GPS Landscape

It is a trend that has been magnificent and I have been on it.

It is far from over.

I am not sure if Gramin and Navteq can continue to accelerate given their premiums, but I do think Navteq is in a unique position to be acquired.

Garmin is now trading at 10 times sales. They blew away earnings today and have massive open field and domination of retail. Navteq is just dominant as well.

The sneaky play in the space has been and could continue to be Trimble. I just added it and it exploded as well today. They dominate the commercial and defense space. They are expensive but trade at 4 times sales. They could be in play as well.

The two weak sisters have been Lojack and Sirf. Sirf is in components and I caught a nice move last year before it died. Component plays let you down in the end. Lojack has been managed miserably. Management is old and comfy and obviously missed the whole GPS trend. For $400-$500 million, the could be bougfht by any of the leaders now to add distribution and a great brand in retail.

I don’t play the takeover game, but it would not surprise me. The whole sector is massively in play.

Disclosure – Long Garmin, Trimble and Navteq