David Nichols Highlights the machine vision industry

„David Nichols Highlights the Following Stocks: Cognex Corporation, X-Rite, CyberOptics Corporation, and Advanced Energy Industries
\r\nWednesday August 20, 6:02 am ET
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\r\nCHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Aug. 20, 2003–There’s a chance that this market could turn very ugly, according to David Nichols, but he can make sure that you’re prepared through his market forecast and four recommendations from the machine vision industry.“;“Here are the highlights from the Featured Expert column:
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\r\nDavid Nichols has been noticing a rise in the revenue and stock prices of some companies that make \“machine vision\“ systems, the equipment that helps the machines that do the manufacturing do their jobs better. If machine vision (MV) makers‘ revenue and in some cases earnings keep growing, it can mean only that manufacturers are manufacturing, and that is indeed an indicator of long-term economic and stock market health.
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\r\nThe company with the biggest share of the machine vision market and a lot of spunk is Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX – News), whose products control both discrete and continuous flow items. The company has great technology, marketing and finances, $280 million in cash and no debt. Still, like everybody else, Cognex had a rotten downturn in its semiconductor business. Instead of whining, the company reduced costs, cut pay and bonuses, and slimmed down its work force. To increase its presence in the end-user market it bought the MV business of a few competitors like Honeywell (NYSE:HON – News) and Hitachi (NYSE:HIT – News) and developed In-Sight, an extremely user-friendly vision system that can be set up and working in a few hours.
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\r\nX-Rite, Inc. (NASDAQ:XRIT – News) has a profitable niche basically to itself with instruments and accessories that analyze, measure, formulate, create and manage color, and that measure shape, density, intensity, and light. The company just announced its fourth consecutive quarter of year over year sales growth with a 16% net sales increase to $28 million. Net income was $2 million compared to a loss of $5.5 million last year (although that did include a massive write-off of investments.) A capital spending intensive company that does this well in a downturn can expect even bigger things when times get better.
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\r\nCheap and coming out of a slump, CyberOptics Corporation (NASDAQ:CYBE – News) is a gamble, with a second-quarter net loss. But it was a significantly narrowed and much-better-than-expected net loss: $1.3 million or 15 cents a share versus last year’s loss of $3.3 million or 40 cents a share. That was on a 27% jump in revenue over last year’s second quarter, and smaller than the previous quarter’s loss. CyberOptics’s vision sensors are used by companies that make the robotic \“pick and place\“ equipment that assembles impossibly small components on circuit boards; CyberOptics’s sensors guide the robots‘ arms.
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\r\nAdvanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS – News) provides the complex power conversion and control systems that are critical to plasma-based thin-film processes for semiconductors, data storage equipment and other products. Advanced Energy’s equipment, placed between the utility power coming into the factory and the manufacturing lines, maintains power inputs within extremely narrow tolerances to ensure consistent quality. In recent weeks there’s been a renewed demand for Advanced Energy’s power and flow control systems, and it just unveiled some revolutionary new products which should make the competition, if there is any, pack up and go home.
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\r\nGet a lot more information on the above-mentioned companies, and make sure to read David Nichols‘ complete market commentary and a bevy of additional recommendations by clicking: http://featuredexpert3bw.zacks.com/
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