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 Extreme Networks (EXTR +0.74%) have lost a quarter of their value today after the company released disappointing fiscal third-quarter earnings last night.
So what: Extreme reported revenue of $141.8 million -- a 108% year-over-year increase -- and earnings of $0.02 per share for its fiscal third quarter. Both results were weaker than Wall Street wanted, as analysts' projections called for a consensus of $144.8 million in revenue and $0.04 in EPS. The company's guidance is also rather disappointing, as Extreme's revenue range of $145 million to $150 million, and its $0.02 to $0.04 EPS range, both miss Wall Street's consensus targets of $159.4 million in revenue and $0.07 in EPS for the fourth quarter.
Extreme will also be replacing its CFO, as current chief financial officer John Kurtzweil will become a "special assistant" to the CEO while Ken Arola is onboarded as the company's new CFO. This shift probably isn't related to the fact that the company had to correct its earnings press release early this morning -- the initial release mentioned a "GAAP net income" where it should have read "GAAP net loss," which is a pretty dumb thing to do, but likely not the reason for the CFO changeover.
Now what: Extreme has had some, well, extreme stock moves over the past year, as shares took off in mid-2013 to gain nearly 150% by early 2014. But two huge plunges, including today's have shaved past-year gains to less than 25%, and the stock is now down over 40% in 2014. Extreme's EPS has also collapsed lately, from trailing 12-month GAAP earnings of $0.21 per share at the end of 2012 to a steep loss of $0.40 today, even as revenue has spiked after flatlining for years.
This former momentum stock may not be done dropping, but if Extreme can improve its bottom line again while its top line grows, it could be a nice buy for a potential long-term rebound. Dig a little deeper to see if the company has a chance to do so in the near future before diving in.
