Fujifilm's Long Transformation Process Heading In The Right Direction

Japanese companies used to have a well-deserved reputation for being stodgy; while concepts like just-in-time inventory were adopted relatively quickly, many companies have allowed themselves to become lumbering conglomerates that are slow to jettison operations with poor future prospects for growth or economic returns.

That's not so true with Fujifilm (OTCPK:FUJIY), as this company has launched two significant transformations in the past two decades - one designed to give the company life after the decline of photographic film and a more recent one intended to offset weakening prospects for office equipment. Fujifilm is arguably underrated for its healthcare business and it is this part of Fujifilm that has the best prospects for taking the business forward. Although success in drug development is by no means assured, even modest expectations would seem to support a fair value 10% higher than today's price.

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Fujifilm's Long Transformation Process Heading In The Right Direction

Seeking Alpha: Hoya Continues To Execute Very Well, But Growth Looks Tied To M&A

Publicly-traded Japanese companies are not often lauded for their strong, shareholder-friendly operating excellence, but Hoya Corp (OTCPK:HOCPY) certainly deserves a lot of credit in that regard. Not only does Hoya have a good record of generating ROIC despite serving cyclical (and in some cases, declining) tech markets, the company has done a good job of maximizing the potential of its electronics operations while building up its healthcare/medical operations.

The lingering question for Hoya Corp is what drives the next leg of growth. Extreme ultraviolet could be an underappreciated driver for the photomask business, but lenses and endoscopes are more likely to be long-term mid-single digit growers from this point. Management has ample cash with which to execute growth-oriented M&A, but a very commendable level of price discipline could lead to a longer wait for a meaningful deal.

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Hoya Continues To Execute Very Well, But Growth Looks Tied To M&A

Seeking Alpha: Hoya's Prospects Brightened By Life Care

As the computer and display-weighted technology businesses stabilize and the life care/health care businesses grow, Hoya's (OTCPK:HOCPY) prospects have improved. Sell-side analysts still seem to have relatively restrained revenue growth expectations, despite double-digit growth in life care today, significant untapped potential in emerging markets, and both a balance sheet and cash flow profile that could support acquisitions to drive further growth.

Valuation is a little more complicated. With the shares up almost 70% over the past year (the Tokyo-listed shares, that is), the valuation is not quite so compelling but I wouldn't say the shares are overvalued. Consistently solid returns on capital would argue for an attractive discount rate, and the sell-side may well be underestimating the company's ability to grow both sales and profits.

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Hoya's Prospects Brightened By Life Care

The Motley Fool: A Sneaky-Smart Med-Tech Buyer Does It Again

Ever since going out on its own, Covidien (NYSE: COV  ) has had a knack for doing deals that left many analysts and investors scratching their heads initially, only to generate better-than-expected revenue and margin synergies from the deals in the years afterward. Coviden is going back to the well again, buying Given Imaging (NASDAQ: GIVN  ) and further building its efforts in the $3 billion GI market.

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A Sneaky-Smart Med-Tech Buyer Does It Again

Seeking Alpha: Is The Growth Story Over For Hoya Corp.?

As a very loose rule of thumb, when I see a company with a solid history of returns on capital, good market share, and a clean balance sheet trading for mid-single digit multiples to EBITDA, I take a closer look. In the case of Hoya Corporation (HOCPY.PK), the debate is pretty simple - will this company ever really grow again or not? Nobody really seems to doubt that the company's traditional technology businesses have likely peaked (at least from a growth perspective), but there's ample doubt as to whether the company can (or will) reallocate its assets and build itself into a growth story once again.

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Is The Growth Story Over For Hoya Corp.?

Seeking Alpha: Intuitive Surgical - A Good Bet For Aggressive Growth Stock Investors

Surgical robotics company Intuitive Surgical (Nasdaq: ISRG) is making a habit of breaking and rewriting the rules about how medical technology stocks are supposed to work. Although equipment companies like Stryker (NYSE: SYK) have had the occasional strong quarter, this has been a tough market for capital equipment and yet, Intuitive is doing fine. The third quarter is supposed to be a weak quarter for procedures in general, especially in this low-volume market, and yet Intuitive seems to be building momentum.

Not surprisingly, this is also a stock that seems immune to what constitutes typical or “appropriate” valuation on a growing med-tech name.

A Stellar Third Quarter
Intuitive had an amazing third quarter, with 30% overall revenue growth. System sales growth of 25% was quite impressive in its own right, and particularly with a roughly 50% acceleration in the growth rate of net new robot placements. Perhaps even more impressive, though, was the 38% growth in instrument revenue and the 30% procedure growth. In a market environment where Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) and Bard (NYSE: BCR) are largely scraping to get volume growth and even a share gainer like Covidien (NYSE: COV) is having some challenges, this performance is beyond exceptional.


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Intuitive Surgical: A Good Bet For Aggressive Growth Stock Investors

Intuitive Surgical - Are Robots To Be Trusted?

It is a given that if you invest in stocks long enough, you will have a thick mental file labeled "Should'a, Could'a, Would'a." I typically do not give much mental time share to ruminating over what could have been bought, but one stock that does get my teeth grinding is Intuitive Surgical (Nasdaq:ISRG).  


Regardless of why I did not pull the trigger and buy the stock, it's worth investigating whether or not Intuitive Surgical has the right stuff to endure. Will it be a flash in the pan, or will it stay independent and become a future med-tech titan? 

The full article can be read at: 
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2010/Intuitive-Surgical---Are-Robots-To-Be-Trusted-ISRG-HIT-SI-MDT-BSX0601.aspx