Hi D. Floyd...
Buchanan's "return" shouldn't be viewed as a surprise to anyone but him. Can anyone really believe that he would be "hands off" in a time of difficulty?
Raefon is right. The company should be sold. The management depth is insufficient to handle challenges at every level. Not a single prediction has been correctly met over the last several years.
No significant customer diversification. MOT is still over half the business.
No LCiD orders yet. And, that product was supposed to insure a 35% revenue growth in 1998 on its *own*.
Based on management credibility issues, who could confidently predict that any of the other technologies will make a significant contribution to revenue or profitability?
Yeah, I know, the shares are "cheap". The current capitalization is about $65 million, or perhaps 55-60 cents for every expected dollar of 1999 sales. And, earnings *might* be about 70 cents next year.
Do you believe them? If so, you have great faith.
BTW, I now "clock" the share repurchase as being in the ballpark of 550,000 shares already retired. It is a guess, of course, but they sure seem serious about getting them in. I think there is some chance that once the buyback meets its 1,000,000 share objective, that management may actually buy more. If they announce that, it will be a positive signal to the market, at a time when the market surely needs one.
Let us hope. |
