Stock Market News & Stocks to Watch from StraightStocks » automotive electronics

Siemens Eyes Smart Grid Orders – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:30:04 +0000

Siemens AG (SI) has targeted orders worth more than 6 billion Euros for intelligent power networks (Smart Grids) over the next five fiscal years. The company is already a leading international supplier of Smart Grids and continues to strengthen this position.

Intelligent power grids, or smart grids, are based on the conventional power grids which transport electricity from large power plants to individual households. However, digital technology allows individual households or businesses to manage their electricity more efficiently, allowing them to receive, or deliver back to the grid, electricity from other sources like wind or solar power facilities, or even from batteries in electric cars.

According to studies, more than a billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions could be abated with intelligent power networks by 2020. Smart Grids are essential for integrating renewable power sources into power networks and for ensuring stable power supplies from solar and wind energy.

Overall, the Smart Grid market has three primary components: Smart Metering (intelligent billing), Grid Intelligence (the grid infrastructure and its controls) and Utility IT (intelligent data management). Siemens is active in all three areas and is already the global market leader for grid intelligence.

Smart Grids have enormous growth potential worldwide. They are, for example, a prerequisite for reaching the EU’s 20-20-20 climate goals aimed at reducing CO2 emissions by 20% and increasing the share of renewable energies in the European grid by 20% by 2020. In addition, Smart Grids are included in many of the economic stimulus programs throughout the world.

The US government plans to invest around 3 billion Euros here in the coming years. Siemens expects to receive orders worth around 15 billion Euros from these programs by 2012. Out of these, 40% or roughly 6 billion Euros is likely to be for green technologies from the Siemens Environmental Portfolio.

A slew of companies across the globe are pushing to secure their share in this projected growth market, ranging from blue chips like Siemens, General Electric Co. (GE) and Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) to various start-ups offering related components and services.

Energy-efficient and flexible power grids are a key cornerstone for the launch of electric cars on a broader scale, as they can be designed to meet specific needs for the supply, demand and storage of electricity.

Volkswagen AG, Europe’s largest automaker by sales, said in July that it would launch an electric version of its upcoming New Small Family car in 2013. Other auto makers, including Nissan Motor Co. Ltd and General Motors Co., are also pressing ahead with developing fully electric cars for the mass market.

Energy-efficient, resource-conserving Smart Grids are part of the Siemens Environmental Portfolio, which generated a quarter of its total sales in fiscal 2008.

Siemens is a German industrial conglomerate with interests in information services, automation and controls, medical equipment, power generation, transportation systems, automotive electronics, lighting and many other areas. With a focus on electronics and electrical engineering, the company is a major multinational with over 430,000 employees in more than 190 countries.

We currently have a Neutral recommendation on Siemens.

Read the full analyst report on "SI"
Read the full analyst report on "GE"
Read the full analyst report on "CSCO"
Zacks Investment Research

MAIN, GTN, LAVA Stock-PR Stock Headlines September 3, 2009

Stock-PR — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 12:50:36 +0000

Main Street Capital Announces Monthly Dividends for October, November and December 2009 of $0.125 Per Share Main Street Capital Corporation (Nasdaq: MAIN) (”Main Street”) announced today that its Board of Directors declared monthly dividends of $0.125 per share for October, November and December 2009. These monthly dividends, which will be payable pursuant to the table below, [...]

Siemens Buys China Metal Companies – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:00:24 +0000

Siemens Energy, a division of Siemens AG (SI), acquired the majority holding in the Chinese metalworking company Yangtze Delta Manufacturing and the Chinese aluminum foundry GISAP (GIS Steel & Aluminium Products), both headquartered in Hangzhou.

Siemens Energy is expanding its global production capacity for high-voltage circuit-breakers in China and enhancing its value chain proposition from foundry work through machining to final product assembly.

There is a constant robust demand for high-voltage power transmission products in China. The demand for reliable, cost-efficient high-voltage products for the transmission of electrical energy, which minimizes losses, continues to rise.

Siemens has a leading position in China, the world’s largest market for power transmission equipment. The company has involvement as a provider of innovative energy technologies in numerous major infrastructure projects, including projects in the field of high-voltage direct current transmission.

Siemens is a German industrial conglomerate with interests in information services, automation and controls, medical equipment, power generation, transportation systems, automotive electronics, lighting, and many other areas. With a focus on electronics and electrical engineering, the company is a major multinational with over 430,000 employees in more than 190 countries. Its major competitors are ABB Ltd. (ABB) and General Electric Co. (GE).

We currently have a Neutral recommendation on Siemens.

