(live-PR.com) - Mira, Portugal – September 15, 2008 – SADIF Investment Analytics SA, today announced the release of a new equity research report covering Garmin Ltd. The report utilizes SADIF's powerful StockMarks™ stock rating system and is required reading for any current or potential Garmin investor.
Report Summary: GPS navigation device company Garmin is facing difficulties in the coming quarters as discretionary consumer
spending continues to fall. The company has faced stiff competition from both its traditional largest rival, TomTom, and from smartphone producers such as Apple and Research In Motion. A general decrease in the price of GPS units has also placed pressure on Garmin to streamline its operations. The company's operating margin fell more than 6% in the second quarter of 2008 over the same period a year earlier. Furthermore, the drop off in auto sales and miles driven on US roads combined with the economic slowdown, have raised questions about the near-term growth in sales of the company's automotive GPS units. In the second quarter of 2008, Garmin's automotive lines accounted for approximately 70% of sales. In 2007 TomTom purchased map provider Tele Atlas for USD 4.2B, leaving Garmin dependent on Nokia-owned Navteq for its maps. This arrangement may cause problems for Garmin in the long-term as Nokia increasingly includes GPS functionality in their own smartphones. Nevertheless, the outlook is not all bad, in the second quarter of 2008 Garmin increased revenues by almost 23% over the same period a year earlier. Furthermore, Garmin retains a dominant share of the consumer GPS products market in the USA. However, when we are assessing the company as an investment target, we should look at its long-term fundamentals both in relation to the US market and its peers. We can assess the dynamics of the company's fundamentals through the use of the StockMarks framework. Garmin currently has an overall long-term investment-attractiveness rating (Total StockMark or SMT) of 86, placing the company above the US market average. This rating ranks the company third among ten of its closest US-listed peers, selected on the basis of similarity of business and market positioning.
The complete report breaks down the Total StockMark into its three components – Business, Management and Price, performing a thorough analysis of Garmin Ltd. for long-term investors.
A summary of the StockMarks™ ratings for Garmin Ltd. is available here:
http://sadifanalytics.com/stockmarks/company.php?ticker=GRMN&cod_country=125
The report has been distributed to Reuters, and forwarded to Yahoo Finance and FT.com. It is available under 'Analyst Reports' from these websites or directly from SADIF-Investment Analytics SA at http://sadifanalytics.com/stockmarks/article/hist_article.php?cod_article=146&cod_country=125
About SADIF-Investment Analytics SA
SADIF-Investment Analytics SA is an independent investment research company covering sixteen different markets and over 12,000 companies. Our StockMarks™ system is based on proven investment principles and is designed to drive long-term shareholder returns.
