I was kicking myself while watching PLMO trade after their earnings announcement tonight. I had held it from about $13 in my IRA and tried my hardest to hang on to it but I got shaken out several days ago when it closed under $30. Which, of course, ended up being the exact bottom. Anyway, I was really pissed when I saw it trading up about 7 points to $43 immediately after the report. I almost jumped back into it but luckily I fought that urge. Minutes later, when the company issued their guidance the stock cratered. Here’s a 15 minute chart:
Apparently they lowered their guidance and that was the result. To make things even better, there’s confusion over whether or not, or how much, they lowered. Here’s a recap from Briefing.com:
16:02 PLMO reports Q1 gross margins of 33.3%; Briefing.com consensus is 29.85%
16:02 PLMO prelim $0.43 vs $0.20 consensus; revs $273 mln vs $269 mln consensus
16:04 PLMO spikes 2 pts on earnings, PSRC lifts 0.40 in sympathy… RIMM trades up 0.70
16:07 PLMO palmOne beats handily, ex items
Reports Q1 (Aug) non-GAAP earnings of $0.43 per share, ex items, $0.23 better than the Reuters Estimates consensus of $0.20; revenues rose 62.0% year/year to $273.1 mln vs the $269.3 mln consensus. Co also reports Q1 gross margins of 33.3%; Briefing.com consensus is 29.85%.
17:33 PLMO palmOne on conf call (37.28 +1.63) — Update –
Co sees Q2 EPS of $0.46 and revs of $370 mln, Reuters consensus is $0.60 and $371 mln, respectively; Raises guidance for Y05 in light of strong Q1 results, expects Y05 EPS of $1.45-1.60, sees non-GAAP EPS of $1.65-1.80 and revs between $1.27-1.31 bln vs Reuters consensus of $1.52 and $1.33 bln, respectively. Expect Q2 gross margins to be lower due to holiday rebates lowering margins and operating margins increasing due to advertising for the holidays.
17:33 PLMO palmOne turns south as co guides below consensus on conference call– Update –
17:39 PLMO palmOne plunges to $33.25 in after hours on disappointing guidance after trading up to $43.30 post-earnings (37.28 +1.63) — Update –
Stock has turned around 10 pts in after hours trading… In sympathy, has fallen 1 pt from its closing price and more than 2 pts from its after hours highs… RIMM currently trading 2.5 pts lower, and about 5.5 pts from after hours highs… Also look for weakness in names such as SWIR (a PLMO supplier) and NVTL.
17:51 PLMO palmOne: on call, co clarifies that revs for Q2 will be $370 mln, not $317 mln… Reuters consensus is $371 mln (37.28 +1.63) — Update — – Technical –
Some confusion on the call about whether co gave rev guidance of $370 mln or $317 mln. In the Q&A, co clarifies that the guidance is $370 mln… Reuters consensus is $371 mln… PLMO shares trading at $33.40.
All of which serves as a reminder for why I don’t mess with stocks just after they report earnings and especially not before the conference call is over. What a mess! It also shows how quick you can get jacked in after-hours trading. 
Lots of punishment was doled out in PLMO tonight to longs and shorts.
