17th Jan 2022 15:29
(Alliance News) - A positive business update from Alphawave IP Group PLC on Monday gave its share price a much-needed boost, but the London technology stock still has a long way to go to get back to where it started.
Shares in the connectivity technology provider were up 10% at 193.00 pence each on Monday afternoon in London. However, they remain priced at less than half the 410p they fetched in the company's initial public offering back in May last year.
At the time, Alphawave had a market capitalisation of GBP3.10 billion, making it the fifth biggest company that listed on the London Main Market in 2021, only just behind the GBP3.40 billion of Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd. Now, Alphawave's equity value is just GBP1.28 billion, while Oxford Nanopore's is GBP4.50 billion.
Alphawave shares peaked at 451.60p in early August but dropped at the end of September, after the Financial Times newspaper reported that Alphawave hadn't adequately disclosed related-party transactions. The article prompted Alphawave to defend itself, saying it is "committed to strong governance and transparent reporting"; however, the stock showed little recovery before now.
In a trading update on Monday, Alphawave said it exceeded its total booking guidance for 2021 on a "strong booking performance" and multiple chiplet design wins in its fourth quarter.
A chiplet is a sub processing unit used in combination to create computer processors.
The London and Toronto-based firm said total new bookings in the fourth quarter of 2021 totalled USD25.5 million. The new bookings were primarily driven by new North American and South Korean customers, Alphawave noted.
Bookings for 2021 as a whole amounted to USD244.7 million. This was more than tripled from total bookings of USD75 million in 2020 and exceeded the target the company set out at the time of its IPO.
Bookings were in line with the guidance the company provided in September that anticipated bookings would exceed USD230 million.
Alphawave credited the "strength" of its pipeline and the signing of new global customers as part of its chiplet strategy.
Alphawave diversified its sales streams in the past year by closing its first chiplet design wins. These were for the North American and Chinese markets. Initial royalties of all chiplet design wins are expected in 2023, it added.
"We are pleased to have surpassed our original bookings estimates provided during the initial public offering, and even our own expectations for the year." Chief Executive Tony Pialis stated.
By Abby Amoakuh; [email protected]; and Tom Waite; [email protected]
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