Technology

Technology equity research

Explore the most viewed and latest equity research and media content for companies within the Technology sector. Stocks in this sector focus on IT Services, Web Development, Software Development, and IT hardware.

01 Apr 20

Cenkos: Seeing Machines Ltd -- Auto license deal with $5m upfront

Seeing Machines Limited has announced that it has won a pre-production license deal with a major Automotive Tier 1 partner. This has been entered into under the terms of a pre-existing non-exclusive Collaboration Agreement to provide Seeing Machine's Driver Monitoring System (DMS) technology for an ongoing Automotive programme. For this Seeing Machines will receive a non-refundable pre-production license fee of US$5m before 30 June 2020, in addition to future volume based royalty payments for the above mentioned Automotive programme. Seeing Machines will retain all intellectual property rights associated with its DMS technology licensed to the counterparty under the Agreement.

Companies: Seeing Machines

01 Apr 20

A seismic shift in the way we live and work

The Coronavirus pandemic is a human tragedy of vast proportions – as well as the terrible human toll, COVID-19 has led to economies across the globe going into physical lockdown and financial freefall. Entire populations are adapting to the “stay at home” edict, to safeguard the vulnerable – and some of these changes will lead to long-lasting or perhaps permanent changes in the way we live or work. This note describes some of our client companies whose business models are well adapted to these changes, or who might see a change in long-term structural demand.

Companies: AMO BGO FDM GAMA KAPE LOOP TERN ZOO

03 Apr 20

Bango - Finding a new Audiens

In a remarkable coup for Bango, Korean technology leader NHN Corp is taking control of the Audiens Customer Data Platform (CDP) business by investing £6.5m for a 60% stake in the holding company, Bango Deep Ltd, with a view to scaling up Audiens through support and technology into a truly world-class CDP provider. NHN is further securing and deepening its relationship with Bango itself by taking 3.5m Bango ordinary shares (4.7% of the expanded Bango) for £3.2m. This is an excellent deal for Bango, sealed at a time of restricted travel and tightened commercial prospects and possible only because Bango is already partnered, and trusted by the Korean technology giant. The deal takes a non-core, near-breakeven business off the Bango P&L and sharpens management focus, while maintaining a substantive interest in what – now backed by NHN’s cash, expertise and data technology – should become a major global player in the lucrative, high-growth CDP market. On top of this, Bango strengthens its balance sheet with a cash injection and the strategic partnership between NHN and Bango itself is substantively deepened. We adjust our FY 2020 forecast for the change in Audiens accounting status and the cash injection, and highlight the value.

Companies: Bango

03 Apr 20

Supercharging customer data with an expanded Audiens

Bango has announced the expansion of its strategic relationship with NHN Corp, the Korean big data giant. NHN is investing £6.5m to take a majority interest in the Audiens business, owned by Bango. For its investment NHN gains a 60% stake in Bango Deep, the Bango subsidiary which owns the Audiens Customer Data Platform (CDP). NHN will inject its data science technology into Audiens to grow it into a world leading CDP. In addition, NHN has also subscribed for 3.5m new ordinary shares in Bango – 4.7% of the group’s existing ordinary share capital. Bango paid approximately £4m for Audiens. NHN is paying £6.5m for 60% of that business. We revise estimates following the announcement to reflect that Audiens will no longer be fully consolidated in Bango’s accounts. We believe the deal validates Bango’s investment in Audiens and represents a significant vote of confidence in both the data monetisation business and in Bango itself, by a highly successful commerce leader.

Companies: Bango

01 Apr 20

Next phase of growth

The company announced several appointments that have strengthened the management team after seven acquisitions over the past two calendar years. We believe this investment in management should form a strong foundation for the company’s next phase of growth. Alex Siffrin, the company’s largest shareholder, has stepped down from the board to focus on personal priorities

Companies: Centralnic Group

02 Apr 20

Interims “on track” with software focus

A strong interim period to January 2020 delivered the expected £26m revenue as reported in the February trading update, with a 31 January net cash balance also of £26m – EBITDA of £5.6m (post IFRS16), and adjusted PBT of £4.6m highlighting a strong performance. The Group has unchanged strategic ambitions – organic growth and M&A, both in evidence in Rail Technology & Services (RT&S) with 13% organic growth and the post period end acquisition of iBlocks. We withdrew forecasts last week due to the impact of COVID-19 on the 2H-weighted Traffic & Data Services business, given the exposure to cancelled large scale summer events, and uncertainty over traffic surveys; however, the potential for the Group is unchallenged when the world normalises. New contract wins, new product launches, new acquisitions and a hearty balance sheet continued to offer significant upside in 1H and post period end. Target price 900p remains based on our FY21 forecasts, which in theory should be consistent with previous forecasts and we look forward to reinstating numbers when the virus dust settles.

