Lehman Again Says Avoid Amazon.com Convertible Bonds
By David A. Gaffen
Staff Reporter
10/25/00 6:46 PM ET
thestreet.com
Nothing like a fixed-income analyst to rain on the rest of the world's parade.
Lehman Brothers convertible bond analyst Ravi Suria, who in June issued a harsh report on Amazon.com (AMZN:Nasdaq - news), has again cautioned investors from buying Amazon's convertible bonds, a day after the online retailer reported third-quarter earnings.
Generally, bond analysts aren't paid any attention by the equity market, but since convertible bonds have equity characteristics, equity investors have on occasion reacted to reports on high-profile companies like Amazon.
Suria, in his comment, said Lehman "continues to be concerned about Amazon's cash picture in the first half of next year. We believe that the true credit picture will emerge over the holiday selling season and will revisit our recommendation in the first half of next year."
Amazon.com reported a loss of 25 cents a share for the third quarter, but the subsequent conference call was considered reasonably positive by the market, as Amazon gained $2.31 to $31.88, or 7.8%, in trading today. In after-hours action the stock continued to rise, lately at $32.44.
On June 22, Suria released a scathing report on Amazon, which caused the stock to tumble. It lost 19% of its value June 23, as 52 million shares changed hands that day. |
