The publicly held TV equipment vendors tracked by TelevisionBroadcast.com generally are tracking the major market indices, even as some larger vendors--notably Panasonic and Sony--are expected report substantial operating losses. Thomson SA, the Parisian tech giant, is struggling with losses, while others write down assets and restructure. That said, these stocks are not in freefall, indicating an undercurrent of stability in the market. Harris (NYSE: HRS), for example, is on a rebound after hitting a low of around $30 a share in mid-November. The stock is now trading at around $42. Harris enjoys the advantage of being diversified both globally and segmentally across broadcast and government communications markets. The Melbourne, Fla. corporation will announce its fiscal 2Q results tomorrow.
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) issued preliminary 4Q and 2008 results. The Sunnyvale, Calif., video processor expects to tally $96.9 million in sales for 4Q08, up 11 percent from the $87.4 million it did in 4Q07. For the full year, Harmonic anticipates net sales to total $365 million, up 17 percent from $311.2 million reported in 2007. The results included a $5.2 million litigation charge. The company settled a securities class-action suit last March for $15 million, with all but $6.4 million covered by insurance. That charge was incurred in 4Q07, it said.
Harmonic ended 2008 with cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments totaling $327.2 million, up from $293.4 million as of Sept. 26. The company purchased Scopus Video Networks for $51 million in 4Q. That deal is expected to close in March.
The Silicon Valley vendor gave 1Q09 guidance, forecasting sales in the range of $72 million to $78 million, with gross margins between 45 and 47 percent, and expenses from $32 million to $33 million.
(Note that company names link to that company's Web site; the symbol's link to their Google Finance summary.)
NameSymbol1/27 Open2/3 Open%ChMktCap(mil)Acrodyne CommunicationsACRO$0.04$0.03-25%$0.85Altera Corp.ALTR$16.19$15.59-4%$4,707.31AppleAAPL$90.10$91.792%$82,144.59Ascent Media Corp.ASCMA$25.07$24.92-2%$333.37Avid Technology,AVID$11.01$10.43-5%$379.89Canon (ADR)CAJ$28.40$26.92-5%$33,504.01Chyron Corp.CHYR$1.38$1.30-6%$18.80Evertz Technologies Ltd.ET$13.80$13.740%$992.81EVS Broadcast Equipment SAEVS$22.74$24.026%$319.69Focus EnhancementsFCSEQ$0.00$0.000%$0.09Fujitsu Limited (ADR)FJTSY$22.65$21.40-6%$8,971.75HarmonicHLIT$4.97$5.266%$479.82Harris Corp.HRS$43.63$42.70-2%$5,663.62Hughes CommunicationsHUGH$14.18$11.06-22%$230.19LG Display Co Ltd. (ADR)LPL$9.12$9.939%$7,041.81Microsoft Corp.MSFT$17.83$17.850%$159,852.32Miranda Technologies IncMT$7.00$7.142%$171.05Panasonic Corp. (ADR)PC$12.62$12.10-4%$25,222.87Sony Corp. (ADR)SNE$20.06$19.50-3%$19,769.37Thomson SA (ADR)TMS$1.79$1.37-23%$367.05Toshiba Corp.TOSBF$4.04$3.10-23%$10,030.71Wegener Corp.WGNR$0.29$0.20-31%$2.53
