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SCKT...another partnership with scanners and iPad
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/protomed-socket-mobile-partner-long-113000824.html
The CFO said there are in discussion with 35 more partners like this (and another 60+ that haven't contacted the company yet but have bought their $1300 SDK software). The new lower cost 7ci scanner will only help them more in developing partnerships like this. It's why their scanner revenue should continue to grow sequentially going forward for a long time.
SCKT...good article in Rugged PCReview.com on new Somo 655
http://ruggedpcreview.com/3_handhelds_socket_somo_655.html
The cordless barcode scanner side of the business will continue to grow exponentially. It's only a matter of time for it to start to really impact the bottom line. Socket has the 2D 7xi scanner and new 1D 7ci scanner going after the Apple market (and the 7xi and 7c going after the Android market). The CFO told me that they are currently working with 35 app software companies who will utilize their scanners (and are waiting on 65 more companies who have paid $1300 for their SDK program but haven't contacted Socket yet for technical help).
The Somo side of the business is the area I worry about. The Somo 655 should help with new deployments.
Kozuh... SCKT... I did an analysis of the quarter on Yahoo's message board (I will let you go there to read it). The quarter results were disappointing when it comes to the Somo side of the business. It will be interesting to see if sales at the N.A. Distributor level pick up in March.
Kozuh...SCKT... + 20% from yesterday's opening. In about 4 hrs 15 mins you may owe me a beer! And if I'm wrong, you are welcome to drown your sorrow in it :0)
Large order: This deal shows the potential (in terms of number of scanners sold) as the iPad is being used as a Point-of-Sale tool for retailers. Socket has partnered with multiple POS software companies (the most recent is Lightspeed). This area will pay off huge in the future.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Haruyama-Trading-Company-iw-104911552.html?x=0
New Partnership: iPad Enclosures. This may not sound very exciting on the surface until you realize that iPad Enlosures is doing business with everyone. They are the company that provided the check-in kiosks at the Mac World convention this year. The most exciting part of this news is the future warehouse partnership with Socket---the iPad was made to be used for inventory in warehouses!
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/iPad-Enclosures-Socket-Mobile-iw-4101830309.html?x=0
New Product: 7ci scanner. This will be their newest scanner that is "Apple Certified". It's a 1d scanner for customers that use the iPhone/iPad that don't need a 2d scanner (which they have the 7xi and 7xiRx for). The 7xi, in just a quarter, is becoming their best selling scanner. This will only add to sales.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Socket-Mobile-Introduces-Low-iw-3957960343.html?x=0
New Product: Somo 655. It will replace their 650 models in time and be their handheld PDA computer for the next 3-5 years. With the better operating system and increased memory, it will allow them to bring in more partners.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Socket-Mobile-Unveils-New-iw-276570961.html?x=0
Kozuh...SCKT....tomorrow is the release of earnings. They are expected to be net income positive (but there are SO MANY long term holders that are negative that they don't believe anymore). However, I do. I think they are going to do better than people expect. In 4 weeks they have announced 2 major products and 2 partnerships (which there are many more to come from what I already know from research). This company is lining up their pr's for maximum exposure topped off with an earnings report that will put them on people's radar imo. You do that when you know you've got the knockout punch already.
We'll see tomorrow!
SCKT...new low cost scanner for Apple products
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Socket-Mobile-Introduces-Low-iw-3957960343.html?x=0
This is their new 7ci scanner, which is optimized for Apple and can be programmed to work with the iPad/iPhone above and beyond what most scanners can do. This is a 1D scanner to go with their 2D 7xi & 7xiRx scanners that were released earlier.
bbotcs...SCKT... next Wed (22nd) after market closes is earnings. I think that will give an indication of where this company is going in 2012 and 2013. For a company with a market cap of $10M, they have new products in very high growth fields. I fully expect them to be net income positive. What I want though is an upside surprise in revenue and net income to get new investors excited about what is happening and to realize what really could happen in 2012. (This is balanced by my worry that management hasn't exceeded any expectations in their whole history and will somehow do it again).
