<<Whether you own 1 share, 1000 shares or 100,000 shares, I believe you are entitled to talk to the company. One of the obligations a publicly held company assumes is to talk to shareholders.>>
My comment about his intentions was tongue firmly planted in cheek with a smidgeon of truth. Obviously any public company has a fiduciary duty to shareholders. I don't believe that commenting on "rumors" is one of them, especially since most/all potential OEM's are under NDA's for competitive reasons. When people asked the Company about the Bull rumors this summer, the company was bound by NDA not to comment until both sides had a signed contract and jointly agreed press release.
That is why when I speak to "large order from a govt dept", it is your perogative to ignore the "rumor" or call the Company. With 100% assurance, you will get the party line and receive "no comment" on any rumor heard on the Street. Regarding a situation like SUN, due to NDA's and competitive reasons, I would expect Ancor to not divulge anything on timetables/status to avoid jeopardizing their relationship and potential OEM deal with SUN and also to prevent Brocade from getting any info from the publically available conference call. For Ken Hendrickson to articulate to shareholders their chances ( probability of success ) on a potential material customer such as Sun or on their decision timeframe ( Q4, Q1, etc..) leads to unneccessary exposure. When Ken H responded with "6-9 month sell cycle", "we don't want to speculate on timing" or things of that nature, you can rest assured that he really does have a fairly good idea but isn't divulging it in order to ratchet down the Street expectations. I've heard that their new motto is "underpromise and overdeliver" which is a complete reversal from the vicious cycle/history of high expectations and subsequent disappointment that old management fell into. That cost Steve O Hara his job, not to mention the fact that he did not have the skills/background to formulate a focussed strategy and build/motivate a professional management team. I don't agree with people like Roger Arquila who said that "Ancor is dead money for 6 months" or whatever. Time will tell.
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