The Top 10 Hot Growth Companies
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Tessera Technologies
Talk about being in the right place at the right time. In the midst of the semiconductor industry downturn, San Jose (Calif.)-based Tessera Technologies spotted the need for companies to shrink their chips into ever smaller spaces and to shrink-wrap the packaging. Tessera is one of the few companies that tackles these tasks. Today, Matsushita, NEC (NIPNY), Sharp, and Sony (SNE) have licensed Tessera's technology for chips that go into cell phones, smart PDAs, and digital cameras.
In 2003, Tessera's revenue jumped 32%, on a 43% rise in net income. In 2004, sales rose another 95%, while operating income more than tripled to $35.6 million. Now CEO Bruce McWilliams is branching out in medical and defense sectors. Implantable hearing aids, which enable individuals with severe to profound hearing loss to perceive sound, now include Tessera technology.
Company Info
| STOCK INFO | TSRA |
| Market Value* | $ 1.2 BILLION |
| Total Return* | (1-yr.) 49.9%
(3-yr.) NA |
| 2004 sales | $ 72.7 MILLION |
| Sales Growth | (1-yr.) 94.9%
(3-yr.) 38.4% |
| Net income* | $ 59.1 MILLION |
| Net Income Growth | (1-yr.) 531.4%
(3-yr.) 200.5% |
| Net Margin* | 76.5% |
| Return on Equity* | 44.0% |
| Return on Invested Capital* | 44.0% |
| Industry | SEMICONDUCTORS & SEMICONDUCTOR EQUIPMENT |
| CORPORATE WEB SITE | |
*Trailing 12 months
Company data as of 4/29/05
provided by Standard & Poor's Compustat
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Company Snapshot
Tessera Technologies Inc. develops semiconductor-packaging technology that meets the demand for miniaturization of electronic products. The technology enables the production of smaller and faster semiconductors, which are used in a range of electronics products, including digital cameras, MP3 players, personal computers, personal digital assistants, video-game consoles, and wireless phones. Tessera's patented technology enables its customers to assemble semiconductor chips into chip-scale packages. The technology also enables multiple chips to be stacked vertically in a single three-dimensional multichip package.
Tessera also provides engineering, assembly, and infrastructure services. IT primarily offers its technology to customers in the U.S., Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and Europe. Tessera was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in San Jose, Calif.
No. of Employees
107
Data provided by 