Interesting if nothing else!
bbotcs....SCKT...new video released today. Now that they have inventory problems under control, they are starting to push the Somo computer as a replacement for the now discontinued HP iPaq. That used to be a $100M/year product just 2 years ago. Not all industries can use the iPhone/iPad. You need more secure, rugged PDAs that IT people can integrate into their computer operations. Windows based are still the choice. (Most of the choices are very rugged $1000 units).
SCKT-- new computer for business (Somo 655) just introduced
The company is going at the future two pronged.....the cordless handheld scanners on one side and the Somo units on the other. Today they just introduced their newest Somo unit:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Socket-Mobile-Unveils-New-iw-276570961.html?x=0
bbotcs....SCKT....For the most part, I'm waiting for them to go net income positive on the 4th Q announcement so I can bring it over to the main VMC board. If people have to buy then at $3 rather than $2, that's not my problem.
SCKT--today's new news: Teamed up with iPad Enclosures
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/iPad-Enclosures-Socket-Mobile-iw-4101830309.html?x=0
I actually found out about this through research and posted about it on Yahoo on January 15th. I realize not many people read anything over there, but I'm fine with that. There are a LOT of these type of partnerships that Socket has teamed up with.
Oh yeah, who is iPad Enclosures?? They are the ones who just did the iPad check-in set ups for registration at MacWorld for every person attending, set up displays for Lebron James's new store/Specialized's main office/Go Pro/displays in every major retailer for the most part, are partners with Verifone (the $4B company that is just getting into POS retail)..... Not a bad partner to have in an industry that is about to explode.
It also announces Warehouse Mobile Solutions will be one of Socket's partner into the warehouse inventory usage of iPads. Not too bad either.
SCKT....update: I haven't posted any of my research here for quite awhile (I just do it over on Yahoo's message board). I thought I'd just share one aspect of it here.
On December 21rst, Lightspeed became available for the iPad. It's an award winning Point of Sale program that Xsilvia produces. They have 275 dedicated resellers in 23 countries. They see the future of retailers using the iPad for sales, inventory, customer interaction. As part of the software program, they are using Sockets 7xi Scanner (Apple certified) as their ONLY choice for use with the iPad (i.e. the SDK code was written into the Lightspeed software). Obviously, as retailers invest their business towards the iPad they will also use it for inventory/sales scanning and will need a dedicated Bluetooth barcode scanner. (ex. The Japanese company, Haruyama, purchased 1300 Socket 7xi scanners in early December to use with their iPads when they went mobile in the stores. I'm not sure what Point of Sales software program they use).
Here is a review of the LightSpeed software that was just highlighted at MacWorld. http://www.macworld.com/article/165102/2012/01 expo_notes_lightspeeds_show_and_tell_feature_has_retail_appeal.html
Here's a quote from the CEO in an article on January 10th: Dax Dasilva , LightSpeed CEO and founder. "We've had thousands of downloads of our iPad app since launching it just three weeks ago, which shows that retailers are excited to get their hands on new tools that help them better engage with their customers and deliver an exceptional shopping experience."
I will let you start doing the math, but as retailers chose the Lightspeed to run their Point-of-Sale software on the iPad, the use of the iPad for inventory and product scanning will increase too. That means 7xi scanners being sold in conjunction with the Lightspeed software to potentially 1000s of retailers worldwide. This will only grow in time.
I track the inventory at N.A. distributors (not all of them, but the ones I can). The 7xi in the last few weeks has grown to be the #1 product Socket carries (of any scanner or Somo computer unit) in inventory at these distributors. (Note: The scanner sales for approx $525 at these distributors). The company is obviously expecting growth in sales here.
This is just one of the companies that has connected with Socket to use their products in the last few months. I post this particular research that connects Socket with LightSpeed as an example to give you the potential that exists here.
