I should clarify my viewpoints on SK's comments
SK did the right thing in preannouncing the order pushouts. In fact, if management knew about them and witheld that info, it would have been irresponsible. No problem there. It was the right thing to do.
(1) Where SK is being very reckless is making such bold statements like "the top won't happen until 2002." He's been in the business for decades, and he should know better than that. No one knows for sure, of course.
People will trade (buy) on this very public opinion, and it's probably grounds for a lawsuit if it doesn't turn out to be true. Even if he does turn out to be correct, it's still reckless for a CEO to blurt out such risky statements.
(2) Where SK is being very unprofessional is his constant whining about the stock price. On the last conference call, several people said SK seemed to be chiding the analysts for the weak stock price - but they all had "buy" recommendations at that time! Giving a raspberry/bronx cheer to analyst Joseph, even in fun, is just unprofessional.
That's what I mean by reckless and unprofessional. Everything else he is doing, like preannouncing the order pushouts, is appropriate.
Finally, did anyone catch this comment?
But few seemed to pay any mind to Kulicke's pleas. On the conference call, an analyst pointedly reminded the CEO that he issued the same assurances a few months prior to the industry's last downturn a few years back
smartmoney.com |
