This morning, Intel Corporation (Nasdaq: INTC) announced its intention to purchase Mobileye N.V. (NYSE: MBLY) in a deal reported by Jon Fortt with CNBC to be valued at near $15 billion. Mr. Fortt compared the acquisition with Intel's 2015 purchase of Altera, said to be worth near $17 billion. The CNBC reporter described the deal as "huge," and elaborated that Intel's new chief executive officer, 67-year-old Andy Bryant, is "continuing to make his mark in the post-P.C. era."
MBLY stock is up close to $14, or near 30 percent, in New York Stock Exchange morning trading.
INTC stock, by comparison, has been sold, on fairly heavy volume, near the daily average by 11 a.m. ET, down $0.74, or near 2 percent. MBLY stock is trading just below its all-time high of $64.48, which was set in August 2015. Mobileye has zero debt. The Wall Street analyst Mobileye earnings per share consensus, as reported by Yahoo Finance, is calling for growth of 42.5 and 51.9 percent for the current and coming fiscal years, respectively. Over the next five years, analysts forecast MBLY EPS growing at an average annual rate of 50.0 percent.
Silicon Valley continues push into virtual reality
The CNBC reporter explained that Mobileye is involved with "computer vision," and its technology is used to control automated cars, aiding with "collision avoidance," and removing blind spots.
Fortt described the goal of the company being one of a car that interacts "seamlessly" with the natural environment, requiring as little human input as possible. He noted that this is a big shift away from Intel's traditional P.C. business.
Fortt suggested that CNBC viewers consider the Mobileye-Intel deal in the "context" of QUALCOMM Incorporated's (Nasdaq: QCOM) purchase of NXP Semiconductors N.V.
(Nasdaq: NXPI), and held up the fact that NXP is also involved in with cars, less so with sensing the environment, and more with powering digital systems. The reporter described the deal as Silicon Valley pushing deeper into virtual reality, speaking of the eras not only "beyond the P.C.," but also "beyond the smartphone."
News of Intel-Mobileye deal puts high price on MBLY shares
When asked about the seeming high price of the deal, near $15 billion, for a company with trailing twelve-month revenue of $358 million, Mr.
Fortt noted that the price was lower than Facebook, Inc.'s (Nasdaq: FB) outlay to purchase WhatsApp. He cited Intel's poor record with acquisitions in the "consumer space," and added that the Intel-Mobileye deal brings the semiconductor bellwether into a new industry, away from an area where it has traditionally underperformed. Until today's announcement, the average price target for MBLY shares was $56.48 among the 21 firms providing targets, tracked by Yahoo Finance.