November 26, 2008
Trace Urdan turdan@signalhill.com
415.364.0365
Jeff Lee jlee@signalhill.com
415.364.0366
Our Call:
Our conference last Thursday featured a number of education companies as well as industry experts commenting on the overall environment.
Overall the tone among post-secondary providers was very positive, with demand solid and strengthening, leverage increasingly achievable, and student financing, while not quite positive, at least manageable.
The outlook for providers to the K-12 marketplace – with the notable exception of the virtual school companies – was far less sanguine.
Below we outline the themes that we felt emerged from the conference as well as highlights from some of the presenting companies:
Enrollment Trends – Enrollment continues to appear strong to the operators aided by lower media costs. While the degree of enthusiasm for the more-students-for-less-advertising-spend theme was more pronounced among the more vocational programs, Most management teams appeared quite confident regarding the outlook for student starts heading into next year.
Still an outlying exception seems to be automotive programs where admissions reps have to work hard with parents apprehensive about potential dealer layoffs to explain that non-dealer hiring remains strong. We note this task is somewhat easier for LINC and COCO than for UTI whose brand is staked to dealer relationships.
Student Lending – Conditions in the student lending market are deteriorating in real time as absent liquidity, lenders continue to raise their standards. Mark Kantrowitz of FinAid told us that he had heard of prospective students with credit scores as high as 740 being rejected for student loans. Among the distinctions being made by lenders he said, between various proprietary institutions, were graduation rates and Title IV cohort default rates where he suggested that 10% was a bright line with lenders much more willing to lend to schools below that level. He also indicated that if the current trend continues, private loan levels, which he estimated were flat to slightly higher in 2008, would be 25% lower in 2009.
His outlook on the legislative front was equally grim, suggesting that influential members of the
Obama transition team on education, including Robert Shireman, (a long-standing advocate for increased affordability,) were unsympathetic to proprietary institutions and had little sympathy for the challenges in the private loan market, preferring that students simply enroll in less expensive institutions. In response to questions about Secretary Paulson's stated desire to improve liquidity in the private loan market, he felt a more likely remedy was another increase in
Stafford loan limits.
Political Outlook -- Nancy Broff, of Dickstein Shapiro, agreed with Mark Kantrowitz's view that raising Stafford limits again was the simplest, least costly, and most likely legislative remedy to continued pressure in the student loan market. The only cost consideration, she suggested, and this was likely a small one, was the potential cannibalization from Plus loans (parent co-signed) which are nominally more profitable for the government.
Nancy's view of transition was somewhat more positive, insisting that the Obama team had expressed some support for the sector and that even Shireman did not seem intent on driving a hostile agenda. Whereas Mark Kantrowitz felt that direct lending would be emphasized by the new administration, Doug Lederman, of Inside Higher Ed, felt that once the logistical and cost issues were assessed issue (a minor one for proprietary schools) would likely fade.

November 26, 2008
Nancy indicated that in order for rules associated with the HEA legislation passed in September to be implemented, the work would have to begin before the inauguration. She indicated that the current administration was proceeding in that direction until directed to stop.
The earliest the new rules could be implemented would be July 2010. Of particular interest in the negotiated rule-making process was the new provision that accrediting agencies investigate schools with growth rates of more than 50% and how that 50% threshold would ultimately be defined.
Corporate Tuition Reimbursement – The companies that rely on this benefit as a source of funding, including
Strayer Education and Capella Education, each insisted that they have seen no signs of a pullback in the level of benefit. Our panel on this topic, which included representatives from Legg Mason, Black & Decker, and
Under Armour, echoed this view. The corporate tuition benefit is used as a recruiting tool and, to a lesser degree, as a personnel development tool. Its position among corporate benefits is quite secure. The head of human resources for Black & Decker, who has laid of employees and whose consumer business is hurting suggested that it would represent a tremendous blow to morale to reduce the benefit and would absolutely be regarded as a measure of the very last resort. All three companies confirmed that the benefit was treated separate from regular corporate training expenses, which are less secure.
Two of the three companies offered benefits well in excess of the government's $5,500 annual taxable limit.
Most suggested that most companies attended traditional institutions including the University of Maryland, whose athletic department has close ties to Under Armour as well as Loyola University, from which many senior Black & Decker managers has graduated. However Strayer University was a Top 5 schools at Legg
Mason and the HR manager from Legg Mason cited two direct reports that were currently taking classes at the
University of Phoenix Online. None of the companies restricted the benefit based on the type of institution or whether the classes were online. However, only Under Armour seemed to be an advocate for that particular method of instruction.
All three institutions acknowledged that upon termination, the companies would continue to reimburse for courses in which the employee was currently enrolled, but that the benefit would cease at that point. While
Black & Decker and Legg Mason suggested that historically it may have been accurate to suggest that enrolled students were the company's future leaders and unlikely to be terminated, in the current climate, cuts were extending well beyond the ranks of poor performers.
We left the panel with the strong impression that participation in corporate reimbursement programs represented an opportunity more than a challenge for proprietary schools – even in the current economic climate.
International – The topic of international expansion seems to have faded from its previously more prominent role in nearly all of the company presentations. We suspect this is primarily due to the heightened scrutiny around liquidity and capital deployment.
Our international panel included Michael Connelly, CEO of Mosaica Education, a K-12 school operator, Kosmo
Kalliarekos of Baring Asia, and Brooke Coburn of The Carlyle Group and also a board member of Apollo
Global. All three cited the enormous demographic forces that support continued growth for private capital in international education. But each also emphasized the need for careful accommodation of regulatory forces and an appreciation for the niches that were more likely to resonate with consumers. Specific U.S. brands were seen as less important than, perhaps, the broader brand of the U.S. In the K-12 arena, the prospect of helping student gain acceptance into the U.S. Post-secondary system was regarded as a selling point. Access to strong local management was viewed as the biggest obstacle to expansion and growth.

