Cheap Stocks

We focus on undervalued small-cap stocks. Usually with a large cash cushion. We have developed a valuation formula that has been highly successful, especially on small tech stocks. Since 2006, we have closed out 49 stock positions with an average gain of 37%. 9 stocks have been taken over.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Cheap Stocks, 2/20/2009 Update

The carnage continues. Fear abounds on all fronts. Even good earnings news only helps a little, most of the time just slowing the decline of a stock.

Last week the DOW was down a whopping 6.2%, NASDAQ was down 6.1% and the S+P 500 was down 6.9%. For the year the DOW is now down 16.2%, NASDAQ down 8.6% and the S+P 500 is down 14.8%. The Russell 3000 and the Wilshire 5000 are also down about 14% this year.

We had a 6.3% loss last week and are down 11.6% for the year.

Last week we went 4 stocks up, 17 down and 1 even. Since inception we are now 22 stocks up, and 24 down.

Since inception 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%

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 24 stocks that we closed out in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 the average gain was 24%.

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 --Suspended.
Down $.27 to $2.98.
SPNC announced earnngs last week. Q4 revenues were as expected--$26.6 million, up 11% over last year. They lost $1.1 million after $2 million in legal expense related to the "investigation". Cash is $1.11 per share.
SPNC is suffering from the FDA, ICE raids that apparently eminated from an ex-employee whistle-blower trying to collect some money from the company. SPNC has the financial where-with-all to deal with this. Just got to wait this one out.
The company has $44 million in cash ($1.30 per share), no debt and is growing about 25% a year.
Now down 48%. HOLD.

DataWatch Corp. (DWCH-Recommended 2/12/2006)
Buy price $2.41 (was $3.02 before adding another $10,000,was $3.21 before adding another $10,000, averaged down from $3.66),
Valuation $8.09 (was $8.12, $8.64, $8.47, $8.47, $10.30, $9.28, $9.20, $8.32, $7.50, $7.63, $9.31)
Closed at $1.16, down $.14.
Cash is $.83 per share.
Earnings out in early February. Sales down 16% to $5.2 million, but they made $.06 per share. Not bad. Stock did nothing. New valuation is $8.09 down a measley $.03 from last quarter.
Now down 52%. BUY

Mediware (MEDW-Recommended 6/4/2007)
Buy Price $6.33, (was $6.52, $6.67 ($10,000 added), $6.98 after double up)
Valuation $11.30 (was $11.48, $11.47 $10.99, $10.28, $13.32, $12.89, $13.40)
Even at $4.40.
Cannell Capital filed a 13D in February 2008, disclosing a 12.9% ownership stake. Cannell has been pushing MEDW management to sell the company. Meanwhile, Constellation Software, a Canadian public company that has been on an acquisition binge filed a 13D in April 2008, disclosing a 6.1% ownership in MEDW (499,000 shares). Constellation has $243 million in revenues and is profitable.
On November 14th, 2008, Constellation filed a 13D/A. One of their subsidiary officers bought over 300,000 MEDW shares in October, bringing their combined owership in MEDW to 17.9%
Looks like something is going to happen here--but when?
Down 31%. BUY

Candela Corp. (CLZR-Recommended 8/30/2007)
Buy Price $3.74 (was $7.26 before double up),
Valuation $4.31 (was $5.88, $8.63, $9.90, $8.69, $11.51)
Down $.03 to $.35
CLZR announced "earnings" in mid-January. Bad as expected. Our valuation fell to $4.31 per share, which is still 10 times the current market price--but they are losing money at an alarming rate, and have decided not to sell the company. They still have $1.29 per share in cash, but at the current burn-rate, this will last about 1 year.
We will give this one 1 more quarter to see if the trend can reverse.
Down 91%. HOLD.

MIVA. (MIVA-Recommended 10/21/2007)
Buy Price $1.63 (Was $2.38 before adding another $20,000, $2.62 before another $10,000 and was $3.00 before double up),
Valuation $5.61 (was $6.42, $6.84, $7.58, $7.59)
Down $.02 at $.12.
Blinkx, a U.K. company made an all cash offer to buy MIVA in early August 2008 for $1.20. MIVA rejected the offer almost immediately saying it was too low and they think they can do better.
Blinkx later came back with a $.55 offer to buy MIVA. Not much can make a stock go up these days--even a 300% premium take-over offer.
Down 93%. HOLD

