HMS Networks AB (publ) (HMS.ST) : juste valeur

Thèse ACCE

HMS Networks sells industrial communication gateways and network products, chiefly the Anybus and Ixxat lines, that let factory machines and building systems talk to each other across different fieldbus and Ethernet protocols. Its moat is mostly switching cost and protocol breadth: once a device maker designs an Anybus module into a product, that choice tends to stick for the product's life, and the company gets 63.3% gross margins and a 23.9% operating margin from it. Revenue growth of 17.6% is running well ahead of what most industrial automation peers manage, and the business benefits from the industrial shift to Ethernet-based and IIoT connectivity. The stock is not cheap on earnings, trading at 43.2 times trailing and 40.4 times forward earnings, so the question for a deeper look is whether that growth persists long enough to justify the multiple. With no index membership and a 15.8% return on equity, the name sits in a niche that is easy to overlook but needs checking against the valuation.