HEICO Incorporated (HEI)

Sector: Industrial Goods

Industry: Aerospace/Defense Products & Services

Website: http://www.heico.com

Description:

HEICO Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of aerospace, defense, and electronics related products, as well as in the provision of related services in the United States and internationally.

Its Flight Support Group segment offers jet engine and aircraft component replacement parts. It manufactures thermal insulation blankets primarily for aerospace, defense, and commercial applications; and provides specialty components as a subcontractor for aerospace and industrial original equipment manufacturers, and the United States government. This segment also distributes hydraulic, pneumatic, mechanical, and electro-mechanical components for the commercial, regional, and general aviation markets. In addition, it provides repair and overhaul services for jet engine and aircraft component parts, avionics, instruments, composites, and flight surfaces of commercial aircraft.

The company’s Electronic Technologies Group segment offers electronic, microwave, and electro-optical products, including infrared simulation and test equipment, laser rangefinder receivers, electrical and back-up power supplies, electromagnetic interference and radio frequency interference shielding, high power capacitor charging power supplies, amplifiers, photo detectors, amplifier modules, laser diode drivers, arc lamp power supplies, custom power supply designs, cable assemblies, high voltage interconnection devices and wire, high voltage energy generators, high frequency power delivery systems, and high-speed interface products primarily for the aviation, defense, space, medical, and electronics industries.

HEICO Corporation primarily serves commercial and cargo airlines, repair and overhaul facilities, other aftermarket suppliers of aircraft engine and airframe materials, military units, and electronic manufacturing service companies. It has strategic alliance with Lufthansa. The company was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Hollywood, Florida.

The following table shows key indicators from 2009 of Heico Corporation with comparables:

Reasons to buy:

· Recently announced stock split at a 5 to 4 ratio. Takes affect 4/27.

· 4% profit and revenue increase in Q1 2010.

· Two 4 star and one 5 star rating from top-ranked analysts.

· Acquisition of dB Control by its Electronics Technologies Group

Reasons to sell:

· Recent anti-nuclear and peace agreements; results in less military contracts

· Downgrades from top performer ratings to neutral

Sources:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=HEI
http://quote.morningstar.com/stock/s.aspx?t=hei

Blue Coat Systems Inc. (BCSI)

Sector: Technology

Industry: Business Software & Services

Website: http://www.bluecoat.com

Description:

Blue Coat Systems, Inc. engages in the design, development, and sale of proxy appliances, and related software and services that optimize and secure the delivery of business applications and other information to distributed users over a wide area network (WAN) or the public Internet/Web. Its secure Web gateway products include ProxySG appliance to provide virus scanning, and also provide the IT administrator with visibility into and control of enterprise Web communications; ProxyAV family of Web anti-virus appliances for enterprises to scan for viruses, worms, spyware, and Trojans at the Internet gateway; and WebFilter, a content filtering database to protect enterprise and service provider users and networks from Internet threats, and inappropriate content and traffic.

The company’s WAN optimization products include ProxySG client software that serves as the foundation for secure Web gateway products and WAN optimization offerings; ProxyRA appliances to enable authorized mobile users to securely connect to a corporate network through a mobile client device; reporter software to collect transaction log data; and director appliance to manage an enterprise’s Blue Coat ProxySG appliances.

Its application performance monitoring products include PacketShaper appliance to provide granular visibility into network utilization and application performance; PolicyCenter software to enable IT administrators to manage the configuration, policy management, software distribution, and adaptive response tracking of various PacketShaper appliances; and IntelligenceCenter software to provide application performance monitoring for PacketShaper appliances deployed in various enterprises.

The company was formerly known as CacheFlow, Inc. and changed its name to Blue Coat Systems, Inc. in August 2002. Blue Coat Systems, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

The following table shows key indicators of Blue Coat Systems and comparable firms:

Reasons to Buy:

· 2010 IPv6 Application Solution Pioneer award. Development of new technology.

