Spreadtrum On Cusp of Putting Out Short-Seller Fire 展讯力抗卖空方

By newsdoug on June 30, 2011

The top brass at cellphone chip maker Spreadtrum (Nasdaq: SPRD) are clearly in a state of high nervousness after a major short-seller put out a negative report about the company, citing high inventory issues as a major concern. (English article) In addition to explaining the inventory surge by attributing it to new product launches, Spreadtrum has also taken the unusual step of scheduling an investor call (company announcement) to try and ease any lingering concerns about the issues raised in the Muddy Spreadtrum stays on the charts despite short seller assault Waters report this week. The company has good reason to be worried, as negative reports from Muddy Waters have wreaked havoc on a number of company stocks, most recently Sino-Forecst (Toronto: TRE), whose shares have tumbled 85 percent since Muddy Waters issued an early June report questioning its timber holdings. I haven’t examined the numbers as closely as Muddy Waters, but at least so far in this case Spreadtrum seems to be doing some good damage control. The stock actually rose 10 percent in Wednesday trading in New York, and was up slightly after hours putting it actually ahead of where it was before the Muddy Waters report came out. I’ve been relatively bullish on this company, which has shown a number of good initiatives in recent months as it seeks to regain the momentum it captured in 2009 when its stock staged a huge rally under a then-new chief executive. I’m guessing that Muddy Waters saw Spreadtrum shares’ 450 percent rally in 2009 as a bit overblown, even though shares are down 30 percent this year, and was trying to capitalize on concerns about Chinese accounting to try and knock the stock down a few points. But in this case the approach seems to be having little impact.

Bottom line: Spreadtrum has avoided a direct assault on its shares by a major short seller, easing investor concerns that it’s facing a worrisome inventory build-up.

展讯<SPRD.O>高层肯定很紧张，因为此前有卖空方公布了一份对该公司不利的报告，将展讯存货量高视为严重问题。展讯除了解释库存多是因为推出了新产品外，还不同寻常地安排了一次投资者电话会议，以试图回应浑水公司（Muddy Waters）本周报告提出的问题。展讯感到紧张并不奇怪，因为浑水公司的报告曾把众多中国概念股拉下马，例如自6月初浑水公司公布一份质疑嘉汉林业<TRE.TO>林业资产值的报告以来，该股股价大跌85%。我没有像浑水公司那样仔细地检查过有关数字，但至少在这件事上，展讯迄今的损失控制工作还是做得不错的。展讯股价周三在纽约收升10%，盘後交易也略有上涨，目前股价甚至比浑水公司报告发布前更高。我相对还是比较看好这家公司的，近几个月该公司拿出了一些不错的动作，试图重拾2009年新首席执行官上任带来的股价大涨势头。我猜浑水可能觉得展讯在 2009年股价大涨450%是有点过头了，于是就利用人们对中国概念股审计方面的担忧，试图把该公司股价再压低一点，尽管它今年已经下跌30%。但这一次，这种方法似乎未能奏效。

一句话：展讯躲开了卖空大户对其股票的直接袭击，缓解了投资者对公司库存的疑虑。

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