Applied Digital Up -2: Chat Rooms Hum, Co. Is Mum >ADSX
7/27/0 11:50 (New York)
By K. Maxwell Murphy
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Shares of Applied Digital Solutions Inc. (ADSX)
soared
more than 57% on Thursday, after the company said it would announce a
"significant business development" on Monday.
Applied Digital spokesman Robert Jackson told Dow Jones Newswires the
company
cannot comment on any aspect of the Monday announcement, including even which
part of the day they plan to release the news.
No analysts currently follow Applied Digital, a Nixa, Mo., provider of
communications software and services.
But the company spelled out some of the issues that it faces in a July 14
filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In it, Applied Digital
said
it would continue its program of acquisitions; that the areas it has targeted
for growth are also places where "some of the largest and most strongly
capitalized companies" in the U.S. will do business; and that it may require
additional capital to fund growth and make future acquisitions.
The company's cryptic announcement Monday follows its recent establishment
of
a biweekly Internet message-board chat with investors. Applied Digital said
it
would cancel this week's forum because of the pending announcement.
Of course, that didn't stop investors from flooding Internet chat rooms
like
Raging Bull and Yahoo! Finance with speculation and rumors.
The scuttlebutt ranged from theories that the company would sell its
Intellesale.com unit for $550 million in a half-stock, half-cash deal, to
theories that there'd be a break-up of the April deal in which the company
announced its intent to buy Destron Fearing Corp. (DFCO) in a stock swap.
Investors also said the company might sell its Digital Angel human and
animal
subcutaneous locator chip technology for $1.7 billion. Several chat room
posts
cited two-week old rumors that Prudential Securities Inc. had advised Applied
digital to sell off three non-core units; Intellesale.com and its digital
environment and control units.
On May 4, the Nixa, Mo., concern retained Prudential to assist in pursuing
strategic alternatives regarding the sale of Intellesale.com.
Intellesale.com representatives weren't immediately available for comment.
A
Destron Fearing representative said that if their company is involved in
Applied Digital's pending announcement, they haven't heard anything yet.
Because of the April stock-swap deal, shares of Destron Fearing rose in
tandem with Applied Digital - the small-cap company's shares were recently up
40.3%, or 1 11/16, at 5 7/8. Volume was brisk at 380,400, when compared with
its daily average of about 94,000.
Shares of Applied Digital recently recently changed hands at 4 5/32, up
47.8%, on Nasdaq volume of 3.1 million shares compared with a daily average
of
744,200. Earlier, the stock hit an intraday high of 4 7/16 - a gain of 57.7%.
(www.applieddig.com) |
