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 MobileIron (MOBL) jumped more than 11% Monday after several analysts initiated coverage on the stock.
So what: Since jumping more than 20% following its June 12 IPO at $9 per share, MobileIron stock had gradually given up much of those gains going into yesterday's close. But today marked the end of the mobile IT platform specialist's 25-day post-IPO "quiet period" mandated by the SEC, which means its underwriters are now free to weigh in with their respective opinions on MobileIron stock.
To be sure, at least six analyst firms chimed in today to assign a buy equivalent rating to MobileIron shares, with their respective per-share price targets ranging from $13 and $15. For perspective, MobileIron stock currently trades around $10.50 per share.
Now what: Shares of MobileIron don't exactly look cheap given trading at nearly seven times trailing 12-month sales. In addition, keep in mind MobileIron is still bleeding money, turning in respective net losses of $32.5 million and $14 million in 2013 and its most recent quarter ended March 31, 2014. And while MobileIron's past revenue growth was impressive -- with sales jumping from $13.9 million in 2011 to $105.6 million in 2013 -- investors will want to keep an eye on whether that growth is sustainable. First-quarter 2014 revenue, for instance, only rose 9% year over year to $28.2 million. For now, that's why I have no problem watching MobileIron from the sidelines until I get a better idea of its long-term prospects.
