Moving on to MRV’s financial performance during its first quarter of the year, we can affirm that the company has achieved significantly improved financial results. MRV reported revenues of $38.8 million, compared to the $42.3 million figure reported during the first quarter of 2014. The company managed to achieve an increase in its consolidated gross margins, increasing to 35.8% from 31.3% over the previous year. This increase was achieved thanks to the higher gross margins in its Network Equipment business, which we mentioned above. The segment had gross margins of 52.0% for the most recent quarter. Furthermore, the GAAP net loss of the company was $0.15 per share, compared to the loss of $0.58 reported in the first quarter of the previous year. In the meantime, the non-GAAP net loss reached a figure of $0.07 per share, compared to $0.47 per share a year ago. To conclude with, as a result of the high-growth of its Network Equipment Business, MRV Communication has experienced strong financial performance, which is expected to continue strengthening in the upcoming months. It is also worth mentioning that the shares of MRV have increased by nearly 21% year-to-date thanks to an increase of over 25% during the previous week, as the company may finally be achieving the promise Martin saw in it last year when he opened his position. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies held the next largest position in MRV of the funds we track, though significantly smaller at just 18,300 shares.
Let’s briefly go through William Martin’s three other top stock picks now. Raging Capital Management held its position in Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ:VTSS) unchanged at 14.32 million shares worth $76.05 million as of March 31. At the end of April, Microsemi Corporation and Vitesse Semiconductor successfully merged, completing Microsemi’s acquisition of Vitesse. On April 28, Vitesse notified the NASDAQ of its intent to remove its shares from listing. Therefore, it seems that William Martin has gained substantially on his investment in Vitesse, by receiving $5.28 per share upon the completion of the merger.
Moreover, Martin’s firm has taken a long position in Range Resources Corporation (NYSE:RRC) of 1.28 million shares, which are valued at $66.46 million. The shares of the company have dropped 7% since the beginning of the year and are now trading at nearly $50 per share. Despite the fact that the Texas-based company has been experiencing a few problems lately, a potential recovery of gas prices could result in a turnaround of the company. Within our database, John Scully’s SPO Advisory Corp represents the largest investor in Range Resources Corporation (NYSE:RRC) with 5.39 million shares.
Lastly, Raging Capital Management decreased its equity stake in Ply Gem Holdings Inc (NYSE:PGEM) by 21,536 shares, ending the first quarter with 3.57 million shares valued at $46.40 million. Although the shares of Ply Gem have decreased by nearly 12% year-to-date, the company is expected to achieve high organic growth besides its recent acquisition of Simonton Windows that will boost the momentum of sales. Thomas Claugus’ GMT Capital is the second-largest shareholder in Ply Gem Holdings Inc (NYSE:PGEM), with 1.25 million shares, right behind Martin’s fund.
Disclosure: None
