Four months after I introduced Dolby Labs
Company Name | Dolby Laboratories |
What It Does | Premier sound technology specialist in computers, broadcast, entertainment, and mobile applications. |
Recent Price | $61.08 |
Market Cap | $6.7 billion |
Trailing P/E | 24.41 |
ROE, Last 12 Months | 20.1% |
Source: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's; Yahoo! Finance.
What happened?
Well, Christmas happened -- or didn't. Many retailers had been counting on consumers to buy Internet-ready and 3-D TVs. But having spent a lot of money during the last upgrade cycle, customers weren't in any mood to spend on big screens again, and revenue and earnings plummeted.
It also seems that retailers got so promotional at the start of the holiday season that consumers felt little need to shop closer to Christmas, and the feel-good buzz quickly wore off.
Also, Apple's
Now hear this
Seems to me that Goldman's analysts need to widen their lens. Some 80 tablet models were unveiled in recent weeks, and many contain Dolby tech. ZTE introduced one with Dolby Surround 3.0, while Acer is going with Dolby Mobile. Other manufacturers, including the well-received Xoom from Motorola Mobility
In addition, Dolby still has superior growth prospects in mobile communications, video, digital cinema, and 3-D. The sound specialist partnered with Netflix
And as the world increasingly goes digital with its TV signals, Dolby's on half the global TV shipments and 30% of global set-top boxes. I haven't even touched on gaming, automotive, and Via; emerging markets like India and China; the upgrade cycle for Blu-ray; Dolby Media Generator and Volume; and more.
The bottom line
True, Apple is the tablet computer market right now. But Dolby is set to take on the broad swath of tablets coming to market, and it has other opportunities before it too numerous to mention. If Wall Street decides that it wants to give us more buying opportunities, I say we should oblige it.