Cheap Stocks, 8/17/2012 Update
We were up 2.4% last week. MTSL had great earnings last week and was up 41%. We are now up 12.9% for the year.
Some of our stocks are just stupid cheap—compared to their net cash on hand per share divided by their stock price.
Check this list:
RIMG 89%
EXTR 48%
GRVY 109%
CCUR 61%
MTSL 45%
SIGM 62%
ASTX 48%
CTIG 54%
MRVC 36%
ANGN 45%
AVNT 65%
Plus, EXTR, RIMG, ANGN and SIGM are all in “play” with activist shareholders either trying to get them to pay out special dividends or take them over, or they are pursuing “strategic alternatives”.
The DOW was up .5% last week, NASDAQ was up 1.8% and the Russell 3000 was up 1%.
CTIG, MTSL, AVNW, AEZS and HPOL earnings last week.
AVNW, CBEY, MTSL, GRVY, and MITL are our favorites.
For the year, the DOW is up 8.7%, NASDAQ is up 18.1%, and the Russell 3000 is up 12.5%
Last week we went 13 stocks up, 9 down and 1 unchanged. Since inception we are now 56 stocks up and 18 down for a 75.7% winning percentage (80% is our target win %).
Since our beginning, we have closed out the following positions:
2006-NTCT +44%
2006-ONXS +11% (Buyout offer)
2006-DTLK +41%
2006-CAW +21% (Buyout offer)
2007-IYXI.ob +44% (Buyout offer)
2007-MOBI +47% (Buyout offer)
2007-INFT +11% (Buyout offer)
2007-RITT +62%
2007-MIVA +55%
2007-DTLK +25% (2 weeks)
2007-PDLI + 3%
2007-QADI +25%
2007-CIMT +50%
2007-BDR +19%
2007-LINN.ob -57% (mortgage business bust didn't help here)
2007-TISA -39% (take some tax loss for 2007 due to disappointing results.
2008-ANGN +26%
2008-OPTO.ob +40% (Buy-out offer)
2008-PDLI +9% (company split, and special dividend)
2008-BDAY -39% (long overdue takeover offer-or "take-under")
2008-DTLK +40% (third trip on this one)
2008-ILOG +26% (Buy-out offer from IBM)
2008-PARL +56%
2009-MBRK +67%
2009-SNWL +14%
2009-CYNO +25%
2009-DTLK +33%
2009-NED +46%
2009-CUTR +13%
2009-HSTM +67% (continued good earnings)
2009-RNWK +36%
2009-OPK +116%
2009-CLZR -32% (a loser even on a buy-out)
2009-DTLK +28% (our 5th profitable trip on this one)
2010-HPOL +110%
2010-DIVX +25%
2010-CHRD +37% Buyout (2 weeks after we recommended it)
2010-HPOL +30%
2010-MGIC +82%
2010-GSL +78%
2010-CCEL +49%
2010-HPOL +27%
2010-CAW EVEN (excluding 2.5 years of dividends)
2011-DWCH +116%
2011-IPAS +15%
2011-PRM +56% Buyout (1 week after we recommended it)
2011-RST +12%
2011-NINE -10%
2012-BVSN +30%
2012-TISA +137%
2012-PTIX -44%
The model portfolio assumes $10,000 invested in each stock (unless we double-up--then it is $20,000), less $10 commission each way (TD Ameritrade rate).
For the 50 stocks that we closed out since 2006 (45 were winners) the average net gain was 38%.
Telecommunications Systems Inc. (NASDAQ-AVNW)-Recommended 6/14/2012)
Buy Price- $1.37
Valuation $6.72 (Was $5.49)
Closed down $.04 at $1.48
Earnings announced in July. They were fine. Revenues were up 14% to $114 million and cutting through all the goodwill write-off it looks like they made $1.5 million on an operating basis. Our valuation rose to $6.72. After falling to around $1.15 the stock popped back up to close at $1.36 when it became apparent the sky was not falling.
TSYS announced an acquisition on in July. They are buying the leader in 911 communications for $37 million.
Up 8%, BUY
Aviat Networks Inc. (NASDAQ-AVNW)-Recommended 2/27/2012)
Buy Price- $2.62
NEW Valuation $9.37 (Was $8.85, $8.31)
Closed up $.24 at $2.50
Earnings announced last week. Revenues were down $5 million to $116 million, and they made $1.2 million on a Non-GAAP basis versus $2.8 million last year. Our valuation rose to $9.37 per share. Needham reiterated its “Buy” on AVNW.
Cash per share rose to $1.62.
Down 5%, BUY
CBeyond Inc. (NASDAQ-CBEY)-Recommended 2/28/2012)
Buy Price $7.17 ( Was $7.94 before another $10,000 added at $6.53)
Valuation $29.59 (Was $29.58, $29.21)
Closed up $.70 at $8.55
Earnings out in August. They were good. Revenues were up 3%. They made a profit of $1.5 million ($.05 per share) compared to a loss of $1.8 million last year. Cash flow was positive and our valuation rose $.01 to $29.59 per share.
Up 19%, BUY
MRV Communications (Pink Sheets-MRVC.pk)
Valuation $1.73 (Was $1.73, $2.06, $2.16 (after $.475 and $.30 special dividends), $2.62, $2.79)
Buy Price October 7, 2011- $.50 ($1.27 before special dividends)
Closed at $.51 down $.07
Earnings announced in August. Revenues were $55 million down from $59 million last year. They lost $2 million ($.01 per share) after a net $1 million loss on litigation settlement and goodwill write-off. Our valuation stayed at $1.73, $.30 higher than our estimate for this quarter. The big news is that they are selling 2 more European companies for what looks like a combined $24 million and going forward with their optical communications group which is the bulk of their revenues. Our pro-forma valuation, assuming both of these sales close is $1.61 with $.44 a share in cash (76% of the current market cap). Still trading at less than ½ our valuation.
Raging Capital continues to buy shares. They now own over 27 million shares or 17.6% of MRV.
