IQE is the leading global outsource supplier of customized epitaxial wafers to the semiconductor industry.

Their technology is of most advanced like AFM means Atomic Force Microscopy and moves a minuscule cantilever over an objects surface, a sharp tip passes over dips or rises punched in the surface and reads out digital information. This technology is not going to slow down it is going to speed up and has to replace most existing forms of memory storage by virtue of capacity and size.

The future of nano-technology, these tiny/minute robots would need very small processors and most sure strained silicon could provide these.

The low share price is due to uncertainty as to when the cash will run out, but I don't think this will happen as cash is of 12 to 15M and NAV of 30p, and losses are going to drop on the next 3 month and we could have profits on the Q4 2004.

Latest news from the Chairman were" The Group remains confident that it is in a strong position within the outsourcing market, although the protection of its cash position is paramount.
With a broad product portfolio allowing the customer base to use IQE as a 'one stop shop', a large available production capacity and a strong balance sheet, the Board believes the Group will benefit strongly as the overall semiconductor industry recovers and will continue to strengthen its position as the leading outsource supplier of advanced wafer products to the sector. "

Nearly all the recent results have been encouraging. Q4 accounts are being completed (30th Dec 2002). IQE know where they stand, if things had got worse their would have been a trading statement by now, and with Amberwave (IQE's partner) increasing its Asian presence, this is a bullish trend and a good point to pick up the shares @ 4.25p

Intraday

5 month MA and Indicators

         THE FUNNY SIDE OF LIFE

        
I struggle with situations were everything is taken over-seriously,
It is of course important to be serious and respectful to posters,
but they too will benefit from a warm environment rather than a fraught one.

We all have different ideas of humour, so if you are easily offended, please avoid this post.

It had reached a high of 33p during last Friday trading, what a turnaround in 10 days

and 35.50p today

easy to pick up undervalued stock if one knows how.

Undervalued even more today .. shocking.

Inventories is the problem and six month of lower revenue............


IQE revenues hit as customers 'correct inventories'

IQE warns that its second half revenues are likely to be slightly lower than the first six months.

The company - a global supplier of advanced wafer products - said a small number of its major wireless customers had advised that an inventory correction was affecting their forecast short term demand.

IQE says this appears to reflect a combination of some market share shifts between chip companies and the difficult macroeconomic environment.

IQE said the board had taken immediate actions to mitigate the impact on profit and cash.

And it says that as a result of these actions, coupled with improved margins due to a favourable product mix, the board expects EBITDA profit will continue to grow sequentially, both half on half in 2011 and for the full year against 2010.

IQE is an existing supplier to the chip companies that are benefitting from these market share shifts, albeit to a lesser extent.

The group expects that these shifts are only likely to affect IQE's revenues in the short term - Q4 2011 and Q1 2012 - until the qualification of both additional capacity and new products with these customers is complete.

Several qualifications are already in progress and are being accelerated at the customers' request.

CEO Dr Drew Nelson said: "It is clearly disappointing to have to report that inventory corrections by some of our major customers will impact revenues for the fourth quarter of 2011

"We are engaged in increased and accelerated qualification activities which should strengthen our market share across the customer base and help further mitigate individual customer risk.

"One such significant qualification with a major Japanese group has already been completed, whilst others are expected to be complete over the coming three to six months."

AS the broker will say here, " a great buying opportunity. "
Investor's Chronicle puts fair value on the stock at 50p.

This stock has fallen so far it is ridiculous.There is a big rebound on the cards.

Check this news out.

IQE plc
IQE plc : European researchers demonstrate reli...

Cardiff, UK - 10 November 2011: Researchers working on the European Commission
funded Vertically Integrated Systems for Information Transfer (VISIT) programme,
for which IQE produces advanced semiconductor wafers, have demonstrated high
reliability Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) devices operating at
world record data rates of up to 40 Gbit/s, which is four times faster than the
current single channel (serial) data rate used in commercial systems.

VISIT is an EU funded programme with the remit to focus on strategic, high-value
photonic components and subsystems for scalable economic broadband access and
local area networks. The central objective of the VISIT programme, which start
in October 2008, is the research, development, test and exploitation of system-
enabling optical transmitters having a completely novel design and/or largely
improved functionality as compared to current technology.

The directly modulated VCSEL devices fabricated on material grown by IQE at its
Cardiff facility operate at 850nm, which is the current standard wavelength for
optical fibre applications used in short-reach data communication and storage
area networks.

The new technology increases data throughput by up to 400 times the speed of
current copper Ethernet systems and four times that of the latest optical
technologies. The VISIT researchers demonstrated VCSEL devices operating at data
rates of up to 30 Gbit/s at 85C, and up to 40 Gbit/s at 25C with bit error
ratios of less than 10E-12, which for many data communication applications is
considered "error-free."

