Research spending will drive their growth

Article Excerpt

MENTOR GRAPHICS $21.65 (Nasdaq symbol MENT; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (503-685-7000; www.mentor.com; Shares o/s: 106.9 million; Market cap: $2.3 billion; Divd. yield: 1.0%) makes systems that improve the design of electronic products and speed up their development. Its systems are used in a range of industries. Automobile manufacturing is one of the company’s biggest growth areas because of the shift to electronic car systems from mechanical ones: electronics now make up roughly 40% of a vehicle’s cost. In its fiscal first quarter ended April 30, 2016, Mentor’s revenue fell 16.4%, to $227.6 million from $272.1 million a year earlier. However, that beat the consensus estimate of $219.8 million. Excluding one-time items, earnings fell sharply, to $2.6 million, or $0.02 a share, from $33.5 million, or $0.28. That also beat the consensus forecast, which was for Mentor to break even. The latest results suggest the company is on target to make $1.68 a share for 2016—about 70% of its profits should…