Read the full analyst report on "SI"
Read the full analyst report on "ABB"
Read the full analyst report on "GE"
Zacks Investment Research

Siemens Misses Estimates – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:20:09 +0000

Siemens AG (SI) reported third-quarter revenues of €18.3 billion, down 4% from the year-ago quarter, and earnings of $1.44 per ADR, lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Order backlog had a stabilizing effect on revenue while new order intake was down 28% and the book-to-bill ratio fell below 1 to 0.94.

On a geographic basis, revenue grew 5% in Asia, Australia on the back of double-digit growth in China. In Europe, Commonwealth of Independent States, Africa and Middle East, revenue declined 9%, including sharply lower revenues in Germany. Order intake was influenced most strongly by Industry segment, which saw demand fall sharply in the Mobility division.

Total Sectors profit declined 21% year over year while income from continuing operations fell 17% year over year. The estimated under funding of Siemens’ principal pension plans as of Jun 30, 2009, was €5 billion, double the amount as on Sep 30, 2008.

Free cash flow declined to €1.7 billion due to substantial cash outflows related to charges arising from project reviews and structural initiatives in fiscal 2008. On a continuing basis, return on capital employed for the third quarter declined to 11.7% from 14.7% in the year-ago period.

Siemens continues to expect total Sectors profit for fiscal 2009 to exceed the prior-year level of €6.6 billion. Growth in income from continuing operations in 2009 is expected to exceed growth in Total Sectors profit.

Siemens is a German industrial conglomerate with interests in information services, automation and controls, medical equipment, power generation, transportation systems, automotive electronics, lighting, and many other areas. With a focus on electronics and electrical engineering, the company is a major multinational with over 430,000 employees in more than 190 countries.
Read the full analyst report on "SI"
Zacks Investment Research

Innovation Drives OmniVision – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:24:19 +0000

OmniVision's (OVTI) fourth quarter results exceeded the consensus on both the top and bottom lines. Cell phone and notebook inventories are lean and demand is looking up.

However, demand for low-end products has the potential to outpace demand for high-end products, with a corresponding negative impact on the gross margin. OmniVision is an OEM of CMOS image sensors and support circuitry used within handsets and applications in other mass markets.

Continued innovation has helped OVTI secure a leading market position

OmniVision is one of the largest suppliers of CMOS sensors for multiple end markets, with a 30% share of the total image sensor market. The company has consistently delivered new, technologically advanced products.

The OmniPixel platform has been expanded to include a range of different array-sized products from VGA to the newest 5.17 megapixel camera chip. Products with greater pixel densities generate higher ASPs, higher revenue and better margins for OVTI. These higher-array chips have been challenging the incumbent CCD technology used in high-end still cameras, thus driving market share gains.

The recently introduced CameraCube module is of strategic importance. The CameraCube integrates the functionalities of an image sensor, embedded image processor and wafer level optics in one compact small-footprint package. The surface mountable CameraCube devices can be directly soldered to the PCB, and no additional socket or insertion is required. The high functionality, small size, simplified supply chain and resultant decline in BOM costs make it the ideal solution for the latest generation ultra slim handset market.

Additionally, given its thermal tolerance levels (up to 260 C), the product is expected to have broader application in other areas, including notebooks, automotive electronics, surveillance and medical. The new CameraCube devices, which include the OVM6680 (400 x 400 SGA) and OVM7690 (VGA), are immediately available in volume production.

Management reported first revenue from the CameraCube product line in Q4. Both large OEMs and mass markets in Asia are showing increasing interest in the product line, according to management.

In 2008, management introduced back side illumination (BSI) technology, which has several architectural advantages. Image sensors today use front side illumination (FSI), which means that the side used to capture light is shared by other metal circuits required for the operation of the chip. This reduces the available area for capturing light. With pixel densities increasing every day, pixel sizes, are of necessity, shrinking. This further reduces the available area.

Management stated that BSI has the potential to double the photosensitive area, with corresponding improvements to image quality and sensitivity in low light conditions. It also enables superior color reproduction and lowers noise. The result is sharper images across broader lighting conditions and better color quality. The better space utilization enables shrinkage in the size of the camera module, facilitating the manufacture of sleeker devices.

Management stated that all the tier 1 cell phone manufacturers have expressed interest in the product. The company has introduced the first 5 and 8 megapixel products based on BSI technology. Management stated that despite the recession, the company continued to see a growing number of design wins for its 1.4 and 1.75 megapixel BSI products. The first 8 megapixel BSI solution will soon be shipping to a tier-1 OEM for a digital video camcorder.

