Posts for Ticker ‘GRMN’

Garmin Holding Up Better Than You Think (GRMN)

Garmin_logoGarmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) appears to have pulled a rabbit out of the hat and its stock is indicated higher after the GPS leader managed to beat earnings expectations.  The company posted earnings of $0.87 non-GAAP EPS vs. $0.84 estimates, and that is only a 2% decline from 2007 levels.  Revenues were $870 million vs. $865 million estimates. 

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Posted on: October 29, 2008 – 6:38 am in Consumer Electronics, Earnings, Technology Companies, Wireless,

The 52-Week Low Club 7/30/2008 (CBG)(AUO)(SIMO)(GRMN)

Sad_clownCB Richard Ellis Group (CBG)  Big profit drop. Shares off to $13.43 from 52-week high of $38.

Au Optronics (AUO) Weak outlook for next quarter, Falls to $12.35 from 52-week high of $22.48.

Silicon Motion (SIMO) Another company with poor outlook. Sells down to $6.75 from 52-week high of $26.10.

Garmin (GRMN) Cuts outlook. Drops down to $34.51 from 52-week high of $125.58.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: July 30, 2008 – 2:50 pm in HI/LOW, , , ,

The 52-Week Low Club (LUM)(RAI)(UNH)(CLX)(GRMN)

Luminent (LUM) Company proposes to restructure. Shares down to $.24 from 52-week high of $10.78.

Reynolds American (RAI) Falling profit and lower guidance. Drops to $52.17 from 52-week high of $72.

International Paper (IP) Increased costs hurt earnings. Sells down to $25.81 from 52-week high of $41.57.

Unitedhealth Group (UNH) Healthcare sector still selling off. Dips to $32.50 from 52-week high of $59.46.

The Clorox Company (CLX) Moving down ahead of earnings. Falls to $52.86 from 52-week high of $68.36.

Garmin (GRMN) Profit misses estimates. Shares down to $38.75 from 52-week high of $125.68.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: April 30, 2008 – 2:50 pm in HI/LOW, , , , , ,

Garmin EPS Almost Bad GPS, But… (GRMN)

Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) posted first quarter earnings that were off the mark.  The GPS leader posted a profit gain of 6% to $147.8 million, or $0.69 EPS, on revenues of $663.8 million.  First Call had estimates at $0.75 EPS on $705.1 million.

The company generated $166 million in free cash flow during Q1-2008, and it ended with cash
and marketable securities balance of $1.2 billion. Overall gross margins remained stronger than expected as its automobile margins remained flat, marine gross margin rose by 9 points and outdoor/fitness and aviation remained stable.

This note from the release here shows a cautious company: While we are pleased with our strong performance in the first quarter, it is important to note that the global economic slowdown has impacted companies across the board.

Frankly, non of this should be a shock at all, at least not if there is anything similar to an efficient market theory where information manages to get priced in.  What is interesting is that estimates from Wall Street analysts haven’t really come in that much, despite different waves of data signaling slower sales and despite a near-50% share price drop since the last few days of 2007.

Shares closed at $46.44 yesterday, and shares are down over 5.5% at $43.84 in pre-market trading.  The 52-week trading range is $42.01 to $125.68.

Jon C. Ogg
April 30, 2008

Posted on: April 30, 2008 – 6:54 am in Consumer Electronics, Earnings,

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (ADS, GRMN, HST, JEF, MHS, NCC, RHT, CRM, BRLC, VLTR)

These are some of the top analyst calls that we are focusing on this Tuesday morning in pre-market trading hours:

  • Alliance Data (NYSE: ADS) raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
  • Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) started as Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Host Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: HST) Cut To Hold From Buy By Deutsche Bank.
  • Jefferies Group (NYSE: JEF) Cut to Neutral at Banc of America.
  • Medco Health Solutions (NYSE: MHS) raised to Buy at Jefferies.
  • National City (NYSE: NCC) raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank; Downgraded to Underperform at Bear Stearns.
  • Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) started as Buy at Piper Jaffray.
  • Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) started as Buy at Piper Jaffray.
  • Syntax-Brillian (NASDAQ: BRLC) raised to Outperform at Robert W. Baird.
  • Volterra Semi (NASDAQ: VLTR) raised to Buy at Piper Jaffray.

