Tuesday, May 7, 1996 Comparator Systems <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: IDID)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: IDID)") end if %> was a thinly-traded penny stock until
this week, when suddenly, out of the blue, the stock advanced from $1/16
to its current "heights" of $1 7/32, up a whole $17/32 today. The company
set a one-day volume record on the Nasdaq exchange yesterday, suggesting
that the Nasdaq consider measuring daily dollar volume and leaving rather
arbitrary share volume numbers behind. With about half a million shares
outstanding, the company is now worth $750 million -- almost two times its
competitor Identix <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(AMEX: IDX)") else Response.Write("(AMEX: IDX)") end if %>. The news? The company announced recently
that it will introduce fingerprint-verification software for the commercial
market next week. Announced. Read that word again. Announced. The company
did not show its product. The company did not bring the product to market.
The company did not even get wild, elated pre-market acceptance from a hardened
core of beta testers. The company just put out a press release and added
more than half a billion dollars to their market value. The product they
are releasing is the Series 5000 Fingerprint-ID system, the successor to
its model ID-1 already in use. Let's stress that one again as well. The company
has a product already in use. . . and that great product had the stock selling
for all of $1/16 in the past 52 weeks. Now, I know this seems a little harsh
and overly skeptical, but Fools wait until they can see a product before
they buy a stock. Fools bought Iomega after they had Zip drives in hand,
not just because a press release was issued saying that the Zip was coming
to market. If Fools bought on press releases, they could have just as easily
bought Pinnacle Systems <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: PCLE)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: PCLE)") end if %>, which supposedly has a CD-based drive
like the Zip coming out, and they would have missed out on Iomega's surge
when the *earnings* and the *revenues* for the product began to show up in
the quarterly reports.
UPGRADES & DOWNGRADES
Circus Circus <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: CIR)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: CIR)") end if %> pushed up $1 1/8 to $39 3/8 after Goldman Sachs
initiated coverage by putting the stock on its recommended list. The operator
of casinos will open its first big resort in Monte Carlo on June 21st.
Isis Pharmaceuticals <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: ISIP)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: ISIP)") end if %> clambered up $3/4 to $17 in spite
of a J.P. Morgan downgrade to "market perform" from "buy". The stock was
just recommended by securities firm Vector yesterday, with a price target
of $19 to $22 in the next 12 months.
We're a little bored of mentioning IMP Inc. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: IMPX)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: IMPX)") end if %> rising on no
news, but it is interesting to note that securities firm Kaufman just cut
the stock to "hold" from "buy". Nevertheless, the stock was up $7/8 to $22
5/8.
Zytec <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: ZTEC)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: ZTEC)") end if %> plunged $4 3/4 to $41 3/4 after Greg Markus (MF Boring)
announced that he would be selling the stock in his real-money portfolio.
CS First Boston dropped Masland Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: MSLD)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: MSLD)") end if %> from "buy" to "hold"
today, sending the shares down $1 to $20 1/4 on the news.
EARNINGS SURPRISES
Atlantic Tele-Network <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: ATNI)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: ATNI)") end if %> rose $3/4 to $26 after the company
reported earnings of $0.26 EPS on a 30% increase in revenues. The company
provides long distance service in the Virgin Islands and Guyana.
Sensormatic Electronics <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: SRM)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: SRM)") end if %> continued to fall after yesterday's
disappointing earnings result, dropping $5/8 to $19. Even after you factor
out the one-time charges, the company still lost money. The firm makes tags
and other theft-prevention devices for the retail industry.
ODDS & ENDS
SunGard Data Systems <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: SNDT)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: SNDT)") end if %> moved $1 to $33 today as speculation
began to build that the proprietary investment and disaster recovery systems
concern might be subject to a takeover. Trading at 26 times earnings, while
growing at about 16% per annum, a takeover would appear to be the main way
to boost the stock price from here.
WellCare Management <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: WELLE)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: WELLE)") end if %> reported after the close last night
that it might release its preliminary audited results by May 14th, apparently
assuaging the nerves of the market and boosting the share price $2 1/4 to
$11 5/8 today.
Detection Systems <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: DETC)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: DETC)") end if %> continued to soar after news that
Westinghouse would use their products in its home security systems, gaining
an additional $2 1/4 to $17 3/4 today.
Recent initial public offering (IPO) Kentek Information Systems <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ:KNTK)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ:KNTK)") end if %> continued to climb, up another $15/16 to $15 1/16. The small printing
technology firm manufacturers laser printers using proprietary electrophotraphic
printer technology.
Semiconductor equipment manufacturer Integrated Measure <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: IMSC)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: IMSC)") end if %>,
recently spun-off from Integrated Process <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: IPEC)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: IPEC)") end if %>, rose $1 3/4 to
$20 3/4 after it was profiled on Investor's Business Daily's New America
page.
Cygnus <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: CYGN)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: CYGN)") end if %> was down $1 3/8 to $16 7/8, still reeling from the
critical comments made by a Wheat First analyst about the company's ability
to bring its new GlucoWatch monitoring product to market.
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Randy Befumo (MF Templar), a
Fool Transmitted: 05/07/96
THE MARKET MIDDAY
FOOL PLATE
SPECIAL
Selena Maranjian (MF Selena),
another Fool