SCKT...a recent blog post the company put out yesterday (gives some information on their partnerships they have that use their products for retail environments):
http://sockettalk.socketmobile.com/
Nothing important, but interesting. It's just a blog post.
Wade...AGM... if the European crisis deepens (and the Euro comes apart and US banks get hit as a result), resulting in a freeze up in bank lending (like in 2008), how will that play out with AGM this time?
Last time wasn't so good as the chart shows. Is that why the stock is down after such good earnings? (i.e. fear of unknown and the risk involved with it there?)
Dave
bbotcs...SCKT... After breaking down the cordless scanner growth numbers from the last few quarters (I do that on the Yahoo board--I don't do it here. I actually think you are the only person who reads anything I write on ihub.), I've changed my thinking a bit and believe it's going to be a battle over which division (cordless scanners vs Somo units) will grow faster in time.
I think 4th Q will be the last "transition" quarter. They should be able to squeak out a small profit. But they also will have no debt, they will have hired the new marketing people to boost sales and to have the inventory problems behind them completely (plus have gotten backlog down to a reasonable number). Starting in 1rst Q next year, I think they will be solidly profitable and continue to grow sequentially (revenue and net income) for a long time.
Right place at the right time with the right products. Ex. Here is a case study describing the use of electronic medical keeping in nursing homes that Dell & Optimus provide that use the Socket Somo unit as the handheld unit with the workstations.
http://www.optimusemr.com/downloads/dell-optimus-emr-case-study.pdf
SCKT...First of hundreds of Socket scanner specific Apple IOS apps written
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/First-iOS-Application-Apple-iw-1748786927.html?x=0&l=1
"As more developers publish applications for the CHS 7Xi on the Apple App Store, we expect the market for our barcode scanners to significantly increase among enterprise users of Apple devices."
Why should developers do this?? Because they can give the app away for FREE (and get a LOT of downloads) because SCKT is the only scanner manufacturer that gives developers $5 for every new scanner that is purchased and registered on their app. Nice incentive to get developers to get app downloads and make their money on the backside.
Should bode very well to make SCKT "THE" choice for app developers when it comes to applications that use a barcode scanner.
SCKT's App store: http://www.socketmobile.com/appstore/
SCKT...new analyst estimate of 21 cents/share for 2012
In late spring, SCKT hired Stonegate Securities to do an independent analyst estimate on the company. I read it in it's entirely and it sucked (putting it mildly). Talking with the CFO, the company had no input into it at all but did it to create a base to build from (Stonegate Securities advises multiple institutional buyers).
An update in numbers has just came out. (They are listed on Yahoo's SCKT "Analyst Estimate" page). They now have next quarter going from a 5 cent/share loss to a 3 cent profit and 2012 going from a 25 cent/share loss to a 21 cent/share profit.
I'm telling you, once this company becomes profitable it's not going back. They have products that will only keep growing as the area they are focused in keeps growing. With the profit margin of 43%+ and low number of shares, it will hit the bottom line.
SCKT...Hiring for another position
In the last three months they have hired an engineer for hardware development, a senior customer service rep, another internal salesperson.
They now have advertisements for:
1. Assembler (probably for service repair which SCKT is working to extend with the additional Socketcare plan/extended warranty program they started in October).
2. Technical and Marketing Writer: Will works for marketing department in aiding in getting information out.
3. Software Development Manager: Work with app developers to increase the number of software programs designed to specifically use Socket's scanners.
4. Newest one, PR & Marcom Specialist: Another position aimed at marketing and sales.
http://www.socketmobile.com/about/careers/
Now that the company is FINALLY getting their ducks lined up, it looks like they are about to get very aggressive in pursuing growth. With a gross profit margin of 43% and a low float, an increase in sales could play out nicely here. Management still needs to be watched as they have a history of failure, but they may be in the right place here.
EX. "Tim Cook, Apple's new CEO, went further with stats and reported that 92 percent of Fortune 500 companies are either testing or currently using iPads in the workplace." Google "Ipad, bluetooth barcode scaner" and their product is the #1 listed. They are aggressively just starting to pursue this market. They have a great line of scanners.
