Topic: Growth Stocks

Verigy Ltd. $26 – Nasdaq symbol VRGY

VERIGY LTD. $26 (Nasdaq symbol VRGY; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 60.0 million; Market cap: $1.6 billion; WSSF Rating: Extra risk) designs and makes test systems used in computer-chip production. Verigy was a subsidiary of Agilent Technologies until October 2006. Agilent investors received 0.122435 of a Verigy share for each Agilent share held.

The stock is down from its peak of $30.25 in July 2007, as rising inventories of flash memory and other chips have hurt demand for Verigy’s products. However, a recent acquisition gave Verigy access to technology that helps its customers speed up chip production and reduce manufacturing errors.

In its second fiscal quarter ended April 30, 2008, earnings fell 36.1%, to $0.23 share from $0.36 a year earlier. Revenue fell 11.5%, to $162 million from $183 million. Weak demand for memory and other chips prompted manufacturers to cut spending on testing systems.

Verigy spends 12% of its revenue of $12.80 a share on research, which hurts its earnings. It now trades at 16.1 times its likely fiscal 2008 earnings of $1.61 a share. However, new products should increase its profits in fiscal 2009 to $2.00 a share, which implies a p/e of just 13.0. Verigy holds cash of $371 million or $6.18 a share, and has no debt.

Verigy is a buy.

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