Nice post. I really think that if folks want these answers they must ask the questions. The company will happily give investors fudge, unless they demand meat.
And actually, some of this information can actually be derived from the 10k. When it comes out, maybe we should run some numbers. I've been too lazy to do so over the years, but maybe we have reached the point at which I can no longer get away with winging it.
To be honest, until now, there really hasn't been much point in any deep-seated analysis as the story has been fairly plain in the main numbers. Company struggling to survive, develop and grow in a market in which the supply side has been slow to acquiesce and demand has been slow to emerge.
As the market emerges, things become more interesting and worth the attention.
"PreCC ramblings On Profitability, Investment, and Vision
(this is Dig rant, you may prefer to skip it)
Wave is going to (and continue to) report a loss. There are those that think Wave’s massive investment in mobile should be tempered so that numbers are at or nearer profitability.
Nonsense.
Nobody, again nobody, can pretend to be a security company anywhere near the area where Wave operates without making massive investments in mobile, now and yesterday. Seeking better numbers now by making more modest investments in mobile would guarantee obscurity to the point of market irrelevance.
Musing about losses and ATMs etc loses the clear and present truth that while Wave leads in Wintel TPM-TC, that ecosystem is expanding, and one MUST lead that expansion. It is not a choice, it is not putting off profitability for hopes of a pot of uber-mega-gold, it is REQUIRED.
Wave MUST invest heavily in mobile TC to protect and enhance shareholder value, PERIOD.
One does not lead the development of a platform technology in order to sit idly while it makes the critical transition from a Wintel niche to a broader paradigm.
The way, the ONLY way (for Wave), this is done is to dump every penny into it, with the resources to dump more (the ATM).
I fear that when asking for greater clarity from management, that it is interpreted by management or others as a lack of clarity on the vision or a lack of justification of the investment. No. That is not the case. If Wave were NOT to invest heavily in mobile I would dump my shares NOW. This company has no future in the absence of significant mobile investment. Fortunately, a demigod of non-Wintel mobile devices, Samsung, has selected Wave as the goto for their TC efforts. Actually, this is not “fortunately”, this is EARNED. It is the consequence of years of R&D and many millions of investment. This is what relentless investment brings. I get that.
Still I would like to see a nuts and bolts explanation of where (today) the money comes from, a clear segment description of how, where, and why there is going to be more, and where the money is going to. I am not interest in (at the moment) having the discussion by management distracted by notions towards near term profitability or when that will be. I believe shareholders would like to see evidence that Wave looks at things like sales-per-non-RD employee and so on, and that they have plans.
I am perfectly comfortable with Wave saying they have dumped 5 million into mobile and don’t expect a penny out of it until xyz time.
I am perfectly comfortable with Wave saying they tripled their EU sales force thus driving sales-per-employee down 300% and they don't expect that to recover until xyz time, or whatever. That is not a reflection of not getting that they need to invest in mobile or the general TC vision. I have the TC vision. What I don’t have is any vision for Wave’s execution, that they actually have something resembling metrics, problem areas, and task forces if you will. That when they throw a bunch of money in, say, sales in Arizona, that they have some sort of vague plan of how and when they expect to recover that.
It’s not the external TC vision that is at issue, it is the internal Wave as a business vision that is absent." http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=73470095
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