O.K. here is a bit more exciting stock than the last post of Michael's. Quiksilver (ZQK)is a stock my snow-boarding children would really appreciate :).
Anyhow, Quiksilver is having a nice day trading at $18.42 up $.92 or 5.26% as I write. According to money.cnn.com, Quiksilver "...produces and distributes clothing, accessories and related products for active-minded people and develops brands that represent a casual lifestyle from a boardriding heritage."
On June 5, 2003, ZQK reported their second quarter earnings for the quarter ending April 30, 2003. It looks like they should be reporting the third quarter results (if we add 3 months to the last reporting date) in the next week or two. The results were nice: consolidated net sales for the quarter increased 40% to $262.2 million compared to the same quarter in 2002 when $187.4 million was reported. Consolidated net income for the quarter was up even more at $22.6 million as compared to $13.5 million last year. On a per share basis this was $.40 vs $.28 in the same quarter of 2002.
Morningstar.com shows that this recent growth is part of a PATTERN of increasing revenues and not an isolated event. In 1998, Quiksilver reported $316 million in revenue, $444 million in 1999, $519 million in 2000, $621 million in 2001, $705 million in 2002 and extrapolating the current quarter, the company should hit about $1 billion in 2003.
Free cash flow has NOT been as consistent the past few years with $(21) million in 2000, $(17) million in 2001, but then turned positive with $55 million in 2002 and $5 million in the trailing twelve months.
The company has an attractive balance sheet per Morningstar with $21.4 million in cash and $383.4 million in other current assets. This is balanced with $218.1 million in current liabilities (a bit hefty but covered by current assets easily) and a smallish $50.2 million in long-term liabilities.
Other financial figures from Yahoo.com profile show that there are 54.9 million shares outstanding and 51.9 million of them that float. By the way, I do not own any of these shares. The market cap is nearly a billion at $960.6 million. The trailing p/e on this issue is very reasonable at 18.54..especially if you consider the PEG ratio (the ratio of p/e to growth rate), and the price/sales is also reasonably priced at 1.11.
Also bullish for this issue is what appears to me to be a significant number of shares out short. I don't know why anyone would WANT to short this stock but anyhow, I am the perpetual optimist and prefer to go LONG. There are, as of 8/8/03, 2.53 million shares out short (per Yahoo), representing 6.08 days of average trading volume. We may very well be in the midst of a bit of a short squeeze as some of these gloom and doom short-sellers may be rushing to the check out line to purchase some of these shares to return their borrowed shares that they have already sold...and are now watching their potential liability grow! Or am I just wishful-thinking again?
I like this stock a lot....and would consider picking up some shares if only I had some cash available...I like so MANY of the issues that I cover here and can only buy a few....DARN.
Thanks for stopping by again...and feel free to leave a comment right here on the website. Or email me at bobsadviceforstocks@lycos.com To see my own trading portfolio, go to the main website at http://bobsadviceforstocks.tripod.com and click on current trading portfolio. I try to update that weekly.
Regards again!
Bob