... or about to be and someone knows in advance.
What we do know is that there was no sinificant inside news known to the board yesterday.
PS/edit: Had not read similar conclusion already stated above. |
When they are buying it is good but it means no blackout so no additional news is coming soon that they are aware of. |
Tipped somewhere??? |
Always a good sign when Directors buy their own Stock, shows they have confidence in their own Company |
paraone3 - Moving fast YES but both ways - Up great - Down toast. Make you choice now and celebrate or regret later. |
Now that the year end figures are out , all the bolshie trading will now Die down and serious investors will look at what was delivered , what they said on the packet was delivered . Rolling forward 2yrs they are forcasting £30m and £4.9m and £38 and £8.9m , if they achieve this maybe the market will take them seriously , possibility off major contract wins in the next 2yrs if so then sky is the limit, things have a habit of moving fast in the Semiconductor industry. |
About Plural VC:
Nice to see a European VC, not US, although oddly amount raised is quoted in dollars :-/ |
Plus Oriole just raised $25 million cash so will pay their bills |
Photonics and optical switching are fast-developing markets, and companies like Broadcom are investing billions. Who knew that Ensilica's IP was applicable to this sector? I am amazed at how they win contracts in all sorts of niches. As a start-up, Oriole is unproven, and it remains uncertain how much headway its products will make against larger competition, but the NRE for the photonics controller ASIC for Ensilica will be very useful. |
 "At conference call,they said the expect another 3 deals to be signed by yr end and that would give further confidence they will not need additional funding.I guess as a result of the upfront payments."
One done and with a very interesting company
UK photonic networking startup Oriole Networks has raised $22 million to scale up its technology.
The University College London (UCL) spinout has garnered the cash in a funding round led by VC group Plural, with existing investors UCL Technology Fund, XTX Ventures, Clean Growth Fund, and Dorilton Ventures all contributing.
Founded in 2023, Oriole uses photonics technology to create networks of AI chips and combine their processing power. Not only could this speed up the training of large language AI models, but it may also cut data center power consumption, the startup says.
Oriole Networks was founded by CEO James Regan, who previously built another optical systems company, EFFECT Photonics, with the support of UCL scientists Professor George Zervas, Alessandro Ottino, and Joshua Benjamin. The company’s IP was developed at the university.
Regan said: “This funding is yet another milestone for Oriole following a year of rapid pace and growth. This is a booming market desperate for solutions and our ambition is to create an ecosystem of photonic networking that can reshape this industry by solving today’s bottlenecks and enabling greater competition at the GPU layer.
“Building on decades of research, we’re paving the way for faster, more efficient, more sustainable AI.”
Ian Hogarth, partner at Plural, will join Oriole Networks. Hogarth, who led the UK government’s AI taskforce in 2023, said: “Applying 20 years of deep research and learning in photonics to create a better AI infrastructure demonstrates how much more innovation there is to come to help reap the benefits of this technology. |
Another contract and partnership with a startup from people at UCL at the very forefront of Computer Technology . Could pay dividends in the future with the building of Data centres and Super computers all constructed with Ensilica ASICS at the core , Could transmute to 10s of millions of ASIC Chips .Good Business |
Another partnership monetized.Another step in the journey. |
The going concern comment in latest account explains the share price fall and certainly had me rattled until I thought it through. I didn't pick this up in the broker note or presentation. IL was understandably bullish about orders but did mention they are soft pedalling healthcare because of longer lead times. It's becoming clear that whilst orders generate cash initially the design work phase doesn't generate EBITDA and orders are cash flow neutral for longer than is comfortable.Anthony Miller quote below is spot on but don't agree with conclusion. The ongoing need for cash injections made this a classic PE play in 2022 but we are where we are and equity fund raising looks the best approach for shareholders should it prove necessary. I struggled to find institutions on board here in a significant way (11%) so scope for new ones would be a positive.I think the going concern comment could apply to the majority of companies on AIM and it's a new finance director getting a grip on the companies other disciplines. Lloyd's loan rate is far from punitive |
Silly thing is it will put off any serious investor from going near these ramper’s promotions that pop up repeatedly. |
That quote was pre-float, maybe an indication of some shareholders wanting an exit. I haven’t looked back to see what holdings changed after float.
Perhaps the float timimg didn’t give the opportunity they wanted, so they’re looking outside the depressed UK market for new large investors. |
From the article I posted above this is quite revealing - indicates they have an eye on valuation, after moving to production as well as design:
“Because there are long revenue streams that you can see out into the future, these type of businesses get valued on a multiple of revenues, rather than profits, adding value for shareholders,” explains Mark.”
Hence the PR in the US perhaps. |
What odds ?? (if everything goes to plan) How often have we seen brokers top guestimates ever be achieved? |
Most notable in the Allenby note was the observation that if everything goes to plan an aspirational valuation based on its global peers would indicate a 600p a share price
Current price 40p IPO price 50p
Bottom drawer |
When asked about the US consultants they hired to onboard US investprs they said it was early days but that there was significant interest.I think the share price has been manipulated down so they can get a decent entry point |
Uk investor magazine
the long-term outlook is positive. Chip supply revenues should start to build up from this year and that will sharply boost profitability. It can take two years or more for chip supply to begin and then production is built up to its peak, so there is built in growth for many years.
Singer forecasts a 2024-25 pre-tax profit of £2.7m, doubling to £5.5m next year
Singer
A string of material contract wins has started to show this potential.
We initiate with a 100p TP.
nb aAt conference cal,they said the expect another 3 deals to be signed by yr end and that would give further confidence they will not need additional funding.I guess as a result of the upfront payments
When asked about putting themselves up for sale they said the Bod believed the business has great potential on its own. |
Found this filled in a few gaps in my knowledge: |
hpcg
"VC should fund and they know the value of up rounds, whereas for small listed companies it is the fear of the placing that drives the price."
I'd agree with VCs for start-ups, but Ensilica was started in 2001 and had a good track record when it listed. VCs have their problems and the worst (from a new investor perspective) sort of new issue is usually where the VCs unload all their shares with minimal new funds being raised.
"Companies should be growing much larger before listing and then use listing to be able to offer share-based payments and incentives well down the org chart."
Getting a listing just to gain the ability to offer share based payments and incentives is a rather expensive way to sort out a staff remuneration package!
You are right when you say the UK stock market is dying - the decline in new issues demonstrates that as well - and it will continue to be like that until we get back to its purpose of raising capital. |
Valhamos - I disagree. The UK stock market, which to all intents looks like in its dying days, is about the worst place for a small company to look for funds. Companies should be growing much larger before listing and then use listing to be able to offer share based payments and incentives well down the org chart. This is how many US companies grow. VC should fund and they know the value of up rounds, whereas for small listed companies it is the fear of the placing that drives the price.
Margins - these dramatically increase for the production element. The design phase is done at a lower margin in order to win the business. Allenby make the point by labelling the NRE as a lead indicator for supply.
What the company needs to be doing, if it can, is to raise the cost of the design phase element so that each project covers its own cost and share of SG&A and interest. I don't know what the competitive situation is like for them to be able to do that. |
Hallelujah |
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