#8 on todays watch list...I have owned this stock for years. Under new management. The new CEO and his staff went back east to promote there company to analysts. Lots of info about this on Yahoo. They are also to beat earnings estimates. Last quarter they announced that this quarter would not be as great because of new staff hiring, and that 2nd quarter earnings would be even greater........(edited)
By Don Clark, Staff Reporter
NOVATO, Calif. -(Dow Jones)- #8 stock will report
fourth-quarter earnings and revenue slightly above analysts' estimates,
Chief Executive Officer told Dow Jones Tuesday.
The Novato, Calif company will report fourth-quarter earnigns
of 11 to 12 cents a share, beating the estimate by one analyst surveyed
by First Call of 10 cents a share. In addition, CEO said revenue will
be $8.7 million, beating the $8.5 million projected by analysts.
In the year-earlier period, reported net income of
$112,000, or one cent a share, on sales of $7.4 million. The company is
scheduled to formally report its results on Thursday.
an artificial-intelligence pioneer founded in 1979, now
makes software used in customer support and related applications. After
going public in 1995, the company lapsed into a string of unprofitable
quarters.
The new CEO, who joined the company a year ago, has been trying to mount a
comeback. He reorganized management and changed the company's selling
strategy, which originally relied on relationships with larger
front-office software companies that would include Inference's products
when they made a customer installation.
The trouble with that approach, The CEO said, is that those partners
would deeply discount Inference's software to make a sale. Pricing
plummeted.
now relies on its own sales force. The CEO says average
selling prices in the latest quarter were 30% higher than the
year-earlier period.
Deep discounting "doesn't happen anymore," CEO said. 'We've taken
control of the sales process.'
products help phone sales and service people answer
questions about product problems and make recommendations about
purchases. It also sells Internet versions of its products, so that
users can enter into an online dialogue to get answers to questions. Web
commerce was a big driver for sales in the latest quarter,CEO Said
Copyright (c) 1999 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
All Rights Reserved. |
