Silicon Laboratories (NASDAQ:SLAB)

SA Pick - Best Buy Now

Seasonal weakness in one division happened to coincide with networking-based strength in another, alongside some early rumblings of a possible rebound in heavy industry investments. Healthy business diversification is how Silicon Labs ended up with a strange yet satisfying business blend this quarter -- with a side of improving industrial market conditions.

Silicon Labs is one of the better managed with a very good R&D engineering teams in the Semi market today. In addition, they are entering three markets: Timing, Video and Power that I believe that they will bring innovative products to the market and over time will become strong players in those segments.

I've owned this stock since 2004 and it has underperformed the S&P 500 since then. I'm selling this stock and looking for better investments at this time. I don't think this stock will do well over the next 5 years even though it's a great company. It's a dog-eat-dog industry and I probably will stay away from investing in this type of company in the future. I've always avoided AMD and INTEL because their R&D costs are high. I backing away from this biz, too. Sorry, SLAB....Good luck! With this down market, I think there are much better opportunities out there given some of the "fire sale" prices in the market!

Likes some tech stock , not too sure anymore

Silicon is necessary in many environmental/alternate energy applications and, as such, can only increase in demand. This is a good solid company.

10.000

Its a good stable stock that will produce over time

Long term solid performer that keeps developing new products.

Silicon Labs is a well managed company! Definately a long term investment, but won't dissapoint. Very innovative R&D division. They know how to stay ahead of the competition. I believe they have been flat just long enough to break out and surprise us. Solid financially, full of talent, and management with an awareness of what the market demands.

Good management, good niche, consistent earnings

Insiders are selling

Selling the Phone business was a major direction shift, leaving them with a lot of holes in the new product pipeline. They've lost a lot of the visionary talent that was good at identifying new product opportunities. They are still priced at a premium. They have a hell of a design team so I hate to bet against them, but well executed programs aren't worth anything without good leadership. Sorry, SLABs...

Decimated by not meeting guidance, this is a solid company that will outperform the market long-term. This is a bargain - and a growth stock.

Silicon Laboratories designs and develops analog-intensive, mixed-signal integrated circuits for a broad range of applications. Silicon Laboratories' diverse portfolio of highly integrated, patented solutions is developed by a world-class engineering team with decades of cumulative expertise in mixed-signal technology. Founded in 1996 on the principles of constant innovation and solid execution Silicon Laboratories' strong business fundamentals and proven track record have resulted in sustained growth throughout the company's history.

Silicon Laboratories has evolved over the years with much priority given to improve and diversify the broad-based mixed signal business. With more stress on its microcontroller (MCU) technology unit, the company seems to be well on the path to garner improved market share and entering growth-oriented markets. Much focus has been on the automotive market, as one in every $3 spent on 8-bit MCU going for entry into automobile markets.

Revenues from wireless business accounting for 42% of the total sales dropped sequentially attributed to excess inventory in China and the overall weakness from original design manufacturers. However AeroFONE single chip, which integrates the digital and analog base band and a major component of Cell phone instruments is expected to be the major growth driver for 2007 in the wireless space.

The outlook for the FM tuner segment remains positive as it seeks to address demand for low cost, highly integrated Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) handsets in emerging economies. The transition to EDGE tans-receiver is gaining momentum in the wireless industry and Samsung has chosen its Aero IIe for it handset platforms

Silicon Laboratories has its own areas of concern ranging from pricing pressures, slump in PC modem sales and gross margins decreasing sequentially mainly due to start up costs associated with the AeroFONE. However the financial position looks excellent with positive cash flows since inception with margins averaging over 50% and is heading for a bull run.

Good entry point now.

best low priced large tech stock

following Vavoom11

One of Tom's picks. SA