Herbie...
sfgate.com
HERB GREENBERG'S BUSINESS INSIDER -- Why CKS Group Stock Was a Disaster Waiting to Happen
Analysts saw hints of trouble in accounting
HERB GREENBERG
Yesterday's disaster du jour, CKS Group, shows just how little attention investors these days are placing on fundamentals. Stock in the Cupertino advertising and marketing agency plunged by 63 percent to $13.38 after it warned that its fourth-quarter earnings would be ''significantly below the earnings expectations of all securities analysts.''
[skip the babble]
Meanwhile, there were other warnings. For example, CKS's board is a sign that the good old boy network is alive and well in Silicon Valley. Its outside directors include veteran Silicon Valley venture capitalist Pierre Lamond. Lamond, who chairs the company's compensation committee, is the father-in-law of Mark Kvamme, chief executive of CKS.
Another CKS director is C- Cube Microsystems CEO Alex Balkanski; C-Cube's Chairman is Don Valenttine, who is Lamond's partner at Sequoia Capital in Menlo Park. And Barry Linsky is an executive with Interpublic Group, a large CKS investor. The only other outside director as of the company's last proxy statement , Michael Slade, is CEO of Starwave, a large CKS customer.
Just as worrisome: Lots of insider selling: Chief Financial Officer Carlton Baab bailed out of his entire position in September at prices as high as $41 -- $3 shy of its all-time high.
Baab, CKS's official spokesman, didn't return my call. |
