Commentary

What Goes Up Must Come Down, Even If It Is Rocket Fueled

The funny thing about rockets is sometimes they crash. Once a poster child for the fast-growing programmatic audience-buying marketplace, Rocket Fuel is no longer soaring -- at least not as fast as it had before it became a publicly traded company. And investors have noticed. The company’s stock closed today at $8.91 per share, down from a 52-week high of $38.10, driven by a loss of investor confidence that it could sustain its previous momentum.

It hasn’t helped that the company is sending weak signals to the market, including turnover of (both co-founder and CEO George John, and [x+1]’s John Nardone) its senior management team and now a round of cost-cutting that will reduce its workforce by 11%.

“The absence of a permanent CEO remains the dominant near-term issue,” BMO Capital Markets analyst Dan Salmon wrote following the company’s announcement, adding: “We imagine the board is seeking a candidate whose views are aligned with the new cost-conscious strategy, but the vacancy remains an overhang until the position is formally filled.”
1 comment about "What Goes Up Must Come Down, Even If It Is Rocket Fueled".
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  1. LLoyd Berry from Moving In Media, April 23, 2015 at 7:58 p.m.

    Let the thinning of the Market begin... Didn't they show this on HBO's Silicon Valley.

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