Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
You are probably right about this. The insiders buy 500, 1000 shares at a time to pop up in penny stock newsletters.
Im afraid that might hurt the stock more than doing good...the short term investors will sell the stock immediately, either for a profit or at a loss during a downturn, meaning a lot more volatility....
it is kind of ridiculous when insiders buy shares at the same time they receive shares, unless they buy many times more shares than what they receive.....where is the proof of conviction doing less?
there will be no long term effect on price from this kind of insider trading, other than a short term effect as somebody is filling sellers' orders.
tomorrow, we will be back to square one.
Brad, he needs a reality check....his employees as well as investors of Musclepharm, they have figured him out long time ago...
You are the kind of long term investor that Brad is pissing on while laughing...Long term there is absolutely nothing to gain in this dilution farce.
Brad Pyatt should be the development manager...I think that's where he got his talent.
wrong stock skippy!
okay, fair enough.
The dilution of Musclepharm this year, just blew all projections and that just scares the hell out of many shareholders....in particular at a time where the seed capital is gone and Musclepharm is struggling to turn a profit.
Musclepharm is running out of tools in the tool box and that is highly concerning. Only comfort is the SEC investigation. Im afraid that without the SEC, Musclepharm wouldn't be a $10 stock.
There is just no need for any non existential dilution in the coming year.
If Musclepharm needs another pipe deal, then do it....but don't go buy back shares to issue stocks to God knows who.
Pipe deals are bad for stock performance, but it's nice to keep the option open.
In 2016, if Musclepharm turns a profit...well, then it can easily issue stock options and buy back shares. I just don't think now is the time. Also, the stock grants and stock options issued should not amount to more than 5% per year....in 2016, we should expect that Musclepharm is a regular company with a $250 million or so market cap.
Brad needs to get into his head that "less is sometimes more"....and if he feels that he might leave the company by then...Well, who says he cannot become a ceo of some other company? He got the connections to do whatever he wants to....his reputation is all that counts really.
insider stock purchases can be explained by many things, what counts are those done because it is believed the stock is undervalued long term.
It is hard to convince investors that 10,000 shares bought were bought because of that, when you were just issued 500,000 shares....it pretty much makes you feel like crying..
for Brad:
Definition of Corporation:
1) Management is separated from ownership "Many owners" (shareholders)
2) Ease of ownership transfer (if company public, it is quoted on an organized stock exchange that facilitates transfers)
3) limited liability
So, Musclepharm is owned by the shareholders for the shareholders, not by the management for the management. Also, if the company does something wrong, it's very easy for shareholders to sell and the responsibility lies on the company.
Think about it for a moment, what is a corporation?
Tiger Woods attitude is like he owns the sport of golf in America. You are not allowed to make jokes about him...give me a break! we got freedom of speech...and as long as we are entertaining and not offensive, everything is good! nothing evil was written about him...it was all a parody.
Tiger Woods cannot be humble with all his success and money, no wonder nobody likes him.
This could be an opportunity for Musclepharm though if Tiger Woods feels he has to give the World a little more of himself....he seems like a guy that loves to receive but hates to give back....his image is way too reserved, unfriendly and introvert.
He seems like he is nice when you hand him the check, and there after you hear nothing from him...Arnold seems to be the opposite, somebody that calls you when you don't expect it.
talk about unnecessary dilution, 450,000 shares to Tiger....like 3 years of reasonable ceo stocks for giving the brand a bad name....so, much stock could have bought another company.
God, Tiger Woods is just such a bore!
he cannot take that somebody makes jokes about him?....it's ridiculous!
character assassination...lol, more like suicide. everything bad that happened to Tiger Woods was his own fault. now cry baby!
revenues are not coming in around $60 million...$50 million the most, including one time stuff.
Musclepharm's product launch with Coco Protein has been very slow....and Musclepharm wasn't ready to enter Walmart....Brad was mumbling some nonsense about the season, when we all know people hit the gym more during the Winter....because up North, there is not much else to do...apart from having a beer or playing pool
I'm personally not particularly concerned about the company's products...but, I'm concerned about the company's integrity.
Principal agent problems is something that is taught at business school during corporate governance lectures....Sometimes the agent (the ceo) is motivated to act in his own best interests rather than those of the principal (the shareholders).
I don't see shareholders come first, the dilution is so heavy that you really don't know what the stock is worth anylonger...$4, $7, $11...what is it? perhaps it is $0.
probably some frostie company creation is the landlord...im not sure the assets there are entirely worthless. Perhaps the diversification talks weren't all that crazy. These kind of specialty cosmetics products, if sold and marketed in innovative ways can be quite so profitable...and Musclepharm already got the sales and marketing organisation in place to sell these products in much larger scales....so, there are some synergies to do that...
and the Biozone manufacturing assets, what's up with them?
during the CC Brad gave the impression that he was reluctant to reconfigure manufacturing at Biozone facility to anything relevant to Musclepharm...apart from having gels and liquids manufactured there...I was thinking, gels and liquids??? isn't that like 2% of revenue?
oh, i forgot....Musclepharm doesn't really have any relevant operations
if things don't improve by next conference call, then the board should look for another ceo to save whatever pieces are left.
don't let brad run through anymore frostie pipe deals to buy back stocks (kind of stupid) and don't let him buy anymore companies he doesn't understand to integrate into the gym in Denver.
