Maybe you already heard, or maybe not, but Eagle Broadband (AMEX: EAG) received an official notice from the American Stock Exchange - where Eagle’s shares are publicly traded - that the company may not fully meet all if their listing requirements. Specifically, the AMEX notice to Eagle states that shareholder equity and continuing losses from operations fall short of the exchange’s standards….as of right now.
As you might imagine, this announcement made on December 5th pulled shares lower on the 6th, and they’ve been selling off ever since.
While investor’s concerns are understandable, we also think it maybe a case where the market reacted quickly without really absorbing all the details they may want or need to. Having had some time to review all the news and digest, here’s our take….
No, we don’t necessarily think this is good news…..because it’s not exactly news at all (meaning it’s not exactly bad news higher). The satisfaction of the AMEX’s requirements have been in question for a while - it’s simply that the official August 31st year-end filing had to be reviewed by the AMEX before the official notice could be delivered. So, it seems as if the panic selling may have been from those owners who didn’t fully know Eagle’s story. Fine. Now that they’re getting out of the way, the more serious investors may be able to scoop up shares at a lower trading level.
The other key reality we see is simply the ‘current’ Eagle is not the ‘old’ Eagle those past filings represent. Remember, we think Eagle is likely to become a major IPTV player just as the company describes, but that enterprise was only started in October. Given enough time, we think Eagle may well indeed meet the AMEX’s requirements using IPTV as the revenue vehicle…..which was not in place last fiscal year.
Plus, we don’t think other investors read the news too closely. The American Stock Exchange never said EAG shares were getting de-listed. The exchange said they might get de-listed if certain requirements continue to go unmet. Any de-listing wouldn’t take place until May 29th of 2008. So, there’s a pretty big window there for Eagle to get things pointed in the right direction….which we feel they’re certainly capable of. As mentioned in the title, Eagle will be submitting a plan to the AMEX about how they’ll go about meeting those specific AMEX standards in the future. For the time being, an acceptable plan of action will keep Eagle in good standing with the exchange, as long as the company does indeed proceed according to that plan.
Ultimately, yeah, we - and probably any shareholders - would have rather not had to contend with some rough publicity. However, we think a little perspective is on order on the matter. From our point of view, Eagle is still a viable opportunity, regardless of where it’s listed. In the meantime, the AMEX listing is still likely to be in place for at least another 18 months. We think that’s more than ample to time for the company to prove itself.
Now, with all that being said, don’t forget the timing of any stock purchase can still be critical. The way we see it, trying to find a precise chart bottom is a little like trying to catch a falling knife….it can be dangerous. In fact, our prior suggested stop of $0.49 on EAG shares was violated on the 6th. So, we’re not necessarily saying now or here is the optimal time to jump in. We do feel, though, this stock is worth watching, as nothing has fundamentally changed from what we knew before the announcement was made. We’ll keep an eye on the stock, and maybe re-issue a target and stop if we see something significant change with the chart.