Needham & Company Maintains a 'Hold' on Openwave Systems (OPWV) Following CEO Resignation
Tweet
Share
E-mailGet Alerts OPWV Hot Sheet
Price: $2.92 --0%
Rating Summary:
0 Buy, 0 Hold, 0 Sell
Rating Trend: = Flat
Today's Overall Ratings:
Up: 13 | Down: 14 | New: 11
Rating Summary:
0 Buy, 0 Hold, 0 Sell
Rating Trend: = Flat
Today's Overall Ratings:
Up: 13 | Down: 14 | New: 11
Join SI Premium – FREE
Needham & Company maintains a 'Hold' on Openwave Systems (NASDAQ: OPWV).
Needham analyst says, "Yesterday, Openwave announced the resignation of its CEO Ken Denman. Openwave also announced that activist, and nearly 10% shareholder, Peter Feld of Starboard (Ramius) will become the Chariman of the Board. While it is not surprising that Denman has left the company due to several quarters of weak OPWV performance, we are surprised the transition was not more orderly, as CFO Anne Brennan was named interim CEO. We believe it would surprise no one if an active sale process of OPWV were announced, as the company has been in the rumor mill as a sale candidate since activist Harbinger was involved back 2007, and an auction process that year failed. It is our belief a sale process may be kicked off again, due to the CEO change and elevation of Peter Feld to the Board Chairmanship. It is likely that the strategy of the sale process will now focus on the “next generation products” (we believe success has been modest), and also on the value of Openwave’s patent portfolio, which has been used to launch lawsuits against Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL)(C.Wolf) and RIM (Nasdaq: RIMM)(C.Wolf). We believe fundamentals at OPWV remain unchanged, and weak."
For more ratings news on Openwave Systems click here and for the rating history of Openwave Systems click here.
Shares of Openwave Systems closed at $1.76 yesterday.
Needham analyst says, "Yesterday, Openwave announced the resignation of its CEO Ken Denman. Openwave also announced that activist, and nearly 10% shareholder, Peter Feld of Starboard (Ramius) will become the Chariman of the Board. While it is not surprising that Denman has left the company due to several quarters of weak OPWV performance, we are surprised the transition was not more orderly, as CFO Anne Brennan was named interim CEO. We believe it would surprise no one if an active sale process of OPWV were announced, as the company has been in the rumor mill as a sale candidate since activist Harbinger was involved back 2007, and an auction process that year failed. It is our belief a sale process may be kicked off again, due to the CEO change and elevation of Peter Feld to the Board Chairmanship. It is likely that the strategy of the sale process will now focus on the “next generation products” (we believe success has been modest), and also on the value of Openwave’s patent portfolio, which has been used to launch lawsuits against Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL)(C.Wolf) and RIM (Nasdaq: RIMM)(C.Wolf). We believe fundamentals at OPWV remain unchanged, and weak."
For more ratings news on Openwave Systems click here and for the rating history of Openwave Systems click here.
Shares of Openwave Systems closed at $1.76 yesterday.
Serious News for Serious Traders! Try StreetInsider.com Premium Free!
You May Also Be Interested In
- Coherent (COHR) PT Raised to $420 at Needham
- Coherent (COHR) PT Raised to $420 at Needham
- Alpha & Omega Semiconductor (AOSL) PT Lowered to $45 at Needham
Create E-mail Alert Related Categories
Analyst CommentsRelated Entities
Ramius Capital, Needham & CompanySign up for StreetInsider Free!
Receive full access to all new and archived articles, unlimited portfolio tracking, e-mail alerts, custom newswires and RSS feeds - and more!
