To release a downgrade on the worst trading day / highest volatility since Covid shows the same mgmt. naivety as selling down into a Cap Raise.
This is potentially a downside of having a technical founder CEO rather than a professional / slick management. I would still take the owner operator (missionary) over ‘professional’ (mercenary) approach any day.
Other factors like the large cap raise at $13, still unutilised, CFO resignation, Directors selling above $20, relatively low insider ownership, would have put Audinate on a negative watch.
Broker reports saying that they are effectively a hardware maker (not true) and the vast bulk of their sales are non-recurring (not true) and 1 year price targets are closer to $13 would have helped prime the doors for a stampede.
This downgrade to guidance for FY25 was significant but also given the brevity of the release likely raises concerns about some of these prior actions – especially CFO resignation, director selling, raising at $13, etc.
The jaded trader set and the ‘I told you so’ brigade are negative on this stock and currently sounding smart and wisely cautious. They are playing a much shorter timeframe game to me but will likely be the marginal buyers / sellers / shorters so could push the price around quite a lot in the short term. 2.5% shorted last time I checked.
So I would be surprised if the share price rebounded any time soon in any meaningful way but that’s just my best guess.
Buffett talks about wanting to buy a great business with short term problems – his ideal situation is when they are on the operating table. That’s what this feels like to me but only time will tell.