1. 1. 3 Tech Stocks That Fell This Week
2. 2. Source: Wikimedia Commons. 3 tech stocks fell hard this week
3. 3. Universal Display fell as much as 10% on Friday, as second-quarter results fell short of analyst estimates.
4. 4. The developer of next-generation display and lighting technologies saw Q2 sales falling 9% year over year to $58.1 million. Meanwhile, adjusted earnings decreased 6.8% to $0.41 per diluted share. Analysts had expected earnings of $0.45 per share on roughly $63 million in sales. Q2 by the numbers
5. 5. Adjusted earnings excluded a $33 million write- down of unsold and hard-to-sell inventories, as major customer Samsung moved on to a newer type of green OLED host materials faster than expected. That's a painful one-time hit in this quarter, but also a sign that Universal Display's biggest client is anxious to adopt the latest and greatest OLED technologies. The pain point
6. 6. Make no mistake -- the second quarter was a legit disappointment, with or without the materials write-off. However, despite missing sales targets in this quarter, Universal Display held its full-year revenue guidance steady at circa $200 million. In other words, the generational materials shift should start making up for this shortfall in the next two quarters. Management also expects significant sales of OLED TV sets this holiday season, also boosting second-half sales. What's next?
7. 7. Twitter had several bad days this week, wrapped in a cloud of uncertainty.
8. 8. Twitter's recent second-quarter report wasn't terrible, but management came across as uncertain about the social network's future. The mood was so bad, in fact, that Twitter's board of directors is looking for a new CEO right now. Part of this week's trading pain stems from a lack of stellar CEO prospects. Furthermore, analysts and media channels have heaped even more doubt on the stock. What's wrong this time?
9. 9. Twitter shares set new all-time lows on four different days this week, including Friday. The social network is running out of low-hanging fruit and early adopters, and now needs to grab a meaningful hold of mainstream consumers. Finding that path to the mainstream will be the top priority for Twitter's next CEO. Does anybody have the chops to turn microblogging and wide-open messaging from a well-known curiosity into an everyday must-have tool? Maybe not. How low can you go?
10. 10. Finally, InvenSense really took this earnings report on the chin.
11. 11. The stock actually rose at first, boosted by both sales and earnings above analyst estimates. Revenues grew 59% year over year to $106 million, above Wall Street's $102 million target and beyond the high end of management's own guidance range. Adjusted earnings increased 1% to $0.14 per diluted share, also ahead of the $0.12 Street consensus. "This was a solid quarter," said InvenSense CEO Behrooz Abdi -- and it really was. A solid first quarter
12. 12. However, the press release said nothing about InvenSense's future direction. In the earnings call, management set up very weak next-quarter guidance targets. Analysts were leaning towards third-quarter earnings of $0.17 per share on roughly $115 million in sales. Both of these current Street target ended up above the high end of InvenSense's guidance, calling for earnings no higher than $0.15 per share on maximum revenues of $114 million. The future? Not so bright
13. 13. The maker of electronic motion sensors is now selling so many gyroscopes and accelerometers that clients are looking for substantial volume discounts. Nice problem to have, but a problem nonetheless. Moreover, management kind of expects mobile gadget sales growth to start slowing down in key markets like China and the U.S. The company has not yet seen firm evidence of this projected trend, but set targets low anyway to stay on the safe side. The company has missed earnings estimates twice in the last six quarters, and may want to avoid a third fumble. Roadblocks ahead!
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