Fortran Corp. (FRTN) research, news, and more from GeoInvesting

Company description

Mon, 30 Jul 2018 13:40:38 GMT

Fortran Corporation is a telecommunications system integrator dedicated to designing, sourcing, implementing and maintaining complex communications solutions. Fortran is converting the historical and traditional telecom business model to a Telecom-As-A-Service ("TaaS") and is comprised of engineering and design, network service, technical certifications, regional sales teams, remote monitoring, on-site service, dedicated sales and engineering.

Research

Tue, 16 May 2023 15:04:09 GMT

FORTRAN CORP (OOTC:FRTN) ($0.06; $1.4M market cap), a telecommunications system integrator dedicated to designing, sourcing, implementing and maintaining complex, announced Q1 2023 results:

Sales of $785,000 vs $384,000 in the prior year
Gross profit of $456,000 vs $149,000 in the prior year
Non-GAAP break even vs loss of $0.01 in the prior year

Research

Tue, 28 Mar 2023 13:49:05 GMT

FORTRAN CORP (OOTC:FRTN) ($0.04; $0.9M market cap), a telecommunications system integrator dedicated to designing, sourcing, implementing and maintaining complex, announced Q4 2022 results:

Sales of $620,000 vs $240,000 in the prior year
Gross profit of $290,000 vs $68,000 in the prior year
Loss of $0.01 vs loss of $0.01
Full year sales of $2.3 million vs $1.2 million in the prior year
Gross profit of $1.0 million vs $0.78 million
Loss per share of $0.03 vs loss per share of $0.03

Results were via its annual report only, with limited to no management commentary. While it’s good to see that the company is growing revenues, management missed its target of reaching profitability.

Research

Thu, 10 Nov 2022 16:40:31 GMT

FORTRAN CORP (OOTC:FRTN) ($0.15; $3.3M market cap), a telecommunications system integrator dedicated to designing, sourcing, implementing and maintaining complex, announced Q3 2022 results:

Sales of $680,000 vs $337,000 in the prior year
Gross profit of $290,000 vs $90,000 in the prior year
Loss of $0.01 vs EPS of $0.00

Results were via its 10-Q only, with limited to no management commentary

Research

Mon, 15 Aug 2022 04:00:00 GMT

Steady improvement in Q2, results only via 10-Q

FORTRAN CORP (OOTC:FRTN) ($0.24; $5.1M marekt cap) a telecommunications system integrator dedicated to designing, sourcing, implementing and maintaining complex announced Q2 2022 results:

Sales of $588,000 vs $379,000 in the prior year
Gross profit of $300,000 vs $135,000 in the prior year
EPS of $0.00 vs loss of $0.02

Results via 10-Q only, no press release. No management comments in Q.

You can see our recent article on the company here, where we explore the business’ operations in detail.

Research

Tue, 09 Aug 2022 04:00:00 GMT

FORTRAN CORP (OOTC:FRTN) ($0.22, $4.6M market cap) - MS Microcaps along with research collaborators Robert Mulcahy, Matthew Kerr and GeoInvesting co-founder Maj Soueidan have taken a deep dive into this FRTN’s story.

Fortran is a telecommunications system integrator dedicated to designing, sourcing, implementing and maintaining complex telecommunications solutions in North and South Carolina.

FRTN is in the process of aggressively converting their historical and traditional telecom integration business model to a cloud and Telecom-As-A-Service ("TaaS") model, involving design, network service, technical certifications, remote monitoring, on-site service, along with dedicated sales and engineering.

We are now adding the stock to our Run To One Model Portfolio. The stock has actually been a Select Long Model Portfolio holding since July 30, 2018 at $0.49

Please see the full in depth article here.

Research

Thu, 12 May 2022 17:41:34 GMT

FORTRAN CORP (OOTC:FRTN) ($0.11, $2.3M market cap) a telecommunications system integrator dedicated to designing, sourcing, implementing and maintaining complex telelconusions solutions in North and South Carolina, announced Q1 2022 results:

Sales of $384,000 vs $254,000 in the prior year

Loss per share of $0.01 vs $0.00 in the prior year
Results were via a 10-Q only, no press release yet. So we will wait to review comments from management as they stated they are positioned for profitable growth for 2022 in the year end press release for 2021.

