Time for a reality check!
I won't make friends here tonight boys. It's time for some of us to man up!
Little retrospective:
In 2019 I bought snc just after the company announced a 1.9bn write down because of their lstk projects. The stock was at 14 years low. At that time, exactly like 2 years ago, last year and today, many analysts were saying the beaton-down stock was so undervalued it was a bargain.
A couple of months before I bought the stock, well respected and admired Michel Nadeau (who practically made CDPQ what it is today), said in an interview, at $33 a share, the stock could only go up from here. So a $60 stock at $24.09, I was getting the deal of the century! The stock finally went down to $15.50 and many thought the company would go bankrupt.
I bought even if I knew the company was loosing big in lstk projects and was stuck with these projects till 2024. If that wasen't enough, snc had pending criminal charges and was in the middle of one of the worst political scandals in our country's recent history. Many thought (and still think), snc is the most hated company in Canada.
We know the rest, already in the midst of major re-organization and loosing big in lstk/oil-gas projects, came the pandemic. One more headwind in the middle of a storm that this company has been in since 2018.
Now you can blame bad luck, the MM, the shorts, Edwards or even mother Theresa (saint). The reality is that like many other value stocks (bargains), examples: GE, IBM, AT&T, BA, INTEL etc. Buying into a company that is in turmoil/major re-structuring/re-organizing/re-orienting is always risky. It sometimes takes many years and the result is uncertain. If you bought into this stock in the last 3 years, like me you knew what you getting into. It's painful (and will get worse), but hey, nobody else to blame but yourself. Quand c'est trop beau pour etre vraie (french)..........
As for myself, so disappointed with the results of q4 earnings, I completely sold my position that day at opening. Let's not forget that one full year into Covid (last year), the company took a $90M provision for the full completion of the remaing lstk projects. Now, the market dosen't believe the company when it says that the remaing lstk's should not exceed $300M. Hence, today's ps.
Last week, unable to admit to myself that I had lost 3 years with this stock, and the fact that is was such a bargain (around $26 ish) I bought back (not completely). Yep, sometimes greed is more powerful than reason....I'am only talking for myself of course..................