Gene, AUTN has a P/E of over 400, but I wouldn't short it.
The problem with the Internet is it breeds countless bull shit rumors that the media feeds on.
On Feb Autn 15 will announce blow out earnings and state for 15th time this month they see no signs of slowing down.
Oh! MicroSoft knows shit about Knowledge management software, although they'd like to. Believe me I know!!
I'd recommend Autn to any friend, but not in this tech trashed market!
>LONDON, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Shares in British software star Autonomy (AUTN) dipped 10 percent on Wednesday amid swirling rumours of share sell-offs, Microsoft muscle and discreet dining that the company said were all unfounded.
Autonomy said it was aware of stories in the market that a major shareholder was on the point of selling a chunk of its stake and that Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had poached senior Autonomy staff, but that they were untrue.
By 1340 GMT the share was 10.4 percent down at 17.97 pounds.
Autonomy makes software that can understand context in unstructured human text, and now even speech.
An analyst at UBS Warburg said rumours had been circulating that Apax Partners, a venture capital group, was planning to sell part of its stake in Autonomy in the next couple of days.
"This is completely untrue, and is a rerun of a rumour that surfaced in October," Autonomy Chief Executive Mike Lynch told Reuters.
An Autonomy spokesman said such a sale was impossible because Apax, which counts as an insider as it has two members on the company board, was barred from selling any shares during the closed period between the year end -- December 31 -- and the reporting of results, which will be on February 15.
Lynch said rumours that key staff had defected to Microsoft were untrue, as was talk that the U.S. software giant had hired one of the people who had worked with him on the mathematical research on which Autonomy products are based.
"I believe the rumour is that (Cambridge researcher) Karen Spark-Jones or people who worked with her, have worked with Autonomy or with me in my research days, and this is not true," he said. "The methods we have used are different."
CAUTIOUS STANCE
Earlier, Merrill Lynch analyst Simon Andrews reiterated his cautious stance on the company, saying details had emerged from a meeting with journalists that Lynch had on Tuesday.
Lynch confirmed he had lunched with a senior City journalist, but said they had chatted about the company in general and that nothing at all was said about current trading.
Andrews said he was keeping his "neutral" rating with no price target after more details emerged about Autonomy's deals with software makers who license its software and bundle it inside their own products.
Analysts and dealers said there was talk of Microsoft moving into the market for knowledge management software like Autonomy's, which the UK company also dismissed as nothing new.
UBS Warburg said that while many companies claimed to have technology superior to Autonomy, the UK company had a massive marketing lead and partnerships with many of the world's top software corporations.
Earlier on Wednesday, Autonomy said it had shipped its new voice product to its first customers, including General Motors (NYSE:GM). The software enables voice conversations stored on computers to be searched through for words or contexts.
(Additional reporting by Louise Ireland) |
