Doug: Rosen has pointedly refused to comment on financials or give guidance except to say that as far he could see, after a short time on the job, the integrity of the accounting was fine. He also said to the analysts that he would inform them immediately if there were any changes to strategy. He said to shareholders, I think, that he never wanted CPQ to warn again.
If 2Q is to be poor he will either build this into his first guidance or give very early warning. I think that he will appreciate the need for guidance to support the share price and win back some goodwill from WS. I could understand that he would want to wait as long as possible to give guidance - it has to be informed about what went wrong in the 1Q as well as credible for the 2Q and the year.
But the uncertainty you fear, and the waiting for the other shoe to drop, is, in my opinion, the reason that there are still sellers even at these depressed prices and why buyers stand on the sidelines.
Positive guidance would lift a huge weight, potential sellers would hold and buyers would load up for the first 30-50% leg of the appreciation. |