That, combined with their line of Somo units for the healthcare & retail market, they may be going the right direction.
SCKT...FDA requirements on bar coding:
The FDA is taking final comments in January 2012 before making their final requirements. For the most part, all medication/biological products will need to be bar coded for prescription verification (esp at hospitals) within 2 years:
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=31097
(There are two good articles there. Just scroll down for the second one)
"Fundamentally, this bar code system is a good idea but it is not without concerns. Most hospitals in the US do not have the equipment already in place to implement a bar code system. And the technology will involve not only scanning the product bar code but also the bar code on the patient's ID bracelet."
Sounds like a nice business opportunity for SCKT, eh??
SCKT... Distributor Inventory: Good & Bad
This post focuses on SCKT's Somo units (and not worrying about the scanner side of the company):
Socket sells their Somos through 3 different channels:
1. Direct partners who use the Somo unit in specialized retail and medical devices.
2. Direct large customers (ex. large hospital chains, nursing home chains....)
3. International and Domestic Distributors (who get the units for a certain price, add their profit on and then drop ship them for online retailers who also add a small profit, but also then don't have to carry inventory).
Imo, #1 and #2 have make up the "meat and potato" of the company's Somo revenue. A growing segment that will continue to expand as more and more units are used in medical and retail/hospitality situations.
#3 is the desert for us. Small companies already buy through the online retailers/distributor channel but we need the HUGE former HP Ipaq crowd to realize the SOMO replacement exists and start to buy. A former market of tens/hundreds of thousands of units would be nice to draw customers from.
I would hazard a guess that in 3rd Q of the 5000 units shipped (another 1000 late but we won't count those) that 3500-4000 were from channels #1 and #2 and 1000-1500 from #3 (probably on the low number).
When I first started tracking domestic online retailers to follow the #3 channel, I was excited at the numbers. I was WRONG! I have since learned I was very redundant in my counting. I now have been able to figure out the inventory at distributors instead (ex. Ingram Micro, ScanSource, D&H, Bluestar....). I apologize for any posts that were misleading.
What I now know: During the last cc call, Kevin said they had made NO EFFORT to go after former Hp customers yet. That there effort was going towards increasing inventory at distributors first to make sure they are a "stable" supplier to new customers. From my "corrected analysis", the data I collected in early October shows that SCKT's inventory levels at distributors SUCKED!! Sales aren't that impressive either through this #3 channel (it's why I say it probably accounted for less than 25% of 3rd Qs Somo revenue). Two or three large orders could wipe it all out among ALL the distributors. Ingram Micro, Socket's #1 seller, didn't even have any Somo 650EB-E units in stock there for awhile. (note: I think Ingram Micro and the other distributors do very good business for SCKT for their scanner side. I see nice churn of numbers and restocking there from early Oct and continuing today).
Since then: The company said on the CC Call that an effort to increase inventory was picking up. I have to admit that is what I've seen. EX. the Somo 650EB-E, the most popular unit the company sells, has increased inventory by around 150 units/week above and beyond sales. Total inventory has gone from around 200 units in early October to approaching 1000 now (spread among all distributors). The numbers have been increasing more and more in the last two weeks primarily. There are incoming stock numbers expected to be delivered to the distributors that will probably double that in the next 30 days. Similar growth, but smaller numbers, for the other units that are less popular.
Conclusion: Socket was NOT ready to go after the HP Ipaq market at the beginning of the quarter. I still don't think they are as of today. They need to get inventory up about double what it is today imo to make sure they don't run out of product if sales are stronger than expected (ex. I think they need 1500+ units of the 650EB-E ready and available to ship already at the distributors). They don't need to make new customers wait---it's whats F'd them up in the past. It appears they are getting there though.
It means Socket is able to now supply channels #1 and #2 and build inventory in #3, especially as November has started. They key for success will be if they can start to eventually get inventory up more and then sell a decent number of units through channel #3 to the Ipaq crowd. Perhaps in December this avenue will start to play out.
