A Reader Writes "I was wondering about PMTI"
Hello Friends! Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting my blog, Stock Picks Bob's Advice. As always, please remember that I am an amateur investor, so please remember to consult with your professional investment advisors prior to making any investment decisions based on information on this website.

My mailbox is practically humming! Just when I think it is safe to get back into the water....Anyhow, I was delighted to get a short email from Shawn who wrote:

Hi Bob:

i have been following your picks for awhile. I was wondering about PMTI. you had posted a while ago last month but the stock has been lagging lately. could you reevaluate the company.

Shawn

Shawn, thanks for writing! Please do remember I am a fellow amateur. I obtain my information from easily available free websites that I believe to be reputable and that you can access as well as I can.

Before I comment on Palomar, I want to encourage you to think critically about all of your investments. Do not get too attached to them :). I hold a stock only as long as it behaves as I want it to. If it develops an 8% loss, I sell it quickly. I have other sell points that I am sure you are familiar with.

But let me take a look at Palomar. As you pointed out, I posted Palomar Medical Technologies (PMTI) on Stock Picks Bob's Advice on January 9, 2006, just a bit over a month ago. At that time the stock was trading at $39.05. Palomar closed today (2/15/06) at $32.35, thus it is down $(6.70) or (17.2)% since posting.

I have not been following this stock closely, but let's take a look at a chart and see when the damage was done. Here is a one month chart on PMTI from CNN.Money.com:

I think you can see on this chart, that while the stock was indeed drifting lower after the February 2nd close, the big drop in price came on February 9, 2006 when the stock which closed on February 8, 2006 at $38, dropped on the 9th to $35, and then down to $31.00 and change on February 10, 2006. So what happened that day to drive the stock lower?

As is often the case, on both good and bad news, we can see rather significant motion in stock prices after the release of earnings reports.

On February 9, 2006, before the opening of trading, Palomar announced 4th quarter 2005 results. While revenues for the quarter ended December 31, 2005, came in at $21.6 million, up from $16.4 million, buried in the story is this simple statement:

"The Company reported net income of $5.3 million, or $0.27 per diluted share for the fourth quarter of this year versus net income of $5.4 million, or $0.29 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2004 which included a benefit from income taxes of $1.1 million due to the reduction of tax reserves."

While the revenue growth was great, I am sure that "the street" didn't like that drop in earnings, which while small, and which also had a reason, was disquieting for all of those momentum investors much like myself who are banking on persistence of revenue and earnings growth to drive a stock price higher!

I hope this answers your question. I am sure there may be other explanations for this drop, this is my best bet on an examination of the news and developments on Palomar! Thanks again for dropping by. Be sure to visit often, and let me know if you have any other questions or comments by writing me at bobsadviceforstocks@lycos.com.

Bob