Harris Interactive. (HPOL-Recommended 5/25/2008)
Buy Price $1.79 (was $1.82 before adding $10,000, $2.02 before $10,000 added and $2.15 before double up),
Valuation $4.67 (Was $4.66, $6.00, $5.96)
Down $.02 at $.50.
Finaciere De Sainte Marine, is a big investor in HPOL. They now own 7,779,000 shares up from 6,640,381 shares in mid-2008, or over 14% of the company.
This past quarters results were: Sales off about 20%, and they took about $66 million of write-offs. Without all these charges they essentially had a small operating profit. Not bad for this economy and the 20% sales drop off. Cash was just a tiny bit more than bank debt (+-$26 million), and they triggered a bank covenant default. They expect to get an amended facility in place shortly, and we expect they will. Our valuation actual rose a penny to $4.67.
Down 72%. BUY

IPASS. (IPAS-Recommended 6/1/2008)
Buy Price-$1.90 (Was $2.07 before another $10,000 added and $2.15 before double up), Valuation $4.99 (was $4.30, $4.09)
Down $.01 to $1.05.
Foxhill owns 3,844,000 shares or 6.1% of IPASS.
With $1.10 per share in cash, we feel that this has little additional downside.
Earnings due out Monday, February 23rd after the market close.
Down 45%. BUY

Healthstream Inc. (HSTM-Recommended 8/4/2008)
Buy Price-$2.40
Valuation $4.62 (Was $4.42)
Down $.34 at $1.70.
Down 29%. BUY

CCA Industries. (CAW-Recommended 8/4/2008)
Buy Price-$5.51 (was $6.14 before $10,000 added, $6.66 before $10,000 added, $7.00 before $10,000 added) (15.8% dividend yield)
Valuation $17.23 (Was $18.36)
Down $.15 to $2.90.
CCA announced in mid-January that they lost $6 million in annual sales to Walmart, as Walmart will no longer carry some of their products. This is about 10% of CCA's annual sales. When are we going to get some good news? They still have almost $2.60 in cash, and the dividend yield is now over 15%.
Down 47%. HOLD

Magic Software Enterprises. (MGIC-Recommended 8/18/2008)
Buy Price-$1.93 (was $2.08 before another $10,000 added, $2.00 before $10,000 added at $2.16)
NEW Valuation $3.97 (was $4.18, $4.15)
Closed down $.09 at $1.29
Earnings out last week. They were good, but the markets nullified any positive action in MGIC. Our valuation fell a bit to $3.97 and cash stayed steady at $1.01 per share. Sales were only down 4% to $15.1 million and net income (before discontinued operations) tripled to $.03 per share. Not bad.
Formula Systems (NASDAQ-FORTY) holds 17,605,000 shares of MGIC or 55.4%. FORTY is a long-term investor that at some point will want to sell MGIC.
Down 33%. BUY

Angeion Corporation. (ANGN-Recommended 8/28/2008)
Buy Price-$3.82 (was $5.15 before $10,000 added)
Valuation $13.30 (was $13.03)
Closed down $.46 at $2.40
Has $2.19 per share in cash.
Blueline Partners filed a 13D on ANGN on June 23, 2008. They own 216,000 shares or about 5.3% of the company. All of their purchases were well North of the current price.
Down 37%. BUY

Noah Educational. (NED-Recommended 10/5/2008)
Buy Price-$3.03(was $3.00 before $10,000 added)
NEW Valuation $7.79 (Was $7.98, $7.18)
Closed up $.16 at $3.00
Earnings out last week. Revenue up 11% and they made $.04 per share.
Our valuation fell a tad to $7.79. Has cash of $3.58 per share--20% more than its share price. This valuation is just stupid.
Up 18% (adjusted for $.56 dividend). BUY

Datalink . (DTLK-Recommended 10/12/2008)
Buy Price-$3.02
Valuation $10.27 (Was $10.26)
Closed down $.45 at $2.52
Cash is $2.23 per share.
Earnings out in early February. Sales down about 5% at $48 million, and they made $.07 per share compared to $.11 last year. Not bad for this economy. All sounded good until they said they expect a small loss next quarter. Cash is $2.23 per share and our valuation rose to $10.27. We expect our valuation to fall if their projections are correct to maybe $8.50 per share. Still trading at less than 50% of even that reduced projected valuation.
Down 17%. HOLD

Global Shipping . (GSL-Recommended 10/12/2008)
Buy Price-$3.69
Valuation NA-Dividend yield play
Closed down $1.32 at $2.16
Current dividend yield--43%
Fleet utilization is still 98%. Their average ship charter life is around 10 years and the closest-in renewal is at the end of 2012. By then, you will have collected more than the current share price in dividends.
Went ex-dividend last week--still $.23 per quarter and they restructured their bank lines to help insure they can continue the dividend.
No news to account for the huge drop last week.
Down 42%. BUY

