Strategy in TECH...
VOXX International Corporation [NASDAQ: VOXX] (VOXX Int’l) announced this morning before the stock market opened several executive changes, including the extension of the employment agreement of VOXX Chief Executive Officer Pat Lavelle. How did Wall Street react to this news? The value of VOXX stock showed a significant decline on a day when the NASDAQ exchange, where VOXX is traded, saw an overall increase of nearly +2/3rds of a percent.
Next Level Distribution is reportedly planning to shut down operations after it completes the liquidation of its existing inventory, according to multiple reports. The multi-location distributor/fulfillment house of major brands of automotive and residential electronics was founded in 1993, first under the name of Audio America. In 2020 it changed its name to Next Level Distribution.
Lenbrook Corporation, a Canadian company that holds a portfolio of premium specialty brands, announced this morning it has acquired the assets of MQA, ltd., the U.K.-based company behind the Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) high-resolution audio encoding system in a transaction it hopes will breathe new life into the technology that had fallen into a form of receivership upon the loss of its major financial backer. Terms of the deal were not disclosed as part of this announcement.
Last week, Snap One Holdings Corp. (Nasdaq: SNPO) released its financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2023, the 13-week period ending June 30, 2023. The company reported mixed results with a continuing sales decline but with a reduced net loss in the quarter.
Masimo Corporation (Nasdaq: MASI) (Masimo) announced the final financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2023, the 90-day period that ended on July 1, 2023. About three weeks ago, the company released a preliminary report on the quarter, alerting investors to an unexpected drop in revenues. As they predicted, revenues did decline, although not as poorly as they suggested might be the case.
Emerald Holding, Inc. (NYSE: EEX) (Emerald) owner of Emerald Expositions, a leading B2B exposition company, as well as the CEDIA Expo, CEPro, and Commercial Integrator media properties, announced its financial performance in the second quarter of fiscal 2023. While results were mixed with both increased revenues and increased losses, the company struck an optimistic tone, saying it is on track to generate $400 million in revenues and $100 million in “Adjusted” EBITDA (a measure of profits) in the current fiscal year.
This morning, AVPro Global Holdings, Inc., a maker of a wide variety of audio/video gear and services, announced it has acquired the residential division of AudioControl from AAMP Global. Like King Solomon, the move “splits the baby” in half along its logical business lines with AVPro Global taking over AudioControl’s residential division, while AAMP Global retains its mobile electronics business.
In a letter to employees earlier this month, VOXX International Corp. (Nasdaq: VOXX) CEO Pat Lavelle painted a dark picture of the economic environment the company finds itself mired in, noting its significant sales declines and mounting losses. If you were a VOXX employee reading the opening phrases of this letter, I’m pretty certain a feeling of dread would sweep over you – sensing where this communication is heading.
And you would be right, as later in the correspondence, Lavelle reveals a plan to cut “more than 150 employees” along with a series of other steps to cut costs and lower overhead. And these cuts are on top of the job cuts the company has already implemented in 2022, as it tries again to right the ship.
After the close of markets on Monday, Masimo Corporation (Nasdaq: MASI) took the unusual step of issuing a press release announcing preliminary results for its fiscal 2023 second quarter, the quarter that ended July 1, 2023. The release warned investors that the company expected to report a revenue decline in the quarter…a pretty significant revenue decline. But perhaps even more impactful than that, the company went on to add that it is forced to revise downward its forward guidance for the full Fiscal 2023 annual results. The value of MASI stock crashed nearly 26% in an early evening reading of after-hours trading in the stock.
VOXX International Corporation (Voxx) (Nasdaq: VOXX) reported its financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2024 and the numbers were not pretty. The first quarter is the period ending on May 31, 2023, and overall net sales n the quarter dropped by -13.1%, with a net loss increase of 65%. The hardest hit segment was the company’s Premium Audio Company division – home of brands like Onkyo, Pioneer, Integra, Elite, and more – which saw sales collapse by -32%.