Research

Tue, 03 May 2022 14:29:52 GMT

FORTRAN CORP (OOTC:FRTN) ($0.078, $1.6M market cap) a telecommunications system integrator dedicated to designing, sourcing, implementing and maintaining complex telelconusions solutions in North and South Carolina, announced full year 2021 audited results:

Sales $1.24 million vs $1.28 million in the prior year

Loss per share of $0.03 vs loss of $0.05

“We believe our financial results for 2021 were a significant improvement compared to the previous 12 months of 2020. We believe Fortran is now positioned to become a profitable company based on our two most recent acquisitions in 2022 of Comconexx, LLC, and M & B Communication, LLC,” stated Fortran President Glenn Withers.

Moving forward, we expect 2022 to be a successful year and I look forward to accomplishing numerous milestones for our shareholders,”

This is great news to hear about this long-standing Run to One Model Portfolio holding that has had a volatile ride. Obviously, this could now be a very timely Model Portfolio selection. We are definitely going to aggressively contact management to try to secure an interview.

With the price of sales of 1.3x, we could see a significant expansion in that multiple (2x to 4x range) if the company does indeed start to become profitable.

Research

Mon, 07 Mar 2022 11:33:44 GMT

FORTRAN CORP (OOTC:FRTN) a telecommunications system integrator dedicated to designing, sourcing, implementing and maintaining complex telelconusions solutions in North and South Carolina announced it has completed the acquisition of 100% ownership interest in Comconexx.

“Comconexx will continue to operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Fortran Corporation, providing innovative technology solutions in Fort Myers, Florida and the surrounding areas. Comconexx joins Fortran Communication, B and L Telephone, and M and B Communication, Fortran’s other wholly owned subsidiaries located in North and South Carolina. Glenn Withers, President of Fortran Corporation, stated; “We are excited to have Comconexx join our family of innovative companies. We are looking forward to Comconexx’s contribution to our growth and performance.”

We need to conduct a follow up interview with management to determine the financial impact this could have for the company.

Research

Mon, 15 Nov 2021 11:50:15 GMT

FORTRAN CORP (OOTC:FRTN) a telecommunications system integrator dedicated to designing, sourcing, implementing and maintaining complex telelconusions solutions in North and South Carolina.

Reported Q3 2021 results:

Sales of $340,000 vs $363,000 in the prior year
Break even vs loss of $0.01

The company has only filed the 10-Q with limited to no comments from management.

Research

Mon, 16 Aug 2021 14:32:42 GMT

FORTRAN CORP (OOTC:FRTN) a telecommunications system integrator dedicated to designing, sourcing, implementing and maintaining complex telelconusions solutions in North and South Carolina.

Reported Q2 2021 results:
- Sales of $409,000 vs $213,000 in the prior year
- Loss of $0.02 vs loss of $0.01

The company has only filed the 10-Q with limited to no comments from management. They have been providing shareholder updates from time to time via press release, so we are keeping our eye out for that to see if management offers any color on its outlook.

On July 30, 2018 we disclosed a small speculative position and offered a few brief reasons for tracking, which can be seen here.

Research

Fri, 21 May 2021 12:48:15 GMT

FORTRAN CORP (OOTC:FRTN) ($0.14; $2.7M market cap), a telecommunications system integrator dedicated to designing, sourcing, implementing and maintaining complex telelconusions solutions in North and South Carolina.

On April 27, 2021 the company issued a shareholder update where management addressed the challenging Covid-19 environment, but that the Company is beginning to see strong growth.

“Fortran is committed to enhancing shareholder value and audited financial reports are a major component of increasing that value,” stated Fortran President and CEO Glenn Withers.

“In a Covid-19 environment that remains challenging, we believe Fortran’s outlook for 2021 is very promising as our subsidiaries (Fortran Communications and B&L Telephone) are beginning to see strong

growth,” added Mr. Withers

"Each of our subsidiary companies is in the process of converting their historical and traditional telecom business models to a TaaS model. The TaaS model that our subsidiary companies offer is comprised of design, network service, technical certifications, remote monitoring, and on-site service, with dedicated sales and engineering."

"With our subsidiaries’ ability to offer these modern telecommunication technologies, we believe that companies and organizations requiring up-grades, expansion, or replacement of existing equipment will be able to realize significant savings compared to aging copper or wired digital infrastructures."

"Companies can now integrate their voice platform with data network technology to improve collaboration and usability. Our subsidiary companies offer one-stop service and products to provide organizations with the very best in both value and quality for communications and data network services."

While results for Q4 2020 and Q1 2021 were down year over year, we will see if momentum can begin to accelerate as the company moves through Q2 2021 and beyond. On July 30, 2018 we disclosed a small speculative position when shares were trading at $0.49 and offered a few brief reasons for tracking, which can be seen here. The stock had a run to highs of $1.03 in July 2020, but has since retraced to a trading range of just $0.10 to $0.15 and currently has an EV/S of 2.34. We are definitely interested in getting diving more aggressively into the story.

