Data I/O Corporation (NASDAQ:DAIO) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Data I/O Corporation (NASDAQ:DAIO) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totaling 29,534 shares, an increase of 1,012.8% from the April 30th total of 2,654 shares. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 77,129 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.4 days.

Data I/O Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:DAIO traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $4.23. The stock had a trading volume of 420,421 shares, compared to its average volume of 104,187. Data I/O has a 1 year low of $2.16 and a 1 year high of $4.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $2.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.88.

Data I/O (NASDAQ:DAIO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 15th. The electronics maker reported ($0.34) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $3.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.00 million. Data I/O had a negative return on equity of 54.33% and a negative net margin of 41.85%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Data I/O will post -0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Data I/O

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Penbrook Management LLC boosted its holdings in Data I/O by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Penbrook Management LLC now owns 356,850 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,131,000 after buying an additional 4,100 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its position in Data I/O by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 268,906 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $871,000 after acquiring an additional 5,675 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Data I/O by 45.4% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 22,402 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 7,000 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in Data I/O by 24.5% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 43,472 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $138,000 after acquiring an additional 8,555 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DRW Securities LLC acquired a new position in Data I/O during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Data I/O to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Data I/O in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Data I/O from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Data I/O has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5.11.

About Data I/O

Data I/O Corporation is a provider of device programming solutions for semiconductor and microcontroller manufacturers, test houses, contract manufacturers and electronics design engineers. The company’s product portfolio includes universal and site-specific programmers, automated programming systems and software tools that enable high-volume production, development and field programming of non-volatile memories and microcontrollers. Data I/O’s solutions are designed to support a wide range of programmable devices, including Flash, EPROM, EEPROM, PLDs, FPGAs and automotive-grade microcontrollers.

The company’s flagship technologies include its high-speed FlashCORE III programming engines and the SB-OS-A automated handling system, which together streamline production workflows by providing scalable, multi-site programming capabilities.