It is expected that many of the company’s customers will gradually shift to BSI solutions. The margin impact is yet uncertain, since the product is very early in its lifecycle. However, we do expect margin enhancement as the manufacturing process matures.

The first two-chip TrueFocus product incorporating the Wavefront coding technology was launched in the first quarter of fiscal 2008, and management has announced several design wins. This technology increases the depth of the image, enabling correct image focus from 20 cm to infinity. Wavefront increases the functionality of the handset and raises the dollar content per phone.

The company recently introduced the OV3640, a ¼-inch single-chip 3 megapixel product based on its Truefocus technology. The product is currently in volume production. Management also described a single chip integrating DSP functionality with Wavefront coding, and stated that the chip is currently under development. In the last quarter, the company introduced a 5 megapixel chip incorporating both TrueFocus and BSI technologies targeted at next generation cell phones.

The company has also introduced a 5 megapixel camerachip sensor, the OV5630, incorporating the new OmniPixel3-HS architecture that doubles the sensitivity of its 1.75 micron pixel, enabling superior image capture in low-light conditions. A slightly modified version, the OV5633 was also introduced, targeting the digital still camera and digital video markets.

The next generation OmniPixel chip, the OmniPixel2 is currently in volume production. The company has also started shipping the OV2640, which is the first 2-meg product incorporating auto-focus control on a single chip.

Sejuti Banerjea contributed to this post.
Read the full analyst report on "OVTI"
Zacks Investment Research

National Semiconductor’s Potential – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:55:34 +0000

Opportunity in several verticals

National Semiconductor's (NSM) management strategy appears to be focused on energy, specifically, in energy generation, consumption and storage. Energy savings in each of these areas will be an important driver of growth over the next decade, in not just developing but developed countries as well.

To date, the company has been focused on its core strength in power management products. It is now extending these capabilities in power management to alternative energy areas, such as powering for solar panels and LED lighting products.

Energy generation:

In June 2008, management announced a solar product, which it refers to as the SolarMagic power optimizer module. The product incorporates National's new PowerWise power management technology, and works on both thin film and crystal line glass panels. It significantly increases the efficiency of solar panels, recouping up to 50% of the power lost in shady areas and when the panels are mismatched, or become old, or accumulate debris and bird droppings.

The opportunity for growth is expected to be significant, both in new and retrofit markets. Management stated that approximately 25 million panels were sold in 2008 by around 10 vendors, including Kyocera (KYO), Sanyo, Sharp, Suntech, Wushi, SunPower (STP), Conergy and First Solar (FSLR).

Management estimates that there are a total of around 75 million panels in the market, which also makes for an attractive retrofit market. SolarMagic is being field-tested at a number of potential customers. The product entered production in March, and first revenue is expected in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009.

Energy consumption:

The company's adaptive voltage scaling (AVS) technology lowers energy loss in devices during use. Management estimates LED lighting to be a $6 billion market. The company has introduced its LED driver ICs for street lights, backlighting, automotive, and increasingly, general lighting.

National recnetly launched the TRIAC dimmable LED driver based on its AVS technology that enables direct replacement of incandescent or halogen bulbs with LED bulbs. The product enables flicker-free full range dimming of LED lights and maximizes light output.

The company has also introduced LED backlighting solutions. Display Search estimates that 13% of laptops shipped in Q4 of 2008 were LED backlit, double the percentage that was LED backlit in Q3. Therefore, this is another growing market. Management stated that National is also the leading supplier of flash lighting drivers in the mobile phone market. In the last quarter, the company's flash drivers brought design wins in new phone models at four large mobile phone makers.

Energy storage:

This is essentially the battery management area, where National's new PowerWise technology is already being used in automotive electronics. Management is optimistic that the company's technology will help to make electric cars and HEVs more viable, driving growth opportunities in this area.

Other areas of management focus include sensing and detection (security), medical and infrastructure. Management is redirecting R&D spending into these areas.

Sejuti Banerjea contributed to this post.
Read the full analyst report on "NSM"
Read the full analyst report on "KYO"
Read the full analyst report on "STP"
Read the full analyst report on "FSLR"
Zacks Investment Research

Bull Market Report Recommends DuPont

CEO Blogger — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:16:43 +0000

viastockadvisors “Broad-based chemical, agriculture, and ’science technology’ company DuPont is about as ‘blue chip’ as companies get,” says Bill Martin. In his Bull Market Report, the trading and investing expert explains, “One of the oldest firms in the country DuPont has shown it can continue to remake itself and grow.” Track Bull Market’s picks at: http://trackthepros.com/ Here’s his review. “DuPont offers [...]