Research

Thu, 23 Jul 2020 13:17:50 GMT

FORTRAN CORP (OOTC:FRTN) ($0.90; $15.5M market cap), a company that provides communication solutions designing, sourcing, implementation, and maintenance services, announced it has received a purchase order from the Caldwell County School District for 11 Hikvision thermal imaging temperature sensor cameras.

In addition, B and L Telephone received a contract for the sale and installation of a Hikvision thermal imaging temperature sensing camera for a local research facility in Hickory, North Carolina. This device will allow the research facility to monitor the temperature of the 100 employees who enter their facility each day.

In May 2020, we highlighted FRTN’s announcement of its new thermal graphic temperature reading product.

On July 30, 2018, we disclosed a small speculative position when shares were trading at $0.49 and offered a few brief reasons for tracking, which can be seen here. We will be taking a closer look at this development and update you in our weekly recap email.

It’s our intention to:

Confirm if the company does not manufacture any of its thermal imaging temperature sensor cameras, since this appears to be the case with its other products where its subsidiary, B & L telephone, has a direct distribution contract with Nippon Electric Corporation.
Find out the average cost of the product and if there is a recurring revenue aspect to it. Our goal is to find out how big of an opportunity this could be if more schools and organizations adopt this solution.
Perform some research on other thermal temperature imaging products currently being sold in the market.

Shares have been strong over the last 3 trading days with the stock rising nearly 100% since the initiation of our position. It is also currently trading at a high price to sales ratio of around 9. However, we are curious to understand the revenue potential of this new product as well as how the market will react to the company being a COVID-19 play.

See our past coverage on FRTN here.

Research

Wed, 20 May 2020 04:00:00 GMT

FORTRAN CORP (OOTC:FRTN) ($0.69; $12.0M market cap), a company that provides communication solutions designing, sourcing, implementation, and maintenance services, announced a new product offering. The company announced:

“ it will begin offering the latest Hikvision thermal graphic temperature reading cameras through our operating subsidiaries B & L Telephone, LLC and Fortran Communications, Inc. These state-of-the-art thermal imaging cameras and software can measure the temperature of individuals as they enter companies, schools, and government facilities, which we believe will be an important tool as they look to safely and effectively reopen after mandatory closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

On July 30, 2018 we disclosed a small speculative position when shares were trading at $0.49 and offered a few brief reasons for tracking, which can be seen here. Since then, The company has been taking steps to maximize shareholder value, including improving its capital structure, exiting non-core businesses and winning a lawsuit against the previous founder. The march forward is being driven by a large shareholder of the company.

Research

Sun, 08 Mar 2020 05:00:00 GMT

Fortran Corporation (OOTC:FRTN) (Telecom Services) provided a shareholder update showing it has sold its 80% interest in Tower Performance and highlighted a new agreement with Nippon Electric to offer new and original biometric authentication technologies.

As far as we can tell, FRTN main business is now centered around offering unified communications services (UCaaS) through its relationship with Nippon.

On July 30, 2018 we disclosed a small speculative position when shares were trading at $0.49 and offered a few brief reasons for tracking, which can be seen here.

It might be time for us to request a follow up interview with management.

Research

Wed, 20 Mar 2019 15:08:38 GMT

FORTRAN CORP (OOTC:FRTN) ($1.02; $29.4M market cap), a company that provides communication solutions designing, sourcing, implementation, and maintenance services, provided a shareholder update on its past litigation.

“FRTN is pleased to announce that the legal action initiated against our former President and CEO has been resolved in an out of court settlement (the "Settlement"). As a result of the Settlement, 6,180,808 shares of Fortran Corporation's common stock and 1,350,000 shares of Fortran Corporation's preferred stock will be retired. This will reduce the number of issued and outstanding shares by approximately 20%.”

Glenn Withers, Fortran Corporation's current President and CEO, said, "The resolution of this legal issue will allow our team to focus our time on growing the business."

On July 30, 2018 we disclosed a small speculative position when shares were trading at $0.49 and offered a few brief reasons for tracking, which can be seen here.

We issued a follow up note on January 28, 2019, regarding the company’s restatement of financials after prior management appeared to mismanage reporting of the company’s interest in Tower Performance.

Research

Mon, 04 Mar 2019 16:14:06 GMT

FORTRAN CORP (OOTC:FRTN) ($1.04; $30.0M market cap), a company that provides communication solutions designing, sourcing, implementation, and maintenance services, has seen shares hit new 52 week highs and crossing the $1 mark for the first time in 3 years. On July 30, 2018 we disclosed a small speculative position when share were trading at $0.49 and offered a few brief reasons for tracking, which can be seen here.