Jon C. Ogg
April 22, 2008

Jon Ogg is a producer of and editor for both the Special Situations newsletter and the "10 Stocks Under $10" weekly newsletter for 247WallSt.com; he can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com and he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: April 22, 2008 – 7:01 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Tough Market Cannibalizes Prices Of Weakest Companies (SIRI)(GRMN)(MOT)(DELL

No rest for the weak in a market which even punishes mediocrity.

Several widely traded companies made new lows.

Firms with heavy debt and poor operating profit prospects were hit particularly hard. Sirius (NASDAQ: SIRI), which is still awaiting approval of its deal with XM Satellite (NASDAQ: XMSR), bottomed. So did Motorola (NYSE: MOT), which appears to be doing worse each quarter in core handset business. Journal Register (NYSE: JRC), the most troubled of the newspaper companies, spent part of the weak under $.20 and will be delisted this week.

Several stocks which are leaders in sectors which appear to be weakening also hit lows. Gannett (NYSE: GCI), part of the newspaper industry, found a new bottom as did PC market No. 2 player Dell (NYSE: DELL).

Stocks in some fields which had been hot up, up until recently, are beginning to be hurt, showing how fast a sector can disintegrate.  GPS company Garmin (NASDAQ: GRMN) hit a 52-week low of $44.51 after being at $125.68 in late October of last year. Wall St. is worried that consumer electronics sales could be hurt by the recession and a number of cellphone companies are adding GPS functions to their products.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: April 13, 2008 – 3:12 pm in Research, , , , , , ,

The 52-Week Low Club (BID)(AVR)(MNKD)(GRMN)(SSCC)

Sotheby’s Holdings (BID) Market is turning against companies with rick customers are they become poor. Fallst to $24.37 from 52-week high of $61.40.

Aventine Renewable Energy (AVR) Crop prices go up, ethanol stocks down. Sells off to $4.55 from 52-week high of $20.85.

Mannkind Corp (MNKD) Inhaled insulin products run into FDA approval trouble. Shares drop 60% and hit low of $2.15 from 52-week high of $15.65.

Garmin (GRMN) Still dropping on earnings concerns. Bottoms at $45.38 down from 52-week high of $125.68.

Smurfit-Stone Container (SSCC) Paper companies hit by commodities costs and rising price of oil. Runs down to $6.65 from 52-week high of $14.08.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: April 9, 2008 – 2:40 pm in HI/LOW, , , , ,

The 52-Week Low Club (FMD)(GRD)(GRMN)(SSCC)(SCUR)

First Marblehead (FMD) Fears about student market loans hit company. Down to $4.62 from 52-week high of $45.70.

Agria (GRD) COO leaves and annual report delayed. Shares down to $4.03 from 52-week high of $17.

Garmin (GRMN) Competition warns on earnings. Drops to $48.02 from 52-wek high of $125.68.

Smurfit-Stone Container  (SSCC) Concerns in the paper industry due to rising costs and and energy prices.. Sells off to $7.02 from 52-week high of  $14.08.

Secure Computing (SCUR) Lowers earnings forecasts. Sells down to $6.01 from 52-week high of $10.54.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: April 8, 2008 – 3:01 pm in HI/LOW, , , , ,

Garmin Punished by TomTom Warning, A Week After Garmin’s Own Downward Guidance (GRMN, TRMB, NVT, NOK)

Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) is in a funk, after being in its own funk less than one week ago.  Just last week it gave comments to Reuters discussing forward guidance that Wall Street rightfully took as a light version of an earnings warning, which was going to be under estimates if the company wasn’t trying to leave itself with a huge amount of leeway so it would be well received.  Garmin’s biggest problem now, besides a market and economy that won’t be good for it, is that its shares just took out 52-week lows again.