Up 1% BUY
Sigma Designs Inc. (NASDAQ-SIGM)-Recommended 7/11/2011)
Buy Price-$8.49
Valuation $10.67 (Was $8.41 $12.10, $13.40, $16.02)
Closed up $.24 at $7.01
Sigma and Potomac settled their war, at least temporarily as Potomac will get two Board seats.
Earnings announced in May. Still losing money but sales were up to $40 million from $36 million last quarter. They lost $8.5 million on a non-GAAP basis versus $14 million last quarter. Net cash per share fell a bit to $4.32. Over all our valuation increased about 25% to $10.67. Not bad, but not good enough to buy any more here.
They are projecting sales for next quarter (Q2) to be between $61-$67 million with 45% GAAP margins. Operating breakeven is expected in Q4 including the Trident acquisition which is expected to contribute about $24 million of sales per quarter.
So we are trading at a market cap of about $70 million (excluding cash) for a $$200 million a year chip company with 50% margins. Still pretty stupid we think. We plan to hold on for another couple of quarters to see if they can turn this around.
Down 17%, HOLD
Mitel Networks (NASDAQ-MITL)-Recommended 7/6/2011)
Buy Price- $3.04( Was $3.36 before $10,000 added, $3.95 before $10,000 added)
Valuation $13.92 (Was $12.81, $15.28, $14.04, $10.39)
Closed down $.46 at $2.50
Ugg. In August, MITL warned that revenues would be below their guidance at about $138-$139 million compared to $150-$155 million due to delayed customer implementations and the “a general deterioration of the macro environment”. Not sure what the latter part means. No earning guidance update was given. An update will be given when earnings are released on Thursday, August 30th after the market closes. They also announced that they would cut about 10% of their workforce and close “excess” facilities. We will guess that when the numbers are out, our valuation will still me at least 3X the current trading price.
Down 5%, HOLD
Rimage (NASDAQ-RIMG)-Recommended 5/24/2011)
Buy Price-$14.20
Valuation $$14.03 (Was $19.81, $22.23, $25.63, $26.45)
Closed up $.13 at $6.92
Pays $.68 a share annual dividend.
We have collected $.81 of dividends since we recommended RIMG.
Earnings announced in July. Well not really earnings. Revenues fell 9% to $18.3 million, margins fell to 45% from 49% last year and they lost $2.75 million or $.27 per share. Qumu revenues were a whopping $1.4 million. Cash fell to $62.3 million or $6.13 and our valuation fell again to $14.03
This is the worst case of management squandering its assets on an acquisition to escape being bought out and fired. We have lost over $12 on our valuation and the stock is down over 50% Spent over $40 million to buy Qumu’s paltry revenue stream.
They are now projecting next quarter to be $20-$22 million of revenue and only lose $.02-$.10 per share. Guidance for 2012 is low double digit sales growth and the same level cash flow.
Teetering on selling here despite the yield.
Down 50%, HOLD
Lexmark International (NYSE-LXK)-Recommended 5/24/2011)
Buy Price-$28.80
Valuation $70.28 (Was $62.59, $63.94, $63.84, $79.12, $63.99)
Closed up $.61 at $20.51
We have also collected $.80 a share in dividends here.
LXK now pays a $1.20 annual dividend.
Earnings announced in July. Revenue fell 12% and Non-GAAP earnings fell to $.89 a share from $1.36 a year earlier. Currency and Europe were blamed for the shortfall. Q3 guidance is another 10% revenue decline and Non-GAAP earnings of $.75-$.85 compared to $.95 last year. Our valuation actually increased on a gross margin increase to $70.28 and net cash fell a bit to $3.85 a share as they bought back 800,000 shares for $25 million and paid their quarterly dividend. This is why we don’t like Wall Street analysts. They would rather pay 100 times earnings for some maybe good company than a proven cash machine like LXK. Yield is now 6.5%
They reiterated their intent to return over 50% of their free cash flow to shareholders in dividends and share repurchases. The vagaries of the stock analysts make us cautious but we are back down well below our original buy price so we are making this a Buy again.
Down 29%, BUY
MER Telemanagement (NASDAQ-MTSL)-Recommended 5/17/2011)
Buy Price-$1.42 (Was $1.50 before adding another $10,000 investment)
NEW Valuation $6.58 (Was $5.77, $5.55, $6.28 $5.61, $5.11)
Closed up $.65 at $2.25
Earnings announced last week. Revenues were up 10% to $3.3 million and they made $.10 a share. For the six months ended June 30, they have earned $.17 per share (untaxed). Our valuation jumped to $6.58 per share and they have $1.02 per share in net cash.
Up 58% HOLD
Harris Interactive (NASDAQ-HPOL)-Recommended 3/3/2010)
Buy Price-$.92
NEW Valuation $2.65 (Was $3.15, $3.05, $2.90, $3.11, $2.63, $2.97)
Closed at $1.27, up $.18
Earnings announced last week. Sales dropped from $44.2 million last year to $35.5 million as they continued to cull out low margin business. Net loss was $.02 a share down from $.09 last year. EBITDA for the quarter was $1.5 million compared to an EBITDA loss of $2.1 million last year. The “turnaround” continues. Net cash was $1.0 a share and our valuation was $2.65 a share compared to $2.63 last year.
Up 38%, HOLD
Concurrent Computer (NASDAQ-CCUR)-Recommended 2/4/2011)
Buy Price-$5.08
Valuation $15.85 (was $14.13, $11.38, $14.04, $18.54, $15.99)
Closed down $.10 at $4.38
Pays $.24 annual dividend.
We have collected $.06 in dividends so far.
Singer/Miller bought another 33,000 shares in early July at $3.88. They now own 12.1% of CCUR.
CCUR took on two of the Singer/Miller Board nominees and entered into a standstill agreement until the 2012 Shareholders meeting.
CCUR announced the initiation of a quarterly dividend of $.06 or $.24 annually in July.
