Replies to post #42 on Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp. (fka ESCC)

[Knowledge is King]

As expected, solid Q4 for ESCC($.82); EPS $.06, revenues $8.5M vs $7.7M. Full year 2018 EPS came in at $.31; cash-per-share is about $.72. Net of cash, Mr. Market is valuing this industry-leading company at a dime. If ever a company should be buying back stock, it's these guys...but not holding my breath. I am holding my shares, for sure.

First half 2019 results will be weak as ESCC rebuilds it's backlog, but I believe the current low stock price (way) more than reflects that situation...


Here's some relevant info from the 10-K:

Sales for 2018 were $37,193 which is 22% higher than the $30,508 of sales reported in 2017. This produced net income of $3,747 in 2018 compared to net income of $1,481 in 2017. The profitable results advance the recovery of our stockholders’ equity to $8,004 from a large deficit prior to the settlement of our pension obligations in 2015. The 2018 sales and net income exceeded expectations and are high compared to the Company’s recent history. The high 2018 sales are attributable to an unusually large volume of work performed on customer planetarium projects in the second half of 2018 in order to meet customer schedules. The results of 2018 demonstrate the profit potential of the business as well as the degree of variability in sales that can occur from the timing of customer orders and deliveries.

The high volume of sales from work on prior customer orders combined with a decrease in new orders for dome products in 2018 decreased the sales backlog to $17,366 as of December 31, 2018. This compares to a sales backlog of $27,360 as of December 31, 2017. New orders to replenish the sales backlog will be critical to produce sales at sufficient levels for profitable results in 2019. We remain encouraged that the Company’s sales prospects will produce sufficient orders to sustain sales at profitable levels over the long term; however, we anticipate that the low backlog as of December 31, 2018 may result in lower sales that could challenge profitability for early reporting periods of 2019. The Company plans to use this as an opportunity to redirect staff and resources, which would otherwise be working on customer projects, toward research and development activities to expand our products for future sales growth.