Martin Hubbes, CFA
ATI Technologies
ATY-T
BUY
Aug 02, 2005
An interesting play. The graphic accelerator market used to have a lot of competitors, but is now down to Intel (INTC-Q), ATI and Nvidea (NVDA-Q). This one is a long term survivor. They are trying to branch out into more consumer oriented graphics. Have had a bit of a hiccup here. New chip is about to be launched.
There is substantial concern about their solar side of the business. Involved with new technology with very innovative approach. The yield on the new production method isn’t panning out as expected. Ranks in the bottom 1% of the database.
If you own these stocks, you have to keep a very close eye on what is going on in the semiconductor sector as a whole. In the most recent pullback in the market, the semiconductor index bottomed, attempted a rally, and today failed and went to a lower low.
A business he likes for the long-term. There is a number of new markets they are in such as X-Box 360 and flat panel high-definition TV. “Okay” value here and if you want to play the merger rumour, maybe you can get in and you probably won't get hurt.
Facing some challenges, principally because of softening PC demand. Has done a pretty good job of moving away from PCs but this is still the dominant part of their operation. Outlook is uncertain.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD-N) has made a bid to buy this company. $25 has been the top end of their range for the last 4/5 years, a major technical resistant level. If it got up through that, it would be a technical breakout situation. Doesn't know what the deal would mean for this company.