The VCSEL devices also demonstrated superb temperature stability in the linear
region of the light power versus current characteristic with a less than 25 W/C
change in emission power for operation below 6 mA at temperatures between 20 to
100C. The peak output power exceeded 8 mW for multi-mode operation and up to 4
mW for single mode operation, all with differential slope efficiencies exceeding
70% at up to 40C.

Multi-mode VCSEL device operation was demonstrated at current densities well
below 10 kA/cm2 which is a critical factor in determining device reliability.
This is expected to greatly improve with the further development of single-mode
VCSELs.

The VISIT team has also produced the first 40 Gbit/s packaged VCSELs, complete
with an OM3 fibre pigtail and a high frequency electrical V-connector for ease
of system-level optical link testing and development.

The prototype VCSEL devices fabricated using new device processing techniques
and device geometries on wafers produced by IQE's optoelectronic facility in
Cardiff, UK, operated reliably at 40 Gbit/s in initial tests, making them
suitable for optical interconnectors as well as for optical fibre networks for
high data rate applications such as data centres.

The next development stage under the VISIT programme will focus on final
directly modulated VCSEL benchmarking and design and processing refinement
including device designs for reliability and manufacturability. The VISIT team
will also work on further improvements in the packaging and testing of optical
transmitter subassemblies.

The VISIT Project is funded by the European Commission Framework 7 Programme
with Project Officer Dr. Michael Hohenbichler. The project is led by Prof. Dr.
Dieter Bimberg of the Technical University of Berlin (Germany), and includes
also the following project partners: IQE (UK), Intel Performance Learning
Solutions Ltd. (Ireland), VI Systems GmbH (Germany), Chalmers University of
Technology (Sweden), The University of Cambridge (UK), University College Cork
via the Tyndall National Institute (Ireland), , Riber S.A. (France),and the A.F.
Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Russia).





CONTACTS:

Technical/Sales: IQE Europe (+44 29 2083 9400)
Andrew Joel
Stephen Phelps

Press: IQE plc (+44 29 2083 9400)
Chris Meadows

Something has set IQE off today, up 3.5, nearly 20%. Anybody know why?

Wish I knew - would like to thinkl it was my prayer mat - looks like ending the day 30% up - lovely jubbly !!

Vague speculation about takeover interest according to the FT

I'm not sure about that. When I had a look it mentioned Jan 13 2011 that these rumours occurred and not 2012 ! At any rate it is up again this morning.

The interesting thing, is the rumours of this time last year occurred when the price was 54 pence, which of course was more than twice the current price.

now up over 40% from yesterday , and still no news. Mind you, why the price fell so far in the first place was a bit of a mystery!

! ! ! = ?

IQE plc : Year end trading update
HUG
Year on year growth in sales and profits

Cardiff, UK, 18 January 2012: IQE plc (AIM: IQE, "IQE" or the "Group"), the leading global supplier of advanced semiconductor wafer products and services to the semiconductor industry, provides a trading update for the year ended 31 December 2011.

Full year revenues for 2011 are expected to exceed £75 million, up from £73 million the previous year. EBITDA is also expected to increase to be not less than £13.7 million. Net debt is expected to be less than £4 million.

Sales grew rapidly in the first half, driven by strong double-digit growth in the Group's wireless and optoelectronics divisions. Growth in wireless sales reflected the increasing adoption and sophistication of portable devices such as smartphones and tablets using Gallium Arsenide ("GaAs") technology, and by the increasing adoption of advanced Gallium Nitride ("GaN") technology in high power wireless applications such as radar and infrastructure. Growth in optoelectronic sales was driven by a wide variety of applications including consumer, industrial and advanced high efficiency solar power applications.

As announced in October, second half sales were adversely affected by inventory corrections in the supply chain related to market share swings amongst a couple of IQE's key customers. These inventory corrections have unwound as expected, and should be fully resolved by the end of the first quarter of 2012.

The Group's long standing strategy to qualify multiple products with multiple customers across the entire supply chain went some way toward offsetting the impact of the market share shifts. As further qualifications complete the future impact of market share shifts will continue to diminish.

New product qualifications have progressed well, with significant milestones now achieved. The Group has successfully qualified its leading edge BiHEMT product with one of the top three Japanese mobile chip manufacturers, which has recently announced a major expansion programme in the smartphone market. Sales under this qualification have started to ramp, and this customer is expected to move into IQE's "top 10" during the second half.

