LEICA on the Stock Market... The stock of Leica Camera has been traded since 1996. It has trended DOWN since the initial offering, which was around $27/share, and today is trading near all-time lows (around $5/share) It is very lightly traded. Will it ever turn around? Who knows! Charts can be viewed at www.BigCharts.com >>>In the field that say "Enter Symbol", enter this DE:646000 I believe stock prices can be quoted in several different currencies.

-- Frank Horn (owlhoot45@hotmail.com), November 06, 2001

Answers

For those who have access to a Bloomberg terminal type LCA(space)DR equity {go} then BQ {go} for the most comprehensive financial information and news available on Leica Camera. See specifically 9/27 news release re: Sales and contingencies

-- Brooks (bvonarx@home.com), November 06, 2001.

I love Leicas but DE:646000 will always trade at a low multiple. Let's face it... Leica is not a growing company and the margins on their products must be kept high to account for low sales volumes. I think in all likelyhood Leica will someday be bought out by Minolta or Kyocera of Japan. With the way Minolta outsources things and with their excellent margin structure it would be to Leica's advantage to work with them. Besides, Leica and Minolta have collaborated in the past on the CL and the R series it should be like "reviving a past love affair".

-- John (ouroboros_2001@yahoo.com), November 06, 2001.

Actually the Bloomberg code would be LCA GR . GR not DR. But since the vast majority of forum readers do not have the expensive bloomberg terminal I dont know why we bother to show bloomberg codes except to show off that we have it...
Also Leica trades at a P/E of around 43.5 today so that is a high multiple. Why? I guess people (Hermes included) put a high value on the brand name and future revenue possibilities. The market capitalization right now is only 26 million euros so in a way it is quite cheap. Hermes offered 17 million euros for their 30% stake last year. I wonder why dont some of us Leica fans in banking dont get together and buy them out and try to make a move in the market. Although this Cohn guy maybe isnt too bad...

-- Russell Brooks (russell@ebrooks.org), November 09, 2001.

Show off? I think not russel old boy. Just a case of poor typing and trying to be helpful where I can. BTW any half decent county or city library has a Bloomberg terminal right next to its' Value Line.

-- Brooks (Bvonarx@home.com), November 09, 2001.

When LCA stock first came out, I bought some share of LCA from Franfurt exchange. It went up for a bit, then went south. After holding for a oouple of years hoping it went back up, but never happended. Eventually dump it.

It is a disaster.

I think Leica eventually may be bought out by Japanese, Chinese or Korean company

-- martin tai (martin.tai@capcanada.com), December 02, 2001.

ps, if you are thinking "invest" in Leica stock, forget it.

It will be better off to buy Northern Telecom NT , Lucent LU Handspring, or QQQ

-- martin tai (martin.tai@capcanada.com), December 02, 2001.