Eggs are fragile little things. That's why we don't put too many of them in one basket.
That's a lesson that SiRF Technology Holdings
SiRF makes chips and software to enable GPS navigation in cars and handheld gadgets. A couple of customers reduced their orders late in the quarter, and the important Korean market suffered shortages of a size of LCD screens that no other country digs.
Combined with higher demand for low-margin all-in-one chip solutions and fewer fans of the more profitable single-function chips, gross margins took a year-over-year plunge; 6.6 percentage points lower, they landed on 48.1%, and management doesn't expect more than a couple of points' worth of recovery as far as it can see.
So it was a rotten egg of a report, and the company would be wise to dilute its highly concentrated customer base a bit. But did SiRF deserve going 20% below its previous all-time low stock price for those transgressions? Seven analysts who downgraded the company think so, so they probably don't see any value discount in the new, lower price.
The competition in this attractive market is predictably severe, with big boys like Texas Instruments
Management still likes its position, and massive brands like Research In Motion
At these prices, SiRF looks like a tasty omelet. I'm getting hungry.
Further Foolishness: