Wednesday, November 15, 2017

HP Introduces NEW HP PAGEWIDE XL MODELS

HP Introduces Faster PageWide XL Printers for Enhanced 
Technical Production
Demonstrates continued innovation for AEC at Autodesk 
University in Mars Home Planet showcase

LAS VEGAS, Nev., November 14, 2017 — Today at Autodesk University, HP Inc. announced new HP PageWide XL printers with sharp, up to 70 percent faster1 output, enabling technical production providers to grow AEC volume and expand business in color applications with the market-leading HP PageWide XL printer portfolio.

The new HP PageWide XL 5100 and HP PageWide XL 6000 printers and multifunction printers strengthen the fastest printer portfolio in the market2 to equip enterprise print rooms, central reprographic departments and reprographic houses for enhanced mid-volume production in both color and monochrome.
At speeds up to 24 D/A1-size prints per minute, the series delivers technical documents with quick turnaround and low operating costs3 for architects and engineers, in addition to geographic information system (GIS) maps and point-of-sale (POS) poster applications.
In its first-ever product demonstration at AU, Las Vegas, HP Booth (#A517), the HP PageWide XL 6000 Multifunction Printer is producing prints of HP Mars Home Planet Concept Phase submissions.

HP Mars Home Planet is a universe changing global effort to unite engineers, architects, designers, artists and students to imagine, design and experience life in an urban area for 1 million people on Mars. Participants are using Autodesk software to conceptualize, model and render images of future life on MarsThe winning designs will be printed and displayed during the show. Additionally, HP will showcase its latest workstations – the HP Z8, the most powerful PC on the planet,4 and the HP ZBook x2, the world’s most powerful and first detachable PC workstation 5.

“The debut of new HP PageWide XL printers is another giant leap on the HP journey to offer continued innovation in large format printing for the designers of the future,” said Guayente SanmartĂ­n, General Manager and Global Head, HP Large Format Design Printing. “The breakthrough PageWide XL platform with even faster printing speeds will also help our customers move the needle for business with immediate monochrome and color prints delivered from one unique printer.”

With more than 5,000 units shipped and 3 billion ft² (300 million m2) printed since the HP PageWide XL printer launch  in 2015, more customers are discovering the value the market-leading 6 HP PageWide XL printers bring to businesses worldwide. HP PageWide XL printers do the job of two printers in a single device, providing both monochrome and color prints at breakthrough speeds: the Power of One.

The HP PageWide XL 5100 prints at speeds up to 20 D/A1 pages per minute with quick 28-second first page out,  and the HP PageWide XL 6000 at 24 D/A1 size pages per minute with a 25-second first page out. The printers produce outstanding print quality, and are also available in multifunction configuration with copying and scanning for collaboration. Additional benefits include:
  • Set a new technical document standard with crisp lines, 2-point text, smooth grayscales, and vibrant color.
  • Print/scan/copy in monochrome and color with one single device in 50% of the time with a consolidated workflow.7
  • New advanced functionality for the integrated scanners such as smart background removal.
  • ISO 11798 certified HP PageWide XL pigment inks provide long-term storage, light/water resistance.8
  • Help keep data safe—self-encrypting HDD with AES-256, Secure Disk Erase, and IPSec.
New added-value capabilities
HP is also now offering increased productivity for the HP PageWide XL portfolio with new software solutions. HP SmartStream offers two new modules. Document Organizer lets the user automatically rename large volumes of files using innovative OCR technology, for saving time in job management. Using job pixel coverage, Pixel Analysis provides accurate quotes before printing. HP SmartTracker helps users control printing costs and enable reimbursement.
HP is also introducing new features for HP HD & SD Pro Scanners to improve operator productivity, image quality and background cleaning capabilities.  A new output tray streamlines both the scan and copy workflows.
Additional printers in the HP PageWide XL portfolio include:
·      The HP PageWide XL 8000 Printer offering high-end production printing at revolutionary speeds up to 30 D/A1-size prints per minute as well as two 775 milliliter ink cartridges per color with automatic switching and up to six rolls  more than 3,900 feet (1,200 meters) – of media for sustained productivity.
·      The HP PageWide XL 4500 Printer and MFP enabling cost- and security-conscious technical work teams of architects and engineers, to securely print up to 12 D/A1-size prints per minute at in-house print corners. 
·      The HP PageWide XL 4000 Printer and MFP allowing technical work teams and copy shops to produce 8 D/A1-size prints per minute, helping teams increase on-the-job productivity.
The HP PageWide XL 5100 and HP PageWide XL 6000 Printer series will be available in December in the US and Canada, and will be sold in other regions beginning in 2018. Specific country releases will follow.
For more information about the Mars Home Plant project, go to hp.com/go/mars.
To learn more on the benefits of PageWideXL go to hp.com/go/PowerofOne and hp.com/go/pagewidexl.

