Article Excerpt:
TWST: Let's start with a quick overview of Research Capital Corporation.Mr. Agostino: Research Capital is an independent, full service brokerage firm headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, with approximately 300 employees. We service both retail and institutional clients. On the institutional side, specifically, we provide extensive service with respect to sales, trading research, as well as investment banking.
TWST: Give us an overview of your coverage in this technology space.
Mr. Agostino: I have been an analyst for a little over one year. I was
previously a Technology Research Associate at one of the larger banks
located in Toronto, Scotia Capital. The companies I currently cover are
Research in Motion (RIMM), Sierra Wireless (SWIR) and Novatel Wireless
(NVTL), while currently working on establishing coverage on several more
companies in the next few months.
TWST: In general terms with these companies, how has the business been
so far this year?
Mr. Agostino: With respect to Sierra Wireless, I think we are seeing
strong fundamentals with that company. The company had some tough times
in 2005, having undergone some customer and product transitions, as well
as exiting some unprofitable business ventures in order to place a
greater focus on its core business products. We are starting to see some
of the benefits of its restructuring with a greater emphasis on its
cellular module business unit. Strong fundamentals positively impacted
the share price as it exited 2005 and that continues into 2006. With
respect to Novatel Wireless, a direct competitor to Sierra, we also see
strong fundamentals. The only caveat is that Novatel is witnessing some
near-term escalating pricing pressures within the European market as
well as a near-term need to increase its R&D expenditures to cover
product carrier certification costs associated with their OEM embedded
module wins. Finally, with respect to Research in Motion, the company
has obviously endured some volatility at the beginning of 2006 with
regard to its drawn-out lawsuit with NTP; that has now been resolved.
With that aside, management can now refocus on the competitive
landscape, which is certainly mounting. We remain optimistic that RIM
will maintain its leadership position within the marketplace and
continue to grow in a favorable fashion.
Tickers included in this excerpt: MOT, MSFT, NOK, NVTL, PALM, RIMM, SWIR
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