Another 13D filed in June by what looks like another disgruntled shareholder (Stephen D. Baksa). Owns 435,000 shares or 5%.
13D/A filed in June disclosing another 100,000 shares purchased on June 13th by the Singer/Miller group for $3.75. Their combined ownership is now 11.7%.
Singer is also involved in MRV and was involved with Evolving Systems (which we owned personally even though we didn’t recommend it—it was a huge winner).
Earnings announced in May. Not bad. Revenues were down $2 million to $16.3 million but they made $.04 per share. Cash fell to $2.61 per share as receivables rose. Our valuation rose to $15.85, the second quarter of rising valuation and just about back to when we recommended it. Now the price just needs to reflect the improvement.
Down 14%, HOLD
Astex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Was SuperGen Inc.) (NASDAQ-ASTX)-Recommended 10/4/2010)
Buy Price-$2.31 (was $2.09 before adding $10,000)
Valuation $3.16 (was $3.44, $3.42, $3.22, $3.11, $5.21, $4.89, $4.37, $3.48)
Closed up $.02 at $2.44
Earnings announced in August. Revenues were up to $19.9 million from $11.7 million and they made $.01 per share the same as last year. Cash was $121 million or $1.18 per share. They raised their earnings guidance to a loss of only $5 million from $15 million. All in all a good report. Our valuation fell however to $3.16 as revenues, cash and earnings were all a bit lower than last quarter.
So we have a company losing maybe $5 million in cash a year, or 25 years of cash, about $80 million in revenues and a huge drug pipeline. Any good news on the clinical trials front ought to set this stock on fire.
It is not easy to find a small drug company with substantial revenues, that has a pile of cash, is not losing a ton of money and is trading at even close to our valuation.
There are $2 BILLION of potential milestone payments down the road.
Up 6%, HOLD
Extreme Networks (EXTR-Recommended 3/22/2010)
Buy Price-$3.18 (Was $3.04 before adding another $10,000)
Valuation-$7.46 (was $6.31, $7.01, $6.72, $6.45, $5.67, $7.36, $7.23, $7.31, $6.82, $6.81)
Closed at $3.37 up $.14.
Earnings announced in August. We liked the quarter. Revenues were $87.6 million and they made $.08 a share profit compared to $.02 loss last year. Cash per share rose to $1.61. Our valuation rose to $7.46 compared to the same quarter of last years $6.45 as gross margin rose to 56% compared to 46% last year.
They are projecting next quarter at sales of $75-$82 million and EPS of $.00 to $.03.
Starboard owns 9.7%, Soros 8.8% and Blackrock owns 5.5% of EXTR.
Up 6%, BUY
Gravity Company Ltd. (GRVY-Recommended 1/18/2010)
Buy Price- $1.45 per ADS (Was $1.68 before double up)
Valuation $5.52-(Was $5.00, $5.39, $5.33, $5.61, $5.73, $4.38, $4.44, $5.15)
Closed down $.04 at $1.60
Now trading at below cash value again.
Q1 earnings announced in May. Nice. Revenues were $14.4 million and they made $1 million or $.04 per ADS. Cash was $48 million or $1.74 per share. No update on how Ragnarok 2 was doing or rumored Face Book games. Short term holders were disappointed as the stock fell. We are thrilled that cash and revenues went up from last quarter and our valuation rose to $5.52.
Ragnarok was commercially released in Korea on March 26th.
Up 10%, BUY
AEterna Zentaris (AEZS-Recommended 6/20/2009)
Buy price $1.42 (was $1.78 before adding another $10,000, $1.82 before double up)
Valuation --Speculation.
Closed at $.44 up $.01
“Earning” out last week. Revenues were $7.5 million versus $6.5 million last year and they lost $7.6 million from operations versus $8 million last year.
Cash stood at $40 million and they continue to sell more stock. They sold another 2.6 million this quarter for $1.9 million. A reverse stock split is coming, pending shareholder approval
Speculative for sure.
Down 69%, HOLD
Spectranetics (SPNC-Recommended 9/2/2006)
Buy price $5.68 (was $8.90, $9.40 before adding $10,000, and was $10.65 before double up),
Valuation --$16.00 (was $14, $12, $10)
Closed up $.49 at $12.48
Earnings announced in July. Well it appears they did not screw anything up and the stock rebounded to hit a new high of $12.14. Sales were up 9% YOY and they made $.02 a share (same as last year). They did raise annual guidance to 8-10% revenue growth versus 5-7% previously. The stock seems like it wants to go higher.
A Board member bought 6,000 shares on May 25th, at just over $9.90. Good show of support at this level.
This company needs to be sold so that someone can take advantage of their 70%+ gross margins and enjoy some profits.
Up 120%, HOLD
Mediware (MEDW-Recommended 6/4/2007)
Buy Price $6.33, (was $6.52, $6.67 ($10,000 added), $6.98 after double up)
Valuation $19.24 (was $18.15, $17.96, $18.34, $16.07, $15.04, $14.23, $15.02, $14.35, $12.13, $12.57, $12.29, $11.90, $11.30, $11.48, $11.47 $10.99, $10.28, $13.32, $12.89, $13.40)
Closed up $.22 at $14.24
MEDW announced another acquisition of a blood management consulting company in August. No financial details (as usual).
Earnings announced in May. Another good report. Revenues increased 22% and they made $.22 per share compared to $.17 last year. Cash is closing in on $4.50 a share ($4.42). Our valuation rose to $19.24.
All we read is that medical records will be a hot area, so MEDW looks like the place to be.
Up 125%, HOLD
Inuvo (INUV (was-VTRO, MIVA)-Recommended 10/21/2007)
Buy Price $8.15 (Was $11.90 before adding another $20,000, $13.10 before another $10,000 and was $15.00 before double up),
Valuation $3.11 (was $1.84, $8.04, $10.91, $12.42, $14.23, $14.76, $12.40, $12.55, $10.85, $8.25, $9.45, $28.05, $32.10, $34.20, $37.90, $37.95)
Closed at $.46 down $.08
Earnings announced in August. Mediocre. Revenues were $12.9 million and they lost $3 million. This loss included some heavy non-cash charges related to the merger so adjusted EBITDA was $200,000. Our valuation was $3.11 compared to our estimate of $3.59.
