Wednesday, September 08, 2010

YRCW Headed For Delisting Decision

Here comes another non-surprise in the continuing FAIL that is YRCW.  The NASDAQ has officially notified YRC Worldwide that its stock is about to be delisted from the exchange for its failure to consistently maintain a bid price over a buck.  The company's management is of course doing the right thing for its shareholders by appealing this notice.  Since the appeal is scheduled for Oct. 7, the final delisting decision will come about a month later.  I'm pretty sure I know how that's going to turn out.  The company's last 10-Q was published on Aug. 9, so its next quarterly report will be due just about the time the appeals panel will be formulating its delisting decision in early November.  YRCW will need to show a massive upward earnings surprise in that report for its share price to make any meaningful recovery.

What are the chances of such a surprise?  Slim to none, but Slim hasn't left town just yet.  Steadily falling fuel costs can give truckers like YRCW some healthy tailwind.  Executing a long-rumored reverse stock split would be the Hail Mary pass that buys YRCW a little time, perhaps another quarter at best, but management will have to pull the trigger right about now for the split to take effect by the time the NASDAQ panel meets.

Watching YRCW continue its slow march to dissolution is about as painful as watching one of its big rigs jackknife on the highway.  If you don't own its stock, just be glad you're not along for the ride. 

Full disclosure:  No position in YRCW.