margins
The company cut inventory levels by more than 18 percent to $2.6 billion, compared with $3.2 billion at the end of the previous quarter. The $560 million reduction was significantly more than the $350 million to $400 million expected by analysts.
'The most important thing for them is that they cut their inventory levels,' said RBC Capital Markets analyst Apjit Walia, who has a 'sector perform' rating on Intel. 'And it was a much deeper than the expected cut.'
In fact, Intel executives said during the conference call that inventory levels, which had surged to $3.2 billion in mid-2004, had gotten a little too low during the quarter.
'My personal opinion is that we tried to slam the door hard on inventory and maybe went a little hard,' Intel CFO Andy Bryant said during the call. 'In this business not being able to fill an order is a much bigger deal than to have inventory sit around an extra few days.'
Intel's gross margin, or the percentage of revenue left after deducting product costs, fell sharply from a year ago -- to 56 percent of sales from 63.6 percent, as it lowered prices on some products to fight off a challenge from smaller rival Advanced Micro Devices. .
AMD shares plunged 26 percent Tuesday after it warned that fourth-quarter sales were below forecasts.
ThinkEquity analyst Eric Ross, who has a 'buy' rating on Intel, said gross margins have continued to be a concern at the company. But he said that is offset by the company's growing revenue base in the laptop market and its continued strength in the server market, despite fierce competition from AMD.
'Gross margins are an issue. But with everything else going on, I feel pretty good about where the company is going,' Ross said.
Mobile, desktop chips drive growth
The company said revenue from its core microprocessor business was $6.8 billion, up nearly 5 percent from last year's fourth quarter. Intel's communication business -- which includes its popular Centrino line for laptops -- saw revenue of $1.4 billion, up 32 percent from a year ago.
'We saw strong Centrino demand from consumers in the holiday season in established markets in the U.S., where notebook sales reached one half of retail PC unit sales,' Intel President Paul Otellini said on a conference call with analysts.
Flash memory sales totaled $643 million, up 61 percent from last year. But the company said this segment remained flat with the third quarter while other units posted sequential growth.
The company ended the quarter with about $14.1 billion in cash and short-term investments, a gain of more than 3 percent over the $13.6 billion reported at the end of the previous period. Intel said it used about $2 billion in cash on share buybacks during the fourth quarter.
This story was supplied by CBSMarketWatch. For further information see www.cbsmarketwatch.com.
cheers GF.
azhar
- 13 Jan 2005 08:12
- 180 of 407
good one Gold... WLF is preparing for the next leg up.