Daniel, thanks for your reply, and I think you have it right -- we differ in our opinion of both Versant as well as the profile of a good short.
As for the financial stability of the Company, cash flow is positive, sales are increasing and shareholder's equity has improved dramatically over the past twelve months. Again, not the ideal balance sheet, but the Company has worked the problem well over the past year and I expect further improvement. As for demonstrated competency by management, Nick Ordon has turned this company around in the past eighteen months and has met the goals that he articulates in each conference call. Being short the stock, I'm sure you listened to the last call as Nick outlined the three areas of business concentration and the potential for each.
As for the "fluff" in press releases, go back and read a few of the early releases from AOL, Redhat, Rambus, White Pine Software, Real Networks, etc. and you will find a healthy discussion of alliances without mention or promise of specific revenue....go figure. Again, I think the glass is half full and getting fuller every day.
As for potential, study the Ericsson deal, IBM relationship and ecommerce opportunities and you'll get a feel for the size of the potential market. Do I think VSNT is the next Oracle? No, but I think the future is bright and the potential market is growing in size. Again, not my idea of a good short candidate.
Daniel, perhaps you have spoken with management about your concerns, if not, I would encourage you to do so. They can share information about the debt-to-equity conversion and new bank line of credit that may ease your financial concerns. I also doubt that IBM would be growing a relationship with a Company about to go under, let alone be introducing Versant to WebSphere customers, who happen to be very large and very sophisticated. I suspect we will see more IBM/Versant wins in the near future.
In any event, let's let the market decide the fate of Versant. My money's long. |