· Five-Star Partner Rating by Everything Channel

· Leader in Security Gateway Appliance market for 12 consecutive quarters

· High earnings growth

Reasons to Sell:

· Low earnings per share

· High price to earnings ratio

Sources:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=BCSI
http://quote.morningstar.com/stock/s.aspx?t=bcsi

Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS)

http://www.skyworksinc.com
Sector: Technology
Industry: Semiconductor - Integrated Circuits

Skyworks Solutions, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, offers analog and mixed signal semiconductors worldwide. The company provides power amplifiers and front-end solutions for cellular devices from entry level to multimedia platforms and smart phones. Its product portfolio consists of amplifiers, attenuators, detectors, diodes, directional couplers, front-end modules, hybrids, infrastructure RF subsystems, mixers/demodulators, phase shifters, PLLs/synthesizers/VCOs, power dividers/combiners, receivers, switches, and technical ceramics. Skyworks also offers MIS silicon chip capacitors, transceivers, and modulators.

The company markets its products to automotive, broadband, cellular infrastructure, energy management, industrial, medical, military, and cellular handset applications. Skyworks sells its products primarily through its direct sales force, as well as through independent manufacturers’ representatives and distribution partners. The company was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in Woburn, Massachusetts.

Key Statistics

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=SWKS

Following are some financial ratio that I want to point out comparing to competitors and the industry:



Special Alerts

• Upcoming Earning announcement on April 19th
• Have gotten a lot of recent media coverage due to:
• Being a supplier for Apple’s Ipad
• Recent media craves of the smart phones related companies

MedAssets, Inc. (MDAS)

http://www.medassets.com/Pages/default.aspx
Sector: Technology
Industry: Healthcare Information Services

MedAssets, Inc. provides technology enabled products and services for hospitals, health systems, and ancillary healthcare providers in the United States. Its technology-enabled solutions are delivered primarily through company-hosted software, or software as a service supported by sales, account management, implementation services, and consulting. The company operates through two segments, Revenue Cycle Management and Spend Management.

The Revenue Cycle Management segment provides a suite of products and services spanning the hospital revenue cycle workflow, including patient access and financial responsibility, charge capture and integrity, pricing analysis, claims processing and denials management, payor contract management, revenue recovery, and accounts receivable services.

The Spend Management segment offers a suite of technology-enabled services that help its customers to manage their non-labor expense categories. This segment also offers a range of services, including group purchasing; performance improvement consulting services, such as implantable physician preference items; cost and utilization management and service line consulting; and business intelligence tools.

As of December 31, 2009, the company served approximately 125 health systems; 3,300 acute care hospitals; and 40,000 ancillary or non-acute provider locations. The company was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia.

Key Statistics

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=MDAS

Following are some financial ratio that I want to point out comparing to competitors and the industry:

Atheros Communications, Inc. (ATHR)

Atheros Communications (ATHR) develops solutions for wired and wireless communication products. With competencies in developing radio frequency (RF) products along with mixed signal and digital semiconductor chipsets, Atheros is a market leader with a large target market, spanning personal computer, networking device, and handheld consumer device manufacturers.

Competitive Advantage

Atheros is at the cutting-edge of wireless technology, developing wireless semiconductor products based on a variety of standards including IEEE 802.11n wireless Ethernet and Bluetooth 3.0. Atheros is also in the process of developing solutions utilizing the 802.11ac standard, which sets potential improvements over 802.11n and caps throughput at 6 GHz. As both 802.11n & ac standards are relatively new, promising wider area coverage and higher bandwidth throughput by adding multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology over more traditional 802.11a/b/g variants, demand for Atheros’ mainstream Ethernet products are set to rise. While the environment for wireless communications companies is extremely competitive, we foresee marketing and cost advantages in Atheros’ technological expertise.

As a leader in wireless technology, Atheros targets a very large market through three main channels: the PC market, networking market, and consumer products market. According to Atheros, the PC market, which includes desktop, notebook, and netbooks, is approximately 300 million units large. Networking devices, such as gateways, routers, and Aps, ranges from 200 million to 500 million units. Consumer devices, which encompass cellular devices, gaming units, portable media players, and cameras, are greater than 1 billion units. The potential growth in this market is tremendous.

Financial Performance

Atheros continues to press ahead through the economic downturn with rising revenues, with a CAGR of 26.18% between the fiscal years ending December 2004 and December 2009. Profit margins remain stagnant, however, due to scaling costs, specifically SG&A and Research & Development expenses. As such, operating margins have taken a slight descent over the years, ranging from 5.7% in FY2004 to 3.8% in FY2009. We believe that as Atheros begins taking advantage of improving economies of scale, and as consumers and corporate entities alike begin adopting modern wireless standards, that Atheros will be able to cut their relative cost.