Still a very risky play here. This is going to require patience for the reward.
bbotcs..sckt.. a case study on Allscripts website on the use of the former HP ipaq.
http://www.allscripts.com/en/CaseStudies/Ent19-StJudeHeritageMedicalGroup.html
"We believe the HP iPAQ Pocket PC is a great combination of reliability and ease of use, which is exactly what our customers look for in a handheld device,” says Steve Schwartz, Allscripts senior vice president of business development."
Dickmilde...SCKT... The CEO, Kevin Mills, did it for the first time with 5K shares in July. The stock price was around where it is now and then they announced the hand barcode scanner that was going to be "Apple Certified" (them and one other company are the only ones) and the intraday stock price shot up like a rocket(!!) and took out his shares. Not sure why he did it, but 5K shares out of how many he owns is not a big deal. (His timing was perfect).
The oddity is Michael Gifford. He pretty much gets his options and then turns around and automatically sells them at preset prices. When I first bought into the company this concerned me. But you have to understand, it wasn't long ago that SCKT was a "going concern" as far as accounting goes. They had readied their SOMO computer to focus on the healthcare industry and to replace the HP Ipaq. HP was expected already to abandon that market in 2009 and extended it out. As such, SCKT didn't get the burst of growth they were expecting and continued their long history of losses (it's a LONG history). They eventually lost their bank line of credit and it's why they had to do the debt conversion last November to stay alive. (The contrast now is that they eliminated the conversion this summer already and turned around and got a new line of credit from the SAME bank).
HP left the Ipaq market in Japan in January or so. They didn't leave the US until mid-summer and their product has only just disappeared out of the pipeline. Only from September on has SCKT really started to taste what the potential could even be (and that's without even reaching out to customers really) since they only were able to rectify their LCD shortage problem in mid-August.
The sales by Michael Gifford are what they are. If they happened now or in the future (vs even last July) it would concern me a bit more. Insiders own a lot of shares here so the few he sells aren't that telling, but it is something to keep an eye on.
On options: I personally think the company has given them out a bit too much--they aren't excessive, but not necessarily as a result of performance either (they say they did it because they reduced salaries during lean times). They have less than 90K available to give out under the last employee plan approved so, barring some gift from the Directors, the next plan won't be approved till the next shareholders meeting.
A couple years ago they stock did a 1:10 reverse split. In June 2010 the company repriced options for employees (yeah, nice gift. Welcome to U.S. corporations!) The strike price for most of it is around $2.80 and they vest a certain % each month. If you added up ALL options out there (including those out of the money), it comes to 1.45M. With the debt conversion done there are approx 5 M shares outstanding + 500K warrants left from the conversion (exercisable at $2.44 or so) + ALL options (exercisable and not) of 1.45M = 7M shares fully diluted (when the stock price breaks and stays above $2.80 for good).
I'm counting on less than 200K new options to employees per year going forward (since in another quarter they can bump salaries up 5%---something the CEO has mentioned) and them being cash flow/net income positive enough that they don't need to dilute/sell share shares for capital. I may be wrong in my hopes here. Obviously history is against me. Time will tell.
I think of SCKT more like a "biotechnology investment" right now than anything. They are tiny, have some issues still (but they are getting to be fewer and fewer), have TWO great products (the SOMO computer and their highly rated barcode scanners) that have a large marketplace just ripe for expanding into......the question becomes can they do it?? Is this the right management to do it?? If they can, then it can be crazily profitable. A 43% profit margin that can expand upwards can allow a LOT of money to hit the bottom line on sales that double or triple. 7M shares outstanding allows net income/share to be nice and FAT!
If they can't then maybe selling shares in a 10b5-1 plan is the wise thing to do :0)
bbotcs...SCKT... Patience is needed here imo. The stock isn't going to move up in price (or volume which is just as important) until they become net income positive on a GAAP basis. With time, I like this company even more than ZAGG in 2009 when I bought at $1 and sold at $6.80. I think it has the same potential (not in 6 months though, but over a longer period of time). What's important is that the company keeps moving forward.