See our January 28, 2019 note on the company’s restatement of financials after prior management appeared to mismanage reporting of the company’s interest in Tower Performance.

Financials

Wed, 20 Feb 2019 15:45:03 GMT

FORTRAN CORP (OOTC:FRTN) ($0.95; $27.4M market cap), a company that provides communication solutions designing, sourcing, implementation, and maintenance services announced Q2 2019 results:

Sales of $342,884 vs $268,555 in the prior year
Loss per share of $0.01 vs $0.00 in the prior year

See our January 28, 2019 note on the company’s restatement of financials after prior management appeared to mismanage reporting of the company’s interest in Tower Performance.

Research

Mon, 28 Jan 2019 15:33:29 GMT

FORTRAN CORP (OOTC:FRTN) ($0.92; $25.7M market cap), a company that provides communication solutions designing, sourcing, implementation, and maintenance services, has been hitting new highs. This morning, the company announced a shareholder update in which it disclosed orders from 3 Western North Carolina counties to upgrade and improve the technology in several school systems with the installation of NEC telecommunications equipment.

The Company also announced an agreement with long the standing CEO, Glenn Withers, to extend his current leadership role through 2020.

On July 30, 2018 we disclosed a small speculative position when share were trading at $0.49 and offered few brief reasons for tracking, which can be seen here.

We had an initial call with management but have been unable to secure a follow-up call as new developments have emerged, which include:

Successful attempt of a large shareholder (Glenn Withers), who is now Chairman and CEO, to remove prior management and win a legal battle to gain access to certain financial statements which appear to show that prior management was being deceptive.
Restatement of past financials on January 1, 2019 to eliminate the revenue and income of its majority interest in Tower Performance, Inc.

Some conversion of debt to equity by certain shareholders

The restatement of its past financials showed a large drop in revenue because of the change in accounting of how the Company recorded revenue from its interest in Tower Performance.

While the way the company reports its revenue has drastically changed, a few observations are worth noting:

Regardless of the accounting of the Company’s interest in Tower Performance, it does still own a majority interest;
The reaction of the stock price since the restatement appears to show that investors are still placing value on Tower Performance revenues;
We observed that at its new lower revenue rate, the company is actually reporting a better operating profit than it did with more revenues;
Shareholders who have financed the company throughout the years were willing to convert the debt owed to them to equity;
Stock was trading at around $0.70 when the restatement of financials were released, and have since gone on to hit a new high of $0.92.

We are eagerly waiting for the Company to become current with its financial statements so we can learn more about the new direction the new CEO is taking the Company. Without more information it is very difficult to value the stock. Hopefully we will be able to secure a follow-up interview which will shed some light on the current capital structure and future growth plans.

Research

Fri, 18 Jan 2019 17:24:57 GMT

FORTRAN CORP (OOTC:FRTN) ($0.76; $13.4M market cap) , a company that provides communication solutions designing, sourcing, implementation, and maintenance services, saw shares hit a new high of $0.82 despite reporting subpar Q1 results in early January.

On January 1, 2019 the company reported results for its September end quarters:

Sales of $334,594 vs $300,174
Loss of $0.01 vs EPS of $0.01

On July 30, 2018 we disclosed a small speculative position when share were trading at $0.49 and offered few brief reasons for tracking, which can be seen here.

We plan to take a deeper look into the quarter and recent business developments, specifically regarding significant shareholders taking control back of the Company from previous management.

Research

Mon, 30 Jul 2018 14:19:28 GMT

Initiated Small Speculative Position In FRTN as we continue our due diligence process.

FORTRAN CORP (OOTC:FRTN) ($0.49; $13.4M market cap), a company that provides communication solutions designing, sourcing, implementation, and maintenance services, recently entered our radar while internally tracking new highs. Shares have gone up from $0.05 to now near $0.50 since late May 2018. Here are a few reasons why we are digging a bit further into the stock:

It appears the stock has 27 million shares outstanding according to our Reuters platform and OTC.com. When we come across stocks trading under $1 that have low outstanding share counts, we like to dig a little further.
According to its last annual filing, the Company seems to have a revenue generating business that showed nice growth with sales of $2.5 million vs $2.1 million in the prior year. Furthermore, it looks as though FRTN reported break even EPS for the year vs a loss of $0.02 in the prior year.
The Company recently provided a shareholder update disclosing a change in its management team as well as the intent to become current with its filings with the OTC Market Group.
We noticed that the Company is transitioning its business to a recurring revenue model.