Archives for December 26, 2019

Sony can’t build smartphone camera sensors fast enough

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That’s despite running its plants 24/7 over the holidays.

Sony is struggling to keep up with demand for its image sensors, according to a Bloomberg report. Although smartphone sales have largely plateaued in recent years, manufacturers appear intent on squeezing an ever-increasing number of cameras into our phones. This has led to a corresponding rise in sensor orders.

The largest manufacturer of these sensors is Sony, which controls over 50 percent of the market by revenue and supplies all of the camera sensors found in modern iPhones. This means, for example, that the company sells four 12-megapixel sensors for each iPhone 11 Pro that Apple makes.

For the second year running, Sony has been operating its chip factories “24/7” over the holidays. Despite that, it’s not been enough to keep up. Sony has poured money into increasing its capacity, and is building a new factory that’s scheduled to open in 2021, but the head of its Semiconductor Solutions Group, Terushi Shimizu, has already warned that the increased capacity is unlikely to dramatically change the situation. “Judging by the way things are going, even after all that investment in expanding capacity, it might still not be enough,” Shimizu told Bloomberg. “We’re having to apologize to customers because we just can’t make enough.”

The Fujifilm X100F is on sale at $900

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That’s a big discount, but a successor is likely to arrive soon.

We love Fujifilm’s X100F, but it’s definitely not for everyone. It’s a fixed-lens APS-C camera best suited for street photography, blending the excellent 24.3-megapixel X-Trans sensor found in mirrorless models like the X-T2 with a 23mm (35mm equivalent) f/2 lens. As is par for course with Fujifilm cameras, you’ll find a ton of traditional dials for controlling ISO, aperture and exposure compensation. The X100F is also fairly flexible, with a hybrid viewfinder that can operate like a rangefinder, a traditional EVF or a blend between the two. One thing it’s not, though, is cheap. At $1,300, you’ve always had to really want the X100F to even consider buying it. What about $900, though? That’s the price it’s just dropped to on Amazon, and… I’m very tempted.

The only thing that’s giving me pause, aside from the gentle weeps emanating from my credit card, is the X100V. That’s the rumored name of the X100F’s successor, and it’s apparently going to be announced very soon. Months of reporting from Fuji Rumors has given us a fairly complete picture of the purported new model. As expected, it’s said to feature the latest version of Fujifilm’s X-Trans sensor (the 26.1-megapixel unit found in cameras like the X-T3), paired with an all-new 23mm lens. It’s likely to cost an awful lot more than $900, though, with Fujifilm Rumors recently suggesting it could debut at $1,500 this February.

I’ve been trapped in a perpetual loop of doubt for years now. Just before the X100F was announced I wanted to pull the trigger on the then-discounted X100T, but decided to wait. Now the X100F is discounted and I have the same problem again. If you’re more decisive than me, though, you can grab the X100F on Amazon now.

Proposed NYC law would require drone inspections for building complaints

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Robotic aircraft could spot building defects people might miss.

Drones could soon be key to keeping New Yorkers safe from crumbling architecture. Members of the New York City Council have proposed legislation that would require drone inspections within 48 hours of a complaint or confirmed violation. A robotic vehicle (not the Mavic 2 Pro pictured) would use infrared and a pair of conventional cameras to both look for the telltale temperature changes of cracks and inspect roof conditions. The intended drones would cost $2,500 each, but the proposal would reduce costs by offloading the inspections to private companies that would charge building owners.

The drone inspections could alleviate staff shortages at NYC’s building department while saving money. More importantly, they could save lives. The council proposal comes days after falling debris from a fined building killed architect Erica Tishman while she was walking below. Ideally, this would have helped pinpoint and fix the problem.

There’s one problem: right now, the 1948-era airspace laws would forbid drones. The city would have to relax those laws for this concept to move forward. If that happens, though, drones might soon be a regular part of NYC’s landscape.

Mazda3 bug activates emergency brake system for no reason

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35k vehicles are being recalled to fix the issue.

Driver assists can help make our trips much safer, but integrating software decisions into the control of a vehicle could cause serious problems if the system glitches at the wrong time. According to Mazda, a “Incorrect programming” in its Smart Braking System (SBS) can make fourth-generation Mazda3 vehicles to falsely detect an object in their path while driving and automatically apply the brakes while driving. The problem affects 35,390 2019 and 2020 model year cars in the US, but Mazda says it is not aware of any injuries or deaths as a result of the defect.

If the issue occurs, the driver will notice because their car has suddenly stopped, and also as an alarm sounds and a message is displayed on the in-car warning screen. Some Reddit posters report experiencing situations of the system activating while driving with nothing around, and note that while the system can be disabled, it appears to re-enable itself every time the car starts.

