XYBERNAUT EXPECTS REVENUES TO BEAT FIVE DUMBEST THINGS ON WALL STREET NUMBERS
The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street
5. Sorry, Wrong Numbers
As a follow-up to last week's report about a curious correction from mining company Century Laboratories (CYLI:OTC BB - news - commentary - research - analysis), we've located another one, this time from wearable-computer company Xybernaut (XYBR:Nasdaq - news - commentary - research - analysis).
In a July 1 press release, the company reiterated guidance for the second quarter ended one day earlier, and CEO Edward G. Newman proudly announced, "We begin the third quarter with the largest backlog in the company's history."
Two days later, however, the company had a different story. In a press release issued while we at the research lab all were heading out to the beach for a long July Fourth weekend, Xybernaut said in fact that revenue for the second quarter looked to be about 30% below Monday's so-called guidance, because "significant orders outside the U.S. did not occur as anticipated."
Not only that, but Newman had misspoken Monday when talking about Xybernaut's record backlog -- a term usually applied to orders on hand but not fulfilled. It wasn't the backlog that was at record levels, said Xybernaut; it was the company's "current pipeline of potential orders."
Oops. Well, we have a message for all the shareholders who bought after Monday's reiteration -- the stock jumped as high as 53%, to 84 cents -- but before Wednesday's retraction, after which shares fell back to 60 cents. In the world of wearable computers, sometimes things aren't exactly black and white. |