At present, Atheros is reinvesting a significant portion of its retained earnings to research and innovation. While the amount has tapered out between FY2008 and FY2009, these costs may continue to rise as Atheros pursues the development of new products, particularly in the high-bandwidth line.

Rising costs may be offset by exceptional growth in revenues. Atheros competes on leading product cycles. For example, market share of 802.11n technology has gained tremendously from Q1 2008 from less than 20% to more than 50% of in Q4 2009 over 802.11g and 802.11ag. Additionally, Atheros has developed consumer-level products that utilize the power grid for data bandwidth. As a provider of complement technology to a strong line of household electronics and portable consumer devices, Atheros will undoubtedly ride the wave of the PC replacement cycle and growing popularity of OEM wireless chips in popular handsets.

Recommendation

We believe that Atheros Communications, Inc. (ATHR) will outperform the market within the 12 months moving forward. Atheros is well placed to take advantage of rapidly changing conditions that affect the information technology sector and particularly companies that primarily deal with wireless semiconductor technologies. With rapidly rising revenues, we believe that Atheros can recover its recently falling margins by taking advantage of greater economies of scale. Atheros is also set to take advantage of improving economic conditions and changing consumer trends. Improving levels for technology replacement cycles and a booming handheld device market will drive demand for wireless technology to new heights within the foreseeable future.

Atlas Energy Inc. (ATLS)

Atlas Energy, Inc., formerly Atlas America, Inc., is an independent developer and producer of natural gas and oil, with operations in the Appalachian Basin, the Michigan Basin and the Illinois Basin. Within these basins, the Company is a natural gas producer in four established shale plays, namely the Marcellus Shale of western Pennsylvania, the Antrim Shale of northern Michigan, the Chattanooga Shale of northeastern Tennessee and the New Albany Shale of west central Indiana. As of December 31, 2009, it operated 7,930 wells. As of December 31, 2009, its Appalachian Basin proved reserves were approximately 498 billion cubic feet equivalents (Bcfe), of which 348 Bcfe were proved undeveloped reserves. On September 29, 2009, the Company completed its merger with Atlas Energy Resources, LLC (ATN). On May 31, 2009, it completed the sale of two natural gas processing plants and associated pipelines located in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Current Key Statistics:

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=ATLS

Reasons to Buy:

- The company has entered into a $1.7 billion joint venture with India’s Reliance Industries, The company will be paid $340 million in cash and an additional $1.36 billion in the form drilling carry over the next 5.5 years by Reliance.

-

Reasons to Sell:

-

Analyst:

Manoj Mohta is an MBA Candidate at the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University and currently working with Philips Healthcare. He has 12 years of work experience in Customer support, marketing and sales especially in automobiles and petroleum retail businesses.

Sources :

http://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ%3AATLS

http://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/220384/thomas-wesiel-partners-raises-price-target-for-atlas-energy-inc

Meridian Bioscience, Inc.(VIVO)

Meridian Bioscience, Inc. is a life science company. The Company’s principal businesses are the development, manufacture, sale and distribution of diagnostic test kits, primarily for certain respiratory, gastrointestinal, viral and parasitic infectious diseases; the manufacture and distribution of bulk antigens, antibodies, and reagents used by researchers and other diagnostic manufacturers, and the contract development and manufacture of proteins and other biologicals for use by biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies engaged in research for new drugs and vaccines. The Company operates in three business segments: US Diagnostics, European Diagnostics and Life Science.
Current Key Statistics:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=VIVO

Reasons to Buy:
- NPM 22% in the year 2009
- Company is improving product mix to improve prrofitablity next year
- Steady growth of 10% per annum for last three years

Reasons to Sell:
- Stock corrected 15%, near 52 week low in March due to lower guidance

Analyst:
Manoj Mohta is an MBA Candidate at the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University and currently working with Philips Healthcare. He has 12 years of work experience in Customer support, marketing and sales especially in automobiles and petroleum retail businesses.

Sources :
http://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ%3AVIVO