Western Digital’s flash memory production at two Japanese fabs it runs in a joint venture with Kioxia “returned to normal” last week after the contamination of materials used in its manufacturing processes halted operations earlier in February, said the company Thursday. Western Digital’s “flash availability” will be reduced by about 7 exabytes (7 billion gigabytes), mainly in the second half of its fiscal 2022 ending in early July, “as the facilities ramp back to full production output,” it said. Dell Technologies warned last week of a resulting supply “gap” and rising prices in a “commodity that is in great demand” (see 2202250003).

Wedbush Securities upgraded Logitech’s rating to “outperform" from “neutral,” because the stock is trading at a “steep discount” to the company's historical multiple and “at a disconnect relative to its peers,” analyst Michael Pachter wrote investors Tuesday. Logitech “still has to trudge through the mud of tough comparisons and a difficult supply chain environment" before it returns to recent performance levels, assuming "demand remains strong and the company can show re-accelerating growth" in video conferencing, webcams and gaming "after lapping the difficult post-pandemic comps and overcoming current supply chain constraints,” said the analyst. Logitech is well-positioned to capture a “sizeable share” of growth in PC peripherals and video conferencing on strong hybrid work, esports and online community trends, he said. Shares closed at $74.52 Tuesday. Logitech's annual investor day is Thursday.

The FTC for the second time extended its deadline for public comment on how supply chain disruptions are affecting competition in consumer goods and retail markets, said the agency Friday. Comments are now due March 14 in docket FTC-2021-0068.

Higher hardware component and shipping costs drove a 42.7% net income decline to $9.1 million at Alarm.com in Q4, said the company Thursday. Revenue grew 18% to $195.3 million with software-as-a-service (SaaS) and licensing revenue growing 15.4% to $121.7 million, it said. The company instituted an 8%-9% price increase, which varied “dramatically” by SKU, said CEO Steve Trundle, on an earnings call. Customers have been in an “understanding kind of mode” on price increases “at the moment,” he said. Competitors also pushed through multiple price increases last year, “so I think most of our service providers were conditioned to expect something," he said; customers are now working through the process of increasing prices to their customers. Q4 gross margin was 11.1% vs. 15.2% in Q3; Trundle expects margins to return to 20%. Alarm.com had “solid demand" for its smart home technology in the quarter, with its home builder program a “bright spot,” Trundle said, saying 18 of the top builders use its systems, some standard in new home developments. He highlighted the company’s AI software for monitoring stations and Alarm response events, which provides a real-time determination to the monitoring station about the likelihood that the property owner will cancel an alarm, so operators can prioritize multiple alarm events. The company’s visual verification service provides critical information to public safety dispatchers, he said, and last year, it began deploying video analytics capabilities to deter break-ins. Upsells are a hardware growth driver, led by video camera sales that grew 36% year on year, he said. Trundle sees more room for growth because service providers have been focused on 3G upgrades “in terms of going back to the existing customers.” He also referenced upgrade opportunities with the company's smart water value and Flex sensor. Chief Financial Officer Steve Valenzuela said video analytics should raise dollar retention rates. Rates could see a “slight decline” due to 3G upgrades, he said. The Q1 outlook is for SaaS and license revenue ranging from $121.million to $121.2 million. For the year, it forecasts SaaS and license revenue of $508 million-$509 million and total revenue of $808 million-$819 million. Shares reached a 52-week low Friday at $60.70 before closing 5.5% lower at $65.23.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association should begin talks on a new labor deal for the West Coast ports as soon as possible “in the hopes of achieving a new contract before the June 30 contract expiration,” National Retail Federation CEO Matthew Shay wrote the leadership of both groups Thursday. “As many expect the supply chain disruptions to continue through 2022, contract negotiations should not lead to additional pressures or disruptions to the supply chain,” said Shay. Reaching agreement on a new contract well before its expiration would benefit the U.S. economy and provide “the needed certainty to all the stakeholders in the supply chain that rely on the U.S. West Coast ports,” he said. “We would further ask that you issue a statement committing to the commencement of meaningful negotiations now, and to commit to continue negotiating and working without interruption, even if negotiations extend beyond the June 30 contract expiration.” The ILWU and PMA didn’t comment. They agreed in August 2017 to extend their contract to July 1, 2022, covering more than two dozen ports in California, Oregon and Washington.

Though Universal Electronics Inc. and its customers are struggling with supply chain and logistics, the company continues to evolve toward advanced remote controls that make it easier for consumers to navigate multiple services and use voice control for critical functions such as content discovery, Colliers analyst Steven Frankel wrote investors Monday. UEI “remains the leading supplier of these solutions,” said the analyst, saying the company can meet the needs of customers in the CE, MVPD and home control markets. Component shortages will likely limit UEI growth this year, Frankel says, but it’s “a question of when, not if, growth returns.” Colliers modeled a 5% revenue drop for Q4 at $148.6 million. UEI reports earnings Thursday.

The disruptions at the Detroit-Windsor Ambassador Bridge and other U.S.-Canada crossings from blockades of Canadians protesting Ottawa’s COVID-19 restrictions “are adding to the significant supply chain strains on manufacturers and other businesses in the United States,” said the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers and Business Roundtable Thursday. Businesses are working "to find workarounds and keep facilities up and running, but we are already seeing some production cuts, shift reductions, and temporary plant closures,” said the groups. They urged the Canadian government “to act swiftly to address the disruption to the flow of trade and its impact on manufacturers and other businesses on both sides of the border.”

Imports at major U.S. retail ports are expected to grow only “modestly” during 2022's first half, giving a “welcome break” to the supply chain bottlenecks at the Port of Los Angeles and other U.S. entry points, reported the National Retail Federation Wednesday. “We’re not going to see the dramatic growth in imports we saw this time last year, but the fact that volumes aren’t falling is a clear sign of continued consumer demand,” said Jonathan Gold, NRF vice president-supply chain and customs policy. “The slowdown in cargo growth will be welcome as the supply chain continues to try to adapt to these elevated volumes.” U.S. ports handled 2.09 million 20-foot-long cargo containers and their equivalents in December, 1.2% fewer than in November and a 1% year-over-year decline, said NRF. Imports for all of 2021 totaled 25.8 million containers, a 17.4% increase over 2020’s record high of 22 million, it said. NRF forecast ports will handle 13 million containers during the first half, up 1.5% from a year earlier but exponentially lower than the 35.7% year-over-year increase in 2021's first six months, said the association.

The global supply chain “remains stressed” from COVID-19 pandemic disruptions, including port congestion and transport delays, plus labor and raw materials “availability challenges,” said Energizer Holdings CEO Mark LaVigne on an earnings call Monday for fiscal Q1 ended Dec. 31. “We took a proactive approach by investing in incremental inventory” for the holiday quarter, he said. “This decision paid dividends, as we were positioned to meet our customers’ and consumers’ needs,” he said. “We expect to operate with elevated safety stock for the foreseeable future.”

The National Retail Federation hailed Thursday's introduction in the Senate of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act as a tool that would "modernize the international maritime transportation system." The 1984 Shipping Act "has remained untouched" for decades, "complicating supply chain disruption issues and adding to port congestion," said David French, NRF senior vice president-government relations. "Now more than ever, it is essential that we prioritize and invest in changes to support a modern-day transportation system." The bipartisan Senate bill, a companion version of legislation that cleared the House in December, was sponsored by Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., would hold ocean carriers accountable for unfair shipping practices. It would also require carriers to submit quarterly reports on total import and export tonnage per vessel and grant the Federal Maritime Commission new investigative and enforcement authorities to curb possible wrongdoing.