Small Cap

Up 500 Percent This Year, Investors Are Still Overlooking This Small Cap Stock

Luke Jacobi — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:56:52 +0000

Revolution Lighting Technologies (NASDAQ: RVLT) produces LED products including lamps, fixtures and signs. These products are sold to commercial customers including the hospitality, educational and healthcare industries. Since the IPO in 2003, shares have been volatile, almost touching ten dollars, falling to eleven cents, and now trading in between.

Industry

The company’s ability to grow is largely dependent on consumer demand for LED lighting products. In 2012, the LED industry brought in roughly $11 billion of revenue with about three billion of that figure attributable to lighting. LED Market Research expects lighting demand to jump to 5.8 billion in 2015. The report continues, noting “shipments of LED lamps to remain relatively flat from 2015 onwards.”

LED lighting is expected to continue rising in popularity primarily because of its low energy costs and long life.

Competition

Along with LED competitors, Revolution Lighting faces competition from traditional and neon lighting. In their annual report, the company lists Acuity Brands Lighting (NYSE: AYI), Cooper Industries, GE Lighting (NYSE: GE) and several others as main competitors. Innovation, price and efficiency are key competitive battlegrounds.

Of Revolution Lighting’s competitive advantages, their efficiency and dealer network stand out. As the ...

Inflation Report Brings Relief to India ETFs

ETF Professor — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 17:22:02 +0000

With U.S. stocks getting slammed on the back of a June consumer sentiment number that missed expectations, 82.7 compared to the reading of of 84.5 economists expected, it is another "sea of red" day for emerging markets ETFs. Following some nice surprises on Thursday, emerging markets stocks look poised to close the week lower with the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund (NYSE: EEM) flirting with a weekly loss of 3.1 percent.

However, there is at least one bright spot Friday and the source of it is arguably surprising. Downtrodden India ETFs are showing signs of life even as investors retreat from other emerging markets funds.

Earlier Friday, India's Commerce Ministry said its wholesale price index rose 4.7 percent year-over-year in May following a 4.89 percent jump in April. That is good for a 43-month low and better than the 4.88 percent increase economists polled by Bloomberg expected.

While the funds are currently off their intraday highs, the WisdomTree India Earnings ETF (NYSE: EPI), the largest India ETF by assets, and the iShares S&P India Nifty 50 Index Fund (NASDAQ: INDY) are both trading higher.

Those ETFs and others have often shown an intimate correlation to Indian inflation ...

Canadian Solar Will Have a Hard Time Illuminating the World

Luke Jacobi — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 15:47:35 +0000

Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ) is engaged in the design and manufacture of solar wafers, cells, and modules. The company utilizes flexible vertical integration, lowering material costs and increased ability to react to changes in demand.

Industry

One of the biggest indicators for Canadian Solar’s success or failure in the market is the trend of solar products. The price of solar panels has fallen about thirty percent over the last couple years due to an influx of supply. Due to a strengthening global economy, social pressures for renewable energy and lower costs, most analysts expect demand for solar products to increase.

An important catalyst for the renewable energy industry is government policy. In the United States there is a 30 percent tax credit available for solar installations, and is scheduled to remain until 2016. Another project set to reduce the cost of solar power by 75 percent between 2010 and 2020 invests annually in research.

Aiding global manufacturers, the United States and Eurozone have steep tariffs imposed against Chinese manufacturers, claiming dumping.

Competition

In their annual report, SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR), First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR), ...

EXCLUSIVE: CEO of Vringo on Effect of Internet Articles and Share Price

Luke Jacobi — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 19:47:36 +0000

As many investors know, internet articles, especially on Seeking Alpha, have had the ability to move shares of Vringo (NASDAQ: VRNG) at an unprecedented level.

Almost 85 percent of Vringo shares are owned by retail traders, meaning a lot of investors are relying on speculative information. Authors such as James Altucher, Modernist, Daniel Ravicher, Steve Kim and several others have had the effect of sending shares soaring or falling within minutes of their articles being published.

In an exclusive Benzinga interview on Monday, Vringo CEO Andrew Perlman was asked how he felt about this influence.

