Zacks_Analysts' Blog : Management Changes at ANADIGICS - Analyst Blog

ANADIGICS, Inc. (ANAD) recently announced that the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mario Rivas and Senior Vice President (SVP) Greg White have resigned from their respective positions. Ron Michels, who was the SVP, Chief Technology and Strategy Officer, will succeed Mario and assume the responsibilities of the CEO.

Tom Shields, the current EVP & CFO, will now assume the additional post of COO. John Van Saders, who was the VP Advanced Technology, will serve as SVP RF Products.

Michels joined ANADIGICS in 1987 and served in several management and executive positions. Shields joined ANADIGICS in 1999 and has been the Executive Vice President and CFO since January 2006.

Meanwhile, ANADIGICS also reiterated its guidance for the first quarter of 2011. The company continues to expect revenues between $42 million and $44 million, down from $60 million generated in the previous quarter and $44 million in the year-ago quarter. The current Zacks Consensus Estimate for the first quarter is $43 million, in line with management’s guidance.

ANADIGICS stated that the company has not lost any significant customer but experienced softness in demand in cable and WiMAX markets, which has strained inventories. The weakness in the revenue guidance was primarily attributable to weakness from Asia with normal seasonality in Korea and North America.

Management believes that this is a short-term inventory correction and expects growth in the second half of 2011. Management expects to see a rebound in the second half of 2011 driven by contribution from new customers.

The company had earlier projected an EPS of around $0.07 - $0.08, excluding one-time charges and stock-based compensation.

We prefer to be on the sidelines as of now and maintain our Neutral recommendation on ANADIGICS. Our recommendation is supported by a Zacks #3 Rank, which translates into a short-term rating of Hold.