The recent upward movement in the stock has been supported by better volumes. This may indicate that the stock may have recovered from the post-earnings fall. A few more days of positive movement are required to confirm this. The article on seekingalpha recently, had given a target of $33 for the stock, which is around the 52 week high made by the stock in May. The author is positive about the company and concluded by saying that 'ValueClick is a quality business, which is generating a lot of shareholder value for both short and long term. The company is being managed, as probably any private equity investor would have managed, using cash to make strategic acquisitions and share buybacks. Stock correction due to a temporary weakness is giving a good opportunity to invest'. The company may be a good long term story, but the sentiments have deteriorated over the past few months due to earnings misses. The last two earnings have led to sell-offs which has spoiled the party. Between October 2012 and May 2013, the stock had doubled, but it has corrected sharply after that. So the short term sentiments may change only if the company is able to do remarkably well in the next few quarters. It needs to beat estimates, and show some consistency in growth. It needs to remain dynamic, and leverage the possibilities in fast growing segments like native advertising / social media. IZEA (IZEA), a company in this field, has done well recently. For ValueClick, the valuations are reasonable, as the trailing P/E is 17.45 and forward P/E is 11.52. The PEG is 0.99, which is indicative of expectations of earnings growth over the next few years. The debt is also at manageable levels and the cash position is good. So it is a company with good potential, but needs show visible improvements soon.