Companies: Tracsis

30 Mar 20

Crimson Tide

COVID-19 update – Co largely unaffected

Companies: Crimson Tide

01 Apr 20

WHI First Light: Caledonia Mining (CMCL) & Touchstar (TST)

Caledonia today announces that it has taken the prudent decision to defer its approval for the payment of the second quarterly dividend (7.5c/sh - $0.9m - 7% of declared Caledonia cash). The Blanket mine in Zimbabwe remains in operation (at a slightly reduced capacity to secure Covid-19 social distancing) and the mine site remains well-stocked with supplies, so despite the current difficulties getting supplies from South Africa production at the mine can continue for some time to come; 2-3 months in our opinion, if the supply chain from South Africa ceased altogether. Touchstar is a supplier of mobile data computing solutions and managed services to a variety of industrial sectors. This morning, the group has released an update in light of COVID-19. The Board reports that it has taken swift action to re-engineer processes to adhere to government guidelines, whilst maintaining client service levels. Q1 2020 trading is reported to have been ‘broadly' in line, with revenue growth of 40% from continuing operations and outstanding orders to ship to customers in the coming months. Q1 was cash neutral, which follows on from the RNS on 5 February, of a net cash position of £849k as at 31 December 2019.

Companies: Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc Com Shs Npv Touchstar

25 Mar 20

IQE - Well positioned to withstand near-term uncertainty

Yesterday’s trading update confirms that IQE’s FY19 results will be in line with the revised guidance it provided in November when the full extent of the impact of the US-China trade war became visible. We have cut our FY20 revenue estimate by 6%. In IQE’s case the impact of COVID-19 on global handset demand is likely to be softened by gaining share in both the wireless and photonics markets. However, the full effect of the pandemic on the global economy and IQE’s business remains to be seen.

Companies: IQE

31 Mar 20

WHI First Light: FIH Group & Parity Group

FIH's year end update this morning reveals an inline performance in the year to March 31st 2020, notwithstanding disruption over the past six weeks, and also updates on the respective likely effects of Covid-19 on its three business streams, with greater relative resilience seen in the Falklands business and bigger impacts already apparent on the two UK-based businesses, not surprisingly. We note that PTY, in line with requests to companies from the FCA and FRC, is formally delaying its results announcement for FY2019A (year to December), which would in the normal course of events have been published today. A new release date will be issued in due course. Re 2019, the company highlights its update from January indicating inline P&L performance in FY19A combined with good progress on cash resulting in an anticipated net positive cash situation at the year end.

Companies: FIH Group Parity Group

01 Apr 20

WANdisco - Wandisco - Executive interview

WANdisco recently confirmed that its Fusion product is on track for full availability with Microsoft ‘in the next few weeks’. In this audio clip CEO David Richards describes the commercial implications of this and how the business is navigating the challenges of COVID-19. WANdisco’s proprietary replication technology enables its customers to solve critical data management challenges created by the shift to cloud computing. It has established partner relationships with leading players in the cloud ecosystem including Amazon and Microsoft.

Companies: Wandisco

25 Nov 19

H1 as expected but with growing SaaS prospects

As noted in the trading update, H1 was in line with expectations. It highlighted that this year will be particularly H2-weighted, with £8.8m sales in H1 delivering a small Adj. PBT. The expectation of a record H2 is underpinned by substantial annual contract renewals from licences signed in H2 LY; strong visibility on new contracts due to initiate in H2; and a significant pipeline of new business in negotiation with existing clients who continue to derive substantial benefits from D4t4’s data management solutions. We reiterate our FY forecasts and TP.

Companies: D4T4 Solutions

21 Jan 20

At the intersection of AI and BuildTech

Software stocks that enable corporates to sell more, improve quality, cut costs, save employees time and/or reduce their ‘carbon footprints’ are ideally placed in today’s tech/ESG world. Cue Elecosoft, who said this morning that 2019 PBT would be “ahead of LY” (£3.67m) and “in line with expectations” (consensus £4.1m) - despite being impacted by forex (ED est -2%, weaker SEK vs £) and macro uncertainties (eg Brexit, General Election and subdued Eurozone). We think this is a creditable outcome. Not least because it underlines the resilience of the business - while the results are actually a touch better than our previous (bottom of the range) profit & cashflow estimates, albeit with revenues a smidgeon shy.

