They say raise fresh funding when you’re able to, not when you need to. Compound wafer developer IQE (IQE:AIM) seems to have taken this advice to heart, tapping in to the wave of positive investors sentiment towards the company right now, and importantly, its shares.
The Cardiff-based business, which designs semiconductor materials for mobile phones, radar, laser applications and much more, has raised £95m of growth cash.
For the record, the billion pound-plus business reported net debt of £41.9m at half year results in September versus £197m of net assets.
But what is particularly interesting about the cash call (first announced after market close yesterday, but confirmed today) is the response from the market.
The share placing was priced at 140p per share. The shares closed on Thursday at 140p, so a zero discount was needed to convince investors to plough in extra money.
A VERY RARE RESPONSE
Yet as the market opened today the share price shot up, hitting 161.75p. That’s a 15.5% jump. This sort of reaction is very rare and sends a very clear message? investors think this company is a big winner and its shares are going to the stars.
Unconfirmed rumours that IQE technology is in the latest iPhones from Apple is the main reason for this excitement, although there are other promising industry product lines too.
To read the details feel free to read Shares previous stories from August, July and June.
Shares first flagged this emerging growth story back in September 2016, when the shares were changing hands for 30.25p, and have followed it closely ever since.
