[ This story was printed on Saturday. Corel stock (COSFF)
has dropped significantly since the markets opened this morning.
-lt ed ]
“Funny what happens when a chief executive gives a sneak preview
of his company’s quarterly results.”
“Three days of soaring stock finally prompted Corel Corp. to
announce yesterday that its second quarter numbers, due out on
Monday, were going to be better than expected. But that is hardly a
surprise to the people who heard Michael Cowpland, Corel’s chairman
and CEO, predict last Tuesday that the firm would report ‘strong
profitability’ in its second quarter.”
“Analysts were surprised by the pre-announcement, especially
those who say they were asked by the firm to revise down their
earnings estimates for the second quarter in May. ‘There’s no
mention in this press release of the fact that everyone was
carrying revenue estimates last month of more than $70-million for
the second quarter and Corel talked us down,’ said one analyst,
speaking on condition of anonymity. Corel denies it asked analysts
to lower their earnings and revenue estimates for the period.”