." Yahoo goes to point out that Fisher "...primarily serves the scientific research, clinical-laboratory and safety markets." I do NOT own any shares or have any leveraged position in this stock.
What drove the stock higher, as is the case with most of our stocks this time of year, was an earnings report that was released after the market close yesterday. Sales for the first quarter 2004 ended March 31, 2004, increased 21% to $1.01 billion from $.83 billion the prior year. Even EXCLUDING the positive effects of the exchange rate, sales still came in with an 18% growth to $983.5 million. First quarter net income came in at $34.6 million or $.51/diluted share compared to a net loss of $(0.9) million or $(.02)/diluted hsare in the first quarter of 2003.
Looking at the "5-Yr Restated" financials from Morningstar.com, we can see that revenue has grown steadily from $2.5 billion in 1999 to $3.6 billion in the trailing twelve months. Earnings have been a bit erratic but have grown from $.55/share in 1999 to $1.29/share in the trailing twelve months.
Free cash flow has been solidly positive and slowly increasing with $119 million in 2001, $115 million in 2002, and $138 million in 2003.
Balance sheet-wise, FSH has $83.8 million in cash and $927.0 million in other current assets, enough to cover the $648.5 million in current liabilities AND make a dent in the $1.6 billion in long-term liabilities.
If we look at "Key Statistics" from Yahoo, we can see that the Market Cap is $3.74 billion. The trailing p/e is rich at 45.25, but the company is expected to continue its rather fast growth so the forward p/e (fye 31-Dec-05) is only 17.60. The PEG is at 1.40 which isn't bad and the price/sales is even nicer at 1.01.
There are 63.79 million shares outstanding with 58.00 million of them that float. Currently there are 7.58 million shares out short, representing 13.08% of the float, or 4.782 trading days. In my opinion, whenever we get over 1 or 2 trading days, the amount of the short interest becomes increasingly significant, as the risk of a'short squeeze' increases.
No cash dividend is paid and the last stock split was a 5:1 reported on Yahoo in April, 1998.
How about technicals? Looking at a "Point and Figure" chart, we can see that FSH was trading sideways between 2001 and early 2003. Then in November, 2003, FSH broke through a resistance level at about $32 and has traded higher rather strongly since.
What do I think? I actually like this stock a lot. The p/e isn't too bad in light of the growth, and the PEG is reasonable. They are cash flow positive with a solid balance sheet. The only thing holding me back (lol) is the fact that I DON'T have any CASH!!! My account is in margin in a correcting market, and I am in the "raise cash" mode....at least insofar as new investments are concerned. I will wait until I sell a portion at a nice gain before adding another position.
Hello Friends! The market SEEMS like it may want to go a little higher in here...but I am not holding my breath. As always, please remember to do your own work on these stocks on the website, and consult with your investment advisor as I am an amateur investor who likes to talk about stocks...and only your investment advisor knows if these selections are timely, appropriate, or even wise for you!
I came across INAMED (IMDC)today as I was looking at the market movers. I do not have any shares or leveraged positions in this stock. As I write, IMDC is trading at $58.03, up $2.85 or 5.16% on the day. According to the Yahoo "Profile", INAMED "...has three principal product lines: breast aesthetics, consisting primarily of breast implants and tissue expanders sold largely for use in plastic and reconstructive surger; facial aesthetics, consisting primarily of collagen and other dermal fillers sold largely to dermatologists and plastic surgeons, and obesity intervention, consisting of products for use in treating severe and morbid obesity."
What drove the price of the stock higher today, was an earnings report released yesterday after the close. For the first quarter 2004, ended March 31, 2004, INAMED reported sales increasing 20% to $90.8 million from $75.5 million last year, diluted earnings up 40% to $.49/share compared to $.35/share last year. These are pretty nice numbers!
If we look at the "5-Yr Restated" financials on Morningstar.com, we can see that IMHC has grown its revenues from $189.3 million in 1999 to $332.6 million in the trailing twelve months.
Morningstar shows an erratic earnings record with EPS dropping from $1.35 in 1999 to $.64 in 2001, but increasing since then to $1.51 in the trailing twelve months.
Free cash flow has been solidly positive and increasing from $14 million in 2001 to $63 million in the trailing twelve months.
Balance sheet? Looking at the numbers on Morningstar.com is reassuring with $80.5 million in cash and $131.6 million in other current assets as opposed to $80.2 million in current liabilities and $69.3 in long-term liabilities.
Valuation? Looking at the "Key Statistics" on Yahoo we can see the that the trailing p/e is 35.11 but the PEG (5 yr expected) is nice at 1.25. Price/sales a bit rich at 5.88.
There are 35.44 million shares outstanding with 28.80 million of them that float. There are quite a few shares out short; Yahoo reports 1.88 million shares representing 6.51% of the float or 3.933 trading days. We may be in the midst of a little "squeeze" on these short sellers.
No cash dividend is paid and the last stock split was just a few months ago: a 3:2 split in December, 2003.
Technicals? IMDC has a nice "Point & Figure" chart. The stock broke through a resistance level in October 2003 at about $19.50/share and has headed strongly higher since.
"A reader asks" How about SCHN and ABTL?
Hello Friends! A pretty DISMAL day in the market wouldn't you say? As ALWAYS, please remember to do your own investigation on all stocks on this website before taking any actiona and please consult with your investment advisor to make sure that all of your decisions are appropriate and timely for your particular needs.
It is always nice to get an email. Especially from a reader who stops by regularly. As I always warn, I will be posting your questions in the blog with just the initial of the last name.
explanations to your picking methodology.
fundamentals really that much "askew"??
Terry, let me try to respond to these stock questions one by one.
Autobytel (ABTL) was posted on Stock Picks on 3/17/04 at a price of $12.93. ABTL closed today at $9.40, this is down a large $(3.53) or (27.3)%. If you had purchased this stock at the original price, I would hope you would have unloaded this after the stock hit your loss limit, as you probably know, I am at 8%. However, let's look at the news and see if we can figure out anything!
By the way, I do NOT own any ABTL, but DID purchase some SCHN and stopped out after it hit (and passed) my 8% stop.
Shares of Autobytel Inc. (NasdaqNM:ABTL - News), a Web-based car-buying service, plunged 24 percent on Friday, a day after the company reported quarterly earnings that were below Wall Street expectations and said advertising revenue softened in the latest quarter.
Clearly, much of the market's movements are based on expectations. Unfortunately, disappointments are punished severely, and surprises are rewarded out of proportion to the news. The market always does more than is indicated imho. I have found that these kinds of suprises are completely unpredictable for the amateur investor. All we can do is try to ride out the storm if we have profit cushions and feel that fundamentals are intact, or sell if we hit out loss limit point. This is why we cannot just find a single stock, but rather must spread out our risk with a whole portfolio of stocks of similar style. I use 25 positions...but whatever # you feel appropriate is fine!
Question #2: How about SCHN? I posted SCHN on Stock Picks on 4/2/04 at a price of $37.62. I also purchased 300 shares of SCHN the same day at a price of $37.45. Unfortunately for me, I sold these same shares six days later on 4/8/04 at a price of $34.38 for a loss of $(3.07) or (8.2)% in just under a week! I hate it when I lose money quickly like that!
The IRONY of all of this (is there a PUN in there somewhere?), is that Schnitzer Steel TODAY, announced increased expectations for