In the last CC call, Kevin talked about continuing to boost inventory at retailers/distributors before they go after the former HP Ipaq market aggressively (so they can be sure to have product available so they become the go-to-choice as a dependable supplier now and for years to come). There are over 1M HP Ipaqs used in business that will need to be replaced someday (in 2009 HP sold over 400K and in 2010 as they were getting out of the market, they still did 200K+ units sold). Do they upgrade the hardware (and the expensive software) or do they go with the same model (with improvements) from a different supplier? Socket needs to make sure they are "solid" before they step up to the plate. They are getting there.
Since last weeks cc call, I've seen inventory at the 3 major retailers I now follow (ProVantage, Insight, BLT) up 40% in the last 9 business days. That's just what the CEO said they were aiming to do as they now are able to get on top of supply even more. It'll be interesting to keep watching this.
I still see 4th Q as a transition quarter as they get inventory supply up to 4 weeks for their Somo units at each of the retailers/distributors, drop backlog by 1M units, get sample units out to BIG buyers (ex hospital chains), and start to aggressively reach out to former HP customers telling them there is a new kid on the block that can take care of them now and in the future. (And don't forget their scanner business continuing to expand).
SCKT's gross profit margin right now is 43%! Not too shabby. The more SOMO's they sell, the higher it will go as it just means the factory that they subcontract from in China just needs to run an extra day or two during the manufacturing window at the plant. They are also leveraged on the sales expense side as well, so what they pay to retailers/distributors will be less per unit as more units are sold. Internally, administrative and salary costs will go up, but they really shouldn't be significant since they really don't have a huge need to do so for the increased sales.
I don't own SCKT cause I think they will earn $7M/quarter and start to be net income positive. I own SCKT cause I think they are going to earn $15M+/quarter in time and the amount that hits the bottom line makes this stock extremely cheap. With the tax loss carry forward they have (which is enough to last years), they could easily net $1/share if they were able to just capture a portion of the prior HP Ipaq business. The big thing here is the float and # of shares outstanding is small. It's not hard to have a huge net income number when the total number of outstanding shares (including all options and warrants...everything in time that will be added to total diluted shares outstanding) is under 7M total. They now have NO NEED to dilute anymore (other than stock option bonuses) with them being EBITDA positive and their new line of credit. It sure beats a bunch of small cap stocks that people toot about that have 50M+ shares outstanding.
I'd be buying more but I already own more than I should.
I do know this.....it's easier to get investors to buy at $8 when the story is booming than at $2.50 when it's still "potential". That especially applies to institutional buyers.
bbotcs....yeah, SCKT has said that before, but not at this level of money (last quarter it was around 100 SOMO units vs 1000+ this quarter).
But in the end it doesn't matter. They will have $800K-$1M in orders this quarter that probably won't get out in time due to the holidays. It's going to be an ongoing thing every quarter. Shipped revenue will never equal new orders for the quarter. Businesses put in orders in the last week all the time. It all equals out in the end.
This stock isn't going up on $800K in orders. It will go up when the are the defacto replacement in the health care industry for the HP ipaq. That industry potential is in the tens of millions. I'm not saying SCKT will get there, but it's not like there are any other strong candidates (and Apple products are not the answer. Android could be, but you would need to replace the expensive software the companies run. No, Windows 6 products are the choice and all the others cost 1 1/2-2x as much as the Somo). That and their handheld barcode scanner becoming the choice for smartphones/pads for businesses.
Many shareholders are disgusted by management. They probably have owned it too long as the company has been a loser for quite a few years. They don't have a $56M carry forward loss for nothing/1 for 10 reverse split either. For those coming in the last 6 months, management is doing an awesome job imo and the revenue growth is just on the top of the iceberg. It's all perspective.
