The past couple of years have been tough for Printronix
As seen with its first-quarter results, Printronix's business tends to be uneven. Revenues came in at $30.6 million, which was a 3.2% decline from the same period a year ago. About 20% of overall revenues come from IBM
Printronix has tried to find growth in new segments, such as with RFID smart labels, which make inventory tracking easier. The company has formed relationships with various Wal-Mart
So with the problems, it's not surprising that the valuation seems low, at about 0.84 times Printronix's trailing-12-month revenues. However, there are really no good comparables for this valuation other than Zebra Technologies
On a positive note, Printronix owns a 186,000-square-foot facility in Irvine, Calif. In light of the tight credit environment, this could be a sound source of financing. After all, over the past few months we have seen several buyouts -- such as Harman International
On the conference call, Printronix's management indicated that the buyout process lasted about two years, and there were talks with various strategic parties and private equity firms. To me, that sounds like there was a strong effort on behalf of shareholders.
It's also instructive for Foolish investors. That is, when it comes to small-cap tech companies that continue to struggle, it can be tough to get strong valuations.
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