SonicWALL. (SNWL-Recommended 10/20/2008)
Buy Price-$4.50
Valuation-$11.47(Was $11.09, $10.44)
Closed up $.32 at $4.22
$3.06 now cash per share.
Earnings out in Mid-February. Sales were down less than 5%, but pre-tax earnings almost tripled. They expect to be profitable next quarter also. Aside from this crappy market theis should be an $8 stock right now. Our valuation rose to $11.47 a share. That is 2 straight increases in valuation. Cash is 73% of the current market cap.
Down 6%. BUY

Cynosure. (SNWL-Recommended 10/29/2008)
Buy Price-$9.10
Valuation-$20.79-(Was $29.49)
Closed down $1.33 at $6.84
CYNO has $7.45 per share in cash.
Earnings out in Mid-February. Sales down 30% and they lost $1.9 million on a non-GAAP basis. Not bad performance given the sales drop. They ended with $95 million in cash ($7.45 a share). Our valuation fell to $20.79 per share.
Cash is now 109% of the market cap, and they seem to know how to manage their expenses in this downturn.
Down 25%. BUY

Cutera. (CUTR-Recommended 10/29/2008)
Buy Price-$7.88
Valuation-$ 18.06 (Was $18.88, $21.07)
Closed down $.47 at $6.38
Earnings out in Mid-February. Sales down 32% and they essentially broke-even for the quarter. Again, not bad given the economy. Cash fell a tad to $8.35 a share, and our valuation fell to $18.06. Cash is 131% of the share price. Yes, the business is "free" and you get $2.00 per share of cash as a gift to buy it.
Down 19%. BUY

OPKO Health Inc. (OPK-Recommended 2/16/2009)
Buy Price-$1.25
Valuation-NA--Speculation
Down $.15 at $1.10.
Down right out of the box. This is still a Phillip Frost play--Key and KOS Pharmaceutical.
Down 12%. BUY


OB-abies (Bulletin Board Listed Stocks)

As proven by OPTIO, patience is necessary with these stocks, especially in this Bear Market.

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 $5.66 (was $5.63, $5.61, $5.71, $5.49, $5.34, $5.03, $5.28, $5.28, $5.21)
Closed at $.85, up $.05.
Wake up management--you have a great little company here worth 5X what it is selling for.
Now down 47%. BUY. Still a Huge valuation gap here.

Avatech Solutions Inc. (AVSO.ob-Bought November 28, 2005)
Buy price $.79 (Was $.93, $.99 and $1.19 before adding $10,000-each time),
NEW Valuation $2.78 (was $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 $.50, down $.04.
Earnings out last week. Sales down 27%, and they lost $.03 per share.
Our valuation fell to $2.78 from $3.30. Still, they are not hemoragging cash and the current share price is less than 20% of our valuation.
Down 37%. HOLD.

CTI Holdings (CTIG.ob-Recommended 2/25/2006)
Buy price $.27 ask,
Valuation $1.40 (Was $1.29, $1.38, $1.31, $1.38, $1.29, $1.42, $1.28 $1.13, $1.05, $.82)
Ask price up $.02 at $.08. Closed at $.08.
Their VOIP business continues to struggle and lose money--$604,000 in the last quarter--but they did have some revenues--$38,000!
They might have to sell or shut this VOIP business down in our opinion. Just losing too much money, and eroding shareholder value.
Still an "undercover" company and stock.
Down 70%. HOLD

Lotus Pharmaceuticals (LTUS.ob-Recommended 12/3/2007)
Buy price $.84 (Was $.95 before $10,000 adder, $1.08 before double-up)
Valuation-$2.22 (Was $1.61, $2.28, $2.08)
Closed at $.19, down $.02
For the 9 months of 2008, EPS is $.13 per share. So looks like we are selling at about 1X earnings. Lotus announced in February that it bought the land use rights in Mongolia for $26 million, subject to contruction approvals etc. If the project is not approved, they get the money back. They said they paid for this out of internally generated funds. Pretty impressive. 3 years and $58 million to go to build this plant. They are also looking to sell or rent up to 80% of the land to other pharma companies to create a pharma industrial park.
Nice Seeking Alpha article on LTUS last week--kept it to only a $.02 loss.
This may work out ok. Unusual legal structure, $58 million construction project all hang over this company. Stock market stinks, Chinese stocks maybe even worse than most.
Down 77%. BUY

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