Today, TomTom overseas issued its own warning. It noted that retailers had reduced PND devices inventory levels by more than expected.

This just goes to show you that even after a major market drop and recovery that the markets are nowhere close to efficient as of yet.  Garmin already outlined much of this last week.  We noted that Garmin’s woes looked adequately factored in after a 60% drop last week with using some common sense about what people will spend on in 2008, although we also noted that the PND and GPS sector was still going to have problems of its own.  So the market is back to headline-reactionary only: "Industry leader warns, stock drops severely… 1 week later its competitor warns, industry leader’s stock whacked hard again."

We first started seeing signs of a crack in the GPS market back in November, 2007, when we saw Trimble Navigation (NASDAQ: TRMB) issue statements.  Speaking of Trimble, its shares are down mildly by almost 1% at $27.10 today.

Shares of NAVTEQ Corp. (NYSE: NVT) are actually up marginally today and up quite a bit higher than last week, so perhaps the fears are easing about any concerns over Nokia (NYSE: NOK) acquiring it.  That is still under European Union review and could be close to three months before the full answer is known.  NAVTEQ shares are up 1.3% at $66.90, which is more than 6% off of the lows of last week.

A downgrade out of Soleil Securities from this morning certainly isn’t helping after the boutique lowered its Buy rating down to a new Hold rating.  Just keep in mind that this downgrade while the stock is under $50.00 comes after a 60% sell-off after this has been as high as $125.00.  We would caution that stocks that gap under $52-week lows twice tend not to see immediate recoveries, and a stock trading community that can only react to every headline as if it was fresh and developing each day isn’t going to offer much help either.

You can join our open email distribution list to hear about buybacks, special financings, secondary offerings, M&A, and more previews for other special situations.

Jon C. Ogg
April 8, 2008

Jon Ogg produces the Special Situation Investing Newsletter.  He can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com and he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: April 8, 2008 – 1:32 pm in Consumer Electronics, , , ,

Garmin Guidance Priced In, But PND Sector & Merger Issues Persist (GRMN, NVT, TRMB, NOK)

Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) already saw the wrath of traders today after its CFO told Reuters in an interview that the revenue drop on a sequential basis (quarter/quarter) would see a drop of 40% to 50%.

With the last quarter showing some $1.217 Billion in revenues, you would derive a new range of $606 million to $730 million.  Before any estimate changes have been made, First Call has estimates for the quarter at $731.4 million.  When you compare that to Q1 2007, it doesn’t look so bad as the Q1 2007 showed some $492 million in revenues.

In no way can you call this good news, but…..  There is always a silver lining if you look at the big picture.  Garmin shares were trading down 10% around $50.00 in pre-market trading.  The low print was $50.18 today, under the prior 52-week low of $52.18. 

We noticed some trends peaking back in November when we saw some concerning data out of Trimble Navigation (NASDAQ: TRMB). 

One other issue to constantly watch is that Nokia (NYSE: NOK) acquisition of NAVTEQ (NYSE: NVT).  With a cash purchase price of $78.00 per share and a current share price of $64.70, you have to wonder about the reality of many thinking a Nokia regret or buyer’s remorse.  That’s the situation, even if NAVTEQ already approved the deal. Shares were above $75.00 just one month ago.  That is a wide enough arb-spread to scare many merger-arb players.  The European Commission’s extended review already gives this another 90 to 125 days before that approval answer is known.

With a high of $125.68 over the last year (October 2007), this sell-off marked a more than 60% cut in share prices.  An $11.7 Billion current market cap still seems high, but at some point enough is enough.  Things can always get worse, that is always present.  But shares are down by less than 5% at $53.84 after 90-minutes of trading.

It’s not prudent to call an all-clear and run out in the open here.  But it would also be foolish to say that you have only seen the beginning.  Sometimes "Less-Bad" is good enough.  It might not be the perfect comfort level entry for a longer-term investor, but the day traders just cleaned up this morning.

We consistently review merger-arb statistics and spreads for our special situations newsletter and we also make many general updates regarding mergers, speculation, and more on our open email distribution list.

