24/7 Wall St. » MCZ

Will the Wii Rescue Mad Catz? (MCZ, NTDOY)

247wallst — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 10:58:13 +0000

Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. (AMEX: MCZ) has been a dismal video game-related stock which never really get off of the ground. Its annual sales have also not shown any growth even when the sector was rapidly growing. The interactive entertainment accessory provider (video game peripherals) has entered into a multi-year licensing pact with Nintendo (NTDOY).

Mad Catz has secured the rights to produce and distribute peripheralsfor the popular Rock Band™ video game for the Wii™ system. Theagreement is a worldwide agreement for markets outside of Asia. Thecompany will produce a bass guitar and a portable drum percussion set,which should be available early in 2009.

This looks like an add-on deal more than anything. The company beganshipping its Fender(TM) Precision Bass guitar for the Xbox 360 inSeptember. The Wii version of this game hit shelves this last June,and if you include all gaming systems this game looks like it has soldmore than 4 million units. So the company has already startedcapturing some market share here.

Scoring any contract for the Wii had been a good forshareholders in the past. Unfortunately we are in the midst of arecession. Video game companies are issuing warnings. It doesn’t looklike it will even make it in time for the Christmas season. Ourindications indicate that the only Christmas gifts people are getting this year willbe lumps of coal, so maybe it isn’t missing that much afterall. With these peripherals costs and with the Special Edition bundleof Rock Band 2 running $189.99, this might not be the layup that itwould have been 12 or 18 months ago.

Mad Catz shares are down by 4% today at $0.39, but shares did brieflypop big on this news. Despite being up about 40% from its recent lows,shares were around $1.20 a year ago. This stock is right around itshistoric lows of the last 5-years and longer.

On the surface, it is surprising that one of the larger devices andperipheral makers hasn’t stepped in brought this company under itsumbrella. With a $23 million market cap, even a huge premium buyoutwouldn’t cost that much. But with sales having declined for at leastthe last two-years, it doesn’t seem as though there is a need or ahurry to do anything.

Jon C. Ogg
November 6, 2008

Posted in Video Games Tagged: MCZ, NTDOY

Microsoft Might Buy Logitech… And It Should (MSFT, LOGI, MCZ)

247wallst — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 10:20:22 +0000

Shares of Logitech (NASDAQ: LOGI) are trading up over 8% in early Thursday trading. The maker of keyboards, mouses, PC-cams, microphones, and all other computer peripherals is trading up on market chatter and speculation that Microsoft may want to acquire the company.

While this is a mostly hardware company, this might actually be a good fit for Microsoft. The company is expected to have revenues of $2.39 Billion for its annual March-2008 numbers. It also trades at 23.4-times fiscal March-2008 earnings if the estimates are accurate, and its currency converted market cap is roughly $6 Billion. Logitech also just unveiled its new line of peripherals at CES this week.

Many analysts have panned software companies making hardware acquisition efforts. This one makes sense though when you consider that Microsoft already makes many of its own computer peripherals. If nothing else, it might be a great bit of subliminal marketing with the company name being all over your desktop without you even realizing it.

Shares of Logitech are trading up over 8% at $33.86 and its 52-week trading range is $25.05 to $37.03.

If Logitech doesn’t get acquired by Microsoft, Logitech should consider acquiring Mad Catz Interactive (AMEX: MCZ). That would lock-up a competitor in the video game peripherals space that has been making some inroads despite its sub-$100 million market capitalization. With the $500 million or so bump in Logitech’s market cap today, the company could get Mad Catz for free.

Jon C. Ogg
January 10, 2008

Consumer Electronics Show Device Launches (AMD, HIMX, LOGI, MCZ, MSFT, PXLW, RNWK, SNE, YHOO)

247wallst — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 09:15:59 +0000

The Consumer Electronics Show kicked off last night with a keynote from Bill Gates (supposedly his last) and there are many product announcements being shown from large and small tech companies alike. Here are some of the key product launch features being shown so far:

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) unveiled its ATI Mobility Radeon 3000 graphics processor for notebooks and its Xilleon panel processor for LCD TV image quality; AMD shares up 1%.

