Jeff,
I agree with most of your post but want to make some comments about a couple of issues you raised.
I believe a company has a 30 day window in which they can delay the announcement of earnings, without any specific action.
There is a big difference between announcing earnings via a press release, holding a conference call about the press release, and issuing an SEC filing. I've never heard that either of the first two are required. The 10Q is required within 30 days of the end of the fiscal quarter and the 10K is required within 45 days of the end of the fiscal year.
I don't see the handling of the debt as a big deal as you apparently do. It's something that needs attention, but given the health of the balance sheet of the combined company I don't think it's a significant issue. All the company has to say is that they are exploring alternatives, which would be true and not alarming.
Also, with respect to stock re-purchase, the company has in the past been less than aggressive in buying as many shares as they authorize in buybacks.
That's true of all companies. I don't remember any company buying back anywhere near the number of shares that has been authorized. Usually those announcements are made to show investors that management retains confidence in a company's ongoing fundamentals and/or there is a genuine belief that buying back the stock is one of the best uses of capital. Regardless, it's especially unusual for a small company such as Gemstar to buy back more than a relatively small amount of the shares that have been authorized.
Regarding pooling of interests, the info about preventing a stock split doesn't seem right to me. I don't know anything about the subject, but if Cisco had to wait 1.5 years to split their stock after every acquisition they did using pooling of interests, when would they have ever been able to split their stock? Is there something I'm missing?
--Mike Buckley |
