Cypress Semiconductor (CY) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at Cowen

Cowen started coverage on shares of Cypress Semiconductor (NASDAQ:CY) in a report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $21.00 price target on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Craig Hallum lifted their price target on shares of Cypress Semiconductor from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. SunTrust Banks reiterated a hold rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Cypress Semiconductor in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a buy rating on shares of Cypress Semiconductor in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Cypress Semiconductor from a strong sell rating to a buy rating and set a $19.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Jaffray Companies reiterated a buy rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Cypress Semiconductor in a research report on Monday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. The stock currently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $19.32.

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Cypress Semiconductor opened at $16.42 on Tuesday, according to Marketbeat Ratings. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Cypress Semiconductor has a 1-year low of $12.50 and a 1-year high of $18.87. The company has a market capitalization of $5.90 billion, a PE ratio of 27.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 2.09.

Cypress Semiconductor (NASDAQ:CY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 26th. The semiconductor company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.03. Cypress Semiconductor had a negative net margin of 1.63% and a positive return on equity of 15.62%. The company had revenue of $582.24 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $580.44 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.13 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. sell-side analysts anticipate that Cypress Semiconductor will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 28th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 27th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. Cypress Semiconductor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.33%.

In other Cypress Semiconductor news, EVP Sudhir Gopalswamy sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.45, for a total transaction of $49,350.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 120,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,986,074.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Hassane El-Khoury sold 43,991 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.60, for a total transaction of $774,241.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 83,643 shares of company stock worth $1,479,190 over the last three months. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CY. Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cypress Semiconductor by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,036,969 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $31,044,000 after buying an additional 148,553 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in shares of Cypress Semiconductor during the fourth quarter worth $322,000. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cypress Semiconductor by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 1,782,736 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,169,000 after purchasing an additional 200,199 shares during the period. MHI Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cypress Semiconductor during the fourth quarter worth $2,929,000. Finally, Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cypress Semiconductor during the fourth quarter worth $69,678,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Cypress Semiconductor

Cypress Semiconductor Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells embedded system solutions worldwide. It operates in two segments, Microcontroller and Connectivity Division, and Memory Products Division. The Microcontroller and Connectivity Division provides microcontroller (MCU), analog, and wireless and wired connectivity solutions, including Traveo automotive MCUs; programmable system-on-chip and general-purpose MCUs; ARM Cortex-M4, -M3, and -M0+ MCUs; R4 CPUs; analog power management integrated circuits and energy harvesting solutions; CapSense capacitive-sensing controllers; TrueTouch touchscreens; Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Bluetooth low energy, and ZigBee solutions; WICED development platform; and USB controllers comprising solutions for the USB-C and USB power delivery standards, as well as wireless Internet of things connectivity solutions.

Amazon to Offer Blockchain-as-a-Service to Its Enterprise Cloud Clients

In 2017, nothing was hotter than cryptocurrencies. Over a 12-month span, the aggregate value of digital currencies soared by almost $600 billion, which works out to more than 3,300% on a percentage basis. At the heart of it all was the emergence of blockchain technology.

Blockchain takes center stage

Blockchain technology is officially the digital, distributed, and decentralized ledger responsible for recording transactions without the need for a financial intermediary. But in plainer English, it represents a new way of transmitting money without using traditional banking networks, as well as a means of recording data in an immutable (unchanging) manner. This latter point is important, as it demonstrates that blockchain has applications that extend beyond just the financial services industry.

Image source: Getty Images.

Why is blockchain suddenly the greatest thing since sliced bread, you ask? Namely, it brings a handful of advantages to the table that enterprises appreciate. To begin with, as a decentralized network -- meaning data is stored on computers all over the globe as opposed to in a central location -- it ensures that no single entity, be it a business or cybercriminal, can gain control of a network.

Second, it removes banks from the equation, at least when talking about its currency-based applications. Cutting banks out means not having to pay them a third-party fee, which can reduce overall transaction costs.

Third, and sticking with its currency applications, blockchain also offers the ability to expedite the validation and settlement of transactions. Today's banking networks can take up to five business days to validate and settle cross-border transactions. With blockchain, these transactions could be verified in a matter of seconds.

Lastly, since blockchain is immutable, any efforts to change logged data would be noticed by members of the community or within an organization. This makes blockchain data especially secure.

Introducing Amazon's latest foray: blockchain-as-a-service

It's these advantages that have companies in a multitude of industries and sectors testing blockchain. Even the king of e-commerce�Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN)�hasn't been able to resist the temptation that is blockchain.

Known first and foremost as a massive online retailer, Amazon has branched out into the grocery aisle through its Whole Foods purchase and into cloud-computing through Amazon Web Service (AWS). Now, it's planning to offer blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) to its AWS business customers.

Image source: Getty Images.

Last week, Amazon announced that it was partnering with Kaleido, a start-up company that'll help Amazon bring blockchain options to AWS enterprise members. The beauty of BaaS is that it won't require learning a new coding language or even being a coding genius. Kaleido will work with Amazon to create simple building blocks that'll allow enterprises to incorporate blockchain into their cloud platforms rather than having to start from scratch with each new client. BaaS will allow businesses to demo their ideas, run proof-of-concept applications, and perhaps even take their idea out into the real world.

Ethereum's blockchain is what'll ultimately be underlying this BaaS venture. Joseph Lubin is the brainchild behind ConsenSys, a blockchain incubation project of which Kaleido was born, and he also happens to be the founder of the Ethereum blockchain. So, putting two and two together, it's only logical that this project be based on the Ethereum network.

What makes Ethereum such a popular choice among enterprises is the fact that its network incorporates smart contracts. These are completely customizable protocols that act as legally binding commands that can be dictated by a company, such as defining when new product will be ordered or when money can be spent. Smart contracts are considerably more efficient than using paper and, as noted, more legally binding.�

Looking beyond AWS, it's possible that Ethereum's blockchain could offer Amazon a way to monitor its supply chains in real time, as well as provide a means to expedite cross-border payments so as to improve cash flow.

Even the mighty Amazon can't overcome blockchain's proof-of-concept conundrum

While getting Amazon involved in blockchain is certainly great news for this burgeoning technology and cryptocurrencies in general, it's still not enough to overcome what I like to call the proof-of-concept conundrum.

Image source: Getty Images.

Over the past couple of years, blockchain has successfully been tested in a number of demos and small-scale projects. However, the training wheels haven't been taken off blockchain when it comes to the real world. It's this lack of proven scalability that has big companies unwilling to rely on blockchain to handle their everyday currency and non-currency transactions and applications. Yet -- and here's the problem -- its scalability can't be demonstrated unless businesses give the technology a chance.

You could certainly argue that Amazon partnering with Kaleido to offer blockchain-as-a-service is an example of a real-world test. However, many of Amazon's AWS clients are small and mid-sized businesses, and they simply don't offer the scale or real-world capacity that would be needed to overcome this proof-of-concept conundrum.

So, what's my point? Namely, that while blockchain could be the game-changing technology a lot of people think it can be, it's not going to be an initial success. Proving its ability to scale to millions or billions of people is going to take a lot of time. While I applaud Amazon's efforts to offer blockchain solutions to its AWS clients, I have serious doubts about whether offering BaaS will be a needle-mover for Amazon anytime soon.