IQE is also in the final stages of qualification of BiHEMT products with two of the leading wireless chip manufacturers globally and expects to ramp into production during the second quarter. In addition, the Group is qualifying a number of next-generation wireless products with a significant number of customers.

IQE's business is also being driven by increasing demand across the Group's other core markets including advanced semiconductor materials for optoelectronic products which continued to enjoy strong growth driven by a range of existing and emerging end market applications which are expected to account for an increased proportion of the Group's 2012 full-year revenues.

Dr Drew Nelson, IQE's Chief Executive, said:

"2011 has been another positive year for the Group, with increased sales and profits to record levels, despite challenging supply chain and macro-economic conditions.

"Our core business of wireless-related products for all forms of mobile communications is performing as expected whilst new and emerging products for consumer, industrial and defence applications are generating demand across all our key markets.

"We have added to our manufacturing capacity during the year and expect to benefit strongly from some significant operational achievements including best in class quality improvements to our products. This will enable improved customer output and increased throughput from our own production tools and lead to continued improvements in operational and financial metrics.

"The Board remains confident that IQE is well positioned to build further on its robust business model and powerful market position to deliver strong growth in 2012 and beyond."

IQE expects to report its preliminary results in late March 2012.

Contacts:


IQE plc (+44 29 2083 9400

IQE plc : IQE acquires in-house MBE epitaxy man...
HUG
Cardiff, UK, 5 June 2012: IQE plc (AIM: IQE, "IQE" or the "Group"), the leading global supplier of advanced semiconductor wafer products and wafer services to the semiconductor industry, has signed a multi-faceted agreement to acquire the entire in-house MBE epi-wafer manufacturing unit of RFMD (Nasdaq:RFMD), a global leader in the design and manufacture of high performance RF components and compound semiconductor technologies, and has secured a long-term wafer supply agreement for exclusive provision of all of RFMD's MBE wafers and for provision of a majority of RFMD's MOCVD wafer requirements.

Highlights

IQE acquires fully furnished epi manufacturing plant, including 16 operational MBE tools
Seven-year wafer supply agreement
Significantly extends leadership position in wireless industry supply
Powerful position in CPV market with up to $35m revenue capacity for CPV wafers
Consideration effectively funded through future wafer discounts
Immediately earnings enhancing, significantly earnings accretive in future years
Dr Drew Nelson, President and CEO of IQE, said

"This landmark agreement with RFMD, one of the true global leaders in the wireless semiconductor industry, provides us with a significant step up in our manufacturing capacity, bringing substantial financial and scale benefits to the Group. This is a clear win-win for both organisations.

"The deal secures IQE world class epi-wafer production assets and staff, together with a long term wafer supply agreement, further strengthening our leadership position in the supply of wafers to the global wireless industry.

"The spare capacity currently existing within the transferred facilities will be applied to the manufacture of CPV solar wafers, enabling IQE to rapidly build a global leadership position in the supply of wafers for the burgeoning CPV sector as a result of our previously announced agreement and exclusive supply contract with CPV technology partner Solar Junction."

Strategic rationale

The assets being transferred to IQE include a fully fitted clean room of over 90,000 sq.ft, 16 MBE manufacturing systems and equipment, all housed in a 135,000 sq.ft. stand-alone building in Greensboro, North Carolina. The value of the transferred assets is approximately $27 million. The local management and employees for the unit (consisting of 70 people) will also transfer directly to IQE.

There will be no upfront cash outlay for the transfer of the assets, resulting in no IQE shareholder dilution. In exchange for the transfer of the assets, the parties have agreed to a long term wafer supply agreement with a minimum purchase commitment of $55m over the first two years, whereby IQE will supply all MBE wafer requirements and a majority of RFMD's MOCVD wafer requirements under a discounted pricing arrangement.

The transaction will result in major enhancements across all key Group activities, particularly in our products for the wireless sector through increased purchasing power and greater manufacturing efficiencies.

IQE intends to use unallocated capacity from this facility to rapidly accelerate its wafer supply to meet the dramatically growing demand for CPV Solar products in relation to the technology transfer and exclusive wafer supply agreement with Solar Junction, announced earlier this year. This is expected to allow the wafer production of solar products of up to $35 million annually without the need for significant up-front capital expenditures by IQE.

The transaction will be immediately revenue and earnings enhancing to IQE, whilst free cash flow generation will reflect the discounted wafer pricing agreed between the parties.

Similarly, RFMD expects the outsourced wafer supply model to improve its operating performance by lowering its manufacturing costs, improving its return on invested capital, and supporting more predictable financial results.

