The only thing a management team can ever do is just run its business and let the market decide what that business is worth from one day to the next. So while I still think Intersil's (NASDAQ:ISIL) stock is expensive and probably ready to continue rising, that doesn't have much to do with my opinion of the company.
This chip maker's plan is to migrate into higher-value markets and, in so doing, boost both revenue and margins. So far, so good. Revenue was up 40% this quarter (and up 2% from the quarter ending in December), with results in the computing business looking pretty good.
To discuss the profits, I'll first have to pull out my soapbox. Intersil reports its numbers in two ways -- one that includes expenses such as stock compensation and another that excludes them. I don't blame the company for this approach, since the analysts do it, too, and I suppose it leads to better comparability, but this idea of just pretending that the stock-compensation expense isn't there still bugs me. If it has value as compensation, it should be recognized as an expense -- and if it has no value as compensation, why do it at all?
Anyway, results were better by whatever standard you use. Margins were stronger, and the company booked higher profits on an annual and sequential basis.
I'll be curious to see over the next couple of years how this computer business works out for the company. It's positioned on both Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and AMD (NYSE:AMD) platforms, and so I imagine it will share in the industry's fate, plus whatever share it can gain from the likes of Maxim (NASDAQ:MXIM), Linear Technology (NASDAQ:LLTC), and so on. Then again, I do wonder what the performance of Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) and Intel says about the computer business as a whole.
Intersil's migration to better markets is still on track, and that should continue to be a lucrative move for shareholders. I still think the market has already more than accounted for the company's direction in the valuation, but fighting the tape in a still fairly popular sector won't take you too far. I'm waiting for better prices before I buy, but that doesn't mean I'd be rushing to sell if I already held shares.
For more chippy Foolishness:
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Fool contributor Stephen Simpson has no financial interest in any stocks mentioned (that means he's neither long nor short the shares).
