Sophos Share Discussion Threads

[g9791] 20/3/2018 14:46

Substance or not, it has certainly created a huge reaction which would indicate something is not quite right. Does nearly 20% go off a comapny in 2 days without substance?

[epo001] 20/3/2018 14:01

So, who understands the Northern Trust comment about reliance on prepayments. It seems from a superficial look at the interims that a portion of income from subscriptions is recognised in the period being reported (when services were supplied), which is as it should be.

Is there in fact any substance to the Northern Trust comments?

(Not a holder, on my watchlist and the price is back to the watchlist add price)

[g9791] 20/3/2018 13:51

Cyber-security company Sophos falls 9.2 percent, taking two-day losses to more than 16 percent* Traders flag continuing worries over leverage after the blow-up at peer Micro Focus , that fell 46 percent on Monday, and general weakness across the tech sector* Sophos was also hit on Monday after a note from Northern Trust Capital Markets, which turned negative on the company for the first time since IPO in June 2015* Said stock has a "grand slam" of red flags that include high leverage, an acquisitive strategy and risk of top-line and cost pressures, many of which are similar to Micro Focus* "It is an easy story to understand and buy into as Europe's only mid-cap pure play on the cyber security mega theme," said Ameet Patel, an analyst at Northern Trust* "That's all very well as long there is no change in the narrative and strong growth momentum – but the slowdown in growth reported in Q3 rang alarm bells for us"

[g9791] 20/3/2018 13:49

Fuji or not, I think you take your chances with this one right now!

[discojames] 20/3/2018 13:17

It's been a day without a nonsense post from Fuji- maybe it IS time to buy after all!

[yertiz] 20/3/2018 13:10

Well fuji99 - credibility is a little shot, don't you think? If you are fully invested in Sophos, I do hope you have some money put aside elsewhere 'cos this company is going nowhere but down. I'm out, possibly a bit late but still able to nurse wounds and make a profit elsewhere.

[g9791] 20/3/2018 12:57

It would seem something significant is occurring and we small investors only find out later when everything goes awry. It will be interesting to see if any brokers reconsider their evalutions in the next few days/week. This has gone from £6.70 to £4.20 in only a few weeks. Someone said on here yesterday about the momentum of these shares in the last year and they have certainly had a huge charge. May be it is 'correction' time for them. Anyway, whatever it is I think it is wise to wait a little while.

[g9791] 20/3/2018 12:38

Never good to lose money. None of us do this to lose! Unfortunately though these things happen. Now it is trying to find a way to recoup it and recover the loss. I think these need time to sort themselves out before even considereding them again. This time next week they could be £3.50 the way they are going.

[panic investor] 20/3/2018 12:31

Right on major support

[discojames] 20/3/2018 11:57

You are right, I have never taken this much of a battering on a share, Im out.

[wintokall] 20/3/2018 10:05

what effect might the usa market have on this price/
anyones guess...

[wintokall] 20/3/2018 10:01

forgot to add - DYOR !!

[wintokall] 20/3/2018 09:59

time to top-up :)
Northern Trust seem to be on a mission!

[discojames] 20/3/2018 09:54

This fall has wiped out my profit and the lots more, but I think I am just committed to waiting for the May results

[douglas fir] 20/3/2018 09:40

Northern Trust

they've got history............almost a year on to the day.....

RPC hits 6-month low after Northern Trust attack - Financial Times


22 Mar 2017 - RPC hit a six-month low on Wednesday after Northern Trust analysts accused the packaging maker of disguising structural problems with a lot of acquisitions. The group last week completed the $640m purchase of Letica, a Michigan-based peer, which was its tenth deal in 12 months. According to Northern ...

[g9791] 20/3/2018 09:10

Disco James if you are still in profit then sell and even if you lose a little, sell. It is not looking good. I may be wrong and I will have humility to say I got scared and left too early in the future if they recover, but look at the last week and the trend. It was not just a bad day!

[discojames] 20/3/2018 08:59

Had my mouse hovering on sell, but just didnt have the guts.

[financeguru] 20/3/2018 08:55

down and down it goes,
where it stops,
nobody knows

[mr roper] 20/3/2018 08:54

“plenty to dig into on the accounting front”

that sounds like a big warning if ever there was one.

[g9791] 20/3/2018 08:53

Save yourselves!

[g9791] 20/3/2018 08:50

Well I may be gutless, but I got out. 15% has gone from them in less than a week. Not a good sign.

[discojames] 20/3/2018 08:49

Sector peer Sophos led the FTSE 250 fallers, with Northern Trust Capital Markets putting a “trading sell” on the security software maker ahead of full-year results due in May. Northern Trust cited intensifying competition, slowing growth, high net debt from acquisitions and “plenty to dig into on the accounting front”, including a reliance on prepayments and a non-standard preferred definition of earnings.

“We think at the very least the bare bones investment case could come under increasing scrutiny,” said Northern Trust analyst Ameet Patel. “If Sophos has for any reason struggled to recover from the sales disruption experienced in the third and fourth quarter and ends up disappointing, we’d expect serious capitulation.”

[mr roper] 20/3/2018 08:47

somewhere around 280-340p