FFIV is losing money. NTAP is not even close.
As recently as October 2000, FFIV was a profitable company. Forecasts were for profits to skyrocket.
We never think this can happen to our favorite stocks; but often, it does.
What do you mean by "not even close" ? If demand for NAS dried up, do you think NTAP would remain profitable? I'm not saying demand will dry up, but what I'm saying is you should not assume that it won't happen just because it hasn't happened.
I'm glad that you are criticizing my analogy. That is productive. Cheerleading is great when the stock is going up, but dangerous in times like this. I always visualize some hapless amateur investor holding on to a falling stock just because the message boards tell them to.
Back to my analogy, as a company, FFIV is comparable because it's a niche networking product, with most of the value in software, with great technology and great management. It's not comparable because nowadays it has plenty of competition, and very little in the way of clear-cut best-in-class intellectual property.
As stocks, not as companies, the comparison between NTAP and FFIV is not difficult to draw. |