Down 91% HOLD
Angeion Corporation (ANGN-Recommended 8/28/2008)
Buy Price-$3.82 (was $5.15 before $10,000 added)
Valuation $11.95 (was $13.36 $15.90, $13.13, $13.19, $13.60, $15.00, $13.06, $12.15, $11.29, $11.73, $11.47, $11.16, $9.53, $13.30, $13.03)
Closed down $.02 at $5.49
Earnings announced in June. Hmmm. Sales were down from $6.8 million last year to $6.3 million. They lost $.4 million versus $.1 million last year. Not great, but they blamed it on a few large customers pushing out some orders into the current quarter. We’ll see soon, cause then this quarter should be a barn burner. Our valuation slipped to $11.95 ($13.19 last year). Cash was $2.45 per share versus $2.42 last quarter. They also disclosed that they had entered into a Letter of Intent (LOI) to sell their New Leaf business and were going to change their name to MGC Diagnostics Corporation. Well at least that sounds like a medical company.
If this company could just show a bit of growth I think we would see $10 in short order---if.
Blueline Partners still owns 7.6% of ANGN and ought to be pushing on the company to do something about the stock price.
While ANGN is still trading at less than ½ our valuation, we are switching to a HOLD until we gets some results or news that improves the prospects here.
Up 44%, HOLD
OB-abies (Bulletin Board Listed Stocks)
As proven by OPTIO, patience is necessary with these stocks.
ARI Networks (ARIS.ob-Recommended 8/19/2006)
Buy price $1.61 (Was $1.78 before another $10,000 added, was $2.06 before double up),
Valuation $6.13 (was $5.82, $5.81, $5.72, $5.65, $5.39, $4.86, $5.60, $5.73, $5.54, $5.74, $5.96, $4.72, $5.19, $5.66, $5.63, $5.61, $5.71, $5.49, $5.34, $5.03, $5.28, $5.28, $5.21)
Closed at $1.00 up $.05.
Earnings announced in June. Not bad. Sales were up 7% to $5.7 million and they made $.03 a share down from $.07 last year as they spent more on technology infrastructure, investor relations and product development.
Our valuation moved up to $6.13—the highest ever since we have been following the stock. No one cared as the stock didn’t trade after the earnings announcement. Looks like they need to even spend more on investor relations and PR.
Now down 38%, BUY, Still a Huge valuation gap here.
Rand Worldwide (RWWI.ob (Was Avatech, AVSO.ob)-Bought November 28, 2005)
Buy price $.79 (Was $.93, $.99 and $1.19 before adding $10,000-each time),
Valuation $2.55 (was $2.08, $2.09, $2.12, $2.60, $2.40, $1.90, $2.26 $3.07, $3.03, $2.38, $2.57, $2.81, $2.78, $3.30, $3.76, $4.00 $3.41, $3.05, $2.53, $3.25, $3.29 $2.69, $3.36, $3.81)
Stock closed at $.80, unchanged
RWWI announced an acquisition in August. No financial details. The acquisition was in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis consulting and thermal simulation services that provide design insight allowing customers to make better informed design decisions without distractions to their current development processes.
Earnings announced in May. Not bad. While sales were down to $22 million from $27 million last year (last year included a one big order), they made $.03 a share compared to $.04 last year. Margins increased to just over 50% from 47% last quarter. Our new valuation is $2.55 a share, down $.05 from last year.
Peter Kamin the new Chairman of the Board filed a 13d in March disclosing an 11% ownership state. Interesting as one would file a 13G if their intention was to just be a passive investor. Maybe as Chairman he will do SOMETHING to get the share price up.
RWWI announced an acquisition in March, but gave no financial details. “If a tree falls in the forest but there is no one around to hear it, dies it make a sound”? Seems like the company is making no effort to get this company known to the investment community. We have been in this one a LONG time and are getting impatient.
Market cap of $40 million for a $90 million in sales company with 50% margins and not losing money, just too cheap.
Our valuation is 3X the current price.
Down 6%, HOLD
CTI Holdings (CTIG.ob-Recommended 2/25/2006)
Buy price $.27 ask,
NEW Valuation $1.34 (Was $1.34, $1.37, $1.36, $1.23, $.91, $1.21, $.71, $.83, $.88 $.96, $.93, $.75, $.85, $1.57, $1.40, $1.29, $1.38, $1.31, $1.38, $1.29, $1.42, $1.28 $1.13, $1.05, $.82)
Ask price $.20 closed at $.20.
Earnings announced last week. Another good quarter and no one cares. Revenues were up 11% to $4.5 million and they made $.3 million or $.01 per share. Cash per share was $.11 and our valuation stayed at $1.34.
CTIG announced a product deal with Mitel in June. Any PR is good news here.
A Director purchased 30,000 shares on May 23rd at $.25 a share. Not a lot of money but a good sign that things are going well.
Four profitable quarters in a row.
At a $7 million market cap, this is stupidly cheap. Their intellectual property is probably worth 3 times this price. They need to liquefy this value somehow.
Still an "undercover" company and stock.
Down 26%. BUY
Lotus Pharmaceuticals (LTUS.ob-Recommended 12/3/2007)
Buy price $1.68 (Was $1.80 before $10,000 adder, $2.16 before double-up)
Valuation-$.85 (Was $1.05, $2.43, $4.11, $4.84, $4.98, $4.60, $3.82, $4.00, $3.68, $3.12, $3.98, $4.44, $3.22, $2.12, $4.56, $4.16)
Closed at $.04, unchanged.
Now LTUS announced in April that they have no money for audits and SEC filings. Hammered down to less than a nickel a share. Can you spare them some money? Not worth selling at this point until we need tax losses. Maybe something good will happen. What a disaster. No more Chinese stocks for us, no matter how compelling the valuation.
