Topic: How To Invest

Q: Hi, Pat: What’s your take on Synaptics—the touchscreen manufacturer?

Article Excerpt

A: Synaptics Inc., $47.89, symbol SYNA on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 35.4 million; Market cap: $1.9 billion; www.synaptics.com) develops and supplies touchscreens and touchpads for smartphones, tablets, notebooks, car dashboards and smartwatches. The company focuses on research and development, and product design and engineering. It uses contractors to make its products. Synaptics first sold shares to the public at $11 each, and began trading on Nasdaq, in January 2002. The company is a market leader in “capacitive” touchscreens. That technology lets users operate computers and smartphones by sliding their fingers around, on or over the screen. The use of sensors means that the screens do not have to be directly touched. With older “resistive” screens, users must make direct contact. The company’s biggest growth areas include touch and display driver integration (TDDI). That technology combines a touch controller and a display driver in one component. More important, it lets manufacturers make thinner smartphones. In the latest fiscal year, TDDI accounted for 5% of Synaptics’…