Jupiter's Surprise Trajectory

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There's one thing you can say about photo and image purveyor Jupitermedia (Nasdaq: JUPM) -- it's not the type to be fashionably early. The company kept investors waiting for its fourth-quarter earnings results last night -- before deciding to hose them down with a press release issued at 9:53 p.m. that bumped the report to next week.

It's not the first time that Jupitermedia's needlessly built up shareholder enthusiasm. The company confirmed that it was in talks to be acquired by Getty Images (NYSE: GYI) two weeks ago. Jupitermedia's shares came crashing down on Wednesday when the company revealed that the buyout talks proved fruitless.

Getty and Jupitermedia would have been a great match. Both companies are taking advantage of the growing need for licensed digital snapshots. Getty is a giant in this field, but Jupitermedia is no slouch, with its library of more than 7 million images. Jupitermedia offers subscription services through its Photos.com, PhotoObjects.net, and Clipart.com sites. The ability to pay one monthly price for royalty-free graphics is huge. Go ahead and check with Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) -- it's being sued by a woman who claims that the online portal used her photograph to promote its email product without her consent.

Jupitermedia is also a major player in Internet research. It may not own the Internet, but it does own Internet.com.

The past few months haven't been kind to Jupitermedia. The shares are trading at nearly one-third of their 52-week high. A buyout seemed like a fitting exit strategy for a company that somehow bungled an amazing collection of properties, destinations, and domain names.

Just when you thought things couldn't get much worse than Wednesday's runaway-bride debacle, Jupitermedia somehow forgot to reschedule its quarterly report until late last night.

The company blames the now-terminated discussions with Getty for the rescheduling, but what was it thinking? Four weeks ago, it had announced a Friday morning conference call to discuss earnings that would be released after the market close on Thursday. It could have easily lumped the rescheduling announcement in Wednesday morning's press release that detailed the break with Getty.

That's what it should have done. We can't fault Jupitermedia for the breakdown in merger talks with Getty. But through all of this, it was always in complete control of the dispensing of information. Instead, it kept its investors waiting. One can only wonder whether Jupitermedia was also perpetually tardy at the negotiating table last month.

Some other snapshots worth taking a peek at:

• Jupitermedia became an image-pitching force three years ago.
• Jupitermedia was looking pretty as a picture two years ago.
• Even Tom Brady had a beef with Yahoo! over unauthorized usage of graphical ads last year.

Yahoo! is a Stock Advisor recommendation. Thankfully, the newsletter doesn't go around using unauthorized images. A free 30-day trial subscription is yours if you want to see for yourself.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz isn't photogenic enough to wonder whether his likeness is being cashed in on elsewhere. He does not own shares in any of the companies in this story. He is part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early. The Fool has a disclosure policy.