I Need My Head Examined

Be cautious, look over your shoulder, lighten up on rallies, all make sense and generally describe my investment behavior. But it gets boring staying with the same long term holds, dividend plays, and anti-inflation stocks. So, in the midst of the recent melt down, I opened a new position that will either do extremely well, as everyone seems to hate the company, or limp on as another Level3. In fact, it is a Level3 competitor. I invested long in the telecom field. I need my head examined.

The latest proof of my increasing dementia is my purchase of Neutral Tandem, TNDM. This is a relatively young company that went public in the Fall of 2007 and has grown rapidly in sales and profits. 2010 revenue is projected to be $180M and analysts predict earnings per share of $1.11. TNDM currently sells for $13; a PE of 11. It went public at about $17 and was in the mid 30's as recently as 6 months ago. It's gone the opposite way of the market.

The company is performing wonderfully. May 5th TNDM announced 1st quarter results and revenue grew 17% due to a 26% increased in minutes billed. EPS was flat for the quarter. They have $171M of cash and no debt- a rock solid balance sheet.

So why doesn't anyone like the company and why has the stock price been cut by nearly 2/3rds? I wish I knew for sure. The concerns that have been discussed are a patent battle with competitor Peerless [ since they already compete, and the company has other competitors, the worst outcome is high attorney fees], recent competition from both Peerless and Level3 [ revenue growth shows the company is holding its own, but flat earnings on a 26% increase in billable minutes the indicates pricing pressure of competition], and finally more direct traffic between carriers that doesn't require tandem switching.

Neutral Tandem's business is the switching of calls between new carriers [Sprint, cable, etc] and telecoms majors. TNDM doesn't compete with their customers like other carriers do and their tandem system is state of the art. They are the big player in this subset of telecom. Competitive pressure and the future of IP switching will not decimate revenue and earnings overnight. They are also expanding into ethernet switching which should add new revenue streams.

The stock price trend is down and it sure could continue, especially if the market continues to hemorrhage, but I think $13 is a good entry point. At an EV/EBITDA ratio of 3, you usually do well with a position, especially if the balance sheet is sound.

I've pulled the trigger so lets see how it turns out.