Digital Billboard Maker Daktronics had a dissappointing fourth quarter. Here are the highlights from the company’s earnings release and the Seeking Alpha earnings transcript.

•  Revenues for the three months ended April 30, 2016 declined by 12% to $138 million and the company had a net loss of $2.9 million for the quarter due to high warranty expenses relating to a display performance issue.

• The company’s commercial unit sales, which include billboards, declined by 20% to $36 million for the three months ended April 30, 2016

• Daktronics CEO Reece Kurtenbach stated that Daktronics has broadened its product line by developing  “a family of outdoor products that provide more competitive pricing along with performance levels targeted at specific applications. One such application is for out of home advertisers that have short term operating requirements of three to five years which drives similar expectations of product life.”  Insider thinks this must be the Daktronics Gold Series product line.

• Kurtenbach expects Daktronic’s billboard business to be stable in fiscal 2017:  “The commercial billboard markets are expected to be at similar levels as last year. In all business units, we continue to have returning customers…   Our marketplace is competitive, however, we continue to experience price pressures from Asian competitors entering the U.S. markets, we also continue to see these low cost competitors target international markets, which we believe has had some impact in our international order volume. This pressure and the dynamic role of the economy seems to have impacted decision timeline and depress orders in some areas which may continue in the near term.”

• Daktronics is in strong financial condition with $53 million of cash and marketable securities and a Debt/Worth of 0.74:1.0.  Insider remembers from his days in banking that a company with a debt/worth less than 1:1 is low leveraged.

Insider’s take: A major US LED sign manufacturers admit to feeling the heat from low cost asian competitors.  Insider wonders if this condition will intensify as Anthem Displays enters the market.  Good if you are a billboard buyer.