Palm saw a remarkable surge in their stock price over the past few weeks (they just hit the $40 mark, a new 52-week high), and it's not only the introduction of the Palm Treo 700w that has been feeding investor fantasies. Attached you find some graphs depicting Palm stock performance as of today, 01/01/06, 06/01/05, and 01/01/01.
The following Briefing.com news went through my mails today:
Palm likely to stay independent over near term
Caris notes that PALM's torrid rise over the past few weeks could be partly attributable to take-out speculation; however, they believe it is likely PALM's mgmt will remain independent, at least over the near term. The firm says the co is broadening its portfolio, diversifying into new customer segments, and ramping its international sales. The firm says that several large-cap computer and wireless cos, like HPQ, MOT, NOK or DELL, could be natural buyers and have ample capital, business synergies and interest in boosting their rev growth rate to merit due diligence on Palm.
Caris & Company analyst Susan Kalla has initiated a "buy" on Palm in September 2005 and she envisions, thanks to the Treo 700w, better than expected revenues and margins for Palm for the next few quarters. Given that Palm is currently trading at a low PE and that smartphones are becoming more popular every day, it's not unlikely that various large cap companies have a general interest in Palm. The question is, what would happen to our beloved Palm handheld if it was indeed acquired by a big name such as Apple (who btw recently filed the "Mobile Me" trademark)?
Related: Sprint Treo 700w expected to arrive earlier