Jon C. Ogg
April 3, 2008

Jon Ogg produces the Special Situation Investing Newsletter; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: April 3, 2008 – 10:21 am in Consumer Electronics, Earnings Warning, Wireless, , , ,

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (AEM, MDRX, BP, CSCO, ENR, GRMN, SHW, STI, TGT, RIG)

These are the early bird analyst calls we are focusing on this Thursday morning at 247WallSt.com:

  • Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. (NYSE: AEM) cut to Neutral at UBS.
  • Allscripts (NASDAQ: MDRX) raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
  • BP (NYSE: BP) downgraded to Sell from Hold at Citigroup.
  • Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) raised to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.
  • Energizer (NYSE: ENR) raised to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.
  • Garmin (NASDAQ: GRMN) raised to Outperform at Baird.
  • Sherwin Williams (NYSE: SHW) raised to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • SunTrust (NYSE: STI) cut to Underperform at Oppenheimer.
  • Target (NYSE: TGT) downgraded to Sell from Hold at Citigroup.
  • Transocean (NYSE: RIG) raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Jon C. Ogg
February 21, 2008

Posted on: February 21, 2008 – 7:01 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Garmin Earnings Hard To Knock

Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) posted earnings above plan at $1.31 EPS versus First Call consensus of $1.11, while revenues were $1.22 Billion versus the $1.05 Billion consensus estimate. 

Despite the concerns that GPS systems are slowing, Garmin issued a slight upside in guidance for fiscal 2008 with its earnings put above $4.40 EPS versus $4.40 consensus estimates and it sees revenues exceeding $4.5 Billion versus $4.26 Billion consensus.

Garmin has also announces that its board of directors approved a 5 million shares buyback plan.

As of last look, there were more than 10.68 million shares listed as being in the short interest.  Shares are indicated up nearly 7% at $74.25 in pre-market trading, and the 52-week trading range is $50.01 to $125.68.

Jon C. Ogg
February 20, 2008

Posted on: February 20, 2008 – 7:49 am in Consumer Electronics, Earnings, Technology Companies, Wireless,

Garmin nuvifone ‘May’ Threaten Apple iPhone (GRMN, AAPL)

Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) has unveiled a new device today and this looks like many consumers will interpret it as a shot right across the bow of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL).  These are actually different markets on the surface, but analysts andconsumers may draw more lines into converging markets after the firstor second generation of the phones.  You could make an anology that Apple was converging mobile computing and communications and iTunes into the iPhone, and Garmin is converging mobile computing and communications with GPS & PND. 

Garmin is launching the nuvifone(TM) to combine a phone with a personal navigation device.  This has many of the same features as the Apple iPhone with some differences and some relative pros and cons.  The con is fairly easy to see and that is that it doesn’t look quite as cool on the surface, and this is not really looking like the next iTunes replacement hub.  But the pros may greatly outweigh this.  For starters, this is going to have much the same look as the personal navigation devices from Garmin today, plus it will have a mobile web browser in an all touchscreen platform on a 3.5-inch screen (same size as iPhone). 

You can see the entire media pictures here outside of this one picture here with the web browser open to get a snapshot of what you are really looking at, and when you click on the images on the Garmin nuvifone site you will see their images are much more clear.
Garmin_web
When the nuvifone is docked onto the vehicle mount, it automatically turns on the GPS, activates the navigation menu, and enables hands-free calling so that the user never misses a beat in the conversation and is able to begin routing to their destination with ease.  This also comes preloaded with maps of North America, or Europe (or both), and you can still have that talking voice prompted direction guide.

This will also harness Google local search capability with 3.5G and will combine a personal messaging function for email, text, and instant messaging. 

For those who can’t find their own (you know what), it even has a "Where am I?" feature to display the exact latitude and longitude coordinates, the nearest address and intersection, and the closest hospitals, police stations and gas stations.  And if the enemy is over-running your defense lines you can call in the broken arrow air strike right on top of your position.

