Interesting to look at the distributors.
Earlier you mentioned Avnet and Arrow, who distribute electronic goods. Take a look at Kent(KNT) today; they distribute parts and supplies to the electronic industry and also have a relatively small ECM business. Kent dropped over 6 points to the 23 range. I keep an eye on these 'ECM related stocks'. I don't know what caused the drop today, but before the market opened, this was announced:
Thursday November 13, 8:12 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Larry Olson Named President of K*TEC Electronics
HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--November 13, 1997--Kent Electronics Corporation (NYSE:KNT - news) announced today that Larry Olson, current President of Kent Components, has also been named President of K*TEC Electronics, the Company's contract manufacturing operation. Richard Hightower, currently a Kent Components Regional Manager, has been promoted to Vice President and General Manager of Kent Components, the distribution operation of Kent Electronics. Mr. Hightower will report directly to Mr. Olson. The Company stated that this will allow it to better focus its efforts on specific customer market opportunities.
Morrie K. Abramson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Kent, stated, ''As a customer focused company, we believe this action will better serve our growing OEM customer base.''
Mr. Randy Corporron, President of K*TEC Electronics, will resign from Kent to pursue other opportunities. Morrie Abramson expressed his appreciation to Randy for his instrumental role in the growth and development of K*TEC to date.
Kent Electronics is among the largest publicly traded specialty electronics distributors. Kent's contract manufacturing subsidiary, K*TEC Electronics, is among the leading contract manufacturers in the U.S.
After this release, the stock plunged. This in turn caused the compnay to release this after the market closed:
Thursday December 11, 6:28 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Kent Electronics Comments On Expected Results
HOUSTON, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--December 11, 1997--Kent Electronics Corporation (NYSE:KNT - news) said today that it expects revenues for the third quarter ending December 27, 1997, to be in the range of $170 - $180 million and earnings per share for that period to be approximately $0.36, which is in line with analysts expectations.
The Company went on to say that it expects fourth quarter revenues to be in the range of $180 - $190 million, a significant increase over last year's fourth quarter revenues, but only modestly above the prior quarter. Earnings for the fourth quarter are expected to be similar to those of the fiscal 1998 third quarter. This is a result of lower than
anticipated contract manufacturing revenues, reflecting a slower ramp-up of new customers and of new customer orders.
Morrie K. Abramson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Kent Electronics, said ''We have refocused our sales and marketing efforts under the leadership of Larry Olson, the newly-appointed President of K*TEC and we look forward to seeing the full benefits of these efforts in fiscal 1999.''
My guess is the stock sold off, just in anticipation of more bad news coming following the "firing" of the CEO of K*TEC.
People are getting awful jittery out there. I smell fear and 'blood in the streets'. Next week should be very interesting.
Paul |
