(MONEY Magazine) – YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER to profit from a blockbuster movie anymore. For just $37, you can buy a share in the company whose products helped create True Lies, Ah-nold's James Bond send-up.

That company is AVID TECHNOLOGY, eight years old and the leader in film, video and audio digital equipment. The Tewksbury, Mass. concern has $203.7 million in revenues, and analysts are projecting $390 million for 1995. It's strength lies in its products' quality and compatibility. No other company has the full range of video production offerings that Avid has. Both filmmakers and broadcast news teams can record images and then edit them on one integrated system. In January, Avid acquired Digidesign, the leading developer of digital audio software and systems for the professional music, film, video and multimedia industries. Analyst Jonathan Stone of Adams Harkness & Hill in Boston estimates that digital audio sales will be 15% of revenues this year, up from 4% in 1994.

A company in a cutting-edge technical field, Avid impresses analysts by its commitment to growth. Last year it devoted 12% of net revenues -- twice its annual income -- to research and development. The innovative products that emerge from that plush pipeline include the new CamCutter camera for TV and cable news reporting that records images on lightweight computer disk rather than on bulky film.

Stone believes that the CamCutter will allow Avid to penetrate the broadcast market, a rich but still relatively untapped field for the firm. He projects impressive earnings growth of 37% this year-and a sizzling 52% if profits are restated to reflect the acquisition of Digidesign -- on the strength of new and enhanced products. Avid trades at 27 times earnings, and Prudential Securities' B. Alex Henderson thinks the stock can reach $50 in the next 18 months, a 28% jump. That would be as impressive as Ah-nold's leap from sweaty bodybuilder to suave Bond.

--Jeanhee Kim