Hello Friends! It is Friday and I really got to get going...but wanted to post this one which I saw earlier today. Thank goodness for a decent market...almost got shaken out of AAII...with that 5+ point drop yesterday...but that rebounded today over a point...so will hang in there. The Dow closed today at 10,593.03, up 97.48, and the NASDAQ closed at 2,064.01, up 44.45. Now that's a nice market! As always, please do your own due diligence with all of the stock market ideas on this BLOG and consult frequently with your investment advisor!
Starcraft Corporation (STCR) made the lists today and is a stock that appears attractive to me. They closed at $17.50 up $1.30 or 8.02% on the day. According to money.cnn.com "snapshot", Starcraft (STCR) is "...a second-stage manufacturer of custom van, sport utility vehicle and pickup truck conversions, shuttle buses, and direct OEM automotive supply."
Reviewing their fourth quarter 2003 earnings report from Yahoo, we see that revenues for the quarter were $43 million, an increase of 38% from the $31 million the same quarter the prior year. Net earnings for the quarter were $2.9 million or $.54/diluted share compared to a net LOSS of $(946,000) or $(.20)/diluted share the prior year. This was a nice improvement. However, the prior year included a charge of $2.1 million related to redemption of certain warrants and options. Without this, the company the prior year would have earned about $.25/share (due to the $.45/share effect)...still a nice improvement reported in 2003 vs. 2002.
If we review the Morningstar.com "5-Yr Restated" Financials, we can see that revenue has grown, although not perfectly steady, from $36.4 million in 1999, to $192.1 million in the trailing twelve months.
Earnings per share have been erratic, from $.11/share in 1999, dropping to a loss of $(.71)/share in 2001, to a profit of $2.25/share in the trailing twelve months.
Free cash flow has been improving recently from $(8) million in 2001, $(4) million in 2002, and $5 million in 2003.
Looking at their balance sheet on Morningstar.com, we can see that they do not have much cash at $800,000, but they are reporting $48.2 million in other current assets, plenty to cover the $27.1 million in current liabilities AND the smallish $19.0 million in long-term liabilities combined.
Looking at the "key statistics" on Yahoo for STCR, we can see that the market cap is a MICRO $85.42 million. The trailing p/e is 7.72...one of the cheapest on this website. By the way, I do NOT own any shares of this stock either directly or indirectly. No PEG is present...perhaps due to the lack of analysts providing estimates (?). Price/sales is a cheap 0.41.
There are only 4.88 million shares outstanding with 2.90 million of them that float. Of these, as of 1/8/04, there were 77,000 shares out short, even with the small trading volume, this represents only 2.66% of the float or 0.524 trading days. No dividend is paid, and no stock split is reported on Yahoo.com.
If we look at the technical side of this investment, using the stockchars.com point and figure chart, it looks like STCR just broke a support level at $25 and recently trading up from $16.0. Previously, the company had been on a tear, moving up from $3.25 to the $40 level. Am not sure what to make of the chart, except that it does not currently look overpriced nor does the stock movement appear bullish in the short run.
I actually kind of like this stock a lot. I know about ALL of my margin and that I have 25 positions in my trading account, so I shall be sitting on my hands on this one!
Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope that my commentary and ideas are helpful for you and educational. Please feel free to leave your comments, questions, or words of encouragement right here on the website or feel free to email me at bobsadviceforstocks@lycos.com
Bob