More Correspondence with the SEC….We just wanted to flag a round of correspondence between ESI and the SEC that occurred in July and August of this year. The letters were just released through the SEC’s...
READ MORE >“The investment thesis for us is pretty straightforward, as I said earlier, career-oriented, that's a big deal to us. I mean, we're teaching students how to become prepared for their first job. Not only do we teach them and get them through the process, we also spend a...
READ MORE >“I just charge additional license fees for these iPad implementations, so it actually drives business”Peter Rodgers, EVP Investor Relations and Business Development MICROS Systems, Inc.That’s it, nothing to see here....
READ MORE >After gapping down earlier in the morning, COCO shares rallied over the course of the day to end down only 1% following 4Q12 results and management commentary that should create significant cause for concern among...
READ MORE >BGG shares traded off modestly today following 4Q12 results and initial FY13 guidance that were both below consensus expectations. Two factors weighed on the company’s 2Q12 and significantly dampened the company’s FY13...
READ MORE >Zillow shares traded off sharply after hours yesterday following earnings results that were good, but perhaps not strong enough relative to “whisper numbers”. Additionally, the company filed a shelf offering which included the option for significant stock holders to sell as much as 3.6MM...
READ MORE >Realistically THQI’s 1Q13 results were more or less a side show. The company did not release any new games in the quarter, so the focus of the earnings call was primarily on THQI’s release slate and efforts to reposition itself in the marketplace. In one week, THQI will release...
READ MORE >In many respects, WPO’s 2Q12 earnings results represent a complete validation of our short thesis on the stock. At a time when it appears most bulls on the stock own it based on some theoretical breakup value, two...
READ MORE >With OPEN shares down 24% in the past month and now trading at what some might think is an attractive 18.7x consensus EPS for 2013 we shouldn’t be completely surprised by the strength in the stock...
READ MORE >WWE’s 2Q12 results were more or less inline with expectations. Based on the strong buy rate for Wrestlemania 28 and subsequent PPV events, it’s clear that WWE’s creative cycle has turned a corner. Over time we expect this to lead to...
READ MORE >It has been a grueling slog for WWE shareholders over the past 6-9 months. Over the past 3-4 months the company crushed expectations for 1Q12, delivered the highest selling Wrestlemania in history,...
READ MORE >Fundamentals Are Breaking Down…. And Liquidity Now Becomes a Real ConcernFor some the 2Q12 earnings season will be remembered as the quarter in which the publicly traded for-profit postsecondary...
READ MORE >Make no mistake, as we navigate earnings season in the for-profit education space over the next 2-3 weeks, the poor operating results from DeVry will look like an accurate gauge of the operating...
READ MORE >Early this morning, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released its long awaited report on the Private Student Loan (PSL) industry. The report provides a broad overview of the characteristics of the private student loan market for the...
READ MORE >In case you missed it, I recently had the opportunity to speak with Leslie Norton of Barron's about PAA Research, our approach to idea generation, and some of our latest thoughts on for-profit education, payment processing and OPEN, Z, BGG, and TTC. You can find the full interview HERE.
READ MORE >There is little doubt that the for-profit postsecondary education sector has been under siege for the past 2-3 years. Most stocks in the space are trading at or near their 52-week lows and at valuations most investors and management teams in...
READ MORE >If you were to listen solely to OPEN management, the company’s path to market dominance in the online restaurant reservation space is merely an exercise in “blocking and tackling”. Management continues to execute on the same strategy the company had in...
READ MORE >In April 2009, in our very first report on THQI we wrote the following:“Over the past 15-months, THQI’s stock has declined in excess of 80% in large part due to poor execution by the company in its efforts to target “core gamers” and decreased receptivity among young consumers for...
READ MORE >On 12/15/11 we introduced APOL as a short idea (see “The Monster is Out of the Cage and APOL’s Secular Decline Begins in Earnest”). Our thesis at that time was predicated on the following: Demographic trends were...
READ MORE >It shouldn’t come as a complete surprise that WWE shares traded off over the past three months following 4Q11 results that were in no uncertain terms hugely disappointing and initial guidance for 2012 that was well below consensus forecasts. However, we were quite...
READ MORE >Some investors might be perplexed by the strength in Zillow shares after hours. Yes, the company did report strong 1Q12 results that handily beat estimates. Yes, the operating metrics delivered in 1Q12 were fantastic and well above what most...
READ MORE >Was it really just only 12-months ago that OPEN was the darling of Wall Street? It seems like another lifetime. Approximately one year ago to the day, OPEN reported another quarter of 40%+ YOY organic revenue growth and handily...
READ MORE >This is a report about housing. This is also a report about a company that has the potential to transform the home purchase process in the US. Every Spring for each of the past three years we have...
READ MORE >It’s True They Did Beat, But….ESI reported 1Q12 revenue and EPS results that were significantly better than consensus estimates. Despite the overall outperformance, there are CLEAR signs now that...
READ MORE >Today the 1Q12 earnings season in the for-profit postsecondary education sector kicks off in earnest. Thus far, many of the 12 issues that we thought would matter most this year have weighed...
READ MORE >For the first time in a long time, THQI shareholders received some good news today. The stock has been in a steep decline over the past 4-5 months since the uDraw disaster. We recognize that people remain highly skeptical of management’s ability to execute on its plan to transform the...
READ MORE >If we have learned anything over the past 12 years in which we have been following ESI as analysts and investors it is this: never underestimate the guile of the company’s management team, particularly when it comes to crafting...
READ MORE >The statistics in many respects are simply overwhelming. Consider the following: More than 700,000 students have now graduated from the University of Phoenix Stated another way, 1 in roughly 450 Americans has a degree from the...
READ MORE >In the 8-months since we originally introduced MLHR as a short idea, the stock has declined (-17.4%) compared to a 7.7% gain in the S&P 500 over the same time frame. For those that also rely on...
READ MORE >Admittedly, WPO’s 4Q11 results beat our estimates by a wide margin. Normally this type of EPS upside would yield a more meaningful reaction in any given company’s stock price – that did not happen. WPO...
READ MORE >SELL
$50
LONG
$110
SELL/SHORT
$230
SELL/SHORT
$55
LONG
$70
SELL/SHORT
$4
SELL/SHORT
$45
SHORT
$18
SELL/SHORT
$5
SELL/SHORT
$42
LONG
$75
SELL/SHORT
$50
SELL/SHORT
$50
LONG
$5.50
SHORT
$50
SHORT
$28
LONG
$65
LONG
$37
PAIR TRADE
$10
PAIR TRADE
$30
LONG
$35
SHORT
$35
SELL/SHORT
$10
SHORT
$101
SHORT
$15
SHORT
$0
SHORT
$9
SHORT
$0
PAIR - LONG BGG/SHORT TTC
25%
SHORT
$14.00
SHORT
$22
SHORT
$15
SHORT
$20
SHORT
$31
SHORT
$35
SHORT
$30
PAIR - LONG KNL/SHORT MLHR
25%
SHORT
$100
LONG
$8
LONG
$20
SHORT
$22
PAIR - LONG CSGP/SHORT LOOP
40%
LONG
$35
SHORT
$275
SHORT
$0