Showing his surprise that the company attracted so much publicity on ...

Small Cap Analysis: AK Steel's Position for 2013 (AKS)

Luke Jacobi — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 17:26:12 +0000

AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) produces flat rolled carbon, stainless and electrical steels and tubular products. The rolled steel products are especially high quality, and electrical steels are among the most efficient. The company operates nine plants in the United States, and steel trading companies in Europe.

Industry

When considering a company whose main operation is a commodity, industry outlook is especially important. Analysts seem to be bearish on the steel industry. Zacks Investment Research cited overproduction in the industry, largely from China, as causing lower steel prices. The report also notes that raw material prices have been rising, but steel producers cannot easily pass these expenses to consumers.

The two main uses of steel, automobiles and construction, show signs of growth for the upcoming year. Auto sales have risen for the past three years, but while increasing, the growth is slowing. Construction has been up with significantly increased new home starts, increased new home sales and a boost in commercial construction. Both of these ...

Exclusive: Vringo CEO Andrew Perlman on ZTE, Google (VRNG, GOOG, MSFT)

Luke Jacobi — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 19:10:10 +0000

Vringo (NASDAQ: VRNG) CEO Andrew Perlman gave Benzinga an exclusive interview Monday morning.

Perlman opened the interview by highlighting events he is looking forward to and pointed out the cognitive radio project that Vringo is working on with Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties, “a number of events that are coming up in the course of our litigation with ZTE,” and went on to say “there is a lot for us to excited about in the upcoming months.”

Unable to go deeply into the firm’s relationship with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Perlman stated, “there was a lot of speculation in the market... and we feel positive on the agreement we were able to close with Microsoft.” The settlement announced two weeks ago gives Vringo one million dollars, five percent of the Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) payout, and six patents.

When asked about a timeline for the Google and ZTE litigation, Perlman responded, “in terms ...

Three Small-Cap ETFs For The Second Half

ETF Professor — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 17:48:39 +0000

Are investors losing faith in small-cap stocks? A look at some of the major ETFs that track small market capitalization fare reveals some interesting clues.

For example, the iShares Russell 2000 Index Fund (NYSE: IWM), the largest small-cap ETF by assets, has lost one percent since May 20. On the other hand, the ETF saw inflows of nearly $988 million last week alone.

Granted, it is just one week, but $988 million in new assets in a week's time is a stellar run for any ETF. In the case of IWM, it could be a sign that investors are expecting stocks to avoid the usual summer doldrums and keep rising over the next several months.

If small-caps renew their status as a leadership or merely perform inline with an up-trending broader market, investors may want to consider the following ETFs as alternatives or complements to IWM.

Vanguard S&P Small-Cap 600 Growth ETF (NYSE: VIOG)
When it comes to Vanguard small-cap funds, it is the Vanguard Small-Cap ETF (NYSE: VB) that most investors are familiar. Like IWM, VB focuses on a wide range of small-caps. The unheralded VIOG focuses explicitly on growth stocks. ...

India ETFs Could be a Second-Half Surprise

ETF Professor — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 14:06:48 +0000

On a banner day for U.S. stocks Friday, most of the emerging markets complex was drowning in a sea red, extending the one-month slide for the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund (NYSE: EEM) to 7.3 percent.

India ETFs were among the more egregious offenders Friday with the WisdomTree India Earnings ETF (NYSE: EPI) and the iShares India 50 ETF (NASDAQ: INDY) each losing more than one percent. Those two ETFs are off 8.6 and 7.8 percent, respectively, over the past month. That may imply a dire forecast ahead for Indian stocks, but ebbing inflation and an accommodating monetary policy from the Reserve Bank of India could help drive buyers into Indian equities later this year.

Indian companies could also surprise on the earnings front. Earnings for the 50 firms that comprise the CNX Nifty Index could jump 16 percent to 18 percent in the year to March 31, Bloomberg reported, citing Morgan Stanley India. Reliance Capital Asset Management sees profits for the 30-stock S&P BSE Sensex rising 12 percent ...