Comment ---> Stephens Road Trip with Messagemedia
You can do an internet fair with Goldman Sachs and have investors come to you, or you can take your dog and pony on the road with Stephens (Note: not to be confused with Robbie Stephens) and cash in on per diem.
View Stephens' comments here...
messages.yahoo.com
If you think about it, once you get your people in, you are better served making information like this available to the public with out registration but apparently, Stephens has yet to receive the "Try Harder" lecture from Avis.
It is not clear when this report was written, but Stephens initiated coverage of Messagemedia 12/15/99 #reply-12291534 so I assume it was sometime between now and then.
Excerpts
"We reiterate our BUY rating on the common shares of MESG with a 12-month price target of $26"
If anybody has set themselves up for an upgrade to a strong buy, Stephens has. Let's hope they make the call before the sleeper awakes.
"We expect additional management road shows with the Company over the next several weeks"
Makes me wonder if another private placement isn't in the works. Anyway, if you believe the earnings announcement was pushed back to Feb 10, this could be an explanation. You know, get 'em in before the surprise.
"4Q Expectations ...slightly over $5 million in revenues"
I'll accept their estimate of $5.0 million revenues in the upcoming earnings Guess-off.
"We have projected a 48% gross margin for the current quarter (99Q4) and believe gross margins could approach 60% in 2000."
This means, Messagemedia will become profitable sooner rather than later.
"In 2000, we expect acquisition activity to exceed 1999 levels."
OK, Stephens is predicting a minimum of three acquisitions for Messagemedia this year. This suggests Messagemedia will need to move MESG price higher. Also, reinforces the hint of another private placement. I suggest they approach Sonera as an institutional investor. Sonera could accelerate their move into wireless e-commerce in Eastern Europe.
"Despite its relative revenue strength, it continues to trade at a discount to the group. We attribute this... to the lack of a branding event accompanying an IPO."
This is a good one. In the vernacular, its called touting or hyping. Now, aren't you glad to know what they are talking about.
In short, Stephens left out the new buzz word on Messagemedia; ie, blue chip client. BTW, Robbie Stephens got it right #reply-12612557. |
