Topic: Growth Stocks

Stock Pickers Digest Hotline – Friday, May 29, 2015

Article Excerpt

MENTOR GRAPHICS CORP., $26.11, symbol MENT on Nasdaq, makes technology for improving the design of electronic products and speeding up their development. For example, Mentor’s software lets automakers use less wiring in a car, identify potential safety issues and minimize electromagnetic effects on sensitive components. In the three months ended April 30, 2015, the company’s revenue rose 7.9%, to $272.1 million from $252.2 million a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, earnings per share jumped sharply, to $0.28 from $0.11, far exceeding the consensus estimate of $0.18. Sales to the auto industry were very strong, and the company continues to cut costs. Mentor typically makes about 70% of its profits in its fiscal fourth quarter, which ends January 31. That’s the busiest period in its customers’ purchasing cycle. The company holds cash of $249.8 million, or $2.15 a share, and its $235.6 million of long-term debt is a low 7.6% of its $3.1-billion market cap. It spends a very high 33% of its revenue on…