Akoustis 4Q23 results and more ?3

08:53 13-Feb-24


Akoustis has reported its fourth quarter results:
I've been listening to the conference call while monitoring other market developments.  Management says inventory has normalized.  The most important development to me so far is that 3 of top 10 customers were from Asia, though two of the top three were from there.  I see this diversification as crucial.  The company is also still participating in CHIPS Act via memberships with one worth several million dollars.  Management also projects a $4.2+/-0.5M tax credit from the act, to be realized over the next 12-15 months.  Finally, management characterizes ongoing litigation between Akoustis and Qorvo as proceeding favorably.  This is a possible reason for the short term only funding, along with progress toward break even operations.  Even so, I'm not prepared to re-enter an AKTS position above 50 cents.

We also saw a 30K OMIB at $1.5 on Friday from a Lumen Director reported last night.  LUMN was up 20% to trade above $1.80 yesterday but is deteriorating with the market ahead of CPI now.  I view recent optimism as unfounded, but could see the momentum in the stock continuing for the short to medium term.

The just-released CPI numbers aren't helping, though, as they just came in one to two tenths higher than expected in both the headline and core numbers.  YoY inflation was lower at 3.4%, though.  Shelter continues to be the main culprit, and I expect other commodities to eventually follow suit.