Besides navigation, the nuvifone includes access to Garmin Online(TM) for constant updated information in real-time traffic, fuel prices, stock prices, sport scores, news reports, local events and weather forecasts.

Read More »

Posted on: January 31, 2008 – 3:53 pm in Consumer Electronics, Telecom, Wireless, , , ,

Key Tech Upgrades & Downgrades (AMCC, CTXS, SCOR, EBAY, FFIV, GRMN, LSI, MFE, MCHP, OMTR, SONS, SYMC, THQI, WDC)

Below are some of the key upgrades and downgrades from Wall Street analysts seen in the technology sectors this morning:

  • Applied Micro (AMCC) raised estimates at Goldman Sachs.
  • Citrix Systems (CTXS) raised estimates at Goldman Sachs.
  • comScore (SCOR) started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.
  • eBay (EBAY) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Citigroup (thanks for that timely call Citi, they might get the most useless call of the week); maintained buy but target lowered to $38 at Goldman Sachs.
  • F5 Networks (FFIV) raised to Outperform at Baird.
  • Garmin (GRMN) raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
  • LSI (LSI) raised estimates at Goldman Sachs.
  • McAfee (MFE) raised to Buy at Citigroup; raised to Outperform at Bear Stearns.
  • Microchip Tech (MCHP) raised to Outperform at Morgan Keegan.
  • Omniture (OMTR) started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.
  • Sonus Networks (SONS) raised to Buy at Cantor Fitzgerald.
  • Symantec (SYMC) raised estimates at Goldman Sachs.
  • THQ Inc. (THQI) downgraded to Sell at Broadpoint.
  • Western Digital (WDC) raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank; estimates raised at Goldman Sachs.

Jon C. Ogg
January 24, 2008

Posted on: January 24, 2008 – 8:02 am in Analyst Calls, Technology Companies, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (AUO, ESRX, FDO, GRMN, PBR, PZE, PPDI, SFLY, TSO, ZUMZ, CAL, DAL, NWA, UAUA, LCC, AMR)

These are not the only key analyst calls coming out of Wall Street analysts today, but these are the key calls that 247WallSt.com is focusing on in pre-market hours:

  • AU Optronics (AUO) raised to Outperform at Lehman.
  • Express Scripts (ESRX) downgraded to Market Perform at Wachovia.
  • Family Dollar (FDO) downgraded to Underperform at Bear Stearns.
  • Garmin (GRMN) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.
  • Petrobras Brasiliero (PBR) downgrades to Sell from Hold at Citigroup.
  • Petrobras Energia (PZE) downgraded to Underperform from Peer Perform at Bear Stearns.
  • PPD Inc. (PPDI) raised to Buy at UBS.
  • Shutterffly (SFLY) raised to Buy at Jefferies.
  • Tesoro (TSO) downgraded to Underperform from Peer Perform at Bear Stearns.
  • Zumiez (ZUMZ) raised to Buy at Piper Jaffray.
  • UBS RAISED AIRLINES: Continental (CAL), Delta (DAL), Northwest Airlines (NWA), UAL (UAUA), and United (LCC) all raised to Buy from neutral; AMR (AMR) raised to Neutral from Sell.  Incidentally, Bear Stearns also raised Delta (DAL) to an Outperform rating.

Jon C. Ogg
January 9, 2008

Posted on: January 9, 2008 – 8:03 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Backward & Forward, Cramer In 2007 To 2008

2007 was one volatile year and for now it appears that will be the norm for at least the start of 2008.  Everyone’s favorite market pundit or least liked pundit is obviously Jim Cramer.  If you love Cramer or can’t stand him it really doesn’t matter.  He signed a new multi-year deal with CNBC recently.  Here are some of his major calls this year that will still be referred to in 2008:

Here were Cramer’s TOP 9 STOCKS FOR 2007, with a call broken down for each one.  Borat would say HI FIVE on some and NOT SO NICE on others, as would be expected.  Cramer’s 14,582 year-end DJIA target…..Friday’s close was 13,365.87……although we did hit 14,279.96 on OCT11, 2007.  Cramer also gave a batch of price targets on most of theDJIA components:

