LC Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 I have two broad questions. 1. Why does Saraf act so hostile towards minority shareholders? We don't want to oust him . 2. What's his vision for Solitron (and specifically taking into account capital allocation) for the next decade? I doubt we will get honest answers though .. Assume the worst: he wants to milk it for himself. When seen through this light, all his actions seem to make sense. Frankly, it's why I never invested. Why bother dealing or going into business with someone with that aim? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valueyoda Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 Everyone that wants a quick resolution of this investment should get out, because you will need a long horizon for this to work. Fortunately, most of Shevach's ownership is in stock options, so that he can't vote with those shares, nor is he likely to exercise those stock options, as it would immediately trigger the poison pill or the NOL ownership threshold. I personally think that he suffers from the Apple syndrome, which is holding too much cash after having faced a near death crisis in the early 90s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gg Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 Everyone that wants a quick resolution of this investment should get out, because you will need a long horizon for this to work. Fortunately, most of Shevach's ownership is in stock options, so that he can't vote with those shares, nor is he likely to exercise those stock options, as it would immediately trigger the poison pill or the NOL ownership threshold. I personally think that he suffers from the Apple syndrome, which is holding too cash after having faced a near death crisis in the early 90s. valueyoda - have you reached out to mgmt now that your ownership stake is public? had you had any communications with them or other large shareholders in the past? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valueyoda Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 I am currently trying to reach out the management, but since it is close to the shareholders' meeting, I wouldn't be suprised if they want to remain silent. I have reached out to several large shareholders now. They all feel a sense of urgency and would support ideas that I have touted in previous posts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Eriksen Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 Earnings released today. Not bad at 7 cents. A bit of margin compression. But the prior year quarter was unusually high. Annual meeting next Tuesday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jschembs Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 Earnings released today. Not bad at 7 cents. A bit of margin compression. But the prior year quarter was unusually high. Annual meeting next Tuesday. As usual, FCF ROIC is ridiculous...$300k FCF for the quarter ($1.22 MM annualized) generated from an average $4.1 MM in net invested capital. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jschembs Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 Which is 30% annualized, for a business trading at 2.1x EBITDA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valueyoda Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 Completely agree with that statement. Solitron remains a highly interesting operating subsidiary that won't grow, but can easily generate $10mln in additional free cash flow over the next decade. The saddest part of all remains the amount of interest income relative to the amount of net cash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valueyoda Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the meeting today. Did anyone go? What were your impressions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepupil Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 didn't end up going or sending my dad. have reduced position significantly because when i purchased, the thesis was based upon Swensen representing shareholders and leading the effort for change. with him gone, I think it is more murky. Would love for you to prove me wrong, but you bought 10% of the company before speaking to the CEO and aren't as experienced in terms of activism. By no means am i trying to insult you, you are clearly doing very big things for someone your age (much bigger things than I am), but the thesis changed,so the position was reduced. Still own some, so go prove me wrong and make us all some money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valueyoda Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 You are not insulting me, because I totally get it. It is going to be a long drawn process that will take several years before it could get some traction (bytheway even with Swenson on board). I will opportunistically add to my stake going forward. Nonetheless, if anyone went to the meeting, I would love to hear from feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spekulatius Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 I think it is a big mistake spending almost a million $ in SODI trying to go activist and then not even going to the annual shareholder meeting. I think the shareholder meeting is the best opportunity to get your voice heard, meet the other shareholders and possibly get something done. Note that I never have been an activist myself, so I am by no means an expert in these kind of situations, but that is how I see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valueyoda Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 Frankly, I don't think it is a mistake. I wish I could have been there, but I had some other pressing appointment, so it was impossible to schedule my trip there (Solitron is hardly my only investment). I have reached out to most large investors so far, so we have a clear understanding what each other's goals are (bytheway most of them were also unable to attend the meeting). I do think that shareholders' meetings can be interesting to get to know each other, but I find them to be ineffective to wage large changes at the meeting. To effect change, one should already have suggested proposals to be included in the proxy and garnered enough shareholder votes behind closed doors. I have tried to reach out to Shevach, but he has been unresponsive to most of my questions and suggestions. I will reach out again this week, since the meeting is now behind him. If he remains uncooperative, I might go active and come up with proposals to be included for the next shareholders' meeting. Frankly, I would even welcome everyone to dump their shares today, so that I can increase my stake at even better prices. I am in this for the long haul, so being unable to attend a meeting is unfortunate, but hardly a disaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Eriksen Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 to the seller at $4.10 today, I say thank you. I thought about trying to squeeze a few pennies but then I saw a fairly large bid at $4.06. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
writser Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Tim, did you go to the AGM? Did anyone else for that matter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Eriksen Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Tim, did you go to the AGM? Did anyone else for that matter? Yes I did attend the meeting. There were a few other shareholders as well. They took all our questions – probably 15 to 20. It was very cordial. They ask that you state your name and number of shares owned before asking a question. After the meeting they scheduled a plant tour led by the Director of Operations. Three of us were there. It took an hour and a half. The CEO said shareholders can schedule tours if they are in the area. Basically it seemed like a 1970’s technology that is a niche that no one has any interest in competing with them. Since most of the product is basically charged at a cost plus arrangement, and most of Solitron's equipment is fully depreciated, it gives them a price advantage versus what a new entrant would be at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
writser Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Tim, thanks for your info. Appreciated. Did anything interesting pop up during the shareholder questions? Or was management just as stiff as last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Eriksen Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Well I wasn't there in person the year before. From what I have read of the accounts, management was completely different. This year they were friendly and introduced themselves before the meeting. They made small talk. It sure seemed genuine. Conversely, they might say the shareholders were different too, and they probably would be right, but circumstances had also changed. (Please don't read that as a criticism at anyone who attended the year before at all. I am not doing that.) I asked why the board appointed Davis as director after he had been voted down. They said that some shareholders after the meeting got to know Davis's background and regretted their vote. Having talked to him, I can see that. There were general questions on design wins in the last year (six), impact system on a chip might have (none), diversifying customers (hard since few defense contractors left), NOLs (they do track ownership changes), management succession (they do have sales and operations directors), the possibility of a reverse/forward split (not discussed recently), 3" wafer supply (decreasing but still available from Russia and China), R&D (Davis seemed inclined to spend some on it while the CEO did not), annual equipment purchases (less than 500,000 per year), etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kraven Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Very nice quarter for them. Perhaps someday they can put their cash and NOL's to good use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valueyoda Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 It was a decent quarter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valueyoda Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 I changed my status into a 13d. Enough time and discussion has proceeded without any major capital allocation actions by the board. http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/91668/000117152014000757/eps5959.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragnarisapirate Posted November 19, 2014 Author Share Posted November 19, 2014 Proxy Battle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Eriksen Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 It was a decent quarter. Apparently the quarter wasn't as decent as first thought. They will be restating results based on an error. http://biz.yahoo.com/e/150109/sodi8-k.html While it was deemed a data entry error, management should have caught it. It was clear the higher earnings were related to inventory (COGS). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hielko Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 It was a decent quarter. Apparently the quarter wasn't as decent as first thought. They will be restating results based on an error. http://biz.yahoo.com/e/150109/sodi8-k.html While it was deemed a data entry error, management should have caught it. It was clear the higher earnings were related to inventory (COGS). indeed sloppy. If you are having an abnormally good quarter I would think that the least you would do is figure out where the profitability is coming from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valueyoda Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Very sloppy indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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