Nuance Communications (NUAN) Message Board

"FBR’s Ives, cutting his rating to Market Perform from Outperform, writes that he has a “lack of confidence in management’s ability to steer this company back to normalized growth and margins over the coming quarters.”

The essential problem, writes Ives, is Nuance’s rapid pace of acquisition, which has harmed its “execution”:

Nuance missed the Street’s estimates across the board based on both company-specific execution issues and a softer IT spending environment. While several industry/external (smart phone consolidation, transcription transition, EMEA weakness) factors have put pressure on mobile and healthcare growth, we believe the blame lies squarely around Nuance’s execution in the field, coupled with management’s feverish acquisition strategy over the last year, which has put onerous integration risks back into the Nuance story. While we believe potential activism could put a floor on Nuance shares and ultimately enhance shareholder value over time (e.g., management changes, split-up of the company, M&A path), we find it hard to remain positive on the Nuance story as the company goes through a challenging transition process in its business over the next six to nine months.

Ives does not revenue from the healthcare industry were up 2% organically at $229.3 million, which is positive, although it was lower than the 3% organic growth rate in the prior-quarter period.

Ives cut his 2013 estimates to $1.98 billion and $1.81 from a prior $2.17 billion and $1.98. For 2014, he cut his estimate to $2.11 billion and $1.54 from $2.42 billion and $2.07."

"herb greenberg has been following the story and joins us with his take. it's like an understatement. i've been following this company for years. it's been one of those, you've said there's not something right. the company comes out this morning, east coast time saying we'll report, our conference call is 8:00 in the morning. that effectively was something, whoa, this is pushing this thing out. they had news that was not that good. the ceo came out and said this was a disappointment. what they did not just results below expectations. gross margins collapse, organic growth, they have a chart, just really going the wrong direction, actually down 5%. here's what's interesting. the company blamed poor sales execution. they also said weaker than expected contributions from acquisitions, which is a roll-up. this is a company tha constantly grew through acquisition. then there was something else that was very important. they talked about the smartphone market. remember, they provide voice recognition software used in many smartphones, not the iphone, not the -- you know, but they came out and talked about royalty delays, which suggested a dispute there somewhere. they talked about -- they talked about consultation in the industry, and they talked about pricing pressure. if you go into the earnings hall, you see this great discussion, very candid, talking about the pricing pressure, and then he says they're getting competition, because companies are going after regional providers of equipment. this is very important. he says these regional providers are pitting them up against this great company that's supposed to have such great i.p. negative outlook, negative call, you don't like it, icahn, carl icahn, has a 9% passive stake in nuance. now, what happens if the bull case at this point is that the bear case is so bad that icahn takes his passive to an active, he does something, the strategic alternativ are addressed in one way, maybe theative news, you can spin it positivel

The provocative titles bring eyeballs , the content turns stomachs.

"Nuance Chief Executive Officer Paul Ricci has built up the Burlington, Massachusetts-based company through acquisitions, expanding into areas such as medical transcription and software for managing corporate printing costs. From 2006 to 2012, Nuance spent more than $2.5 billion on takeovers, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. In the process, the company’s total debt more than doubled from less than $900 million as recently as 2011.
‘More Vocal’

“There’s been so much M&A, and it hasn’t resulted in meaningful organic growth,” Makris said. “I can see Icahn just being more vocal” about slowing the pace of takeovers. "

I've been making this point about revenue growth for two years.....

Icahn isn't going to force a sale UNLESS he can get WP support, they hold the cards.

Huge news!
No longer just us retail guys whining to each other about Ricci's gluttony.
Say what you want about Icahn, he can hold Ricci's feet to the fire.

Kander said the bill makes what could be described as a poll tax for those seeking to vote. While there is a provision in the legislation for the state to fund the ID cards for those seeking them in order to vote, he said voters would still need to pay for supporting documentation, like a birth certificate, to obtain the IDs.

