Hi-P International

This stock is one of the few gainers today... +4 cents = 81 cents.
Tech stock that goes up and comes down and goes up and comes down....
Ride it if you dare

88 cents now.

Hi-P has a 'real' business compared to its tech peer, Artivision which is still a concept stock.

Just my opinion.




Published February 18, 2012
Hi-P shares hit 6-month high on iPhone talk
Analysts up 2012 earnings estimate 28% and price target 54% after firm's $100m capex in guidance
 
By KENNETH LIM
HI-P International's share price hit a six-month closing high yesterday as DMG & Partners analysts said the company could be a key supplier for the next-generation iPhone.
Our channel checks show that the group has already secured a large order for its new metal-casing business, which we believe to be Apple. DMG analysts Edison Chen and Terence Wong
'Our channel checks show that the group has already secured a large order for its new metal-casing business, which we believe to be Apple,' DMG analysts Edison Chen and Terence Wong wrote in a note.
Reiterating their 'buy' call, the pair raised the earnings estimate for FY2012 27.9 per cent to $86.3 million, and their one-year share price target 54 per cent to $1.22.
Shares of the contract manufacturer gained four cents, or 4.94 per cent, yesterday to close at 85 cents after surging as much as 9.3 per cent to 88.5 cents.
Hi-P declined to comment because it is in a 'blackout' period ahead of its 2011 results announcement on Feb 24.
The DMG analysts drew attention to Hi-P's surprising 'massive $100 million capex expansion' in its second-quarter guidance to increase production capabilities to keep up with an increasing use of metal in smart-phones, tablets and other consumer electronic devices.
'Given Hi-P's record of low capex spending and the management's conservative nature in running the business, we doubt that Hi-P would proceed without securing any orders,' they wrote.
DMG said it expected suppliers to begin mass production of the new iPhone 5 by the end of June, in time for an autumn release.
Hi-P is known to be a supplier for Apple; it has a track record of supplying electro-mechanical parts and carries out assembly work for the Apple iPad 2 tablet.
But metal casing offers better margins. Leading metal casing maker Catcher Technology Co of Taiwan has gross profit margins of about 25 per cent compared with Hi-P's 19 per cent, Mr Chen told BT.
Demand for metal casings also outstrips supply at the moment, with BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, makers of Intel's 'Ultrabook' laptops and Motorola all potential customers, he added.
'Even without Apple, there are a number of other customers such as (BlackBerry maker Research In Motion) and Motorola which Hi-P has a track record in serving,' the analysts wrote.
Metal casing makers are also trading at higher valuations, with share prices trading at an average of 13.6 times fiscal 2012 estimates, DMG said. Hi-P was only trading at about 8 times 2012 estimates before the report.
Using their raised earnings estimate for Hi-P and a conservative price-earnings ratio of 11.8 times, DMG reckoned that Hi-P deserved a closer look.
'We believe that it's time for Hi-P to play catch-up,' the analysts wrote

Real solid business in tech --yes. But BT and ST report and DMG.....LOL..... all barking up the wrong tree. The following is Hi-P's clarification :

info.sgx.com/webcoranncatth.nsf/VwAttach...cles.pdf?openelement

Hi-P has restarted its share buy back program yesterday, having bought 113,000 shares at 72.78
cents each.

Management had said previously that they are likely to buy back shares around the company’s net asset value of 71 cents and their latest buy back at 72.78 cents has indeed fulfilled their guidance.

Hi-P didnt buy back shares in past week, yet the stock rebounded from 66 cents to 74 currently. At this level, ok to get in?