Robotic Surgeries: Given Intuitive Surgical's Dominance, Do 'Little Bots' Have A Chance? [View article]
Another small struggling surgical robot company is Hansen Medical (HNSN). Intuitive Surgical paid HNSN $30 million in Q4 2012 for IP rights and stock. Maybe they are just covering their bets, but if Hansen's Sensei and Magellan robots start selling at a brisker pace it will be a company to watch.
Is It Now Time To Consider Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals? [View article]
I like the management, partly because Spiro won't allow himself to be manipulated by "the street." The reason I am building a long position in CYCC slowly is I don't see Phase III data coming in until the 2nd half of 2014. I think there is a well over 50% chance sapacitabine data will be good enough for FDA approval. And it should 10x its current value if approved. That's a bet I'll take, in reasonable doses.
Taiwan Semiconductor Tries To Pull A FinFAST One [View article]
Not to detract from Intel's capabilities, but for example Marvell bought Intel's old Xscale ARM cell phone chip division many years ago. Though a much smaller company, right now many more Marvell application processors are going into smartphones than Intel processors. So Intel can be beat. As I explained in my last INTC article, large chips, like PC CPUs and discrete graphics chips, best show off process advantages. Smartphone chips are far smaller, and with ARM vs. x86 architectures, the process technology advantage of Intel can be offset. To a point. But if TSMC can't get to 20 nm when Intel is at 14 nm, that will be a problem for some Intel competitors, notably AMD and NVIDIA.
Adept Technology, A Robotic Opportunity - Part I [View article]
Great article. I am long ADEP. The story looked good to me last year, and I like to buy when stock prices are low and a turn around looks possible. I am fascinated by robotics and artificial intelligence, but enthusiasm does not always make for good stock picking. I will be looking to see if revenue picks up this year. Hopefully new product sales will ramp up nicely.
Intel: Neither Bullish Nor Bearish Stories Hold Up [View article]
I seem to recall it was found that during one period of time a major part of Dell's profits came from Intel payments to them, to discourage them from using AMD processors. Intel was indicted (and in some cases paid fines) in a number of nations for monopoly practices. They paid both Nvidia and AMD to settle lawsuits related to monopoly practices. It is all very well documented, if several years in the past at this point. But you can also induce partners by offering massive marketing spend to support products with the Intel brand. Marketing spend may not convince consumers, but it can get your foot in the door with OEMs.
Nvidia CEO Thinks Cash Is Not Needed For Competition [View article]
thanks for the corrections. CEO name is Jen-Hsun Huang. I listen and take notes on each Nvidia conference call, and at some point adopted the wrong spelling based on phonetics. My apologies to all. Shows you can't fact check too much.
I know it is heresy to question share buy-backs. They seem like an easy stock-price fix. Clearly management is confident. But so were mini-computer vendors even as their era came to an end. I think Nvidia made the right choice entering the tablet and smartphone market. I'm just not as confident of Nvidia's eventual triumph. Or of anyone's in the space. It is still up for grabs.
Intel: Neither Bullish Nor Bearish Stories Hold Up [View article]
Great comments as usual. Process technology counts, but so does architecture, software stacks, OEM engineering biases, pricing, and consumer preferences. I just listened to the Marvell CEO say they could take 10% of the smartphone SoC market. They plan to do it, and Intel plans to break in, and Nvidia plans to take more share with Tegra, and Apple and Qualcomm plan to maintain or expand share. Not everyone can be right. In general, I would bet on current chip maker relationships with current successful OEMs being maintained until proven otherwise. Thanks again for your comments.
AMD Game Console Triple Crown: Will There Be Profits? [View article]
Great comments everyone! I had to restrain myself to keep this article from getting unreadably long. An entire article could be written on Intel's process technologies advantage vs. AMD's very clever use of the 28 nm node. AMAT reports foundries getting ready to sample 20 nm this fall, which should help the entire semiconductor industry and consumers.
TTM Technologies Will Benefit As Global Electronics Industry Recovers [View article]
I don't like to make short term predictions about stock prices. I like to think 1 to 5 years out. But the fact that Cisco just had a good quarter and is one of TTM's top five customers should be a positive factor. Also the factory swap will generate about $40 million in cash and improve margins.
Adobe Revenue: Will A Subscription Model Work? [View article]
I have never known Adobe to break down revenue for products into initial sales vs. upgrades. From years in the field my guess is that 80 to 90% of annual product revenue is from upgrades, maybe more. But yes, whatever the percent of new licenses is, that would take a long time to make up with monthly subscription fees.
Will New Stock Buybacks Drive Marvell Technology Group Back To $15? [View article]
Nice peace of research. I am hoping that over the longer term some of Marvell's innovations -- low energy computing, LED controls, advanced WiFi -- will pay off big.
I am a long term investor, but of course I occasionally sell my long term investments, or portions of them, or add to them. All I mean by "not trade" is not buy or sell, within the period of time specified.
Right. I think it will be helpful to analysts and investors to see cost of revenues. Operating expense categories will be more understandable too. Net income should not be affected.
I would add that you should learn basic probability and statistics, if you have not already. Then focus on the types of stats used in reporting clinical trials. Or you could hire a biostatistician, or swing wildly at the pitches. And keep diversified: don't over-concentrate in one stock.
Robotic Surgeries: Given Intuitive Surgical's Dominance, Do 'Little Bots' Have A Chance? [View article]
Thanks for the info on Titan.
Is It Now Time To Consider Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals? [View article]
Taiwan Semiconductor Tries To Pull A FinFAST One [View article]
Adept Technology, A Robotic Opportunity - Part I [View article]
Intel: Neither Bullish Nor Bearish Stories Hold Up [View article]
Nvidia CEO Thinks Cash Is Not Needed For Competition [View article]
I know it is heresy to question share buy-backs. They seem like an easy stock-price fix. Clearly management is confident. But so were mini-computer vendors even as their era came to an end. I think Nvidia made the right choice entering the tablet and smartphone market. I'm just not as confident of Nvidia's eventual triumph. Or of anyone's in the space. It is still up for grabs.
Intel: Neither Bullish Nor Bearish Stories Hold Up [View article]
AMD Game Console Triple Crown: Will There Be Profits? [View article]
TTM Technologies Will Benefit As Global Electronics Industry Recovers [View article]
Biogen Idec - Too High Too Fast? [View article]
Adobe Revenue: Will A Subscription Model Work? [View article]
Will New Stock Buybacks Drive Marvell Technology Group Back To $15? [View article]
Akamai's 2013 Outlook Is Bright [View article]
Akamai's 2013 Outlook Is Bright [View article]
5 Rules For Speculating In Biotech [View article]