Note: Anyone who says SCKT isn't turning it around isn't doing their homework. Insight.com, an $800M marketcap Nasdaq retail player that caters directly to businesses for technology needs, has increased their total inventory in the SOMO units from approx 400 units in stock at the first of the month to over 600 units as of yesterday (the highest I've ever seen it). It's not because they aren't selling them either---cause numbers get drawn down quickly. SCKT is gearing up with their distributors to get ready to be aggressive in pursuing the HP ipaq market (which the CEO said they will finally start doing in November) and they need product in place and ready to go.
bbotcs...sckt...I think you are dreaming! :0) There will be more positive pr's. They have two investor conferences coming up early next month. That means all they need is one institutional buyer interested in the future 6 months potential and beyond (and not the last 3 months) and the stock price is solid.
Remember....their CHS cordless scanners sales grew 50% SEQUENTIALLY from 2nd quarter (I figure from $560 to around $800K). CEO already said they see sequential growth for 4th Q and 1rst Q next year and beyond. They barely even had any of the Apple Certified scanners this quarter and none of the newest scanner. What do you think sales are going to do when 100 app programmers start putting their apps out with custom made software for the CHS 7xi/7xiRX? Google "ipad barcode hand scanner" and SCKT's products come up as the #1 choice.
From one reviewer/retail seller: "Many businesses don’t realize that a high-performance barcode scanner can be used with Apple devices and we think Socket has great potential for becoming the de facto standard when it comes to barcode scanning using the iPad, iPhone or iPod touch. We’re seeing a high level of interest in the CHS from our customers."
Let's put it this way....when you see BLT.com, which sells 4-5 SOMO EB-E's units per day putting in an order for 420 new units to be delivered by Dec 18th (this is from their daily website inventory numbers), someone somewhere is expecting growth. In the 1 month I've tracked them, they have never had more than 100 in stock (and they actually are completely sold out now). (note: the EB-E unit is their most popular).
bbotcs...SCKT...the cc call was better. They have markets wide open to them that they can grow multi-fold. It takes time even though I went it to be a rocket ship today(!) Their revenue will grow sequential quarter-to-next-quarter for quite awhile.
Having a Merrill Lynch analyst on the phone asking questions of a $10M market cap stock is nice!!
bbotcs....One of the websites I track numbers on is ProVantage (they cater directly to businesses. You probably have gotten their catalog if you need computer products---they mailed out 1.5M copies last year).
Here is their inventory on Somo 650EB-E and EB-M units (combined--I'm too lazy to separate for this example) for the last 8 business days (they update it every morning):
Wednesday, October 19th: 263 units
Thursday: 236 units
Friday: I'm out of town
Monday: 171 units
Tuesday: 207 units
Wednesday: 246 units
Thursday: 225 units
Friday: 213 units
If these are accurate (and who knows if they are), it means they sold 125 units, and restocked on other days (we don't know what number they sold on "restocking" days).
That's 15 per day or so. May not sound exciting, but 200 units/day sold by the company worldwide puts them in some serious numbers (last quarter they did $2.6M on Somo sales and Somo accessories/extended warranty for 3900 units or $590 in revenue/unit sold).
ProVantage isn't even the website with the biggest inventory. (That goes to Insight.com, a $700M Nasdaq company. They carry over 500 units in stock available for "same day shipping" and are doing some good numbers too. Barcode Planet/Giant does well too, though they just changed their inventory from specific numbers to just 'available' across their whole website).
These numbers don't mean anything without the CEO talking about serious growth occurring (they could just be a computer glitch!) It's just when the company just hired a Senior Service Customer manager, additional internal sales person, and is hiring for Assemblers, you get the idea that sales are picking up fast.
