Just a thought:
Assume ASND is wrapping up a transaction with an acquiring company. If that were the case, some decrease in stock price is okay, since it increases the margin of the takeover (i.e., from 24-25 to 48-50).
At a point, however, the diminution in stock price can go too far. I wonder if that was the case today when, not too long after the stock fell to 24 and change, Ashby made it known that earnings estimates for 4Q97 and for all of 1998 will be met.
Perhaps, rather than looking at an upward target, management at this juncture is more focused on keeping the stock within a range, and perhaps 25 is at the lower end of that range (which, perhaps, prompted a tad of conservative support from Mr. Ashby). After all, even if an acquisition is in the works, it could always be renegotiated should the stock totally tank. (a la MCI).
Anyway, it is just a thought.
Gary Korn |
