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5-Star Stocks Poised to Pop: Dolby Labs

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, audio technology specialist Dolby Laboratories (NYSE: DLB  ) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Dolby's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Dolby facts

Headquarters (Founded) San Francisco (1965)
Market Cap $3.53 billion
Industry Electronic components
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $939.5 million
Management

CEO Kevin Yeaman (since 2009)

CFO Murray Demo (since 2009)

Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years) 19.7%
Cash/Debt $903.7 million / $0
Competitors

DTS (Nasdaq: DTSI  )

Sony (NYSE: SNE  )

SRS Labs (Nasdaq: SRSL  )

Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 98% of the 4,001 who have rated Dolby believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include troym72 and All-Star TSIF, who is ranked in the top 0.1% of our community.

Earlier this week, troym72 touched on the stock's recent drop:

The 18% drop due to the announcement that Dolby technology is not in the current working version of Windows 8 is totally overblown. Even if DLB loses the Microsoft revenue, they are still worth more than the current trading price. Thumps up Dolby!

Dolby even boasts a robust three-year average operating margin of 47%. That's much higher than that of rivals DTS (26.7%), Sony (1.3%), and SRS Labs (4.8%).

CAPS All-Star TSIF elaborates on the Dolby bull case:

[T]here is nothing in the history that tells us that they are subject to a double dip recession anymore than anyone else. In actuality, they have proven they can ride through it. Dolby is an innovator and even in a recession there are some things consumers will stretch for. ...

So, for me, it's a chance to get a piece of an innovator, solid cash producer, at a bargain price. If things don't go optimal for Windows 8 in the next two years I'll see if Dolby makes up for some of it with the PC makers. If not, I still have a cash machine buying back its shares. I fully believe that market sell-offs have no mentality in choosing their victims; the market in these cases is extremely inefficient. The more I can leverage the inefficiencies the less risk I will have during further panic.

What do you think about Dolby, or any other stock for that matter? If you want to retire rich, you need to put together the best portfolio you can. Owning exceptional stocks is a surefire way to secure your financial future, and on Motley Fool CAPS, thousands of investors are working every day to find them. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!

Interested in another easy way to track Dolby? Add it to your watchlist.

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Fool contributor Brian Pacampara owns no position in any of the companies mentioned. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Dolby and Microsoft, as well as creating a bull call spread position in Microsoft. The Fool owns shares of Microsoft.Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.

We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Fool's disclosure policy always gets a perfect score.


Comments from our Foolish Readers

Help us keep this a respectfully Foolish area! This is a place for our readers to discuss, debate, and learn more about the Foolish investing topic you read about above. Help us keep it clean and safe. If you believe a comment is abusive or otherwise violates our Fool's Rules, please report it via the Report this Comment Report this Comment icon found on every comment.

  • Report this Comment On August 10, 2011, at 11:44 AM, David369 wrote:

    So where is the new business coming from for Dolby? I know about the possible loss of Windows 8. Also it seems NIVIDIA is cutting into their action. Tell me some good stuff, not that the bad stuff ain't so bad. Or is there any?

  • Report this Comment On August 10, 2011, at 12:49 PM, mesacathy wrote:

    DLB has a subdivision licensing NFC for smart phones and other applications. That should bring in large revenue in the near future.

  • Report this Comment On August 10, 2011, at 2:42 PM, stan8331 wrote:

    It's very easy to fail to see the forest for the trees when a stock craters like DLB has recently. To my way of thinking, the most important factors are Dolby has good management, good engineers and few significant competitors in the high quality audio space. The ride may continue to be bumpy for some time, but I believe Dolby is a strong company for the long haul.

  • Report this Comment On August 10, 2011, at 6:41 PM, TSIF wrote:

    RE: New business...how about we get more accurate on what business they have lost?? None. They currently are not the default standard in Windows 8 which is two years from shipping, maybe longer if Microsoft follows their pattern. The issue could be pricing, or that the technolgoy is not needed in every Windows 8 system as it is also being designed for phones/ipads. Those systems where it is useful still (PC)'s may have to have it integrated by the supplier, (Dell, HP, etc). Doesn't mean it's gone, just means not a single source for licensing.

    Sorry, this might be a "the bad stuff is not so bad" catagory, but sometimes the "bad stuff" is overblown.

    TSIF

  • Report this Comment On August 11, 2011, at 12:35 AM, heyapat wrote:

    So I remember when this was recommended by The Motley Fool at around $65 at the start of 2011. 50% loss here...

  • Report this Comment On August 11, 2011, at 9:29 AM, TSIF wrote:

    It's been recommended and rerecommended, twice below the current price. There are many other equities down 50% the last six months as well. I'd take this one over many of the others. If you don't think the market is irrational right now then you're not living on the same planet as the rest of us. If you believe the market is irrational right now then it would be more apt to wait for it to settle before passing judgement. Good luck.

  • Report this Comment On August 11, 2011, at 12:30 PM, ArteEtLabore wrote:

    TSIF:

    I get your points and I agree, but in heyapat's defence, the title of this article is "5-Star Stocks Poised to Pop" not "5-Star Stocks Poised to Pop....In The Long Run Once the Market Settles Down". I agree that the market is definitely overreacting right now and DLB has been hit harder than they probably deserve, but I don't see them going back up to $65 in the near future.

  • Report this Comment On August 11, 2011, at 7:26 PM, TSIF wrote:

    I agree ArteEtLabore, good point. I've read a dozen of the Dolby articles the last few days and I tend to ignore the Title, especially of the MF articles that attempt to form a series/theme, but often use bad examples. I put very little focus on the Star system in general. It's badly broken and I'm hopeful some changes are in order.

    I think, however, that the other commenters that I replied to weren't focused on the title in this case either. Their comments are similar to the other articles, but in context I do agree that the title is a distraction.

    That Dolby didn't lose another 10% on the two 5% market down days is a good sign that things in general were overdone in the dump first, think later. One doesn't need to get back to $65 to be healed, it depends on where the bought in and what else they might have bought instead and what it did. Although I'm not an advocate of trying to catch a falling knife, after a few days of stability some averaging in could help reduce cost basis for those who have a higher basis.

    Good luck.

  • Report this Comment On August 12, 2011, at 7:11 PM, JDM62 wrote:

    @TSIF: Thanks for the input!

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Related Tickers

5/25/2012 4:01 PM
DLB $43.96 Down -0.04 -0.09%
Dolby Laboratories CAPS Rating: *****
SRSL $9.09 Up +0.05 +0.55%
SRS LABS, INC. CAPS Rating: *****
SNE $13.30 Down -0.46 -3.34%
Sony Corp (ADR) CAPS Rating: **
DTSI $28.07 Up +0.30 +1.08%
DTS, Inc. CAPS Rating: *

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