Cramer’s Stock Picks FOR 5-YEARS OUT:

SOME LISTS: His list of recession proof stocks compared to ours.  We are updating our
Defensive Stocks For The First Half Of 2008" currently.  Cramer gave a huge list of companies he expects to benefit from the alternative energy traders (SGR, FWLT, BWA, OMG, FSLR, FTEK, WFR, TTEK, ZOLT, BP, SPWR, CY, CPST, ITRI)… Jim Cramer pondered which US companies China would want to acquire, about 3 months before sovereign funds started buying into US companies.  Cramer’s mortgage winners and losers…… Here were his MAJOR BULL MARKET STOCK PICKS(MHS, CVS, AGN, CELG, GENZ, CEPH, RIG, HAL, EMR, CAT, CMI, UTX, KO,PEP, CL, GS, SKS, VFC, UNP, CSX, BA), some of which are DJIAcomponents.  Cramer produced a "MUST OWN" list of stocks, many of whichare up significantly and some are down (WHR, BDK, ATI, BGC, HON, ASD, JCI, MDR, FWLT, CAT, TEX, DE, QCOM)

Cramer spent lots of time on International stocks that most US investors might not cover on their own.  He made a big call on Mercadolibre (MELI) (also BIDU, GOOG) with some emphasis on buying immediately, right before it made a huge run up.  Cramer’s Hidden Video Game Investment Perfect World (PWRD, ATVI, ERTS, VIA) was one he said could run more than 50% for 2008.  Cramer made 5 TOP CHINESE PICKS (CEO, CHL, SSW, FMCN, BIDU, GMR).  We’ll see in 2008 if any of his Canadian OIL TRUSTS get acquired in 2008 (BTE, CNE, PGH, PVX, PWE, AAV, GDI).  Cramer also went over his top picks from Europe for American investors (TOT, SI, ABB, PHG, BF)

ON TECHNOLOGY:  Cramer’s NEW HORSEMEN OF TECH…. will the list change in 2008???  Did Cramer Say $1,000.00 on Google, Or Is It $600.00? That was in May 2007.  Cramer Gave Monster Price targets to Baidu.com (BIDU, GOOG).. will these targets change in 2008? Cramer was very positive on all the GPS stocks,although we’d expect that Cramer will change his tune in 2008 now thatthe holiday madness is behind us (GRMN, UA, CROX, NVT, TRMB, SIRF).

Would it be fair not to include the Barron’s attack on Cramer from summer for those of you that criticize his every word?

ON WARREN BUFFETT…. Cramer noted that BROOKFIELD ASSET MANAGEMENT in Canada may be the next Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK/A) NYSE: BAM). Cramer reviewed 10 Warren Buffett stocks for analysis and then reviewed 10 More Warren Buffett stocks:

Will his buyout of ALCOA (AA) prediction come true in 2008??? Cramer gave a list of stocks that had bought back so much stock that they might be taking themselves private.

Join our free email distribution list for other Cramer calls or for updates we send out regarding IPO’s, spin-offs, restructuring, reorganization, activist investors and more.

Happy New Years from the 247WallSt.com team!

Jon C. Ogg
December 31, 2007

Posted on: December 31, 2007 – 8:01 am in Cramer, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Amazon (AMZN) Best Sellers: Garmin (GRMN), Apple (AAPL), And Canon

Which companies are likely to have a good Christmas and fourth quarter? A look at Amazon’s (AMZN) "Best Sellers" lists may say something.

In the "Electronics" category the Apple (AAPL) iPod, Gamin (GRMN) GPS devices, and Canon cameras take up most of the top 20 spots. The Microsoft (MSFT) Zune comes in at No. 12.

