Altera Corp.(ALTR) is a global leader in the design and manufacture of high density programmable logic devices (PLD) and associated computer aided engineering logic development tools.
Its products are utilized in the telecommunications, data communications, computers and industrial applications. The company has grown profits at an 8% pace over the last 10 years and its dividend at a 13% rate since its initiation in 2007; in addition, it has earned a 20-25% return on equity. ALTR experienced an earnings decline in 2009 but rebounded sharply in 2010 and should continue to grow as a result of:
(1) ALTR has technological advantage over its principal PLD rival via a newly developed, high performance application specific integrated circuit,
(2) its new generation of products carry higher margins and should add to earnings growth as they become a larger portion of the sales mix,
(3) the rollout of the third generation mobile networks in Asia will add significantly to profit expansion.
