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From: saj@chinet.chi.il.us (Stephen Jacobs)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Atari earnings
Summary: Good, but gimmicky
Keywords: earnings debentures extraordinary
Message-ID: <1991Mar11.222942.12560@chinet.chi.il.us>
Date: 11 Mar 91 22:29:42 GMT
Organization: Chinet - Chicago Public Access UNIX
Lines: 20

Atari's results for the last quarter and the whole year were in the Wall Street
Journal today.  They reported $0.15 a share earnings for the quarter on 
slightly lower than year-before sales.  All of this was due to an extraordinary
credit for repurchase of debentures.

I have no real information on this, but as best I can see, the story is that
way back when (like after it became clear how bad the Federated loss was),
the major stockholders (Warner Communications and the Tramiel family) loaned
Atari Corporation money on artificially favorable terms.  Atari is now
repaying the loans at market rates.  This results in a moderate reduction in
the items that show on a report as income from continuing operations, and a
much larger 'extraordinary' gain.

I guess the moral is that Atari seems to be slightly profitable, but nearly
impossible to do classic security valuation on at the moment.  The market seems
to be valuing it at a level appropriate to a company making about $0.07 a
quarter with prospects for average growth (or any of several other possibile
combinations), which is the way it looks to me.

Sorry to be so long-winded.  Buy Atari computers, not Atari stock.    Steve