Rss Top Picks FeedRss Daily Feed| Click Here to receive daily reports of the TOP PICKS OR your personal stock choices | STOCKCHASEWhat the experts are saying! |
| There are 3 registered members and 26 guests viewing the site. | Follow us on Twitter | Rss Top Picks Feed | Rss Daily Feed |
|
| BUY | 33.250 | Charles Lannon | Integrated eyeglass company. Manufacture for a whole host of brands, some of which they wholly own. They also retail. Well-run company. Gets far more of its revenue from the US than it does from Europe. Should be able to grow its earnings at high single-digit/low double-digit for many years to come. | 2012-02-02 | |
| TOP PICK | 30.830 | Karl Berger | Sunglasses. Italian domiciled company and get about 25% of revenues from European operations and the rest from outside of Europe. Have done fairly well through recessionary times. If spending gets back up to luxury levels, they should do even better. | 2012-01-20 | |
| Comment | 26.790 | David Driscoll | Dominate eyeglasses/sunglasses sector. Their competition is very fragmented globally. Growth in China and other emerging markets is going to grow over time. Just moved into South America. Stock is a little rich right now. | 2010-04-07 | |
| Comment | 13.930 | David Driscoll | People still need glasses, usually every 2 years. Sales were down and margins have declined. Suspended the dividend because they want to pay down some debt from their Oakley acquisition. Oakley is going great guns, as is the lower end of their business. As the economy turns around, they will start to improve. | 2009-03-20 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 19.020 | David Driscoll | (A Top Pick Dec 6/07. Down 42%.) Designer glasses. Discretionary consumer products will have a negative impact during recessions. Still likes. Would buy more if it got cheaper. 3.5% yield. Getting into China in a big way. | 2008-12-12 | |
| BUY | 27.060 | David Driscoll | Chance to dollar cost average. Will expand retail stores in China (up to 1000 stores) in next 3 years. Still growing 15-20% range despite economy slowing down. | 2008-08-11 | |
| BUY on WEAKNESS | 26.150 | David Driscoll | (Market Call Minute.) Buy below $25. Cyclical. Consumer discretionary. | 2008-06-09 | |
| BUY | 25.650 | David Driscoll | They own Sun Glass Hut, Pearl Vision, Lenscrafters, Oakley and they have the Ray-Ban line. Also moving heavily into China and hope to have 1000 outlets there. Just increase their dividend by 17%. | 2008-04-23 | |
| WEAK BUY | 24.590 | David Driscoll | Between $20-25 is a good entry point. They plan to build another 1000 stores in China. The long term outlook is very positive. | 2008-03-17 | |
| TOP PICK | 32.160 | David Driscoll | Although they have sunglasses, eyewear, LensCrafters, Sunglass Hut and just acquired Oakley. Still in a growth phase. If we go into recession, luxury items may get hurt but they still have to buy eyeglasses. Have plans in the next 2 or 3 years of going from 200 outlets to 1000 in China. Good Buy for the long run of 10 to 15 years. | 2007-12-06 | |
| BUY | 33.800 | David Driscoll | Like it. Removed one of their biggest competitors, pretty much going to a monopoly. Margins have been very good, free cash flows are spectacular. | 2007-10-25 | |
| BUY | 37.150 | David Driscoll | Stock went up on the Oakley acquisition because they got rid of a main competitor, will cut about $100 million in overall costs and gives them another line to sell in their Sunglass Hut. | 2007-06-22 | |
| BUY | 31.530 | David Driscoll | Earnings continue to rise in the 25% category. Continue to get new contracts from the high-end fashion designers. China is a big market for them right now. | 2007-02-15 | |
| BUY | 30.900 | David Driscoll | Earnings are up 20%-25%. Making huge inroads in China. Revenues there are up 25%. Big contracts have been signed with top name designers. | 2006-11-09 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 30.000 | David Driscoll | (A Top Pick Oct 21/05. Up 24.1%.) Still recommends. 2 latest acquisitions have been in China. Third of the population is myopic. Expanding. Dominates the sector. Good price. | 2006-10-20 | |
| BUY | 28.750 | David Driscoll | Growing in a huge way now in China through acquisitions. Also expanding their retail operations in North America. Limited competition, so they can dictate pricing. | 2006-09-14 | |
| BUY | 30.190 | David Driscoll | They are moving into China in a bigger way. They pretty much have most of the North American market. Growth continues which is why the stock keeps going up. Have increased the dividends. Expectation is for continued growth at 10% per year. | 2006-05-08 | |
| BUY | 28.880 | David Driscoll | Revenues were up 30% because they signed a big deal with one of the fashion designers. Valuation is somewhere between $35/45. Moving into China. | 2006-04-06 | |
| HOLD | 27.750 | David Driscoll | Still a good long term hold | 2006-02-23 | |
|
| |||||
| TOP PICK | 24.730 | David Driscoll | Makes eye glass frames. Owns Lenscrafter, Sun Glass Hut and Pearl Vision. Just moved into China. Margins are good and the business is strong. Not a whole lot of competition that they can't fend off. | 2005-11-03 | |
| TOP PICK | 24.110 | David Driscoll | In North America they own Lenscrafter, Sun Glass Hut and Pearl Vision. They've got optometry stores where you get your prescription, go next door to a Lenscrafter for your glasses. High end stuff. Now moving into China. 35% of all Chinese are myopic. | 2005-10-21 | |
| TOP PICK | 17.230 | David Driscoll | The sector is getting smaller, but this company is getting bigger which gives them better pricing control. | 2004-07-15 | |
| TOP PICK | 12.610 | David Driscoll | Good price. Great franchise. Dividend is growing. | 2002-09-12 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 15.810 | Arthur Heinmaa | (Was a top pick on Sep 20 up 27%) Good company. | 2001-11-23 | |
| TOP PICK | 12.420 | Arthur Heinmaa | Fully integrated. | 2001-09-20 | |
| DON'T BUY | 17.680 | Neil Murdock | Worries about mngmnt moves. Prefers Essilor (French Stock Exchange?) | 2001-08-14 | |
| TOP PICK | 17.710 | David Driscoll | Covers total optical fields. Continuing to grow. | 2001-08-10 | |
| TOP PICK | 17.710 | Arthur Heinmaa | Just acquired US's largest vision care provider. Low debt. High cash flow. | 2001-08-07 | |
| BUY | 15.120 | David Driscoll | Bullet proof portfolio-small caps(25%) | 2001-03-27 | |
| BUY | 15.030 | David Driscoll | Went up when they took over Sun Glass Hut because they increase market share | 2001-03-16 | |
| TOP PICK | 15.700 | David Driscoll | Growing at 25% a year. | 2001-02-28 |
