Archive for March, 2007

CECE Q4 2006 Earnings

By: admin | Date posted: 03.31.2007 (12:00 am)

CECE – Ceco Environmental (Nasdaq) (Closing Price on Friday 3/30/07 – $12.49)

I recommended buying Ceco Environmental a couple of months ago for a 31% gain in a little over two weeks. I gave my sell recommendation a little too soon but I have still been following the stock and I would recommend staying away from the company until they show an increase in earnings.

Ceco Environmental recently reported Q4 06 results on March 22. They posted earnings of 0.09 per diluted share on revenue of 41.5 million. Revenue improved but the lack of earnings growth was a huge problem. In Q2 06 Ceco Environmental had earnings of 0.12 per diluted share on revenues of 31.7 million. This quarter they had almost ten million more in revenue but had three cents less in earnings. The lack of earnings growth and the huge run-up in the share price was a bad combination and the stock price has taken quite a beating in the last week. (more…)

More on this topic (What's this?)
IT’S EARNINGS THAT MATTER (THE PRAGMATIC CAPITALIST, 8/23/10)
Earnings Better Than Expectations and Revenues In Line (Disciplined Approach to Investing, 7/31/10)
Read more on CECO Environmental, Net Income at Wikinvest

JADE – Update

By: admin | Date posted: 03.27.2007 (12:00 am)

JADE – LJ International (Nasdaq) (Closing Price – 9.62)

On Feb. 15 LJ International raised their fourth quarter guidance. They had previously forecast earnings for the fourth quarter would be between 0.04 to 0.11 cents a share. However, they upped their guidance to earnings of 0.16 per share.

The stock price got quite a boost after they raised guidance but has been selling off since.

If you shorted JADE based on my recommendation I think you should continue holding your short position. The raised guidance was a positive development but I still think LJ International is overvalued. (more…)

More on this topic (What's this?)
JADE: Broken Growth Story Ripe for Buying? (College Analysts, 7/24/07)
JADE (Samurai Trader, 10/14/09)
Read more on LJ International at Wikinvest

SWIR – Initiation of Buy Recommendation

By: admin | Date posted: 03.26.2007 (12:00 am)

SWIR – Sierra Wireless (Nasdaq) (Closing Price – $15.44) 

There aren’t many stocks in the market that I like right now but Sierra Wireless is one that I like a lot.

Sierra Wireless makes wireless laptop cards and the demand for their products is starting to pick up. A couple of quarters ago Sierra Wireless had earnings of 0.04 on revenues of 52.54 million. Last quarter they had earnings of 0.09 on revenues of 68.30 million. This quarter they have given earnings guidance of 0.12 per share on revenues of 82 million. As you can see Sierra’s financial numbers are increasing very nicely. (more…)

More on this topic (What's this?)
SWIR At $15 Support (Stock Trading To Go, 12/30/07)
(S) Sprint Nextel to Market Sierra Wireless’ “Overdrive” Wireless Router (Stock Blog Hub, 1/7/10)
Read more on Sierra Wireless at Wikinvest

HSOA – Q4 2006 Earnings

By: admin | Date posted: 03.25.2007 (12:00 am)

HSOA – Home Solutions of America (Nasdaq) (Closing Price on Friday 3/23/07 – $4.99)

Home Solutions of America reported disappointing results for Q4 06 on March 16 but they gave decent guidance for next quarter and in the last few weeks they have announced new contracts.

HSOA had earnings of 0.05 per share on revenues of 34.7 million. The lowered numbers were blamed on delays in funding for the Gulf Coast area and on weakness in the housing sector. Fourth quarter results were also impacted by one time charges.

For next quarter they gave guidance of revenues from 35 to 40 million and earnings of 0.09 to 0.11 per diluted share. If they only make 0.09 next quarter it will be an improvement of a penny over the corresponding quarter last year. If you assume they only make 0.09 the next four quarters HSOA will have a forward PE of 14 with Friday’s closing price. That is pretty cheap. (more…)

MAMA – Q4 2006 Earnings

By: admin | Date posted: 03.11.2007 (12:00 am)

MAMA – Mamma.com Inc. (Nasdaq) (Closing Price on Friday 3/9/07 – $5.19)

Mamma.com announced fourth quarter results on March 7 and surprisingly they managed to report a small profit. However, the stock is still way overvalued based on any fundamental valuation and I would recommend to continue holding your short position.

Mamma.com reported a profit of 0.03 on revenues of 3.57 million. This is a stark contrast to the losses they posted in the previous year but I it remains to be seen whether they can become consistently profitable. Even if they were to make the same amount each quarter next year, which is doubtful, MAMA would have a PE of 43 with Friday’s closing price. That is extremely high. (more…)

More on this topic (What's this?)
News from around the web: 2009-12-10 (Credit Writedowns, 12/10/09)
Is this the real price? (Investment Postcards from Cape Town, 3/20/08)
Read more on Copernic Inc at Wikinvest

HSOA – Hold Recommendation

By: admin | Date posted: 03.05.2007 (12:00 am)

HSOA – Home Solutions of America (Nasdaq) (Closing Price – $4.91)

Home Solutions of America today lowered guidance for 2006 to 0.43-0.46 per share from previously announce guidance of 0.56-0.60 cents per share. The company said the lowered guidance was due to a weak remodeling and rebuilding sector and delays in government spending for New Orleans. The stock price took quite a hit but I would recommend to continue holding your shares.

Even with the lowered guidance HSOA is still trading at a very low trailing PE (4.91/0.43 = 11). Also, the stock market is forward looking so the guidance for the current year is a lot less important than the guidance for next year. HSOA plans to announce the fourth quarter results and the outlook for 2007 on March 15. If HSOA guides for higher revenues and earnings in 2007 I think the stock price will make a quick rebound. (more…)

The Market Correction

By: admin | Date posted: 03.04.2007 (12:00 am)

In the past week U.S. equities and foreign stocks have taken quite a beating and in my opinion it was long overdo. The Dow was up 16% last year and the Nasdaq made a run of over 17% from its lows in the second half of the year. The U.S. stock markets kept rising this year even though the economy isn’t growing very fast and the housing market is correcting from its bubble. Something had to give and the result was the sudden drop in U.S. stocks.

One of the catalysts for the drop in US stocks was the carnage of the Chinese market. The Chinese market lost 9 percent on Feb. 27 and the drop spooked investors around the world. Many reasons have been given for the drop in the Chinese market but the main reason is valuation. The Chinese market had a gain of over 120% last year and it is currently a bubble waiting to burst. The Chinese economy has been growing at around 10% a year but that doesn’t justify such a huge increase in the price of Chinese stocks. (more…)

HSOA – Buy and Accumulate

By: admin | Date posted: 03.01.2007 (12:00 am)

HSOA – Home Solutions of America (Nasdaq) (Closing Price – $5.81)

Last month an analyst downgraded HSOA from strong buy to buy. I found the timing of this downgrade to be very curious. In my opinion the stock was on the verge of breaking out and triggering a huge short squeeze. However, the downgrade brought some selling pressure and general wariness of stocks this past week hasn’t helped.  

I still think HSOA is a good buy and I think now would be a good time to accumulate more shares. From a fundamental perspective HSOA is way undervalued and I think it is just a matter of time before HSOA’s share price breaks out of its trading range. (more…)