MRV Shares Up 10% on Analyst Comments

Shares of Chatsworth-based MRV Communications Inc. zoomed 10% on Wednesday after an analyst on financial network CNBC said the fiber-optic equipment maker’s businesses could fetch high values as individually traded companies.

MRV (ticker symbol: MRVC) surged $6.19 to a record $65.63 on Nasdaq. The stock has risen more than tenfold over the last year.

Rick Schottenfeld, general partner of Schottenfeld Associates, said MRV, a maker of routers, switches and other equipment that enhances the performance of telecommunications networks, is worth $200 to $400 a share if its businesses are looked at separately.

MRV’s competitors, including Juniper Networks and Sycamore Networks, have seen their shares rocket as rising Internet use spurs demand for networking equipment.

“They [MRV] are the CMGI of optical networking,” Schottenfeld said, comparing MRV with the Internet venture-capital company that has invested in a multitude of companies.

MRV has said previously it plans to spin off its optical-components unit, Optical Access, which Schottenfeld said could be worth as much as $25 to $50 a share separately.

“They are one of the opticals that haven’t been found yet,” said First Security Van Kasper analyst Chester White.

Another money manager recently touted MRV in Barron’s magazine, also on the premise that its parts are worth more than the whole.