Himax 4Q19 projection plus CES & more Ebix +4

11:45 07-Jan-20

Also worth mentioning is the Sony's electric car demo, if only because the LiDAR could be MicroVision.  I wouldn't bank on that, though, and if not then it's even more competition.

More generally, the pace of progress in both electric mobility and renewable energy has been causing me to give all my natural gas picks a hard look.  However, although RDS(A) being above my price point, I'm not giving up on anything just yet.  In fact, this is as good a point as any to give fair warning that I will be investigatng subscriber suggestion XEBEF over time.

Finally, I should also have mentioned that after receiving a little subscriber feedback, the FIT section is once again planned for public distribution.  I further note that the wide spread seems to be due to insider tax mitigation in addition to market uncertainty.

Himax has published preliminary results for its fourth quarter:

• earnings per ADS are projected at 0.6-0.9 cents, beating by almost 5 cents
• from $174.9M of revenue, which beats by $11.9M

Foxconn is also showcasing integration of Himax's WiseEye solution (from Emza) at CES, though it's unclear what level of adoption it will see, or whether or not Apple will finally follow suit.  All of this validates my opinion on holding shares through the trough as HIMX is up another 8% to $3.50.  However, the recent (pre-announcement) gains from $2.80 to 3.25 indicate a lack of proper information control.  However, I'd be cautious about buying the news as Samsung's own CES demos indicate that it could dominate television technology in years to come, and its semiconductor plans leave Himax at risk.  Official results are expected in February.

For its part Vuzix also just made its big announcement of its M4000 smart glasses.  At $2499, they will be a strong competitor for the Hololens 2, and thus a negative for MicroVision.  However, they will not available until the second half, and I am not interested in VUZI shares just now.

A similiar product that you won't see at CES is military products, such as the helmet display that eMagin has received a $1.4M follow-on order for.  Those who hold out hope for the company might want to keep an eye on Trump's re-election prospects and the situation in the Middle East.  However, neither this nor the Fitbit shareholder approval would be worth mentioning on their own, though both are minor positives.  There are many different opportunities for market volatility to increase dramatically, but this is something I've prepared for all along with my global positioning.  Ebix remains a part of that, despite its frustrating pace of progress, but this morning's approval for insurance sales in India is more fundamentally important than yesterday's note and a go-live date should follow soon.