SCKT...the ol' momo stock, eh?!! lol. I haven't had one of those in a long time. We aren't there yet. But, on the other hand, the HP Ipaq market in 2008 was $172M and 2009 was $85M. SCKT's Somo isn't going to do those numbers, but, as the CEO of CF (SCKT's largest distributor in Japan) said:
"The SoMo 650 is a fantastic replacement for the HP iPAQ 200 series," said Mamoru Tadaki, CEO of CF Company Japan, a leading distributor of business mobility products in the Asia Pacific region. "We're seeing a lot of our customers either making or preparing to make a transition away from the iPAQ, and there's a high demand, particularly in the healthcare industry, for a PDA solution that's both durable and lightweight, and that has excellent Wi-Fi coverage within a 'four walls,' campus-style environment," said Tadaki-san. "With the additional benefit of being available with an antimicrobial case, the SoMo 650 is the preferred device that we recommend for our healthcare customers."
Socket's Somo replaces the ipaq exactly (except with some added improvements). SCKT also has nice set of medical device manufacturers that use their computer as the basis for their instruments (ex. EPOC blood gas analyzer).
$10M/quarter (with scanner sales added in too) makes this stock a multi-bagger.
bbotcs...SCKT...I track sells of their SOMO computers on several different internet retailer websites. Don't worry about their scanners---that's like frosting on the cake. The sales from the SOMO computers are ramping up in a way that the company will be making a lot of money in the next 6 months imo just from them. The numbers are surprisingly good. The HP ipaq availability is disappearing and, in return, SOMO sales are picking up.
(Let's put it this way....the last two CC calls there is some guy who calls in and says to the CFO 'what will SCKT net if they hypothetically made $8-10M/quarter'. I honestly think those numbers will no longer be hypothetical).
I think they finally have a story to tell, as such, they are presenting at two stock conferences in November (8th in San Diego and 15th in San Francisco). In my conversations with the CFO, management is very interested in making institutional buyers aware of their company.
bbotcs....it means they have a $2.5M line of credit they can use to buy more inventory with to ship to distributors while they wait for payment from the previously sold product to get paid to them. It allows them to ramp up sales. It also means that with them about to become solidly cash flow positive, they shouldn't need to dilute the stock ever again.
It's not a huge line of credit, but in time it should be able to be expanded. (This will be important cause as sales increase even greater in the next year, they may need more capital to deal with the delay in payment vs more product).
As collateral, they pretty much guarantee it with all the assets of the company (which is pretty standard with small cap companies).
SCKT..Enters into new bank line of credit:
The next step of rocking it fell into place.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Socket-Mobile-Enters-Into-New-iw-599794970.html?x=0
SCKT hiring "Mechanical Assembler". This is on top of of the Senior Customer Service manager and additional internal sales person the CFO told me they hired earlier this month.
http://www.socketmobile.com/about/career...
I'm tracking sales/restocking on multiple internet retailers. The volume will surprise people in time imo. It's definitely increasing and is probably causing problems with getting behind in their testing/packing/shipping warehouse in Calif.
Not a bad problem to have and one that is easily fixed.
SCKT...bbotcs...next week this stock, imo, will be discussed on the main VMC page (as they will be profitable).
SCKT..another expansion of their product line:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Socket-Mobile-Introduces-New-iw-2879000639.html?x=0
This company is going to start to surprise people here in the near future. I track sales of their SOMO units and barcode scanners (through multiple online retailers) and the numbers are growing. Just as good, SCKT has their supply problems fixed for certain as the turnover and restocking of product is constantly occurring.
Dave
SCKT...upgrading their warranty/service packages for products:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Socket-Mobile-Enhances-iw-622365453.html?x=0
Nothing that special, but it's just another small step forward to making their products the #1 scanner for smartphones & pads and their Somo 650 the defacto replacement for the ipaq 210.
bbotcs...sckt...
I wouldn't count on "big winner by end of the year". Not in this stock environment. I would say that by the end of 2nd Q 2012 it'll be worth $4+. I'm not sure even management has any real idea how successful it will turn into (depends on growth of the barcode hand scanners and the growth of the Somo computers, esp with the ipaq gone now). As long as they make a point of keeping expenses down as they grow, it should hit the bottom line well. It's a stock that could easily be double digits if things went well.
Next pr should be the bank line of credit. Earnings report should be end of October.