To: Return to Sender who wrote (1808 ) 7/2/2000 1:39:47 PM From: John Pendergast Read Replies (2) | Respond to Ok, let's forget about the talking in tongues thing and I'll speak to you in straight finance. The number on the Whisper site is 7 cents. The number on the Yahoo site is 8 cents. When asked about the 8 cents number in a Bloomberg interview on June 22, the CEO said "That sounds about right." Since the game is all about positive surprise now days, and since it appears that product acceptance has been good and that Aspect had an 18 month lead in time to market, I'm thinking that the number could be around 11 cents. I have even heard some speculation that it might be a good bit higher than that. Aspect knows that they need a strong number to stop the bleeding in their stock price and a positive conference call on July 19. That would send most of the naysayers on the Yahoo board packing as well. There is room for several analyst upgrades with a positive figure this quarter. Some of the analysts are already projecting target prices in the 70s. For example, the Piper Jaffrey analyst, Edward Jackson, is at something like 77 but only has a Buy rating on the stock. He could easily move to Strong Buy if the numbers are right. The SG&A number will doubtless be up on the quarter due to a number of new hires. So top line growth may be an even more significant number than EPS. Getting that SG&A number down is a real challenge for their new CFO. I'm told that he is well up to the task. If he is, this quarter should be a pretty good test. I'm betting that he will be. Now just in case anyone is interested the movie is "Patton." After locating an old battlefield where the Romans did battle with the Carthegians, Patton tells his friend General Bradley, that he was there. He then recites a poem about reincarnation and asks Bradley if he knows who the poet was. When Bradley doesn't answer he says that he, Patton, is the poet. Following another moment of silence Patton says "You don't believe me do you Brad?" Whether Bradley believes him or not is somewhat immaterial. It's clear that Patton believes. While he would like Bradley to believe also, because of the need for acceptance and the more mundane need for Bradley's help (which later turns out to be considerable when Patton is removed by Eisenhower). The whole thing is a matter of historical record thereafter. Patton plays a huge role in the ultimate triumph of good vs. evil
