Trading Alert- Titan General Holdings (OTC BB: TTGH)
On August 2nd I published a Trading Alert on Network Installation (OTC BB: NWIS). The stock was a virtual unknown at the time. In fact, in the text of the presentation I stated: "The readers of the OTC Journal are the first to learn of it and the first to receive any information on this exciting situation."
Those of you who followed the situation know the stock closed at $.80 that day, opened at $2 the next, and hit a high of $6 within two trading days. What a ride- far beyond my expectations.
The idea was so much fun that I decided to look for other undiscovered situations with real fundamentals that we could pounce on before the rest of the market picked up on the story.
I have found another similar situation which I believe is poised for market recognition. Today, just after the market closed, the company reported a significant fundamental change which positions this company to be a powerhouse in its industry. No one knows about this dramatic change. We are getting the first look.
I'm not bold enough to predict a three fold move on this stock in two days, but I believe the stock is poised for appreciation.
The Time Sensitive Prototype PCB Fabrication Market
You are looking at a picture of three Printed Circuit Boards. They're in nearly every electronic device. It is estimated $35.3 billion will be spent worldwide on PCB's this year, up from $33.3 billion last year. Most of them will be mass produced in China, Japan, and Taiwan.
This is a commoditized market with intense competition and low margins. Not an arena in which small companies can compete.
In studying the business model of Titan, I was amazed to learn there is a huge cottage industry associated with Printed Circuit Boards. When the engineers at Textron, Lockheed, or Motorola design a new electronic device, they must build prototypes long before manufacturing. They don't build the PCBs themselves. They send the specs to a shop which specializes in fabricating PCBs and turning around a finished product rapidly.
Titan does this high margin work. PCB designs are received and a finished prototype is turned around in as little as 48 hours. The service costs a substantial amount of money, and has very high margins.
Titan turned in the best quarter in its history in June, with sales hitting $3.27 million for the quarter, up 42% from the March quarter. They're customer base includes some of the following high profile names:
Motorola
Broadcom
Textron
Lockheed
Analog Devices
Raytheon
Flextronics
Titan has two major fabrication facilities. Their west coast operation in Fremont, California, which is the subject of today's news release, specializes in high volume, quick turn around for standard consumer electronics products. PCB prototypes can be turned around in about 48 hours, and may cost anywhere from $25,000 to $100,000.
Their east coast facility in Amesbury, Massachusetts specializes in more custom PCB's generally associated with military or very high tech solutions. At this facility, Titan provides input on the design. They can also fabricate PCBs in HVR (High Volume Rigid Flex). This specialized design costs a lot more, and is the kind of custom PCB you would find fitted into a tiny slot in the cockpit of an F-14 fighter jet or the Space Shuttle. Margins at this facility run upwards of 40%.
Completed Consolidation Chops $1 Million off Annual Overhead
Today, just after the market closed, Titan General announced it had completed a consolidation of two west coast facilities. Titan shut down their Santa Clara operation, and consolidated the two into one state-of-the-art facility.
More importantly, the company announced it anticipated the consolidation would yield at least $1 million in annual cost savings. This is very important to Titan, because it positions the company to move into profitability in coming quarters.
Moreover, there is another important fact the press release does not tell you. I learned this from interviewing President Andrew Glashow. The
Fremont California tech center of Titan is so well optimized that it is currently only operating at 30% of capacity with much improved margins. Therefore, as additional business flows in, it will be accompanied by even greater efficiencies which should result in higher margins as the current fixed expenses are already being absorbed.
The new facility has now been approved by several major electronics companies including manufacturing behemoth Flextronics ($13.5 billion in annual sales), which should lead to major new business wins.
There are 14.5 million shares issued and outstanding. Based on the $1.20 closing price, this yields a market value of $16 million. Annual revenues are running at about $13 million, and growing rapidly. Cost cutting from the consolidation should turn Titan profitable, and revenues should grow. Assuming the company achieves positive cash flow, this stock would not be overvalued at two to three times sales, instead of the current 1.2 times annual sales, suggesting significant upside.
As you can see from the chart, no one knows about this situation yet. This is an undiscovered gem, just like Network Installation was on August 2nd. The stock has drifted down from the $2.25 level in April and rarely trades over 25,000 shares per day. The profit picture for the company's future changed with today's news.
Here are my thoughts for today's trading alert:
Buy up to $1.40- This gives you room to make 40% if the stock performs the way I think it will
Price Target- $2 short term (next 60 days)- higher longer term
Stop Loss- Reevaluate if the stock trades below $1- I don't think it will, but you never know.
Unless something earth shattering comes up, this will probably be the last edition I publish until after the Labor Day holiday. I intend to publish several follow up editions on Titan. Also, next week threatens to be very busy, as several of the companies I cover are promising substantive corporate events which will be worth reporting.