Monday, July 24, 2017

Earnings Season! Rabbit Season! Duck Season! Earnings Season!

You know the drill.  It's been three months since they last reported, and God forbid we go more than twelve weeks without having our opinions changed about companies that we liked at one point - or hated - whatever.  Twelve weeks isn't long enough to age wine, let alone figure out what's going on in the high-end world of finances, but it's here, so we deal with it.

Alphabet (nee Google) reported after the close tonight.  The numbers looked pretty good to me.  They beat on the top and bottom line, increased hits and decreased the costs - but Mister Market saw fit to drop the hammer on them after hours.  That tells me that you might get a bargain if you're a buyer.  Wait for the legendary three-day period before jumping in.  It takes a long time to unload a $900 a share stock.  Let it settle-in.

Otherwise, yes I eat my own cooking. Last week, I picked-up shares of Square (SQ) at $26.  I suspect it hasn't run its course yet, and there is still a lot of settling to be done in the payment space.
I sold shares of Micron (MU) to finance it, so I'm counting on the semiconductor companies to be through with their run and make this a good trade.

As for another favorite, Rocket Fuel (FUEL) they have been purchased by a private equity firm, and the transaction was a net loss for me.  Proving that not all takeovers are positive for shareholders.  Nevertheless, I sadly sold my shares for $2.65 and will be using the money to make an attempt to gain back that loss - which is usually a sucker's bet - but I'm a sucker, so I'll go with it.

Limelight Networks reports earnings on Wednesday.  The stock has been gradually climbing out of the $3 range, and is at $3.18 as I write.  I'm planning on buying more before they report.  I am confident that their market in India is strong, and will provide the company with strong growth and earnings into 2018.  We'll know more after their call, but that's the game we play.

The rest will go into a stock that I like, but as Karen Finerman would say, "I'm long and sad."  DelTaco has been trading downward for a month or so.  Several analysts have put a price target on it significantly higher than the current $12.08 price, so this believer is still buying.  Currently, I own over 300 shares.  I'll either look like a giant nitwit or a genius - but that's the game we play.  There is too much growth in this company to be ignored.  An earnings call should come next week.

I'm standing pat on the rest of the calls. Cisco, Pfizer, Extreme Networks, and Square all report in the next couple of weeks.  I'm more confident in EXTR and SQ than PFE and CSCO, but I have been surprised before.  Sometimes, low expectations can work in our favor.

Face east and get on your knees.




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