Out Fox The $treet

Recent IPOs in the enterprise flash-storage segment have had very different trading outcomes. The more recent IPO of Nimble Storage ( NYSE: NMBL     )  performed much better than expected, while Violin Memory ( NYSE: VMEM     ) pretty much tanked a few months prior. The companies offer different paths to solve the growing complexity of data-storage requirements of enterprises and data centers. The traditional disk-storage systems aren't adequate enough to meet the storage and performance requirements of the modern data world. The data-storage industry is estimated by IDC and Gartner to reach approximately $63.8 billion for both storage systems and software by 2017. Nimble estimates that the addressable market for its services will reach more than $35 billion by 2017, based on IDC estimates. Read the full article here . Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Small-Cap Insight Plenty of opportunity exists for Fusion-io ( FIO ) to be a major winner, but the company must improve execution. The potential to replace hard disk drives (HDDs) with flash-storage is enormous, but the company continues to spend too much on attracting new customers to generate much in the way of profits. Fusion-io aims to deliver the world's data faster via platform and defined storage solutions that accelerate virtualization, databases, cloud computing, big data and performance applications. It has long been primarily focused on Apple and Facebook as customers, but it has spent the last year transitioning to more enterprise and other hyperscale customers for diversification. Has the company finally reached the next growth phase that will push the stock higher? Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

The recent IPO of flash-storage provider Violin Memory ( NYSE: VMEM     ) failed to impress the market due to several persistent issues including an auditors going concern doubt. The IPO process can be very volatile and investors need to look no further than the Facebook IPO to see how a disappointing market reaction can quickly turn around. The major problem with Violin Memory was the shocking level of losses. The company lost so much money over the last six months that it likely had to raise money. Another factor in the recent pricing weakness has been the horrible market trading of other flash-storage providers Fusion-io ( NYSE: FIO     ) and OCZ Technology ( NASDAQ: OCZ     ) . Does the recent weakness provide a buying opportunity for patient long-term investors? Read the full article here . Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Anybody that has invested in Fusion-io  (NYSE: FIO ) since the IPO back in 2011 probably has given up on catalysts for a rebound. The stock originally plunged as top customers Apple and Facebook supposedly reduced spending for the short-term, yet it has now led to the founders leaving the company, further questioning its growth potential. The leader of server-side flash storage has seen a lack of growth in the two more » Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

As the Federal Reserve hints at tapering the bond buying program over the next year, cyclical stocks including technology should become interesting buys. Tech stocks have underperformed the market rally over the last year as investors have piled into high yielding stocks as bond yields hit extremely low levels. Now that money should flood out of those stocks and bonds into growth stocks. The main reason the Fed would stop more » Disclosure: Long INVN and MM. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

After the close on Wednesday several technology firms reported earnings with vastly different stock reactions. In the tech world, earnings season tends to be a moment of wild swings. The stock reaction can be nothing more than expectations getting out of hand and investors turning too bearish or the result of a shift in the business fundamentals. Either way, the moves highlight the problems with investors getting too bullish or bearish as most stocks tend to eventually revert to the mean average. In the after hours action, investors got a prime example of what happens when a market leader makes a move in one direction. The likelihood exists that the stock will revert to the mean eventually and no better time exists than an earnings report. This exact scenario occurred in the earnings reports for Akamai Technologies ( AKAM ) , Equinix, Inc. ( EQIX ) , and Fusion-io, Inc. ( FIO ) on Wednesday night. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: No positions men...

This enterprise storage maker continues to struggle as major customers pulled back on short-term orders to end 2012. This caused the stock of Fusion-io ( FIO ) to crater back to all-time lows below $16. The company is a leader in delivering storage solutions that accelerate virtualization, databases, cloud computing, and big data. It is a play on the trend of storage conversion from hard disk drives to solid state drives (SSDs) or flash memory. SSDs have advantages that include immediate start-up, energy efficiency, faster, and no movable parts making them less breakable. The sector is one of the fastest growing around, but the leading public companies continue to struggle with all of the stocks trading near lows. Both OCZ Technology Group ( OCZ ) and STEC ( STEC ) have had issues either with past executives or financial reporting. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long AAPL and short FB. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. ...