Down 98%, HOLD
Some of our stocks are just stupid cheap—compared to their net cash on hand per share divided by their stock price.
Check this list:
RIMG 89%
EXTR 48%
GRVY 109%
CCUR 61%
MTSL 45%
SIGM 62%
ASTX 48%
CTIG 54%
MRVC 36%
ANGN 45%
AVNT 65%
Plus, EXTR, RIMG, ANGN and SIGM are all in “play” with activist shareholders either trying to get them to pay out special dividends or take them over, or they are pursuing “strategic alternatives”.
The DOW was up .5% last week, NASDAQ was up 1.8% and the Russell 3000 was up 1%.
CTIG, MTSL, AVNW, AEZS and HPOL earnings last week.
AVNW, CBEY, MTSL, GRVY, and MITL are our favorites.
For the year, the DOW is up 8.7%, NASDAQ is up 18.1%, and the Russell 3000 is up 12.5%
Last week we went 13 stocks up, 9 down and 1 unchanged. Since inception we are now 56 stocks up and 18 down for a 75.7% winning percentage (80% is our target win %).
Since our beginning, we have closed out the following positions:
2006-NTCT +44%
2006-ONXS +11% (Buyout offer)
2006-DTLK +41%
2006-CAW +21% (Buyout offer)
2007-IYXI.ob +44% (Buyout offer)
2007-MOBI +47% (Buyout offer)
2007-INFT +11% (Buyout offer)
2007-RITT +62%
2007-MIVA +55%
2007-DTLK +25% (2 weeks)
2007-PDLI + 3%
2007-QADI +25%
2007-CIMT +50%
2007-BDR +19%
2007-LINN.ob -57% (mortgage business bust didn't help here)
2007-TISA -39% (take some tax loss for 2007 due to disappointing results.
2008-ANGN +26%
2008-OPTO.ob +40% (Buy-out offer)
2008-PDLI +9% (company split, and special dividend)
2008-BDAY -39% (long overdue takeover offer-or "take-under")
2008-DTLK +40% (third trip on this one)
2008-ILOG +26% (Buy-out offer from IBM)
2008-PARL +56%
2009-MBRK +67%
2009-SNWL +14%
2009-CYNO +25%
2009-DTLK +33%
2009-NED +46%
2009-CUTR +13%
2009-HSTM +67% (continued good earnings)
2009-RNWK +36%
2009-OPK +116%
2009-CLZR -32% (a loser even on a buy-out)
2009-DTLK +28% (our 5th profitable trip on this one)
2010-HPOL +110%
2010-DIVX +25%
2010-CHRD +37% Buyout (2 weeks after we recommended it)
2010-HPOL +30%
2010-MGIC +82%
2010-GSL +78%
2010-CCEL +49%
2010-HPOL +27%
2010-CAW EVEN (excluding 2.5 years of dividends)
2011-DWCH +116%
2011-IPAS +15%
2011-PRM +56% Buyout (1 week after we recommended it)
2011-RST +12%
2011-NINE -10%
2012-BVSN +30%
2012-TISA +137%
2012-PTIX -44%
The model portfolio assumes $10,000 invested in each stock (unless we double-up--then it is $20,000), less $10 commission each way (TD Ameritrade rate).
For the 50 stocks that we closed out since 2006 (45 were winners) the average net gain was 38%.
Telecommunications Systems Inc. (NASDAQ-AVNW)-Recommended 6/14/2012)
Buy Price- $1.37
Valuation $6.72 (Was $5.49)
Closed down $.04 at $1.48
Earnings announced in July. They were fine. Revenues were up 14% to $114 million and cutting through all the goodwill write-off it looks like they made $1.5 million on an operating basis. Our valuation rose to $6.72. After falling to around $1.15 the stock popped back up to close at $1.36 when it became apparent the sky was not falling.
TSYS announced an acquisition on in July. They are buying the leader in 911 communications for $37 million.
Up 8%, BUY
Aviat Networks Inc. (NASDAQ-AVNW)-Recommended 2/27/2012)
Buy Price- $2.62
NEW Valuation $9.37 (Was $8.85, $8.31)
Closed up $.24 at $2.50
Earnings announced last week. Revenues were down $5 million to $116 million, and they made $1.2 million on a Non-GAAP basis versus $2.8 million last year. Our valuation rose to $9.37 per share. Needham reiterated its “Buy” on AVNW.
Cash per share rose to $1.62.
Down 5%, BUY
CBeyond Inc. (NASDAQ-CBEY)-Recommended 2/28/2012)
Buy Price $7.17 ( Was $7.94 before another $10,000 added at $6.53)
Valuation $29.59 (Was $29.58, $29.21)
Closed up $.70 at $8.55
Earnings out in August. They were good. Revenues were up 3%. They made a profit of $1.5 million ($.05 per share) compared to a loss of $1.8 million last year. Cash flow was positive and our valuation rose $.01 to $29.59 per share.
Up 19%, BUY
MRV Communications (Pink Sheets-MRVC.pk)
Valuation $1.73 (Was $1.73, $2.06, $2.16 (after $.475 and $.30 special dividends), $2.62, $2.79)
Buy Price October 7, 2011- $.50 ($1.27 before special dividends)
Closed at $.51 down $.07
Earnings announced in August. Revenues were $55 million down from $59 million last year. They lost $2 million ($.01 per share) after a net $1 million loss on litigation settlement and goodwill write-off. Our valuation stayed at $1.73, $.30 higher than our estimate for this quarter. The big news is that they are selling 2 more European companies for what looks like a combined $24 million and going forward with their optical communications group which is the bulk of their revenues. Our pro-forma valuation, assuming both of these sales close is $1.61 with $.44 a share in cash (76% of the current market cap). Still trading at less than ½ our valuation.
Raging Capital continues to buy shares. They now own over 27 million shares or 17.6% of MRV.
