Tag - EGLT

Think back to technology in 1976. Steves Jobs and Wozniak were ready to show off the Apple I to their computer club. Bill Gates and Paul Allen were running “Micro-soft” in Albuquerque. Mobile telephones were only for the wealthy … think CB radio, good buddy.

But Eagle Test Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:EGLT) was already laying the groundwork for its business of making the equipment needed by semiconductor makers to guarantee their chips work.

For investors, Eagle has been a public company since March 2006, through a stock offering priced at $15.50. The question is, since Eagle has landed below its IPO price with the withering economy, can it fly high again?

Analysts who follow Eagle Test Systems think so: of the five polled by Thomson Reuters, three have the stock as a “buy,” with the other two at “strong buy,” with a median price target of $14.50.

Compared with the semiconductor industry since 2008 began, Eagle Test’s shares have risen 8%, while the Dow Jones Semiconductor Index fell 11%. In the past three months, Eagle has gained 15%.

Shares of Eagle Test pulled back after hitting a 52-week high of $14.90 on Aug. 11. The 52-week low of $9.31 was seen on Jan. 22. The stock ended trading on Wednesday at $14.63.

Based outside Chicago in Buffalo Grove, Ill., Eagle Test was founded in 1976 by Leonard Foxman — who is still CEO and president — before the semiconductor business exploded with the popularization of the personal computer. His son, Theodore Foxman, is chief operating officer and executive vice president.

Unlike 1976, today semiconductors are found everywhere. Eagle Test’s . . .

Here are the biggest percentage gainers and losers in pre-market trading among companies with a market cap between $50 million and $750 million:

Biggest percentage gainers:

• STEC, Inc. (Nasdaq:STEC), up 10% after the provider of flash memory products posted first-quarter results that trumped analysts’ estimates and issued rosy second-quarter guidance above the consensus on Wall Street.
• Eagle Test Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:EGLT), up 9%.
• Approach Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq:AREX), up 9%.

Biggest percentage losers:

• RRsat Global Communications Network Ltd. (Nasdaq: RRST), down 4.3%, despite reporting first-quarter results that met Wall Street’s expectations. The provider of content management and global distribution services also issued second-quarter revenue guidance that was inline with the Street.
• Immersion Corp. (Nasdaq:IMMR), down 3.3%.
• PeopleSupport Inc. (Nasdaq:PSPT), down 2.3%.

Shares of Eagle Test Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: EGLT) were flying high today on news after the close on Tuesday that the maker of automated test equipment for the semiconductor industry reported fiscal first-quarter income above Wall Street’s projections.

The Buffalo Grove, Ill.-based company announced that net income for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2007, was $5.3 million or $0.23 per share, an increase of 36% compared with net income of $3.9 million, or $0.17 per share, a year earlier.

Revenues soared 29% to $31 million from $24 million during the first-quarter of the previous fiscal year.

“I am very pleased with our strong first quarter performance, particularly during these challenging economic times,” said Len Foxman in a statement.

Looking forward, Eagle Test Systems estimates revenues for the second fiscal quarter ending March 31 will be between $30 million and $34 million, above the $29.57 million consensus projection of three analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

“Eagle Test Systems goes through volatile revenue streams,” said Deutsche Bank analyst Peter Kim in a phone interview. “It is heavily leveraged toward its one main customer: Texas Instruments.”

According to Kim, Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN) has recently increased its capital spending and focused more on testing. Consequently, the revenue Eagle Test Systems got from the Dallas-based chipmaker increased 117% during the fiscal first-quarter and comprised 46% of all revenues during that period.