Even with the recent supply issues of competitor OCZ Technology (OCZ) , Fusion-io (FIO) remains a market leader so far unaffected by the supposed supply issues in the solid state drive (SSD) sector. The stock is generally considered expensive, but once compared to other tech stocks, the relative valuation in the sector and the stock appears clearer. The company is a leader in delivering storage solutions that accelerate virtualization, databases, cloud computing, and big data. The sector is one of the fastest growing around, with the two leading companies reporting revenue growth in the 80% range recently. But why are the companies trading at lower valuations than other hot tech stocks? Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long OCZ. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Anybody following the stock or the solid-state drives (SSDs) industry has probably seen the drama with OCZ Technology (OCZ) over the last few weeks. Several influential journalists reported that a deal was done with Seagate Technology (STX) for over $1B, valuing the stock at close to $15. Unfortunately weeks have passed without a deal announcement and the stock that shot up to over $8 in after market trading on July 27th now trades under $5. On top of that news, the CFO announced his retirement last week adding more fuel to the speculation fire. Not to mention the annual shareholders meeting took place on Monday eliciting investor hopes of noteworthy news. At times like this, investors need to understand what they own with a clear defined plan for exciting the position. A smart investor either took advantage of the price spike or is now loading up shares as the rumors fade. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Dsiclosure: Long OCZ. Please review the disclaimer page for more de...

After it released its Q1 2013 earnings report on July 10th, OCZ Technology (OCZ) dropped over 20% in a matter of days. Importantly, though, the stock did not hit a new 52 week low below $4.14, suggesting that maybe the worst was finally over for long suffering shareholders. The leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems met on the revenue line and missed on the bottom line. So naturally the 20% selloff must've been justified with a earnings miss? Earnings Miss The company reported a $0.17 loss versus expectations of a $0.12 loss. The bigger than expected loss cemented all of the fears of the longs and encouraged the shorts to press further on the stock. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclsoure: Long OCZ. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

The more I review the numbers, the more the plan from OCZ Technology (OCZ) makes sense. The company reported Q4 2012 earnings last week that mostly disappointed investors as the stock plunged 14% the day after the report. While OCZ Technology dramatically upped guidance for the current fiscal year that started in March, the Street was very disappointed that the company decided to push development expenses forward into Q4 2012 and Q1 2013. So even though the company guided to upward of $700 million in revenue from estimates down in the low $500 million range, investors appear more concerned about short-term losses. What stunned investors was that research and development expenses jumped over 100% sequentially to $13 million, from $6.6 million in Q3 2011. Other operating expenses jumped as well, leading to a nearly 75% increase, or $14 million more. If the company had chosen to growth expenses at the same rate of revenue, it would have been very profitable. Read the full article at S...

Back in February, OCZ Technology (OCZ) did a secondary at $9 to raise $110M. The company had recently faced low cash balances so analysts and investors a like were concerned about the need to raise funds. The company was always clear about the need to raise major funds would only occur if it signed a major customer. Fast forward to the Q412 earnings report last night and the company guided to nearly $700M in revenue for fiscal 2013 compared to estimates around $513M. Based on that, one would think the stock has now soared way beyond the secondary price.  Well that person would be mistaken. The stock has now plunged 50% from the highs around $10 shortly after the secondary while all but confirming a deal with the much speculated Facebook (FB) .  The company clearly stated in the conference call that it had a deal with a leading social media company not to mention numerous other data center customers. No to mention that Yahoo (YHOO) had forecasted a 3x increase in ...

Though Fusion-io (FIO) reported earnings that slightly beat estimates and revenue that handily beat estimates, the stock sold off 13% after hours. With 170% year-over-year revenue growth, the report made clear that the move to flash memory storage was gaining steam. Fusion-io provided revenue guidance for the next quarter that easily surpassed the Capital IQ analyst consensus, but that might also be weighing on the stock as investors tend to prefer more growth than basically flat sequential guidance. Read full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long OCZ. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Note: This was my submitted title to Seeking Alpha, but alas the editor changed it. Must not be a fan of Storage Wars . As cloud computing (data centers), smartphones, and tablets continue stratospheric growth rates, the market needs faster, more reliable, and less power-hungry storage options. The digital junk has to be stored somewhere, and these new devices don't have the storage capabilities of traditional desktop computers loaded with large hard disk drives. Enter the SSDs, or Solid State Drives (read The SSD Revolution for a good overview of the sector) which provides a better alternative than traditional hard drives, though at a higher cost. Between analysts raising estimates for Fusion-IO (FIO) and OCZ Technology (OCZ) upping estimates for Q4, the sector has startling growth potential for 2012. Numbers that caught me by surprise. Read full article on Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: No position. Please review the disclaimer page for more details.