Submitted by Mark Hanna
Courtesy of MarketMontage. View original post here.
With the pre-warnings we began seeing in mid December, I believe this might be one of the trickier earnings seasons in recent memory. 2009 was full of low expectations and 2010 benefited from the waves of job cuts of 2008-2009, along with massive global government stimulus to drive sales. With record profit margins, expectations still remain quite high and with some austerity hitting in Europe along with the general slowdown across the globe, it won’t be quite so easy to match investor demands. Acme Packet (APKT) is the latest in a line of tech companies which have warned – and just like that one can lose a fifth of your investment. It’s a mine field out there despite the ‘risk on’ attitude today.
Technically the stock has been in a horrid downturn in November and December (and even farther back) but like much of the ‘broken stocks’ bounced today. Recall I mentioned earlier in the day “broken tech” was one of the leading groups. Unfortunately that was just a tease for what is happening in after hours as the stock hits $25.
Via Reuters:
- Acme Packet Inc forecast a weaker-than-expected fourth quarter, citing uncertainty in the North American service provider market. The company which provides communication infrastructure for telecom, expects adjusted earnings of 26 cents to 28 cents per share on revenue of $84 million to $86 million.
- Analysts are expecting Acme to earn 37 cents a share on revenue of $93.4 million.
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Any securities mentioned on this page are not held by the author in his personal portfolio. Securities mentioned may or may not be held by the author in the mutual fund he manages, the Paladin Long Short Fund (PALFX). For a list of the aforementioned fund’s holdings at the end of the prior quarter, visit the Paladin Funds website at http://www.paladinfunds.com/holdings/blog
