Friday, August 8, 2008

Piper Jaffray

Jamba (JMBA) is trading at about a dollar right now. On May 30, 2007, the firm of Piper Jaffray initiated coverage on Jamba Inc. (NASDAQ: JMBA) with an Outperform and $12 price target. On July 17, 2008, Piper Jaffray downgraded the stock from a buy to neutral. On August 7, 2008, Piper Jaffray downgraded again to "sell."

Let's take a look at this again. Here is where JMBA was priced at each interval:

6/01/07: $10.03 (outperform)
7/17/08: $1.15 (neutral)
08/7/08: $0.96 (sell)

The geniuses at Piper Jaffray waited until the stock had gone from around 10 dollars a share to a dollar before downgrading it, and then had the audacity to downgrade again at $0.96 a share. Jamba is trading at slightly over a dollar on August 8, 2008.

Let me get this straight--these geniuses decide to initiate coverage, drop the ball entirely, and then someone probably pointed out, "Hey guys, you still have an outperform rating on a stock that has gone down about 80% since your recommendation...maybe you want to do something about this?" Then, oh yes, then, Piper Jaffray gets off its arse and starts downgrading like there's no tomorrow. Thanks, Piper Jaffray. Let me know your buy recommendations so I can consider a career in shorting.

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