In 2006, the Missouri Supreme Court overturned a previous law that limited the kinds of ID cards used on the basis that it required people to pay for the cards. At the time, the court noted the potential for having to pay for support documentation, which Kander referenced.

“There are states with photo ID requirements that don’t disenfranchise eligible voters," Kander said.

If the bill became law, Kander said he would enforce it since it is his job, but would also work to educate Missouri residents about the impact. He plans to make sure the Legislature funds the cost of ID cards for those who need them.

At the same time, Kander said that his focus has been on trying to increase early voting and suggested that lawmakers follow his lead.

“That is the sort of thing we should focus on," Kander said. "That is something Missourians want. That can decrease lines on Election Day.”

Missouri just commented on their law:
3-29-13

"Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander (D) released a report Thursday indicating problems with the strict voter identification requirements contained in a bill pending before the Legislature.

There have been no reported cases of voter impersonation fraud since the state's current voter ID requirements were put into place in 2002, according to Kander's report. Legislation to limit the types of IDs that can be used to vote in Missouri is currently pending in the state Senate after passing the state House. Kander's full report can be read here.

“As the chief elections officer for Missouri, a major part of my job is making sure that voters are informed about the laws and the laws being proposed," Kander told The Huffington Post on Friday. "It is important for eligible Missourians to know the impact of this legislation on their ability to cast a ballot. The legislation being proposed would make it more difficult for eligible voters who have voted for years.”

Under the terms of the legislation, voters would have to show either a valid Missouri driver's license or state-issued identification card, a passport, military ID card, or an unexpired state or federal photo ID card. The legislation would end the use of other forms of ID, including student ID cards, utility statements and expired Missouri driver's licenses.

If passed, it would put Missouri on par with Indiana for having the strictest voter ID laws in the country.

Similar legislation passed the Republican-controlled state Legislature last year, but was vetoed by Gov. Jay Nixon (D). Republicans have expanded their legislative majorities and could override a Nixon veto this year.
`

Voter ID laws are unnecessary, discriminatory, disruptive and expensive;

"The suppressive effects of these bills are well-documented: 11 percent of Americans—approximately 23 million citizens of voting age—lack proper photo ID and, as a result, could be turned away from the polls on Election Day. Those without photo ID are disproportionately low-income, disabled, minority, young, and older voters. Numerous non-partisan organizations have debunked claims of widespread voter fraud, the purported basis for these laws.

The Voting Rights Institute has studied the impact of photo ID laws using the actual costs incurred in Indiana and Georgia—the two states that have implemented photo ID laws—and considered the cost estimates from 17 states where photo ID laws were introduced this year.

In 2011, Republicans have advanced photo ID legislation in at least 35 states. The report concluded that if these 35 states enact a photo ID law, they collectively will spend at least $276 million, and possibly as much as $828 million, in the first four years alone. At a time when states are experiencing huge budget shortfalls, it would be an enormous waste to spend hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to disenfranchise voters."

"Rounding out the top three is Steven Chambers of Nuance Communications. As president of worldwide sales and marketing at the Burlington, Mass.-based computer software tech firm, Chambers made $7,581,172 last year in stocks, bonuses and all other compensation.

Chambers has held several executive roles since joining the company in 2003. According to the Nuance website, Chambers has repeatedly been voted as one of the “Top Influencers in the Speech Industry” and is a well-known industry spokesperson and presenter. Previously, he held CMO roles at SpeechWorks, Arbortext, and start-up VDOnet; and was senior VP and CMO for PictureTel Corp."

This board focuses too much on the "sizzle" like low revenue AAPL news
and ignores what may be the "steak" like today's Cerner news.

The stock remains " fixable" IMHO, gonna take one or two large earnings beats
That of course is restrained by Ricci funneling off so much of the profits to his personal accounts.
Ricci still has some credibility as the "roll up artist", he created this virtual monopoly but he needs to show he can make it pay for shareholders too.