Peter HofstraNortel ASNTEL.TODON'T BUYAug 22, 2005
Although the 1st quarter was pretty decent and the market liked it, they are staying away for awhile. Some management changes that came from Cisco (CSCO-Q) didn't work. Not convinced they're out of the woods yet. It's a tough end market. It's a long road ahead.
If you own the stock, you are playing that there is some value in the assets they own. The company is not a going concern. Have a huge deficit hole in their pension plan. Individual parts of the company may be better being sold off.
Has about $4 per share in cash. They are thinking of selling an asset that would raise about another $1 billion, which would add another $2 per share in cash. However, the overall quality of the balance sheet is as bad as he has ever seen it. Speculative.