The upcoming earnings will be extra crucial for Acacia. The last two earnings have led to huge declines in the stock, and it is imperative that the company is able to beat the estimates this time around. The revenue for the last 4 quarters (ttm) is $201 million and the net loss is $4.19 million. So to show growth in 2013, it has to do great in the balance two earnings. Most probably, the exponential growth of past few years will not be repeated this year. The revenues have fluctuated and the Q2'13 was particularly bad with 54% decline in the topline on a yoy basis, and an even larger drop sequentially. In Q3'12 the revenues were around $35 million and the net loss was around $6.62 million. The analysts have diverse opinions about the stock, though the average price target of $28 indicates significant upside from current levels. Zacks has upgraded Acacia from underperform to neutral rating, and the target is $23.50. Standpoint Research has a buy rating and with a PT of $33, while Barclays Capital has reduced the PT from $28 to $23. JPMorgan Chase has also reduced the target to $34 from $40, though it maintains an overweight stance. The market is growing and Acacia is in a position to leverage the growth to its advantage. Competition may also increase over time. Spherix (SPEX) has changed its business model to pursue patent monetizing strategies. Spherix has filed a few claims against big organizations recently. In case the earnings for Q3'13 are better than estimates, the positive reaction may be aggravated by the shorts. As of September 13, the shorts were at 8%, but the days required to cover them is around 14.5 days. Hopefully, the earnings will provide the positive trigger and the uptrend will resume.