If the list is any indication, the portion of Apple’s earnings coming from iPods in the fourth calendar quarter should be unusually strong.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: December 23, 2007 – 5:33 am in Retail, , , ,

Cramer Sticks With Horsemen of Tech To Year-End (RIMM, AAPL, GOOG, AMZN, GRMN)

Jim Cramer on TheStreet.com videos is staying positive on his "Horsemen of Tech" and he said that today is mark-up day and fund managers will want to own these winning names going into year-end.  He noted that he’d buy calls out to FEBRUARY & MARCH 2008 that are "in the money":

  • Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)
  • Google (NASDAQ:GOOG)
  • Research-in-Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM)

Cramer also noted a couple other stocks.  Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) was removed from Cramer’s "New Four Horsemen of Tech" some time ago, but he even thinks that it will win over Christmas from strong sales.  He also noted that Garmin (NASDAQ:GRMN) is having a monster Christmas, although he still thinks Nokia (NYSE:NOK) is going to be major competition next year for Garmin.

Interestingly enough, at last week’s VALUE INVESTING CONGRESS hedge fund manager Larry Robbins of Glenview Capital Management (with something like $9 Billion under management) on Wednesday said that "the horsemen" had been the lead stocks on his short sale list. Whether or not that had or has changed is not known because the market sentiment has changed over the last few days. 

Jon C. Ogg
December 3, 2007

Posted on: December 3, 2007 – 11:57 am in Cramer, Technology Companies, , , , , ,

Garmin Ltd. Secures Its Future (GRMN, NVT, NOK)

Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ:GRMN) decided to take the steps that insure its future is secure.  The personal navigation device maker has signed a 6-year extension to the agreement with NAVTEQ (NYSE:NVT) (soon to be part of Nokia-NOK) for digital map data for location based solutions and vehicle navigation. The agreement allows Garmin to continue using NAVTEQ data through 2015, but this may really be a 10-year deal as Garmin has an option to renew for an additional 4-years.

Subsequently, Garmin has also announced today that in light of these developments it does not intend to pursue its offer for Tele Atlas N.V.  So now TomTom will win teh TeleAtlas bidding.  This new agreement makes that risk almost immaterial now.

24/7 Wall St. is momentarily about to release a new Special Situation Investing Newsletter with a stock pick in the GPS, PND, and UMPCs sector that we feel should be acquired in the coming weeks to months.  The hold period we are expecting does not look like it will be a long-term position and the entire trade has the ability to be hedged with options.  We have consulted with several industry and research professionals and it is surprising that a) Wall Street has overlooked this one and b) that the company hasn’t been taken out already.

We comment on other merger developments in multiple sectors and dealing with private equity on our open distribution list.  There we provide more general summaries and previews for our subscriber products covering buyouts, spin-offs, backdoor plays into IPO’s, reogranizations, and break-up values.

Garmin shares are up more than 20% pre-market and back above $100 on over 2 million shares.

Jon C. Ogg
November 16, 2007

Jon Ogg produces the 24/7 Wall St. Special Situation Investing Newsletter; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: November 16, 2007 – 9:20 am in Consumer Electronics, Satellite, Technology Companies, Wireless, , ,

Garmin Settles With TomTom (GRMN)

Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ:GRMN) is trading up in pre-market trading today.  The GPS consumer device maker has announced that it has entered into a confidential global settlement of all of its intellectual property litigation with TomTom.

The settlement appears to be broad-based as it resolves all pending intellectual property litigation including cases in the U.K. and Netherlands, as well as cases filed in Wisconsin and Texas.

Details of the agreements are not being disclosed, but it is obvious that this is being viewed as a win.  Companies who have failed to settle their patent litigation and have had rulings go the other way have seen shares hit hard, and it appears that Garmin took notice of its falling share price and decided this was a better way out.  It isn’t Garmin, but we have a GPS-related stock coming out this week in our Special Situation Investing Newsletter that is still independent, but we feel will be acquired sooner rather than later.

Garmin shares are up 2.5% in pre-market trading  at $87.75.  Its 52-week highs were $125.68.  Losing one-third of your share price usually tips managements hand.

Jon C. Ogg
November 15, 2007

Posted on: November 15, 2007 – 8:30 am in Consumer Electronics, Law,