FYI, what do you think? rumors about the CEO from a guy named twister on the Buffettology thread came to my mind. He said the CEO was a crook and it would come to a bad end but I never could find out what he did or did not do in his previous job.
<<< dispute about accounting methods?
<<Lernout & Hauspie Dn 11% As Shorts And Longs Wage War
Dow Jones Newswires
NEW YORK -- Despite better-than-expected first-quarter earnings, shares of Belgium-based Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V. (LHSP) continued to lose ground Wednesday as short-sellers and backers of the stock slugged it out.
SG Cowen Securities Corp. analyst Rob Stone on Wednesday reiterated his firm's strong buy recommendation. The move came on the heels of the company's earnings report, released late Tuesday, showing an operating profit of 19 cents a diluted share for the quarter and beating Wall Street's expectation by 4 cents.
Stone told Dow Jones Newswires that he calls Lernout "everybody's favorite stock," because, he said, it has such a big following among short-sellers as well as the longs.
One such short-seller is David Rocker of Rocker Partners, a New York money management firm. Rocker told Dow Jones that he dislikes the company, its accounting methods and its management, criticizing all three areas. He also said he disagrees with some analysts' accounting techniques, and their ratings.
Rocker is among many critics who have long argued that the speech and linguistic technology firm's acquisitions mask slower growth in its underlying business. Part of the battle line between shorts and longs is over whether earnings should be measured on an operating cash basis or on net income.
Stone said of the critics: "These guys are wrong about this company."
Stone said he has followed the stock since before its 1995 U.S. initial public offering, and noted the history of short-sellers and their allegations. He said their criticism is unfounded.
But while reiterating his strong buy recommendation, Stone trimmed his operating cash earnings projection for 2000 to $1.63 a share from $1.78. The analyst raised his 2001 prediction to $2.45 a share from $2.30. The moves follow Lernout & Hauspie's downward guidance based on a more "conservative" accounting procedure, he said.
He agreed with the company's decision and said that the conservative accounting is in its best interests. Rocker, conversely, counts the move as proof that the company is foundering.
Lernout & Hauspie officials weren't immediately available for comment. >>> |
