IQE, trading update in

IQE reported today and perhaps the good news, at least for now, was in the price rise of the last couple of weeks as the shares finished down on the day having been up almost 10% at one stage.

The Board expects first-half performance to be ahead of market expectations, with first-half revenues approaching £63 million, EBITDA in excess of £10 million and net debt below £39m. This represents revenue growth of over 80%, and EBITDA growth of over 150% compared with the first half of 2012.

http://www.digitallook.com/news/rns/21046928-24795/IQE-IQE_plc_H1_trading_update_html?ac=,&username=,

Pretty good release, expected to be ahead of expectations for the first half, but then they end with the belief that the group is on track to meet market expectations for the full year. Qualcomm fears remain and given the effect on the share price since February of what the US giant might be planning, chances are that volatility in IQE's share price won't go away just yet.

IQE, still rising ahead of results

IQE report eagerly awaited results tomorrow that will have both bulls and bears of the stock on the edge of their seats. As reported here, IQE had been until recently under a constant short attack, the share price having fallen from a high of over 37p back in February to a low of around 18p in early July on the back of competition fears from US giant Qualcomm. According to shorttracker.co.uk, BlackRock still holds a 2.7% short position. That's fairly hefty considering the recent pre-result bounce in the share price to 27p today.

A good result tomorrow could easily send the shares higher, but I was slightly mystified by the BlackRock short position given the recent rise unless they are just trading this as a hedge? A check of the major IQE shareholders shows the following.

Blackrock Investment Management 37,076,124 5.74%.

http://www.iqep.com/investors-shareholderdata/

So, BlackRock have over 5% of the shares and are both long and short the stock. BlackRock Investment Management are down as holding 0.90% of that 2.70% short, the rest being held by other parts of the BlackRock empire. Perhaps it is just a hedge on Qualcomm fears?

Truth is no one knows what the company will announce tomorrow as so little has been said in the run up. Expectations are high that results will be in line or exceed expectations, so there is a risk after the recent bounce that there could be a sell off on the news if they disappoint. The results could still be fairly good and yet fall if there is profit taking on the news (trade the rumour, sell the news). Alternatively, it could break out further tomorrow, especially if expectations are exceeded. The IQE daily and weekly charts are looking more positive though, so, everything to play for.

Many brokers are still rating this as a 40-50p plus share, but it won't necessarily get there straight away, and we are still waiting for further details of what Qualcomm intends to do that started off the recent fall in IQE's share price. There could be further volatility ahead once Qualcomm makes up its mind.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/marketforceslive/2013/feb/22/iqe-semiconductors-competition-qualcomm

IQE, are the shorts closing? Watch for their results later this month

One share that I've been following for quite a while is IQE, a technology company on AIM that calls itself a global leader in advanced semi conductor wafers.

From the company website;

IQE's products are found in many leading-edge consumer, communication, computing and industrial applications, including a complete range of wafer products for the wireless industry, such as mobile handsets and wireless infrastructure, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, base stations, GPS, and satellite communications; optical communications, optical storage (CD, DVD), laser optical mouse, laser printers & photocopiers, thermal imagers, leading-edge medical products, barcode, high efficiency LEDs and a variety of advanced silicon based systems.

The manufacturers of these chips are increasingly seeking to outsource wafer production to specialist foundries such as IQE in order to reduce overall wafer costs and accelerate time to market.

http://www.iqep.com/about/

The share price can be quite volatile, both up and down. It is a blue sky opportunity that has great potential, most of the brokers covering the company have placed a much higher price target for it than its current low of around 18p. Many see 50-65p as the target range.