Tessco Technologies (NASDAQ: TESS) buy when ther
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Tessco Technologies (NASDAQ: TESS) buy when there is Blood in the Street
One of the best ways to scour the best deals in the stock market is to go through disappointing news. There is an old Wall Street adage that says, “Buy when there is blood on the street.” For instance, the market is quick to dump a stock that presented a slower than expected quarterly results. The short-sightedness of the market creates various opportunities for the trained eye.
Recently, Tessco Technologies (NASDAQ: TESS) shares declined by 2.12% for the month after it reported a slower third quarter earnings result. The company architects and delivers the product and value chain to organizations responsible for building, operating and maintaining wireless broadband systems. It offers product categories such as base station infrastructure, network systems, installations, test and maintenance products.
During the recent quarter, revenues amounted to $204.5 million, a decline of 10% compared to the same period last year. Results across its business segments were mixed. Revenues from the public systems, the retailer and dealer agent and commercial dealer markets posted double digit growth rates. On the other hand, revenues from private and government systems market, as well as carrier retail market posted year on year decline.
Excluding the Tier 1 carrier market, revenues grew by 18% year on year. Management said this situation is temporary as the decline is due to the ongoing transition of its third-party logistics business with a Tier 1 carrier. This is expected to be substantially completed by the end of the current fiscal year.
Despite the decline, net income and diluted earnings per share amounted to $5.4 million and $0.65, respectively. This is higher than the prior year’s $4.8 million and $0.59 million. This brings the 9-month net income to $14.9 million, or $1.8 per share earnings.
For the whole year, management forecasts earnings per share to be in the range of $2.05 to $2.15. This translates to earnings growth of around 3% from the prior year. For the next 5 years, analysts expect the earnings growth of 15% a year. This forecast may appear reasonable given the company’s growth initiatives. For example, it recently opened its new TESSCO Technologies Innovation Center to support its continued business expansion, including the growth of its Ventev Innovation, Terrawave Solutions and GigaWave Technologies divisions. The expansion is line with management’s expectations of increasing demand of its current offerings.
At present, the stock trades at 9.98 times earnings and dividend yield of 3.25%. This is significantly lower than its peers. CalAmp Corp. (NASDAQ: CAMP) is valued at 19.17 times earnings. Assuming that Tessco would trade at these valuation levels, investors would easily double their money. While the recent overhang will result in the absence of buyers, this stock appears too cheap to ignore. In fact, the dividend yield alone is a good investment thesis: investors get paid while waiting for the market to re-rate this stock.