Himax (HIMX) is in a new strategic alliance with 3M (MMM) over ultra-mobile digital projectors; HIMX stock up almost 6%.

Logitech (LOGI) is demo’ing its new sleek line of computer peripherals and entertainment devices.

Mad Catz (MCZ) will have its recently acquired Saitek unit with new Cyborg line including keyboard, mouse, headset, and peripherals.

Microsoft (MSFT) said at "CES" it had 100 million licenses sold of Windows Vista; 17.7 million Xbox 360′s, 10 million Xbox live users; will have new content downloads with Disney, ABC, and more; showcasing new GPS; MSFT shares up 1%.

Pixelworks (PXLW) launched its Keystone Correction Post-processing IC for digital projectors.

RealNetworks’ (RNWK) is partnering with Philips for its Rhapsody player for in-home audio and GoGear portable devices.

Sony (SNE) is debuting a new digital camcorder with triple recording in a hard drive, memory stick, and disk for ultra-compatibility among digital platforms; shares up 3%.

Yahoo! (YHOO) announced a platform neutral mobile ecosystem for mobile web content at CES with a new redesigned Yahoo! mobile launch page; shares up 0.5%.

Please be advised that there will be hundreds of product launches and partnerships announced out of the Consumer Electronics Show this week. This is only a small snapshot of new devices we saw from various announcements and press releases.

Jon C. Ogg
January 7, 2008

2008 Tech Kickoff: Macworld Versus Consumer Electronics Show, CES (MSFT, AAPL, INTC, MCZ, S)

247wallst — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 08:48:14 +0000

January is always an interesting month for gadget lovers, techies, programmers, computer geeks, gamers, and more. The year is always kicked off with the biggest event of the year as the Consumer Electronics Show, the CES, starts the year. A week later we get the beloved Macworld exposition from Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL). These are both huge events. CES is a bigger event as far as an entire industry in concerned, and Macworld has been one of the launch platforms for Steve Jobs’ new product directions. We wanted to give you a breakdown of some of the events and resources in one central location:

CES, the Consumer Electronics Show January 07 to January 10, 2008 in Las Vegas:

Homepage
Press Center
CES Blog
BUSINESSWIRE center for press releases
FULL EXHIBITOR LIST
WiMAX official joint launch from ASUS/Intel/Sprint (NASDAQ: INTC) (NYSE: S)
MadCatz (AMEX: MCZ)demonstrating new accessories for Xbox360 and PS3.
Sunday, January 6, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. Pre-show Keynote: Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Chairman Bill Gates. Click here for a full list of keynote speeches and address.

List of some public exhibitors at CES: 8X8, Amcor, Analog Devices, Audiovox Electronics Corporation, Broadcom, Corel, Delphi, Digicom Digital, Directed Electronics, DIRECTV, Dolby Laboratories, Entropic Communications, Gemstar-TV Guide, Imation Corp, Immersion Corporation, iRobot, Jabil Circuit, Leggett & Platt, LG Electronics, LG.Philips LCD, Mad Catz Interactive, Microvision, Motorola, Palm, Philips, Silicon Image, Synaptics, Texas Instruments, Visteon, Xilinx, XM Satellite Radio…

MACWORLD: Macworld will be held at San Francisco’s Moscone Convention CenterJanuary 14-18, 2008. Keynote address will be held on Tuesday,January 15, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. at Moscone West.

Homepage
Keynote
Exhibit floor featuring over 350 companies
Demo of Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT)Office 2008 for Mac before it hit hits the shelves….
MACWORLD Blog
HERE is the Press Center to watch…….

CES has a one week jump so by the calendar alone it will already have more data on exhibitors and the exact schedule. But these are the two tech events to watch in the first two weeks for technology companies in 2008.

Jon C. Ogg
December 28, 2007