This week’s Stock of the Week isn’t widely known, but it is growing quickly in a fast-growing field.
IPG Photonics Corporation (IPGP) is a fast-growing company that manufactures high-performance lasers used in materials manufacturing, medical technology and consumer applications worldwide. Its lasers are in products ranging from automotive welding tools to advanced medical devices.
Despite the company’s cutting-edge technology, the firm is not widely known or followed by investors because it is manufacturing-focused rather than in a more widely watched field such as engineering or software development. It is a comparatively small company, with market cap around $10 billion, and needs to manage its capital carefully in order to maintain top-quality technology and continue to grow. It should be able to do that based on its performance to date and the fact that many of the industries it serves are themselves high-growth industries.
Earnings are growing quickly, and revenues are rising at a steady pace, from $1 billion in 2016 to a likely $1.2 billion this year and $1.5 billion in 2018.
Fiscal year: December. Earnings per share: 2018 est./$7…2017 est./$5.75…2016/$4.85.
Michael J. Cuggino is president, Permanent Portfolio Family of Funds, San Francisco, and portfolio manager of the $2.6 billion Permanent Portfolio Fund (PRPFX) and the $29 million Permanent Portfolio Aggressive Growth Fund (PAGRX). PermanentPortfolio.com
