Santa Ana-based solid state storage drive maker STEC Inc. is planning another buy-back of shares amid growing investor concerns and a possible civil injunction from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company announced on Aug. 29 that its board approved a stock repurchase plan of up to $40 million, its second in less than a month. The Business Journal reported last month that STEC’s board approved an initial $15 million stock repurchasing plan.
It has until Sept. 15 to complete the buy-back, the company said.
The board and company management continue to believe in the long-term value of STEC, according to Chief Executive Manouch Moshayedi, repeating sentiments he expressed in August.
The buy-back “reflects our confidence in STEC’s long-term fundamentals, growth prospects and strategy, and demonstrates our commitment to delivering shareholder value and realizing the full potential of our business and operations,” he said.
The company has seen its share price drop about 22% this year. It had been down nearly 50% a month ago but has since rallied.
STEC recently disclosed that the SEC is considering a civil injunction action “against the company, its CEO and president, charging them with violations of the antifraud and reporting provisions of the federal securities laws,” according to a filing the company made last month with the regulatory agency.
Regulators began looking at the company in 2009 to determine if it violated federal securities laws by making false and misleading statements regarding a secondary offering earlier that year.
The SEC filing was one in a string of negative reports to hit STEC in the last month.
The company also posted disappointing earnings for the second quarter, and industry analysts have raised questions about its standing in the market.
Eyes on Indentive
Santa Ana-based Identive Group Inc.’s recent wins in the growing near-field communication market are catching the eye of company watchers.
Identive generates most of its revenue by making scanners, readers, cards and other security devices for buildings and computers.
“It’s obvious NFC is about to go mainstream and investors are excited about what that means to some of the niche’s top players, like Identive and NXP Semiconductors,” Rich Duprey wrote late last month in an article on investor website Motley Fool.
U.K.-based Juniper Research estimates NFC transactions will rise from $240 billion in 2011 to $670 billion by 2015.
Since the Business Journal featured Identive in an Aug. 15 story that detailed its ties to Mountain View-based Google Inc. and its deal to supply 1 million NFC tags to a “leading mobile handset manufacturer,” investor websites have started to note the company, which has a market value of about $100 million.
On Aug. 23, shares shot up more than 19% on word that Google was getting ready to launch Google Wallet, a program that allows consumers to wave their smartphones at NFC tags to make purchases.
Near-field communication, commonly referred to as NFC, allows communication over short distances, sometimes just a few centimeters. A user can touch a smart phone to an NFC tag and immediately get connected to a website, dial a number, or launch an application such as a map pop-up that shows nearby points of interest.
Identive’s German unit, ACIG Technology, was picked earlier this year by Google to be the exclusive supplier of NFC stickers for a rollout of the company’s Google Places in Austin, Texas.
Google provided stickers for local business owners there to help them promote their products and services while encouraging consumers to review the businesses.
$12M to AirTouch
Newport Beach start-up AirTouch Communications Inc. recently raised $12 million from private investors as it tries to find a niche in the growing wireless communications market.
The company, which developed a wireless desktop docking station for the home or office, plans to use the proceeds for research and development, marketing, working capital and other general purposes.
The company is targeting emerging markets in Brazil, Russia, India and China for its docking station, which resemble a wireless router and produces much-stronger signals than a mobile phone, according to AirTouch Chief Financial Officer Jerome Kaiser.
“It acts like a cell phone on steroids,” he said.
It can carry its own number, link mobile and landline phones, and connect up to six cordless phones and a fax machine. More powerful versions can deliver data, Internet, movies and video.
The station retails for less than $200.
AirTouch was established in 2008. It’s racked up more than $1 million in sales since October.
In late July it changed its name from Waxess Holdings Inc., as well as its ticker symbol on the Bulletin Board.
The company has a market value of about $49 million.