Up 1% BUY
Sigma Designs Inc. (NASDAQ-SIGM)-Recommended 7/11/2011)
Buy Price-$8.49
Valuation $10.67 (Was $8.41 $12.10, $13.40, $16.02)
Closed up $.24 at $7.01
Sigma and Potomac settled their war, at least temporarily as Potomac will get two Board seats.
Earnings announced in May. Still losing money but sales were up to $40 million from $36 million last quarter. They lost $8.5 million on a non-GAAP basis versus $14 million last quarter. Net cash per share fell a bit to $4.32. Over all our valuation increased about 25% to $10.67. Not bad, but not good enough to buy any more here.
They are projecting sales for next quarter (Q2) to be between $61-$67 million with 45% GAAP margins. Operating breakeven is expected in Q4 including the Trident acquisition which is expected to contribute about $24 million of sales per quarter.
So we are trading at a market cap of about $70 million (excluding cash) for a $$200 million a year chip company with 50% margins. Still pretty stupid we think. We plan to hold on for another couple of quarters to see if they can turn this around.
Down 17%, HOLD
Mitel Networks (NASDAQ-MITL)-Recommended 7/6/2011)
Buy Price- $3.04( Was $3.36 before $10,000 added, $3.95 before $10,000 added)
Valuation $13.92 (Was $12.81, $15.28, $14.04, $10.39)
Closed down $.46 at $2.50
Ugg. In August, MITL warned that revenues would be below their guidance at about $138-$139 million compared to $150-$155 million due to delayed customer implementations and the “a general deterioration of the macro environment”. Not sure what the latter part means. No earning guidance update was given. An update will be given when earnings are released on Thursday, August 30th after the market closes. They also announced that they would cut about 10% of their workforce and close “excess” facilities. We will guess that when the numbers are out, our valuation will still me at least 3X the current trading price.
Down 5%, HOLD
Rimage (NASDAQ-RIMG)-Recommended 5/24/2011)
Buy Price-$14.20
Valuation $$14.03 (Was $19.81, $22.23, $25.63, $26.45)
Closed up $.13 at $6.92
Pays $.68 a share annual dividend.
We have collected $.81 of dividends since we recommended RIMG.
Earnings announced in July. Well not really earnings. Revenues fell 9% to $18.3 million, margins fell to 45% from 49% last year and they lost $2.75 million or $.27 per share. Qumu revenues were a whopping $1.4 million. Cash fell to $62.3 million or $6.13 and our valuation fell again to $14.03
This is the worst case of management squandering its assets on an acquisition to escape being bought out and fired. We have lost over $12 on our valuation and the stock is down over 50% Spent over $40 million to buy Qumu’s paltry revenue stream.
They are now projecting next quarter to be $20-$22 million of revenue and only lose $.02-$.10 per share. Guidance for 2012 is low double digit sales growth and the same level cash flow.
Teetering on selling here despite the yield.
Down 50%, HOLD
Lexmark International (NYSE-LXK)-Recommended 5/24/2011)
Buy Price-$28.80
Valuation $70.28 (Was $62.59, $63.94, $63.84, $79.12, $63.99)
Closed up $.61 at $20.51
We have also collected $.80 a share in dividends here.
LXK now pays a $1.20 annual dividend.
Earnings announced in July. Revenue fell 12% and Non-GAAP earnings fell to $.89 a share from $1.36 a year earlier. Currency and Europe were blamed for the shortfall. Q3 guidance is another 10% revenue decline and Non-GAAP earnings of $.75-$.85 compared to $.95 last year. Our valuation actually increased on a gross margin increase to $70.28 and net cash fell a bit to $3.85 a share as they bought back 800,000 shares for $25 million and paid their quarterly dividend. This is why we don’t like Wall Street analysts. They would rather pay 100 times earnings for some maybe good company than a proven cash machine like LXK. Yield is now 6.5%
They reiterated their intent to return over 50% of their free cash flow to shareholders in dividends and share repurchases. The vagaries of the stock analysts make us cautious but we are back down well below our original buy price so we are making this a Buy again.
Down 29%, BUY
MER Telemanagement (NASDAQ-MTSL)-Recommended 5/17/2011)
Buy Price-$1.42 (Was $1.50 before adding another $10,000 investment)
NEW Valuation $6.58 (Was $5.77, $5.55, $6.28 $5.61, $5.11)
Closed up $.65 at $2.25
Earnings announced last week. Revenues were up 10% to $3.3 million and they made $.10 a share. For the six months ended June 30, they have earned $.17 per share (untaxed). Our valuation jumped to $6.58 per share and they have $1.02 per share in net cash.
Up 58% HOLD
Harris Interactive (NASDAQ-HPOL)-Recommended 3/3/2010)
Buy Price-$.92
NEW Valuation $2.65 (Was $3.15, $3.05, $2.90, $3.11, $2.63, $2.97)
Closed at $1.27, up $.18
Earnings announced last week. Sales dropped from $44.2 million last year to $35.5 million as they continued to cull out low margin business. Net loss was $.02 a share down from $.09 last year. EBITDA for the quarter was $1.5 million compared to an EBITDA loss of $2.1 million last year. The “turnaround” continues. Net cash was $1.0 a share and our valuation was $2.65 a share compared to $2.63 last year.
Up 38%, HOLD
Concurrent Computer (NASDAQ-CCUR)-Recommended 2/4/2011)
Buy Price-$5.08
Valuation $15.85 (was $14.13, $11.38, $14.04, $18.54, $15.99)
Closed down $.10 at $4.38
Pays $.24 annual dividend.
We have collected $.06 in dividends so far.
Singer/Miller bought another 33,000 shares in early July at $3.88. They now own 12.1% of CCUR.
CCUR took on two of the Singer/Miller Board nominees and entered into a standstill agreement until the 2012 Shareholders meeting.
CCUR announced the initiation of a quarterly dividend of $.06 or $.24 annually in July.
Another 13D filed in June by what looks like another disgruntled shareholder (Stephen D. Baksa). Owns 435,000 shares or 5%.
