George:
Aren't stock repurchases made by companies on a regular basis, with the effect of improving the stock price?
Stock repurchase is a form of paying back shareholders some of the earnings a company makes. This strengthens EPS and boosts the price. But, for a company making losses quarter after quarter, it does not make any economic sense. I do not know of a company that has made very little earnings and is using its scarce cash to buy back stock. If Osicom is doing this, it means they have no better use of their limited cash and/or credit line. This (IMO) reinforces the suscipicion about the company's weakness.
who specifically, among the bigger player is getting out of "this sector". This was the point made in the previous post and I picked up this to interpret it as companies like ASND facing shrinkage in revenue and profit margins.
How could they both invest in the company and advise on how
to sell some of its divisions? If there is an opportunity for a decent return, I do not see any reason for why an adviser will not jump in. For example, Larry Ellison became an adviser, then a director for Apple and finally made (or is considering to make) an investment. Mike Milken and Drexel did many such advising and investment. [Such thins are common and were common, although over-jealous Federal agents caught Mike Milken who claims he was ill-advised to plead guilty to some of the secondary (not insider-trading?) charges.] Most investment banks do it. Underwriters of IPOs are basically advisers and they make investments. It is natural for me to expect Volpe to jump in. They may. If they do, that (IMO) will be a credible signal for FIBR.
Finally, shouldn't the China operations help in reducing the manufacturing costs sometime soon. That should help them vs. the
competition but the question is how much? I do not know how much FIBR manufactures in China.
Sankar |
