TANN day high.. almost perfect uptrend since it IPOed'.. starting to look a tad overbought but still strong but the real uptrend is about 6 days old.
DENVER, Colo.October 26 (CBS.MW) -- Investors quickly unloaded shares of Tanning Technology on Tuesday, cashing in profits on a stock that one analyst said is worth holding onto given the strong long-term fundamentals the company has in place.
Shares closed down 8 15/16 to 37 -- a sell-off that came on the heels of a 70 percent run-up in the stock prior to the company's third-quarter earnings report. On Wednesday afternoon, shares were trading down further, at 35 5/8.
Earlier in the week, the Denver, Colo.-based company (TANN: news, msgs) said third-quarter revenue was $16 million, up 74 percent year over year.
Net income came to $449,000 or 2 cents a share. That's in line with the consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by First Call. A year ago, the company earned $2 million, or 13 cents a share.
E-commerce provider
Tanning Technology builds systems for e-commerce transactions, maintains large databases, processes orders, and bills clients' customers via the Internet.
"The longer-term prospects of this company are very good," said Mark Wolfenberger, an analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston who has a "buy" rating on the shares. "Anybody who is selling here is simply a short-term momentum investor who probably doesn't understand the story."
That story has been primarily driven by optimism for fast-growing Internet services business such as Viant (VIAN: news, msgs) and Sapient Corp. (SAPE: news, msgs).
Wolfenberger sees a few fundamentals in place that bode well for the company, including the fact that the Tanning has one of the highest bill rates in the industry at $197 per hour per head. Even more impressive, he said, is Tanning's low 2 percent turnover rate in an environment where companies are seeing an acceleration.
Additionally, Tanning has one of the highest gross margins, or amount of money earned per dollar of revenue, in the industry, which was at 51 percent in the third quarter.
Big customers
Since 1993, Tanning has also supported numerous customers, including Blockbuster (BBI: news, msgs), E-Trade [egrp], FedEx, and RR Donnelley (DNY: news, msgs).
"E-Trade is paying (Tanning Technology) a million dollars a month," the analyst said. "That's the sophistication of the work they are doing."
Once again, take a look at the strong financial underpinnings for this company. As far as long-term debt goes, the company has none. Tanning also has a market capitalization of $643 million, and its balance sheet is healthy, with total assets of $66 million reported as of the fiscal third quarter.
"There's very little you could pick apart in the quarter," said Wolfenberger. The analyst raised his 12-month price target to $55 from $25.
He also raised fiscal 2000 revenue estimates to $80 million from $70 million, and upped earnings per share to 12 cents from 10.
PaineWebber analyst Andrew Burns maintained his "buy" rating on the shares, saying the company is well positioned to continue its rapid pace of growth and provide investors with strong upside potential over the next year. |