The transaction is expected to close within a few days

IQE completes acquisition of in-house MBE epita...
HUG
Cardiff, UK, 11 June 2012: IQE plc (AIM: IQE, "IQE" or the "Group"), the leading global supplier of advanced semiconductor wafer products and wafer services to the semiconductor industry, has completed the acquisition of the entire in-house MBE epi-wafer manufacturing unit of RFMD (Nasdaq:RFMD), a global leader in the design and manufacture of high performance RF components and compound semiconductor technologies, and has secured a long-term wafer supply agreement for exclusive provision of all of RFMD's MBE wafers and for provision of a majority of RFMD's MOCVD wafer requirements.

Dr Drew Nelson, President and CEO of IQE, said

"This landmark deal secures IQE world class epi-wafer production assets and staff, together with a long term wafer supply agreement with one of the true global leaders in the wireless market. This dealfurther strengthens IQE's leadership position in the supply of wafers to the global wireless industry and enables IQE to rapidly build a global leadership position in the supply of wafers for the burgeoning CPV sector."

IQE enhances test and measurement capabilities ...
HUG

Cardiff, UK, 13 June 2012: IQE plc (AIM: IQE, "IQE" or the "Group"), the leading global supplier of advanced semiconductor wafer products and services to the semiconductor industry, has enhanced wafer inspection capabilities at its Cardiff facility with the acquisition of a new automated wafer inspection tool supplied by Ohio based Nanotronics Imaging.

The nSPEC(TM) tool enhances existing manual microscopy inspection by allowing automated loading and scanning of III-V semiconductor wafer products including GaN, GaAs and InP based materials. The tool has built in intelligence to enable repeatable and quantifiable object recognition to identify, categorize and record wafer features in real-time.

The acquisition of the tool by IQE for use in its cleanroom facilities in Cardiff, UK, follows an extensive six month evaluation where the reliability and repeatability was compared with existing inspection techniques. This is the second nSPEC(TM) tool to be installed at IQE, the first unit having been commissioned and in use at the Group's manufacturing facility in Somerset, New Jersey.

Eliot Parkinson, General Manager of IQE's III-V manufacturing facility in Cardiff commented: "The new automated inspection system offers a compelling alternative to manual microscope inspection, with greater repeatability and significantly reduced chance of human error."

Matthew Putman, CEO of Nanotronics Imaging, said: "Rapid inspection that gives repeatable and useful results needs to be thought of as a modern technology like the personal computer used to be, and the smart phone is now. What has traditionally been too expensive, too complicated, and provided too little relevant information now needs to have all required features and more so that all companies using wafer inspection tools can have best in class technology that is affordable. We are at a point of technological convergence, where our engineers can develop such a tool. We are also pleased to have worked with a global leader IQE to evaluate our tool in a high volume, semiconductor wafer manufacturing environment

IQE

Countdown to results later this
month.

IQE looks very cheap for the chip
market.

Growth in EPS of 54.6p for 2013

Forward P/E of just 10.9 for 2013
far too cheap.

IQE PLC

Broker Views

FORECASTS 2012 2013
Date Rec Pre-tax (£) EPS (p) DPS (p) Pre-tax (£) EPS (p) DPS (p)

Peel Hunt
31-08-12 BUY 9.26 1.60 16.10 2.71 3.00
Singer Capital Markets Ltd
31-08-12 BUY 8.60 1.70 15.10 2.70
Investec Securities
17-08-12 HOLD 8.60 1.40 14.90 2.50
Canaccord Genuity Ltd
06-08-12 BUY 10.00 1.70 13.70 2.20
Edison Investment Research
25-07-12 None 8.60 1.40 12.95 2.10
FinnCap
25-07-12 BUY 9.40 1.80 14.90 2.60
Numis Securities Ltd [R]
18-01-12 HOLD 1.20 1.80

2012 2013
Pre-tax (£) EPS (p) DPS (p) Pre-tax (£) EPS (p) DPS (p
)
Consensus 9.08 1.61 14.69 2.49 3.00
1 Month Change -0.03 0.00 0.06 0.02 0.00
3 Month Change 0.46 0.03 3.12 0.43 0.00


GROWTH
2011 (A) 2012 (E) 2013 (E)

Norm. EPS 6.35% 7.49% 54.60%
DPS % % %

INVESTMENT RATIOS
2011 (A) 2012 (E) 2013 (E)

EBITDA £12.60m £16.71m £24.25m
EBIT £7.30m £9.00m £15.80m
Dividend Yield % % 11.01%
Dividend Cover x x 0.83x
PER 18.19x 16.92x 10.95x
PEG 2.87f 2.26f 0.20f
Net Asset Value PS 6.95p 16.40p 18.90p


Hemscott Premium.

As you say Goldfinger "Cheap as chips" Iva got plenty all wraped up.

All you need then is the forthcoming fish. he he.