What happened
Shares of Impinj (PI 5.77%) fell 22.2% in August 2017, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The provider of radio frequency ID (RFID) chips and RFID management tools reported solid second-quarter results in the first week of the month, but also slashed its full-year order volume guidance due to a few large customers delaying their expected RFID orders into 2018.
So what
Impinj's sales landed at $34.1 million in the second quarter, a 31% increase over the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings stayed flat at $0.06 per share. Analysts would have settled for earnings of $0.02 per share on sales in the neighborhood of $33.5 million, so Impinj exceeded the Street's projections on both counts.
But that wasn't enough to overcome the market fallout from Impinj's lowered order guidance. The company had expected to ship approximately 7.9 billion RFID endpoints in 2017, but the new guidance stopped at roughly 7.1 billion chips. In order to arrive at that destination after strong results in the first half of the year, the next two quarters should be far less impressive. Impinj shares plunged more than 23% lower the next day.
Image source: Getty Images.
Now what
Here's the situation. Impinj isn't expecting its largest customers to cancel any RFID orders. Instead, those deals are delayed, while major clients in the retail, healthcare, and shipping industries nail down their long-term RFID implementation plans. The lost sales should come back in spades when that process is complete, which should happen in 2018.
In other words, the stock has retreated on short-term worries, but the long-term growth story remains intact. It's true that Impinj shares were trading at nosebleed valuations before August's correction, but it doesn't take a risk-loving growth investor to appreciate the stock's compelling value at these lower prices.
