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Lombard now at 41,030,009 shares or 5.1% of shares as of 26th. Last notice suggested 36,287,627 on website.
So 4.7m shares added since Feb. Interesting. They were at 24m or so shares 6-12 months back.
Well they clearly have capacity now. As revenue was 15-20m higher 1-2 years back. Which suggests at least 15 % tools not in use. Maybe even higher. Of course each tool is built for different things. A question for the AGM. What percentage of tools are currently in use? I think the lack of a sales team has not helped here if the new CEO can open doors to such big orders so easily. Perhaps a case of too many tools but not for the areas where there is demand.
Short update!
GSA Capital Partners LLP now below down 0.01% to 0.49%.
New position. Millennium International Management LP up to 0.58% from 0.17%
Overall shorts are at 1.13%. These changes were dated 23/05/2022.
That is quite a big jump from Millenium. So at least 1.62% in shorts here. Even at 29p or so firms are shorting here. For me that tells a story.
You can bet the shorters will know who is selling here. All that being said share not breaching 28p floor.
If the TU or closing statement are bad maybe 25 or so. They will eventually sort this mess out. Any good news will push it 30p+. If it is a case of a fund clearing maybe 30p sooner. They are unlikely to make a profit for 24m. Never under estimate market forces dragging this lower. Happy to wait and see myself. Too many unknowns.
Hard share to judge as appears still short positions above and below 0.5%. Could be many shaking the tree. Share always surges on news and drops back. If there are funds clearing here they have already made that decision. Most of the gains have almost vanished.
75k cash for Drew is not likely very much. If they are being advertised by a PR company they will likely suggest staggered buys over the next few months to create news feed. He would have millions tucked away anyway and he could well buy more shares to support IQE.
If they believe long term they can build up revenue and make profits then why not? Of course this can't be the firm that just swallows cash and never pays a dividend. My guess is they will plan to sell it off for 80-90p in a few years. They don't have the money to hugely increase production now. Albeit a lot of tools not in use right now.
Shorts still there in background. Now over 1% with likely more hidden away at below 0.5%. One increased on 25th even at these prices. It's not certain that IQE will turn this around. See what happens.
How good is IQE's IP rights? Can likes of Apple buy suitable solutions cheaper elsewhere? If they can't get suitable solutions elsewhere then IQE has power over price. Or are IQE losing money due to poor operational management? Utilization of production tools too low. Or too many specialised tools which they have mentioned before. Something to ask at AGM. If this is a blip revenue should recover. At present that seems more a long term thing.
IQE raise prices? With margins wafer thin makes toy wonder why they don't? What powers do they have or are prices agreed and fixed? You do get feeling they are being squeezed on price hence struggling to make money.
Barclays site now suggests 1.9 million loss for 2023. On top of loss for 2022. I figure to be in profit revenue has to hit 180m plus or they simply won't recover the £26m admin costs. Plus they are hit by the new NI tax in April. Running costs will be higher too with electricity and higher wages? How do they deal with that?
Thing is IQE only release the results. How the market values the shares is another matter. This should be based on future performance and the money it makes. Currently not making any money. So the value has to be speculated on if the new CEO can turn this around. For me they are performing worse than they did when share was 20-30p but they have more assets. Hard to work out a true value.
I see Edison have N/A the predictions for 2022/23 for now. So they are clearly number crunching. I do hope they have not tactically removed them. The numbers for 2023 may not be that great either. This H2 plan may take many months to come online. I guess they could switch some things now? Unless they are planning a major change with Global Foundaries sites being used and IQE sites being shut across the board to save monies? I somewhat doubt this or a takeover would of happened.
Where is the value in IQE and how do you turn this into profits? Higher revenue can't be the only answer?
Not really. He has tweaked operations but i think if sales don't follow they need to slash costs. Close sites. It's crazy how they can go from 18m or so profits to 5-6m loss. They seem to have lost track of what they are doing. I assume Tim is doing something useful. He knows which sites are making money. They seem to be waiting for revenues to rise. Hence lack of action.