Call(s) to Action: For the last couple of days, we have been highlighting Apptigo (APPG), an obvious Pump & Dump underway. Today, we are shooting to publish our take on the story since we are confident that the company’s shares will tumble, and hard. Please stay tuned. As stated, we are still actively looking to short more shares.
Here are the other stories that the GeoTeam is following today… (Please see full disclosures at bottom)
- ChinaHybrids
- NQ ($6.41; marked down nearly 20%) – KB Teo, Chief Financial Officer of the Company, has resigned.
- CCSC ($7.08) – Announced that its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer will step down as CEO effective on February 13, 2015, six months from August 13, 2014. Ms. Li will retain her title as Chairman of the Board of the Directors.
- LAS ($2.26) & BITA ($75.30) – Announced joint venture with Youxinpai (Beijing) Information Technology Co., Ltd. (“UXIN”), a leading professional auto auction service provider in China to build high-end pre own
- FABU ($1.57) – Reported significantly lower financial results in its Q2 2014 filing.
- CGA ($2.01) – Announced completion of the settlement of the class action lawsuit; full amount of settlement – $2.5 million.
- ACTS ($2.12) – Announced intention to conduct tender offer for 14% of its ordinary shares. The tender offer purchase price to be between $2.50 to $2.80. ACTS also reported its Q2 2014 results; revenues down sharply and increased net loss.
- AMCF ($$1.75; marked up nearly 100%) – Reported strong Q2 2014 results; 131% revenue growth and EPS of $0.28 vs $0.01.
- DQ ($29.77; marked up nearly 10%) – Reported strong Q2 2014 results; Q2 2014 EPS of $0.57 vs a loss of $4 .91 in the prior year on 57% sales growth. For a complete list of China-Based companies reporting earnings today please see our earnings screen.
- GeoBargains/GeoBargains on the Radar
- GeoBargain MKRS ($0.142) – Reports strong top and bottom line results, inching closer to meaningful profitability. Company expects it will continue to accelerate both revenues and profits during the third and fourth quarter.
- GeoBargain on the radar BLIN ($0.86) – Reported Q3 2014 results. Slightly beat analyst top and bottom line estimates and reported record bookings and backlog.
For more timely information, particularly during the daily trading session, we urge our members to read our message board posts daily.
Disclosure: Long MKRS; Short FABU, APPG, LAS Other Long Positions; Other Short Positions; Pump & Dump Positions (Password GEO2014)
Summary of general highlights:
On the Asian Front…
Select China Earnings…
| Stock | Price** | EPS Estimate | Reported EPS | Prior Year Reported EPS |
| Daqo New Energy (NYSE:DQ) | $32.74 | n/a | $0.64* | $19.18* |
| Andatee China Marine Fuel (NASDAQ:AMCF) | $2.61 | n/a | $0.40* | -$0.01* |
| $FABU | $1.66 | n/a | $0.07* | $0.27* |
| Actions Semiconductor Co (NASDAQ:ACTS) | $2.43 | n/a | -$0.02* | $0.01* |
* denotes non-GAAP; ** Pre-market
Please see our ChinaHybrid June 2014 quarter earnings screen (password GEO2014) for select companies that have reported earnings.
In Other News…
Nq Mobile (NYSE:NQ) ($6.41) — a leading global provider of mobile Internet services, today announced certain changes to its management team. KB Teo, Chief Financial Officer of the Company, has resigned from his position for family reasons effective Friday, August 22, 2014. Dr. Vincent Wenyong Shi, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of the Company, will take over as Acting Chief Financial Officer until a suitable replacement is found.
Quotes from management,
“I would like to thank KB on behalf of the Board of Directors and management team for his service over the past year,” commented Dr. Henry Lin, Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of NQ Mobile. “He has been very supportive of the Company and we wish him well.”
Country Style Cooking (NYSE:CCSC) ($7.08) – a fast-growing quick service restaurant chain in China, today announced that its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer will step down as CEO effective on February 13, 2015, six months from August 13, 2014. Ms. Li will retain her title as Chairman of the Board of the Directors. Mr. Xingqiang Zhang, a co-founder of CCSC and Ms. Li’s husband, has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer of the Company effective six months from August 13, 2014.
Quotes from Ms. Hong Li, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Country Style Cooking,
“I am honored to have had the opportunity to lead this company for the past seven years and to have expanded the reach of the business to over 300 restaurants in China. After considerable reflection, I intend to spend more time with my family. Mr. Zhang has in-depth knowledge of CCSC’s operations, significant understanding of China’s QSR industry and is well equipped to lead the company to its next stage of growth.”
