Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Kopin seeks $15M stock repurchase

By Efrain Viscarolasaga

Taunton-based Kopin Corp., a maker of liquid crystal displays and other electronic components, has initiated a stock repurchase program, aimed at retrieving $15 million worth of the company’s common stock.

Kopin (Nasdaq: KOPN) will finance the repurchase program using available cash and will buy stock from both the common market and privately negotiated transactions. The company currently has approximately 67.8 million shares of common stock outstanding, with a value of $1.96 per share, as of Dec. 5, 2008, and it boasts $92 million in cash and equivalents on hand.

Officials offered no long-term strategy behind the move, except to say they believe the stock is currently undervalued, and the program will be a “prudent use of capital that underscores (the company’s) commitment to building long-term value for shareholders.”

Earlier this month, Kopin was awarded a three-year, $3.1 million contract from the U.S. military for displays used in weapon sights. In a previous deal, the company was awarded $4.2 million for a U.S. Army program aimed at speeding up production and improving the performance of the company’s CyberDisplay SXGA LVR microdisplay.

In the third quarter of this year, the 360-person company reported $30.7 million in revenue, a jump of $5 million over the previous quarter and $1 million over the same period in 2007. In the first three months of 2008, Kopin reported $85.7 million in total revenue, an increase of $16.5 million over last year.