Investopedia: For OmniVision, Weird Is Just Its Version Of Normal

It seems like nothing is ever normal with CMOS image sensor company, OmniVision Technologies (Nasdaq:OVTI). Accept that and it can be an intriguingly volatile trading opportunity. While the stock has often been batted around on rumors, worries and hopes tied to adoption from key customers like Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL), now margins have become another big variable. Consequently, while very strong revenue guidance for the next quarter really jumps, so to does the possibility of ongoing margin pressure. Not surprisingly, that continues to make this a very difficult company to model and a difficult stock to recommend or own.

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http://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2012/For-OmniVision-Weird-Is-Just-Its-Version-Of-Normal-OVTI-AAPL-SNE-TSM1130.aspx

Investopedia: OmniVision Feeds The Bears

Sometimes where there's smoke there's fire. Imaging chip developer OmniVision Technologies (Nasdaq:OVTI) has been an uncommonly controversial stock for most of its history, with recent worries focusing on whether the company was facing share loss to Sony (NYSE:SNE) and Toshiba at Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL). Now that the company has given very disappointing guidance for the next quarter, those worries have ratcheted up to a fever pitch. OmniVision shares are almost certain to be punished too far, but it will take a patient and aggressive investor to step up and fight the tide.

A Few Blurry Spots in First Quarter Results
Although OmniVision met expectations for the first quarter (and earnings actually beat by a bit), it wasn't a uniformly clean quarter. Revenue did jump 43% from last year's level, with sequential growth coming in at 7%. Shipments climbed about 1% sequentially, with ASPs up about 5%. Given that laptop/notebook computer shipments haven't been all that strong, it seems fair to assume that OmniVision's growth is coming from other product categories like phones, tablets and gaming devices.


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http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/OmniVision-Feeds-The-Bears-OVTI-SNE-AAPL-STM-DELL-HPQ0828.aspx

Investopedia: Is Europe Abandoning The Atom?

With news out of Switzerland and Germany last week, it looks as though the long-term energy picture in Europe is changing in a hurry. Germany and Switzerland, two of the world's largest economies, have both announced plans to completely phase out nuclear power as an electricity source, leaving the question of how these countries will fill the power gap without choking off their economies. 


Not surprisingly, solar and wind power stocks rose on the news, but only time will tell if the companies in these markets can increase their efficiency fast enough to become viable cornerstone sources of power. In the meantime, the decisions in Germany and Switzerland are likely to ripple through the power generation market for years to come.

The Scale of the Decision
In relatively short order, both Switzerland and Germany have decided to abandon nuclear power as an ongoing source of electricity. While nuclear power has been a touchy subject throughout most of Europe for some time (especially after the Chernobyl disaster), protests accelerated in the wake of Japan's combined natural disasters and TEPCO's inability to avert serious problems at the Fukushima facility. 



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http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/Is-Europe-Abandoning-The-Atom-FSLR-KYO-STP-AMSC-SI0606.aspx

Investopedia: OmniVision Hosts A Bear Roast

Whether it is rumors of competitors taking share, products not working as advertised, or financial shenanigans, it seems like there has always been a bear story out there on OmniVision Technologies (Nasdaq:OVTI). Although this company now produces more than five times as much revenue in a single quarter as it did in an entire year in the early 2000s, the stock has constantly chopped up and down - nimble longs and shorts have both made money, but long-term shareholders dating back to 2004 or 2006 are probably wondering whether this stock will ever break out above the $30 share range. 

With OmniVision's latest quarter, and the subsequent barbecuing of the shorts' ribs, maybe the company finally has the momentum on hand to break out.

A Surprisingly Strong Quarter
With a decent string of earnings beats in its recent past, it is not all that surprising that OmniVision reported a good fiscal third quarter. That said, a beat of this magnitude is always a bit startling. Analysts ratcheted up estimates after this company last reported earnings, but did not go quite far enough.

For the quarter, OVTI reported that sales jumped 69% to almost $266 million - handily dusting the Street-high estimate of $248 million. On a sequential basis, the company saw volumes shipped rise almost 5%, while the ASP jumped 6%. The company's mix was also favorable with respect to higher-end products representing a larger share of the pie, though this is not always as favorable as it might sound as lower-end products can actually be quite profitable.


Please read the full article at Investopedia:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/OmniVision-Hosts-A-Bear-Roast-OVTI-AAPL-SNE-ATML-CY-SLAB-STM0301.aspx

FinancialEdge: 5 Warnings Signs For Bad PR Stocks

Not all bad news is created equal. Patient and savvy long-term investors can leverage short-term setbacks into long-term winnings by realizing that the most likely outcome of a so-called disaster is not nearly as bad as the market assumes. However, some kinds of bad news are so toxic that prudent investors simply stay away entirely. How then should investors separate the "bad news in wolf's clothing" from the real bad news? Here are five key factors that may indicate when bad PR is too serious to ignore.

When the Company Causes Death
When a company's missteps result in actual deaths, there is a virtually inevitable spiral of events - none of which are positive. Not only will the news likely be full of warnings about the dangerous product/service, but follow-up stories detailing the aftermath and fallout will keep the mistake (and its perpetrators) in people's consciousness. Afterwards, there are expensive lawsuits and settlements, recovery and mitigation efforts, and press campaigns designed to make consumers forget about the incident.

Indevus Pharmaceuticals (known at the time as Interneuron) thought it had a blockbuster with the weight-loss drug Redux - that was until severe side-effects led to numerous product liability suits and the FDA ordered withdrawal from the market. All told, Wyeth, which licensed the drug from Indevus, paid out more than $20 billion in legal settlements to those who took Redux or Pondimin (another Wyeth weight loss drug), while revenue of the two drugs topped out at about $300 million in 1996.


http://financialedge.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0810/5-Warning-Signs-For-Bad-PR-Stocks.aspx

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