W)Quick and loose on CPN
rated a Watch
Calpine is always in hot water. The independent power producer is the world's top geothermal operator, and it owns the largest producing geothermal resource, The Geysers, in northern California. Calpine has a net generating capacity of about 900 MW from geothermal power plants; the company has additional generating capacity of more than 2,400 MW through its stakes in gas-fired plants. Calpine owns interests in power plants in 11 US states. Through subsidiary Calpine Natural Gas (formerly Sheridan Energy), the company has 238 billion cu. ft. equivalent of proved reserves, 90% of which are natural gas.
06-Jun-00 14:00 -- 15:00 ET
Calpine Corp (CPN) 104 1/2 +6 1/2: CSFB reiterates STRONG BUY rating and price target of $148.
18-May-00 10:00 -- 11:00 ET
Calpine Corp (CPN) 112 1/2 +1 3/4: Announces 2-1 stock split;
16-May-00 14:00 -- 15:00 ET
Calpine Corp (CPN) 109 3/4 +3 5/8: CIBC Wrld Mkts initiates coverage with a STRONG BUY; CPN is a leading developer of new power plants in North America, and currently has the single-largest construction program underway in the industry; CPN?s competitive position should lead to annual earnings gains of 35% over the next 4-5 years; price target is $140-$150.
28-Mar-00 12:43 ET
Calpine Corp. (CPN) 85 11/16 +5 15/16: After two days of heavy selling, shares of this power generation facilities developer are starting to attract attention again as the company assures investors that there is nothing wrong with its accounting policies. On Friday, the stock lost more than 17% of its value when the Center for Financial Research and Analysis questioned Calpine's acquisition accounting methodology that might inflate revenue numbers. A lack of a formal response from the company to the accounting allegations prompted the stock to lose an additional 11% on Monday. However, late yesterday, management held a conference call with analysts and said that "there are no accounting issues to be worried about" and that it remains confident that Calpine will surpass Wall Street expectations for 2000. According to Calpine Chairman, President and CEO Peter Cartwright he said that the "current operating portfolio continues to perform ahead of our expectations, and we expect to exceed the current First Call consensus for earnings per share in 2000 of $2.26 -- 31% higher than 1999 results," in due part to higher electricity rates in California, Texas and New England. Even with the upbeat forecast and comments from Mr. Cartwright, however, the stock is still well below its recent high of $123 and Thursday's closing price of $108 9/16 as management was not initially aggressive in countering the accounting allegations. Like Tyco International, which suffered greatly late last year after a money manager and newsletter writer issued a cautionary report about the accounting manipulation that Tyco employs in its many acquisitions, any time an accounting issue is raised, management needs to address the issue head on because investors are likely to run for cover first and ask questions later. Failure to do so can cause long lasting damage to the stock. Today, Goldman Sachs raised its 2000 earnings per share estimate from $2.00 to $2.30 per share and its 2001 estimate from $2.30 to $2.75 and maintained its "recommended list" rating. But the damage has already been done as management failed to act quickly enough to set the record straight. - RN
52-Week Low
on 21-June-1999 $24.563
Recent Price $103.00
52-Week High
on 22-Mar-2000 $123.00
Market Capitalization $6.57B
Shares Outstanding 63.8M
Float 38.3M
Price/Book (mrq) 6.66
Price/Earnings (ttm) 56.59
Price/Sales (ttm) 6.79
Revs 145.9M to 190.7M to 263.6M to 247.5M to 235.4M Mar00
EPS 0.05 to 0.16 to 0.37 to 0.25 to 0.14 Mar00 per Hoovers
Bullish 10/50/200 EMA stack. Big dumping occirred in March.
Summary
Last quarter disapointing. PE higher than expect rev growth. I'll watch on this.
Jack |
