Wall Street is Validating RFID’s Lift-off
Posted by Patrick Sweeney on Mon, Nov 15, 2010
A couple of weeks back I mentioned that RFID had gone from the launch pad to lift-off. Initially many people thought this was only for ODIN, because of our broad client base and focus on Supremely Satisfied Clients™. Just last week I was asked again if we were public - a fund was interested in investing in RFID. This type of inquiry abounded in 2003-2005. It’s only been the last three or four months that we started getting the calls and emails again.
Zebra Technologies and RFID Stocks to Watch
It turns out that ODIN isn’t the only red-hot RFID Company out there. I pulled down Zebra Technologies chart. What I saw would make any Wall Street stock jockey salivate. In just under six months the company’s stock has increased over 45%. Here’s the chart:
You’ll notice that the Dow Jones industrial average over the same period is just above a ten percent return. So if you net out the rising tide factor (the 10% market increase all companies should benefit from) Zebra is outperforming the broader market by a whopping 350% over the same time period. (full disclosure: I happily own the stock).
This means several things for savvy investors and RFID companies everywhere:
- Companies who have invested in RFID in the last 12 months will see big impact in 2011 because of RFID
- Big companies sitting on a lot of low-cost capital will look to acquire RFID companies
- Companies adopting RFID in 2010 are going to have a two year head start over competitors not using the technology
- Increases in backlog and shortages of silicon will mean longer time to implement which will exacerbate the competitive loss for laggards
- Competition is diminishing with relatively few RFID pure-plays left in the market which will keep prices stable
Follow me on twitter: pjsweeney