Still buys despite their big gains

Article Excerpt

AASTRA TECHNOLOGIES $28.47 (Toronto symbol AAH; SI Rating: Speculative) (905-760-4200; www.aastra.com; Shares outstanding: 13.7 million; Market cap: $389.3 million) develops and markets products and systems for accessing communication networks, including the Internet. In the three months ended March 31, 2009, revenue rose 56.6%, to $219.3 million from $140 million a year earlier. Cash flow per share more than doubled, to $1.46 from $0.68. Earnings jumped to $14.1 million, or $1.02 a share, from $5.3 million, or $0.33. In April 2008, Aastra bought the business-communications division of Swedish telecom giant Ericsson. It has now fully integrated this new division. This, in turn, has eliminated overlapping expenses and pushed up Aastra’s profits and cash flow. As well, sales in Spain and Switzerland remained strong, and raw-material costs are falling. This makes it cheaper for contract manufacturers to make Aastra’s hardware. Aastra continues to expand by buying money-losing product lines. In many cases, distressed sellers have spent large amounts of money developing these products. These acquisitions can…