13D/A filed in June disclosing another 100,000 shares purchased on June 13th by the Singer/Miller group for $3.75. Their combined ownership is now 11.7%.
Singer is also involved in MRV and was involved with Evolving Systems (which we owned personally even though we didn’t recommend it—it was a huge winner).
Earnings announced in May. Not bad. Revenues were down $2 million to $16.3 million but they made $.04 per share. Cash fell to $2.61 per share as receivables rose. Our valuation rose to $15.85, the second quarter of rising valuation and just about back to when we recommended it. Now the price just needs to reflect the improvement.
Down 14%, HOLD
Astex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Was SuperGen Inc.) (NASDAQ-ASTX)-Recommended 10/4/2010)
Buy Price-$2.31 (was $2.09 before adding $10,000)
Valuation $3.16 (was $3.44, $3.42, $3.22, $3.11, $5.21, $4.89, $4.37, $3.48)
Closed up $.02 at $2.44
Earnings announced in August. Revenues were up to $19.9 million from $11.7 million and they made $.01 per share the same as last year. Cash was $121 million or $1.18 per share. They raised their earnings guidance to a loss of only $5 million from $15 million. All in all a good report. Our valuation fell however to $3.16 as revenues, cash and earnings were all a bit lower than last quarter.
So we have a company losing maybe $5 million in cash a year, or 25 years of cash, about $80 million in revenues and a huge drug pipeline. Any good news on the clinical trials front ought to set this stock on fire.
It is not easy to find a small drug company with substantial revenues, that has a pile of cash, is not losing a ton of money and is trading at even close to our valuation.
There are $2 BILLION of potential milestone payments down the road.
Up 6%, HOLD
Extreme Networks (EXTR-Recommended 3/22/2010)
Buy Price-$3.18 (Was $3.04 before adding another $10,000)
Valuation-$7.46 (was $6.31, $7.01, $6.72, $6.45, $5.67, $7.36, $7.23, $7.31, $6.82, $6.81)
Closed at $3.37 up $.14.
Earnings announced in August. We liked the quarter. Revenues were $87.6 million and they made $.08 a share profit compared to $.02 loss last year. Cash per share rose to $1.61. Our valuation rose to $7.46 compared to the same quarter of last years $6.45 as gross margin rose to 56% compared to 46% last year.
They are projecting next quarter at sales of $75-$82 million and EPS of $.00 to $.03.
Starboard owns 9.7%, Soros 8.8% and Blackrock owns 5.5% of EXTR.
Up 6%, BUY
Gravity Company Ltd. (GRVY-Recommended 1/18/2010)
Buy Price- $1.45 per ADS (Was $1.68 before double up)
Valuation $5.52-(Was $5.00, $5.39, $5.33, $5.61, $5.73, $4.38, $4.44, $5.15)
Closed down $.04 at $1.60
Now trading at below cash value again.
Q1 earnings announced in May. Nice. Revenues were $14.4 million and they made $1 million or $.04 per ADS. Cash was $48 million or $1.74 per share. No update on how Ragnarok 2 was doing or rumored Face Book games. Short term holders were disappointed as the stock fell. We are thrilled that cash and revenues went up from last quarter and our valuation rose to $5.52.
Ragnarok was commercially released in Korea on March 26th.
Up 10%, BUY
AEterna Zentaris (AEZS-Recommended 6/20/2009)
Buy price $1.42 (was $1.78 before adding another $10,000, $1.82 before double up)
Valuation --Speculation.
Closed at $.44 up $.01
“Earning” out last week. Revenues were $7.5 million versus $6.5 million last year and they lost $7.6 million from operations versus $8 million last year.
Cash stood at $40 million and they continue to sell more stock. They sold another 2.6 million this quarter for $1.9 million. A reverse stock split is coming, pending shareholder approval
Speculative for sure.
Down 69%, HOLD
Spectranetics (SPNC-Recommended 9/2/2006)
Buy price $5.68 (was $8.90, $9.40 before adding $10,000, and was $10.65 before double up),
Valuation --$16.00 (was $14, $12, $10)
Closed up $.49 at $12.48
Earnings announced in July. Well it appears they did not screw anything up and the stock rebounded to hit a new high of $12.14. Sales were up 9% YOY and they made $.02 a share (same as last year). They did raise annual guidance to 8-10% revenue growth versus 5-7% previously. The stock seems like it wants to go higher.
A Board member bought 6,000 shares on May 25th, at just over $9.90. Good show of support at this level.
This company needs to be sold so that someone can take advantage of their 70%+ gross margins and enjoy some profits.
Up 120%, HOLD
Mediware (MEDW-Recommended 6/4/2007)
Buy Price $6.33, (was $6.52, $6.67 ($10,000 added), $6.98 after double up)
Valuation $19.24 (was $18.15, $17.96, $18.34, $16.07, $15.04, $14.23, $15.02, $14.35, $12.13, $12.57, $12.29, $11.90, $11.30, $11.48, $11.47 $10.99, $10.28, $13.32, $12.89, $13.40)
Closed up $.22 at $14.24
MEDW announced another acquisition of a blood management consulting company in August. No financial details (as usual).
Earnings announced in May. Another good report. Revenues increased 22% and they made $.22 per share compared to $.17 last year. Cash is closing in on $4.50 a share ($4.42). Our valuation rose to $19.24.
All we read is that medical records will be a hot area, so MEDW looks like the place to be.
Up 125%, HOLD
Inuvo (INUV (was-VTRO, MIVA)-Recommended 10/21/2007)
Buy Price $8.15 (Was $11.90 before adding another $20,000, $13.10 before another $10,000 and was $15.00 before double up),
Valuation $3.11 (was $1.84, $8.04, $10.91, $12.42, $14.23, $14.76, $12.40, $12.55, $10.85, $8.25, $9.45, $28.05, $32.10, $34.20, $37.90, $37.95)
Closed at $.46 down $.08
Earnings announced in August. Mediocre. Revenues were $12.9 million and they lost $3 million. This loss included some heavy non-cash charges related to the merger so adjusted EBITDA was $200,000. Our valuation was $3.11 compared to our estimate of $3.59.