Strange how we are never shown any pics of any of Musclepharm's operations.
introducing stock options would add further to expenses.....in particular if you issue them with exercise price zero, which im certain Brad would prefer..Stock options with exercise price equal to zero are nothing else than stock grants in disguise.
When a small company, scarse of capital, issues $15 million worth of shares for employees, then shouldn't you get a least $10 million relief in operating expenses? i mean, how many times should employees be awarded?
the question is whether Musclepharm can survive with so much waste?
I have seen many small cap companies similar to Musclepharm where the stock has gone from $150 million to like $15 million over short time...and then eventually to 0.
When the only purpose of the company is to enrich a few individuals...then you have a real principal agent issue.
It's time for the board to step up it's supervision of these clowns.
You have said that before but the only price I have seen at local Costcos is $44.95....
Really, Musclepharm needs to push the MP Combat a little more and lower the price to $36.95 once in a while.
Cellucor Whey retails for only $34.95 during promotions....so, if Musclepharm stands too firm on it's price....then, Musclepharm has misunderstood the concept of competition.
what about getting rid of cory for a start?
not only investors are treated like nobodies, look at how employees are treated (notice that the Pros section is a whole lot shorter than the Cons section)
I worked at MusclePharm full-time (more than an year)
Pros
MP has fun people to work with and there is a state of the art gym that can be used at the facility which is fantastic. You get free supplements and come into contact with some cool athletes a few times a year. Not very PC place which makes it feel less corporate, more of a "bro" friendly environment. Taking an extra hour to hang with the owners and play basketball isn't a bad way to break up your day.
Cons
There is a lot of talk about team and succeeding together when in reality it's a few people busting their ass and not getting paid their worth. Always asked for extra time and hours to be put in with no real regard for a life outside of the office. A what have you done for me lately place where your hard work is forgotten quickly. Owners make far more money than they should when in reality they could get 2x as much from employees if they really where a "team" and spread the wealth.
Advice to Management
Pay your people their worth. You don't do this all on your own believe it or not. The company doubled then quadrupled in the money and sales and yet employees saw nothing. When you are going from 10M to 20M to over 70M you should reward the people who helped get you there.
http://www.glassdoor.com/Overview/Working-at-MusclePharm-EI_IE672411.11,22.htm
Happy employees normally means happy investors. Companies that treat their employees well, like Washington State champs Starbucks and Costco have outperformed competitors by a mile.
This looks like an insider pretending to be "objective"...like a new distribution center in California is such a big deal. I bet you the warehouse manager's name is Hector and he ain't making $6 million a year.
Ceo salary of Monster Beverages
http://www.forbes.com/profile/rodney-sacks/
Rodney Sacks is a billionaire but his wealth didn't come from screwing shareholders....fact is his company's stock rose more than 20,000% since he started his job.
Brad Pyatt thinks his salary should be higher than this stellar ceo...what a freakin' joke!
The path to becoming Ceo billionaire is experience, hard work, patience, integrity, luck and 22 years of work....Rodney Sacks owns less than 10% of Monster Beverages after 22 years of work...he understands you can only take little pieces of the pie at a time, and not draw any attention from shareholders....
Musclepharm investors are not encouraged to focus on the business...like when will we reach critical mass, is the growth sustainable etc....No we have to watch silently some bullshit like the Ceo taking 4% of the company in one single year.
Bullshit!!
weighted average guidance? wot? I thought guidance was forward looking?
I thought the surrender of preferred shares were in exchange for capital for a broke company....
Also, stock options are worse tax wise than restricted stocks and not any better incentives if exercise price is zero and vesting is given.
Musclepharm got too many excuses for diluting the stocks and keep the ownership in own hands...Good luck with raising capital or getting a loan....I would demand a clause regarding dilution in any Pipe deal if I were an investor...and demand hard lending rates for credit, like 100 basis point per month.
Tiffany and Co:
Market cap: $13.3B
Revenue: $4B
Markets: All over the World
Headquarters: NYC (the one with the high salaries, high living costs)
Ceo compensation: $6,147,121
http://www1.salary.com/TIFFANY-CO-Executive-Salaries.html
I know a thief when I see one.
Nice presentation of yours, I guess economies of scale isn't something they practice in Denver.
the share price will struggle with as little as 500,000 newly issued shares
a capital raise, the optimal type of dilution would be a disaster in itself....Why? because Musclepharm raised capital to acquire Biozone in 2013 and nothing happened....what was the purpose of the acquisition?
according to Brad, manufacturing in Brazil might precede manufacturing in California...
