Systemax, Inc. (SYX)

Showed up on a screen for solid 5 year growth with low debt, cash on hand and still at attractive P/E ratios.

The current 1-star rating makes me very nervous on this one, but I'm going to go ahead and take the contrarian stance here.

The company excels at online direct sales. Tigerdirect has always done well with this and now they've really expanded their venue with CompUsa and Circuit City. Add in the fact that their brick and mortar CompUSA stores are doing well, and this company really has tremendous potential to be a major player both online and with B&M retail. It's going to take a couple earnings reports before investors become confident in SYX, so this is a long term pick. $13, however, is a great entry point.

I like this company for as a risk play in the tech sector. TigerDirect, CompUSA, and now CircuitCity.com are all owned by Systemax. They've done well on earnings even through the recession and are trading at about a 30% discount from their average P/E. Throw in the fact that they have a 1.81x Current ratio and no debt, this buy will probably pay off.

I was a SYX shareholder, but in my last portfolio review I sold my shares.

My original buy thesis was based on their substantial cash holdings, the TigerDirect web & catalog sales model which allowed them to manage inventories without a lot of merchandise sitting on store shelves, a moat for the reputation of the place to go for DIY who were comfortable building a computer system from their wide selection of parts, a nice pile of cash, and an attractive price compared to its P/E ratio and growth.

(You’ll notice I didn’t mention their Industrial Supplies catalog business or their Systemax line of computers. The financials on these looked all right to me, but were never that compelling.)

In the year after I bought the stock, the stock price rose appreciably, but the attributes of the company changed. With the adoption of the orphaned CompUSA and Circuit City brands, the company diluted its corporate identity and will have the greater challenges of keeping physical store-shelves stocked at re-opened CompUSA stores. The cash moat shrunk due to financing all of the reopened stores. And finally, due to their pricing and the number of competitors, my tech geek friends simply were not buying from TigerDirect in the quantity they used to.

The only positive thing that has occurred in the past year is that they finally moved to close down their long-struggling software-as-a-service division.

They may eventually succeed in the bricks-and-mortar world, but it wasn’t what made them attractive. I sold several weeks ago at a nice profit. As of today they are back down to near the price I originally bought the stock, but they no longer make a compelling buy to me.

This is a good company. Books still in good shape. The credit crunch is causing people to pay their bills instead of buying mail order computers. This company will come back ... just not right now... I have to give it a thumbs down for now and a thumbs at the end of the year.

Recovering IBD name high short interest

The company has no debt. They have declared a special one dollar per share dividend for two years in a row to try and stymie the hedge fund, boiler room and naked short attack that is taking place, possibly with the collusion of the financial press (funny correlation between short interest and the timing of news. All their operations are profitable and growing and they have strung together back to back Quarterly sales growth for more than a year, which the press seems to pay no attention to. Their last Q set a company record for sales, profits and earnings growth with no extraordinary items. PPS has been beaten down on year old news of an investigation of their rebate policy -- basically bogus and representing just a miniscule percentage of sales. They are benefiting from on line sales growth (Tiger Direct is one of the largest on line retailers of computers, etc. in an industry expected to grow 20% in 2008.). 40+ % of a very low float is short and will have to cover at some point.

Strong growth internet and catalog tech sales company emerging from a black cloud of rebate investigation. Extremely low P/E and good EPS growth. Better margins then competitors and expanging into brock and mortar with compusa purchase.

no bad rebate policy, no secrets in the closet, just shorters seeking to ruin a great companies success..

dell has had its day, not its our turn

This stock was beaten down when they postponed 2007 earnings release. When it was released it blew away all expectations. CompUSA outlets give them added retail locations to drive revenue.

Strategic Short Report &

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2008/01/29/mondays-worst-stocks-in-the-world.aspx

This Company is Trouble!

Did someone say TigerDirect? Under Heavy Scrutiny by the Feds for Bad rebate Policy, conflicts of interest, among other things which I dare not explain in a public forum.

Short this stock Now!

http://www.fool.com/investing/small-cap/2008/01/16/stocks-on-bubble-watch.aspx

Book Value Per Share (mrq): 8.008
vectval 31,9 relatively consistent
PEF 40,5

my target 30-35

Once you accomplish a certain brand name recognition, treat your customers fairly and respectfully, and maintain a positive internet presence, given that we have no huge natural or man-made catastrophy, I see this company doing well, and tiger does not hurt....

increased sales, divy, profits, 0.3 p/s, CDW buyout rumors
seems fairly cheap here

re-upping on this smoke and mirrors rebate play.

I heard they play games with the rebates..

great growth and earnings

stiff competition