Companies: Elecosoft

25 Feb 20

Interims – Mid-teens organic growth continues

H120 numbers show continued 15% organic revenue growth with a slight shift in the mix to direct sales from connectors and the continued themes of strong (33%) International growth, strong growth in new Functionality and rising (+14%) ARPU. At present just about 20% of group sales come from clients using more than one communications channel, giving dotDigital a considerable omni-channel cross-sell opportunity.

Companies: Dotdigital Group

20 Mar 20

LIBERUM: Cerillion* - Initiation - Inflecting to higher value contracts

Cerillion is a fast-growing supplier of software solutions (OSS/BSS) to the telecoms industry. Over the past two years it has outgrown the sector, whilst increasing EBITDA margins and cash flow. The company is now at an inflection point where it is signing more high value contracts due to its growing reputation, product suite and support capabilities. In the short-to-medium term we view coronavirus-related spikes in data traffic as a positive driver, as network operators are forced to maintain or expand investment plans. Longer term, we see the business as an attractive M&A target while also benefiting from structural changes in the telecoms industry that increasingly favour smaller and more flexible suppliers. We initiate with a Buy recommendation and 225p target price.

Companies: Cerillion

18 Nov 19

CentralNic's acquisition of Team Internet to be 'significantly earnings enhancing'

03 Apr 20

Bango PLC's Ray Anderson details expanded strategic partnership with NHN Corp

20 Nov 19

Eckoh PLC doubles its US revenues with 'more to come', says CEO Philpot

03 Apr 20

Executive interview - Expert System

08 Nov 19

Seeing Machines - 2019 Capital Market Day Highlights

03 Apr 20

Morning Report: FTSE 100 opens in red ahead of US job numbers; Bail-out for Britain's buses

10 Jan 20

Tekcapital appoints former science minister to board

30 Mar 20

BigDish PLC: 'In cash preservation mode and confident it'll rebound stronger than ever'

13 Feb 20

Crossword Cybersecurity off to a 'good start' in 2020 with new contracts signed

26 Mar 20

Seeing Machines managing cash and 'pushing ahead with its nine production programmes'

04 Feb 20

Corero Network Security bags US£1mln of new deals for its SmartWall DDoS product

26 Mar 20

Eagle Eye Solutions (EYE) Interim Results (for 6 months ended 31st December 2019)

27 Mar 20

VR Education dealing with an 'explosion in demand' for its technology

18 Mar 20

Executive interview - EMIS Group

09 Mar 20

Bango (BGO) presentation at the Progressive Equity Research – piworld investor event, January 2020

Latest Content

Apple reportedly unveils AirTag name in video

Reportedly, Apple accidentally unveiled the AirTag name in a video The name was reportedly unveiled in a deleted YouTube support video As NOD is used in Apple products and in a similar device tracker (Tile) we would not be surprised if NOD is used in such a tracker if it’s launched

NORDIC SEMICONDUCTOR

03 Apr 20
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Bango PLC's Ray Anderson details expanded strategic partnership with NHN Corp

Bango

03 Apr 20

Interview with CEO: “surprisingly good”

Interview with CEO in CW signals solid near-term development in Atea Reportedly the hardware business is solid, but high uncertainty in service Dustin 1 April: Solid hardware sale but subdued project-related services This has a slight positive read-across to Atea’s near term figures

ATEA

03 Apr 20
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Executive interview - Expert System

Expert System

03 Apr 20

Supercharging customer data with an expanded Audiens

Bango

03 Apr 20
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Morning Report: FTSE 100 opens in red ahead of US job numbers; Bail-out for Britain's buses

Bango

03 Apr 20

Morning Note – 3 April 2020

IOM RCN SHOE BGO

03 Apr 20
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Bango - Finding a new Audiens

Bango

03 Apr 20
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Expert System - Focused on international growth

Expert generated sales growth of 10% in FY19, slightly below guidance, and reported EBITDA at the midpoint of guidance. The company made good progress in shifting to subscription licensing (76% of licences sold) and reported its first sales via channel partners, which made up c 10% of sales. Reflecting the potential for COVID-19 to delay projects and new business, we have revised down our FY20 forecasts and assume an acceleration in revenue growth in FY21.

Expert System

02 Apr 20
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Gaining altitude

Strong growth in paid seats, and active accounts (16.8m vs 15.8m in Q4) Targets continued revenue increase into Q2, with close to zero marketing Kahoot’s self-study or remote learning apps relevant in COVID-19 crisis Looking expensive on 2020 multiples, but significant growth potential

Kahoot! AS