SuperCom Ltd (SPCB)

[midastouch017]

SuperCom down 14.5% after Q4 miss
• 11:14 AM
Eric Jhonsa, SA News Editor
After rallying over the last week, SuperCom (NASDAQ:SPCB) has tumbled back below $8 in response to its big Q4 miss. The RFID/electronic document tech provider is reiterating full-year guidance for 40%+ revenue growth and EPS above $1.20, but there may be some skepticism.
No explanation is given in the Q4 report for the miss. Instead, SuperCom highlights the $60M in new contracts it received in 2014, and the progress it has made in "transitioning our legacy RFID components business into a solutions-focused provider of products aimed at very specific targeted market verticals."
Hurting EPS: Gross margin (non-GAAP) fell to 69.4% from Q3's 77.6%; it was up from 65.5% a year ago. During its Q3 CC (transcript), SuperCom mentioned it normally expects GM to be around 75%, and that initial product installations carry lower margins than recurring revenue.
With revenue rising 183% Y/Y, operating expenses rose 150% to $5.09M; sales/marketing spend totaled $2.16M, G&A $1.25M, R&D just $608K, and "other expenses" $1.09M.
Q4 results, PR