Mazda3

Autoblog reports that while some vehicles will simply need to have the system updated or reprogrammed, certain cars with early build dates might need to have their entire instrument cluster replaced or reprogrammed. It’s a scary issue, but we’ve seen Mazda update its cars software to deal with real-life bugs, and the newly-redesigned Mazda3 has already seen a recall to make sure its wheels don’t fall off.

Hopefully they get this issue taken care of quickly — notifications will go out to owners by mail by February 17th next year, or they can contact the automaker for more information — especially as automatic emergency braking is becoming a commonly-installed feature. Automakers including Mazda have committed to having systems for most cars and trucks by 2022, and a recent update from NHTSA shows most of them are well on their way.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) Upgraded to “Hold” at BidaskClub

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Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) was upgraded by research analysts at BidaskClub from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday, December 18th, BidAskClub reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Raymond James lowered Wintrust Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $72.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wedbush dropped their target price on Wintrust Financial from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Wintrust Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 26th. Finally, ValuEngine raised shares of Wintrust Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.57.

Shares of WTFC traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $71.21. The company had a trading volume of 83,425 shares, compared to its average volume of 382,639. Wintrust Financial has a 12 month low of $59.34 and a 12 month high of $78.25. The firm has a market cap of $4.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.15 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a fifty day moving average of $68.13 and a 200-day moving average of $67.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The bank reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.07. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 20.24% and a return on equity of 10.65%. The firm had revenue of $380.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $374.98 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.57 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Wintrust Financial will post 6.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In related news, Director Gary D. Sweeney acquired 786 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $63.60 per share, for a total transaction of $49,989.60. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,178 shares in the company, valued at $329,320.80. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTFC. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Wintrust Financial by 89.2% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 933,255 shares of the bank’s stock worth $68,277,000 after buying an additional 439,875 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 14.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,312,894 shares of the bank’s stock worth $149,482,000 after purchasing an additional 286,314 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 43.8% in the 2nd quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 713,255 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $52,181,000 after purchasing an additional 217,376 shares in the last quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 556.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 211,505 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,474,000 after purchasing an additional 179,281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 528,536 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,160,000 after purchasing an additional 119,020 shares during the last quarter. 86.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Wintrust Financial

Wintrust Financial Corporation operates as a financial holding company in the Chicago metropolitan area, southern Wisconsin, and northwest Indiana. It operates in three segments: Community Banking, Specialty Finance, and Wealth Management. The Community Banking segment offers non-interest bearing deposits, non-brokered interest-bearing transaction accounts, and savings and domestic time deposits; home equity, consumer, and real estate loans; safe deposit facilities; and automatic teller machine (ATM), Internet banking, and other services.

Gladstone Investment (NASDAQ:GAIN) Shares Down 5.1%

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Gladstone Investment Co. (NASDAQ:GAIN)’s share price dropped 5.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $13.89 and last traded at $14.09, approximately 661,941 shares traded hands during trading. An increase of 380% from the average daily volume of 137,824 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.84.

GAIN has been the subject of a number of research reports. BidaskClub cut shares of Gladstone Investment from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Gladstone Investment from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th.

The stock has a market capitalization of $450.29 million, a P/E ratio of 17.82 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $14.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.42.

Gladstone Investment (NASDAQ:GAIN) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The investment management company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $16.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.79 million. Gladstone Investment had a return on equity of 7.64% and a net margin of 55.29%. Analysts expect that Gladstone Investment Co. will post 0.88 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.068 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th. Gladstone Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 106.49%.

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GAIN. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Gladstone Investment in the second quarter worth $2,630,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Gladstone Investment by 3,877.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 46,932 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 45,752 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Gladstone Investment by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 307,817 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,457,000 after acquiring an additional 28,326 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Gladstone Investment by 25.9% during the 2nd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 119,627 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,343,000 after acquiring an additional 24,625 shares during the period. Finally, Aperio Group LLC boosted its holdings in Gladstone Investment by 136.5% during the 2nd quarter. Aperio Group LLC now owns 32,895 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $369,000 after acquiring an additional 18,988 shares during the period. 13.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Gladstone Investment (NASDAQ:GAIN)

Gladstone Investment Corporation is a private equity fund specializing in lower middle market, acquisitions, mature stage, buyouts; recapitalizations; refinancing existing debt; senior debt securities such as senior loans, senior term loans, lines of credit, and senior notes; senior subordinated debt securities such as senior subordinated loans and senior subordinated notes; junior subordinated debt securities such as subordinated notes and mezzanine loans; limited liability company interests, and warrants or options.