Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
What: Shares of Polycom (PLCM) have been sliding all day, and fell to a 11% loss in the afternoon, following news of an executive's exit.
So what: Sudhakar Ramkrishna, Polycom's president of products and services, had his resignation made public in a SEC filing this morning. It will be effective March 15, as Ramakrishna will be moving on to a better job (whatever it may be). Polycom also promoted A.E. Natarajan to senior vice president of worldwide engineering and created a chief technology officer position, which appears as yet unfilled.
Now what: While this is certainly good news for Ramakrishna and his family, it leaves Polycom without the fast-rising executive, who joined as chief development officer and was promoted to head of products and services in less than two years. Ramakrishna's expertise in 4G wireless connectivity was critical in his earlier job at Motorola, and it may be difficult for Polycom to quickly replace his expertise. The necessity of a CTO position may also indicate a company that's been thrown a bit off its footing in the fast-moving world of connectivity technology. Polycom's hardly cheap at the moment on a P/E basis, so it may be better to watch from the sidelines as this management shift plays out.
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