How come Brad Pyatt got no overall goal according to bodyspace?
also, how come his favorite supplement is Universal Nutrition's Animal Pak?
http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/trueathlete/
Many prominent American companies have been bought by welathy Brazilians...but no Brazilian company I know of has been bought by Americans.
I know Nextel International Holdings (NIHD) had some major activities in Brazil....but unfortunately, NIHD went into bankruptcy in September...NIHD is worth 0.06 right now....it used to be $30 stock.
Brazil seems to be very anti-American to me...and Latin America overall seems to be a place where it's better to have contacts than to invest money.
how much should Musclepharm expect to pay in protection money to operate in Brazil?
Ive heard Latin America can be a pretty bad place...that you may be extorted large sums of money and be made to soap if you miss a payment.
so, how come Brad told us not to expect too from Q4 at Walmart?
he said something about the holiday season being slow....so, i don't know what to believe?
How come the holidays/Q4 is a bad season for Musclepharm?
it surely ain't a bad season for other companies, so what's up with Brad's Ponzi scheme?
if Musclepharm dilutes the stock in 1st half 2015, I'm quite sure Musclepharm will become a penny stock....it is just not credible anymore.
next time we see major dilutions, they need to be capital raises for acquisitions and alike...
an acquisition would come in handy...Right now, we could probably get $200-250 million for the company.
Cory is falling out of the picture and perhaps Brad will too...Founders and heirs rarely got what it takes to run companies for longer periods of time.
I think Brad needs to find himself a smoke pipe, enjoy the mountains and his lady friend....and leave this to somebody who knows what they are doing...I mean, this conference call was embarrassing....and it's gonna get worse if he ever gets in front of some real analysts at a Nasdaq listed company's conference call.
He answers one thing and does something else...he really fumbles too much for being a ceo, in particular one that makes $6 million a year.
perhaps you are right, I don't know man...It's kind of scary when this guy gives a better call on whats out in the next quarters.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBkZhtu20K8
it leads me to believe he cannot do any dilution until next Summer or early 2016.
even with terrible results, Musclepharm will fare a lot better on the stock market without dilution....and who know, perhaps test some crazy levels never imagined....like $25.
The dilution has been a huge drag on the stock....because it's been too much at the wrong time...
There is no reason to buy the stock until Brad stops with this BS...indeed it looks like a zero sum game with such dilution and no capital raise, no profit, flat growth and no future guidance.
1% dilution of established companies' stocks is considered acceptable by institutional investors....and it's a rule of thumb that a young company cannot dilute the stocks more than 10% in any given year.
Musclepharm diluted it's stock with 20% this year because it thought it could justify it with rapid growth.
Rapid growth was from 4th quarter 2013 to 1st quarter 2014...After this it flattened out.
So, I would say....good luck trying to announce another equity compensation plan next year....in particular if you need to raise some capital.
I mean, raising capital at $4 cannot be in Brad's interest to get a few hundred thousand more stocks...Don't forget that he cannot get stocks all alone, he has to give stocks to others...so if he is adding to 1,3 million shares each percentage dilution will cost him more than 13,000 shares....so, perhaps it's worth adding another $1,5 million to bonus from raised capital.
If Brad prefers equity compensation plans over financial stability...then, he is really a basket case of a ceo.
indeed a zero sum game if Brad starts 2015 announcing more equity compensation.
not only that, it could kill the company considering it got little financial strength with the SEC investigation undergoing
it's a risky stock right now for sure....because Brad thinks anything goes...in the short time perhaps, it's only 20% down after some weird resignation, some weird conference call and after some weird form 4s...The employees incentives plan of 1,5 million was announced earlier this year....we didn't really think that included 75,000 shares for a fired/"resigned" 1 year employee, 100,000 shares for Cory and 500,000 shares for Brad....We thought it was meant as an incentive and pay to the whole team that made this happen...apparently not!
could be there won't be any dilution in 2015.
reason is that Musclepharm needs financing cash flows down the road to stay afloat and building the company...so, whatever it takes to maintain the stock price in the $10-20 range versus $5 range might be the ambition.
At the end of the day, no Ceo of any company with $180 million sales makes $6 million every year....I mean, Pandora Jewelry, a $9.3 billion market cap company....the Ceo makes $4 million.
Even if Brad desires an above average salary....he could just write himself a higher bonus check...
My assumption...if we are going to see any dilution next year, it will be equity financing in second half of the year. No such thing will be announced in the beginning of the year...it simply would not be worth it to Brad. Brad should buy some stocks, write himself a decent bonus check that doesn't dilute his existing stock holding....and caso cerrado!
Frequently, employees are given equity compensation after rounds of equity financing....exactly what happened this year....but you cannot have too much of both at the same time.
To keep the option open to raise more capital if necessary...other wasteful dilution might be something that will have to wait.