Friday, November 3, 2017

Is it time to BUY ARC shares, or not?

(Dates and $ amounts are per Google Finance.)

ARC went public at $14.00 per share back in early 2005. 

ARC’s highest price per share ever, at just north of $38.00, happened sometime around May 5, 2006.

Apparently, ARC’s all time lowest price per share, at around $2.14 per share, happened on March 1, 2013.

At 1:00pm (EST) this afternoon, ARC’s share price is $2.90.

At $2.90 per share, ARC’s market cap is $134.7 mil.


Reminder to reprographers, over the years, ARC completed many, many acquisitions (probably north of 75 different acquisitions), with the largest of those acquisitions being Ridgway’s for about $100 mil.  That means that, at a market cap of $134.7 mil, you get Ridgway’s PLUS all of the other companies ARC acquired, when you buy stock in ARC.

Thursday, November 2, 2017

ARC Document Solutions - Q3 2017 Results - Transcript of Earnings Call

Yesterday, ARC reported its Q3 2017 results (results for 3 months and 9 months ended September 30, 2017)

And, today, ARC’s stock plunged from yesterday’s closing price of $4.44 per share to today’s closing price of $3.48 per share, a plunge of 21.62%.  [During the day, ARC’s stock price plunged as low as $3.01 per share (per Google Finance’s reported intraday trading range), but it quickly rebounded from that low point, ending up at $3.48 at close.]  (This morning, while I was standing in line at Starbucks, I watched ARC’s stock at the open of trading and saw it fall about 24% within three minutes of the market open. Ouch!)

Yesterday afternoon, after ARC released its Q3 2017 results, ARC’s management team held an earnings call; apparently, only one stock analyst participated in the earnings call.

To read the TRANSCRIPT of the earnings call (to read what Suri, Dilo and Jorge said and to read ARC’s responses to the questions asked by the one analyst who asked questions, visit www.seekingalpha.com, enter ARC in the search window and that will bring up the earnings-call-transcript, which you can the either read on-line or download as a pdf.

One note about what was said (and not said) in the earnings call (per the transcript); although one of ARC’s management team members did talk about ARC’s “technology solutions”, there was not one specific mention of ARC’s “Skysite” technology/product.  My hunch is that the one participating analyst did not know enough about ARC’s technology solutions to ask questions about “Skysite.”

Finally, one of my long-time reprographics industry friends said to me today, “they should take the company private.”  I would not be at all surprised to see that happen down the road.

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My heart goes out to the ARC team members who were horribly affected by the hurricanes that hit Texas and Florida, especially to those in Texas who lost their homes.

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

This afternoon, ARC released its results for Q3 2017 (and for the first 9 months of 2017).

ARC reported a loss for the 3 month period; that loss attributable to a write-down of goodwill.

Just a hunch, but it sure looks like ARC's Sales for 2017 will come in under $400 million.

You can access a copy of the earnings release at e-arc.com (click on the Investor button at the bottom of ARC’s home page.)

Quick Snapshot of ARC’s Sales:

Annual Sales, year by year, most recent five years:
Calendar Year
Total Sales
2012
$406.12 million
2013
$407.19 million
2014
$423.76 million
2015
$428.67 million
2016
$406.36 million
2017 (year-to-date thru Q3)
$297.47 million

Quarterly Sales, quarter by quarter, year 2016:
Calendar Year
Total Sales
1st quarter, 2016
$103.55 million
2nd quarter, 2016
$103.77 million
3rd quarter, 2016
$100.44 million
4th quarter, 2016
$ 98.6 million

Quarterly Sales, quarter by quarter, year 2017:

Calendar Year
Total Sales
1st quarter, 2017
$ 98.7 million
2nd quarter, 2017
$102.3 million
3rd quarter, 2017
$ 96.46 million
4th quarter, 2017
$