Down 91% HOLD
Angeion Corporation (ANGN-Recommended 8/28/2008)
Buy Price-$3.82 (was $5.15 before $10,000 added)
Valuation $11.95 (was $13.36 $15.90, $13.13, $13.19, $13.60, $15.00, $13.06, $12.15, $11.29, $11.73, $11.47, $11.16, $9.53, $13.30, $13.03)
Closed down $.02 at $5.49
Earnings announced in June. Hmmm. Sales were down from $6.8 million last year to $6.3 million. They lost $.4 million versus $.1 million last year. Not great, but they blamed it on a few large customers pushing out some orders into the current quarter. We’ll see soon, cause then this quarter should be a barn burner. Our valuation slipped to $11.95 ($13.19 last year). Cash was $2.45 per share versus $2.42 last quarter. They also disclosed that they had entered into a Letter of Intent (LOI) to sell their New Leaf business and were going to change their name to MGC Diagnostics Corporation. Well at least that sounds like a medical company.
If this company could just show a bit of growth I think we would see $10 in short order---if.
Blueline Partners still owns 7.6% of ANGN and ought to be pushing on the company to do something about the stock price.
While ANGN is still trading at less than ½ our valuation, we are switching to a HOLD until we gets some results or news that improves the prospects here.
Up 44%, HOLD
OB-abies (Bulletin Board Listed Stocks)
As proven by OPTIO, patience is necessary with these stocks.
ARI Networks (ARIS.ob-Recommended 8/19/2006)
Buy price $1.61 (Was $1.78 before another $10,000 added, was $2.06 before double up),
Valuation $6.13 (was $5.82, $5.81, $5.72, $5.65, $5.39, $4.86, $5.60, $5.73, $5.54, $5.74, $5.96, $4.72, $5.19, $5.66, $5.63, $5.61, $5.71, $5.49, $5.34, $5.03, $5.28, $5.28, $5.21)
Closed at $1.00 up $.05.
Earnings announced in June. Not bad. Sales were up 7% to $5.7 million and they made $.03 a share down from $.07 last year as they spent more on technology infrastructure, investor relations and product development.
Our valuation moved up to $6.13—the highest ever since we have been following the stock. No one cared as the stock didn’t trade after the earnings announcement. Looks like they need to even spend more on investor relations and PR.
Now down 38%, BUY, Still a Huge valuation gap here.
Rand Worldwide (RWWI.ob (Was Avatech, AVSO.ob)-Bought November 28, 2005)
Buy price $.79 (Was $.93, $.99 and $1.19 before adding $10,000-each time),
Valuation $2.55 (was $2.08, $2.09, $2.12, $2.60, $2.40, $1.90, $2.26 $3.07, $3.03, $2.38, $2.57, $2.81, $2.78, $3.30, $3.76, $4.00 $3.41, $3.05, $2.53, $3.25, $3.29 $2.69, $3.36, $3.81)
Stock closed at $.80, unchanged
RWWI announced an acquisition in August. No financial details. The acquisition was in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis consulting and thermal simulation services that provide design insight allowing customers to make better informed design decisions without distractions to their current development processes.
Earnings announced in May. Not bad. While sales were down to $22 million from $27 million last year (last year included a one big order), they made $.03 a share compared to $.04 last year. Margins increased to just over 50% from 47% last quarter. Our new valuation is $2.55 a share, down $.05 from last year.
Peter Kamin the new Chairman of the Board filed a 13d in March disclosing an 11% ownership state. Interesting as one would file a 13G if their intention was to just be a passive investor. Maybe as Chairman he will do SOMETHING to get the share price up.
RWWI announced an acquisition in March, but gave no financial details. “If a tree falls in the forest but there is no one around to hear it, dies it make a sound”? Seems like the company is making no effort to get this company known to the investment community. We have been in this one a LONG time and are getting impatient.
Market cap of $40 million for a $90 million in sales company with 50% margins and not losing money, just too cheap.
Our valuation is 3X the current price.
Down 6%, HOLD
CTI Holdings (CTIG.ob-Recommended 2/25/2006)
Buy price $.27 ask,
NEW Valuation $1.34 (Was $1.34, $1.37, $1.36, $1.23, $.91, $1.21, $.71, $.83, $.88 $.96, $.93, $.75, $.85, $1.57, $1.40, $1.29, $1.38, $1.31, $1.38, $1.29, $1.42, $1.28 $1.13, $1.05, $.82)
Ask price $.20 closed at $.20.
Earnings announced last week. Another good quarter and no one cares. Revenues were up 11% to $4.5 million and they made $.3 million or $.01 per share. Cash per share was $.11 and our valuation stayed at $1.34.
CTIG announced a product deal with Mitel in June. Any PR is good news here.
A Director purchased 30,000 shares on May 23rd at $.25 a share. Not a lot of money but a good sign that things are going well.
Four profitable quarters in a row.
At a $7 million market cap, this is stupidly cheap. Their intellectual property is probably worth 3 times this price. They need to liquefy this value somehow.
Still an "undercover" company and stock.
Down 26%. BUY
Lotus Pharmaceuticals (LTUS.ob-Recommended 12/3/2007)
Buy price $1.68 (Was $1.80 before $10,000 adder, $2.16 before double-up)
Valuation-$.85 (Was $1.05, $2.43, $4.11, $4.84, $4.98, $4.60, $3.82, $4.00, $3.68, $3.12, $3.98, $4.44, $3.22, $2.12, $4.56, $4.16)
Closed at $.04, unchanged.
Now LTUS announced in April that they have no money for audits and SEC filings. Hammered down to less than a nickel a share. Can you spare them some money? Not worth selling at this point until we need tax losses. Maybe something good will happen. What a disaster. No more Chinese stocks for us, no matter how compelling the valuation.
Down 98%, HOLD
posted by Cheap Stock Investor | 6:37 AM
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