Lentuo Intl (NYSE:LAS) ($2.26) & Bitauto Holdings (NYSE:BITA) ($75.30) – a leading non-state-owned automobile retailer headquartered in Beijing, and Bitauto Holdings Limited (“Bitauto”) (NYSE: BITA), a leading provider of Internet content and marketing services for China’s fast-growing automotive industry, today announced
that they, together with Youxinpai (Beijing) Information Technology Co., Ltd. (“UXIN”), a leading professional auto auction service provider in China, have entered into a joint venture (“JV”) agreement. The joint venture, which will originally be centered on Beijing and gradually expand to other cities, will integrate the resources of each partner to build the largest Online-to-Offline platform exclusively focused on high-end pre-owned cars in China. Lentuo will own 60% of the joint venture with Bitauto and UXIN each holding 20%. The JV will also offer a full suite of value-added after sales services, including vehicle financing,auto insurance, and car leasing.
China Green Agriculture (NYSE:CGA)($2.01) – CGA produces and distributes humic acid-based compound fertilizers and other varieties of compound fertilizers and agricultural products, today announced :
on August 12, 2014, the United States District Court for the State of Nevada had given its final approval to the settlement of the securities class action pending against the Company and certain of its current and former officers and directors since October 15, 2010. As a result, all of the securities law claims that had been filed against the Company have now been resolved and dismissed. The Company’s insurers funded the full amount of the settlement ($2.5 million).
Quotes from management,
“After the settlement of the derivative actions against the Company on April 5, 2012, the class action was the only lawsuit still pending. We are pleased that it, too, now comes to an end,” said Tao Li, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, “The settlement is a significant step forward for us and helps us advance our goals of focusing on building our business and to maximizing shareholder value.”
Actions Semiconductor Co (NASDAQ:ACTS) ($2.12) – ACTS is one of China’s leading fabless semiconductor companies that provides comprehensive portable multimedia and mobile internet system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions for portable consumer electronics. The company announced:
that it expects to commence a “Dutch auction” tender offer in August 2014 to purchase for cash up to 60,000,000 of its issued and outstanding ordinary shares, which represents, as of August 10, 2014, approximately 14.6% of Actions Semiconductor’s outstanding ordinary shares, $0.000001 par value per share (the “Shares”), at a purchase price not greater than $7/15 per Share (or $2.80 per ADS) nor less than $5/12 per Share (or $2.50 per ADS).
Quotes from management,
“After reviewing our cash position, business operations, future outlook, acquisition strategy, existing and anticipated capital structure and a variety of alternatives for using our available financial resources, our board of directors has determined that a tender offer is a prudent use of our available cash and an effective means of providing value to the holders of our Securities. By conducting the tender offer, we believe we can provide all the holders of our Securities with the opportunity to tender all or a portion of their Securities and to receive a return of some or all of their investment.”
ACTS also reported its Q2 2014 results, with revenues down sharply and increased net loss.
GeoBargain/Specials…
Mikros Systems (OOTC:MKRS) ($0.142) – GeoBargain MKRS is an advanced technology company specializing in the research and development of electronic systems technology primarily for military applications. The company today reported strong Q2 2014 results:
- Revenue was $1.21 million, an increase of 229% from $0.37 million in the same quarter last year, and a sequential increase of 37% from $0.88 million in Q1 2014 .
- Net income was $130 thousand vs a loss of $181 thousand in prior year.
Quotes from management,
“We are very pleased with our second quarter results. We tripled our revenue as compared to the second quarter of 2013 and delivered our most profitable quarter in over five years. Landing four new direct labor contracts contributed nicely to both our top line and profitability and should keep us near full capacity in the coming quarters. Our strategy over the past eighteen months of enhancing our expertise and capabilities by investing in our people and technology is starting to deliver results. Although the defense contracting environment remains very challenging, we remain cautiously optimistic that we can continue to accelerate both revenues and profits during the third and fourth quarter.”
On 5/13/2014 we released our bullish thesis on GeoBargain MKRS titled, “A Sea of Change on the Horizon For Mikros Systems”. We coded MKRS as a GeoBargain at $0.09 on 5/6/2014 and first disclosed our long position on 8/20/2013 at $0.09.
Bridgeline Digital (NASDAQ:BLIN) ($0.86) – BLIN develops iAPPS Web engagement management product platform and related digital solutions in the United States. The company reported fiscal Q3 2014 results:
- Revenue was $6.2 million, an increase of 11% from $5.6 million in fiscal Q3 2013.
- Adjusted diluted EPS of -$0.04 vs -$0.09 in prior year.
Quotes from management,
“We are very pleased to see the significant growth in our year-over-year subscription revenue, and perpetual license revenue,” said Thomas Massie, Bridgeline Digital’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “In addition, we are excited to report record new bookings of $28 million for the first nine months of 2014 and a record backlog approaching $26 million. As we deploy over 5,000 new iAPPSds licenses in Fiscal 2015, Bridgeline will considerably increase its recurring SaaS revenues, providing significant improvements to margins while driving positive EBITDA.”
For more timely information, particularly during the daily trading session, we urge our members to read our message board posts daily.
Sincerely,
The GeoTeam