Well, it looks like we’re going to have to wait another year to see revenue from ParkerVision Inc.’s wireless radio technology.
Jacksonville-based ParkerVision last week reported another quarterly loss with no revenue. Even though the company has been working with a telephone equipment manufacturer to use its technology, it looks like there won’t be any products coming to the market this year. So 2011 will be another year without revenue.
In the company’s quarterly conference call, CEO Jeff Parker said the company has made significant progress with the equipment manufacturer to incorporate ParkerVision’s technology into its products. But he didn’t say when it might actually begin manufacturing or selling them.
If you’ve followed the ParkerVision story since the beginning, this is probably no surprise. The company was formed in 1989 and went public in 1993, and has lost money in every year of its existence.
ParkerVision has had some products on the market along the way. It actually started with a device that allowed people to remotely control video cameras and it later developed an automated television studio system. It did generate sales with those products, but not enough to produce profits.
In the late 1990s, ParkerVision began developing wireless radio technology that it said produced superior performance to other wireless products on the market.
By 2004, ParkerVision was so encouraged about the potential for that technology that it sold off the video division to focus on the wireless technology.
Since then, ParkerVision has announced several agreements with communications companies to develop products with its technology, but none have come to fruition.
ParkerVision’s 2010 annual report, filed in March, had some encouraging news about an agreement with a San Diego-based company called VIA Telecom Inc. that provides processors for mobile wireless devices. It said one of VIA’s customers was working to use ParkerVision’s technology in its mobile devices.
While it wouldn’t be enough to cover the company’s expenses and report a profit this year, the annual report said ParkerVision expected to generate revenue from that customer in 2011.
Last week’s conference call made it clear that 2011 will not be the year. Parker said the company expects to finish a design for using ParkerVision’s technology in that manufacturer’s devices in the coming weeks. It didn’t sound like any money will be coming in before 2012.
Besides that relationship, ParkerVision has made a lot of noise in recent months about a patent infringement lawsuit it filed in July against Qualcomm Inc., alleging that Qualcomm has used ParkerVision’s technology in its chipsets.
ParkerVision has hinted that it expects a big award from that lawsuit but in response to a question in last week’s conference call, Parker would not give any figures.
Of course, Qualcomm is fighting the lawsuit and even if ParkerVision does eventually win, it will be a long time before it sees any cash.
Parker said the suit has been designated a “Track II” case, which indicates it wouldn’t go to trial until one to two years after the case was filed.
Will 2012 be the year to see ParkerVision revenue? We’ll see.
Investors like Fortegra’s earnings
Fortegra Financial Corp.’s stock dropped sharply in August after a disappointing second-quarter earnings report. But investors liked what they saw in the third quarter from the Jacksonville-based insurance services firm.
Fortegra’s adjusted earnings of 21 cents a share were 9 cents lower than last year’s third quarter, but that was 3 cents above the average forecast of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.
Fortegra’s stock rose 67 cents, or 12 percent, to $5.94 on Nov. 11 after the earnings report with volume of about 122,000 shares, more than 10 times the average daily volume for the stock.
The percentage increase in the stock price and trading volume were both in the top 10 that day for New York Stock Exchange-listed companies, according to The Associated Press.
In a news release, CEO Richard Kahlbaugh said the company “successfully executed” the initial goals of a cost-cutting program.
“We’ve made significant progress integrating our recent acquisitions and remain vigilant on expense management, as we continue to focus on maximizing margin expansion opportunities, while increasing market share in areas that are key to our growth,” he said.
Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst Dean Evans also said in a research note that a stock buyback plan announced by Fortegra is a “modest positive” for the stock because it should increase earnings per share in 2012. Evans maintains an “outperform” rating on the stock.
“We believe Fortegra has a solid growth and profitability outlook, and we view Fortegra shares as attractively priced at current levels,” he said. Fortegra’s stock price remains well below its December 2010 initial public offering price of $11.
William Blair & Co. analyst Adam Klauber is more cautious on the stock with a “market perform” rating.
“Despite showing strong results in the quarter, we want to see evidence of sustained cost control and organic growth before we become more positive on the stock,“ Klauber said in his research note.
Glocal Axcess increases business
Global Axcess Corp. last week reported a third-quarter net loss of $1.4 million, or 6 cents a share. But excluding impairment and restructuring charges, the company said it would have recorded net income of $115,000.
The Jacksonville-based company, which operates automated teller machine and DVD kiosk networks, had a 39 percent jump in revenue to $8.1 million in the quarter.
“We have made great progress in our effort to stabilize our operations and successfully focus our ATM and DVD resources on initiatives that will continually improve our metrics,” co-CEO Lock Ireland said in a news release.
Regency stock dip creates dividend opportunity
Regency Centers Corp.’s stock dropped below $37 last Monday, but a story on Forbes magazine’s website pointed out that the drop made the Jacksonville-based real estate company an interesting dividend play.
Regency is currently paying quarterly dividends at an annual rate of $1.85 a share. That means anyone buying the stock at $37 would get a 5 percent dividend yield on his or her shares.
To put that in perspective, the dividend yield for all stocks in the S&P 500 at the end of October was 2.17 percent, according to Standard & Poor’s.
Regency lowered its dividend from an annual rate of $2.90 a share in the second quarter of 2009, but it’s remained steady at $1.85 since then.
Analyst upgrades CSX
CSX Corp.’s stock has rebounded since bottoming out at $17.69 two months ago, but one analyst last week said the stock has more room to rise.
With the stock at $22.39, Sterne, Agee & Leach analyst Jeff Kauffman upgraded CSX from “neutral” to “buy” with a $26 price target.
“Our decision is based on the underperformance of the company’s shares over the last three months relative to the S&P 500 railroad index, as well as our railroad company universe, combined with recognition by investors of the risks to CSX’s incremental margins and outlook related to slower domestic utility coal shipments,” Kauffman said in his report.