More today:
NEON's nasty downgrades
Not a nice day for New Era of Networks (NEON: news, msgs), a company that makes software linking incompatible computer programs. Its shares fell more than 60 percent after the company warned it'll report a loss due to slower revenue growth and acquisition costs. That led to more than a half-dozen downgrades by analysts who follow the stock, and at the NEON board at SiliconInvestor, the posters weren't hiding their dislike for the analyst community.
Makahadan: ..."There's a verse John Lennon forgot to put in 'Imagine.' Imagine there's an analyst. Who upgrades before a stock goes up. And downgrades before a stock goes down. You may say I'm a dreamer....." And from Susan Slaine: ..."Analysts are wicked, wicked. I have used this many times. Buy on a 'hold.' And sell on a 'buy.'"
Some NEON posters were trying to look at the big picture on earnings, or lack of them. Peter Granic: ..."There was an analyst's comment made about three weeks ago, on NEON, where he said most of this past quarter's sales should be back-ended, but he still expected them to close by quarter's end. I suppose for all people holding at the time, this was as much of a warning bell you could receive from analysts at the time. I guess you gotta read between the lines."
There are the hopeful, willing to ride out NEON's current storm. Joshi: ..."This company is expanding as are sales. It is a long term winner. There is always going to be a need for integration software and NEON is the leader. We just took a little hit. Ok, ok, a big hit, but better for buying. Buy it and hold it." And from Wealthy1: ..."I think we are seeing a bit of an overreaction here. Management holds close to 40 percent of the company stock, so I am quite confident they will be working late and out of bed early. This is part of the ups and downs of this industry. This looks like emotional selling. Too big a drop for what is not THAT bad of news."
Holding out hope for the company and blaming the analysts only worked for some. At least one poster puts the blame square on the shoulders of the company itself, and made the point in the form this bogus press release. Marathon Dabasir: ..."New Era of Networks today announced plans to rename the firm "NEOS to better illustrate its true identity to potential investors as the New Era of Sodomy. Company executives were not available for further comment. However, several members of the board were overheard yelling 'more KY Jelly please!' in a special closed-door session at company headquarters."
|