November 26, 2008
Companies:
Company: Blackboard (NASDAQ: BBBB; Buy)
Presenters: Mike Beach, CFO; Michael Stanton, SVP, Treasurer, IR
The core presentation stressed the stability and visibility of the model, including a global client base with leading universities all over the world. It described K-12 as a new market, representing 15% of its business in which it serves over 2000 schools and school districts.
Product overview:
• Bb Learn -- Paid up front, revenue recognized rev ratably. Management stressed importance of the
Outcomes module. 3,000 clients (580 hosted) and 15 million active users with 150 million http hits/day.
• Bb Transact – Enterprise commerce management and security s/w and h/w platform. Permission-based access to buildings on campus and electronic payments. 3.2 million card holders across 440 clients.
• Bb Connect -- Priced on a per user ($2-$4) subscription fee. Web based notification and alert platform with multi-modal technology. Send messages to thousands of users at once. 2,000 clients in K-12, serves 1 out of
6 students enrolled in US K-12 public schools.
Business Model -- Subscription model, 92% annual renewal rates. 70% of revenue from existing base renewing, 20% from new sales (from existing base or new customers) 10% from services, with ~80% visibly into the forward quarter.
Breakout Session:
• Macro-economic concerns – the quarter looked more back end loaded than normal. Adjustment made to Q4 was 1% of revs, so small as a percentage. Company is cautious on K-12 because of talk of budget reductions. If there is a disruption, Bb sees it as a short term issue rather than having any long term impact on the business. In the current K12 sales environment, it's pretty tough to get new sales. The mandate is coming down to schools to stop spending on new products. Slightly more concerned about sales of the learning products rather than Connect in the near term, but still concerned about both in the short term.
Approximately, 60% of K12 revenue comes from Connect.
• Higher education is feeling less pressure than K-12. Bb believes that the first things that get cut on the tech side are hardware, such as Oracle deployments, so they think they are one of the last things that will get cut.
From a retention standpoint of current customers – Bb thinks that retention will remain strong despite the slowing economy because switching costs are so high.
• International has not heard a whole lot about the economy affecting them so far. Serve 70 countries and 1000 clients in them.
• Not seeing any pushback on price increases so far.
• Bb intends to deliver margin expansion in 2009 and "will have the appropriate expense level for the level of revenue."

November 26, 2008
Company: Capella Education (NASDAQ: CPLA - Buy)
Presenters: Stephen Shank, Chairman & CEO; Lois Martin, Senior VP & CFO
Emphasis of presentation was on size of opportunity still in front of the company. Overall post secondary market is $12 billion market with a growing awareness of online education. Focus on high-demand professions requiring graduate degrees. 84% of enrollments in graduate degree programs. Main focus areas are business management and technology, health and human services and education. 25% of BA students go on to MA,
20% get another degree at CPLA.
The company believes it offers a superior learner experience and cites its attention to learner outcomes and its strong score on surveys of student attitudes. The company has a focus on higher conversion and persistence.
During Q3, saw strong lead and app flow, new enrollments and persistence.
The company offers 110 specializations across its course offerings. YTD it has introduced 13 new offerings, including 3 new degree programs.
Model offers high degree of visibility, students have a long average tenure as they are working adults, with
$50K+ in HHI and focused on graduate degrees. Cash generation is high due to up-front tuition payments as well as modest cap ex requirements (no bricks and mortar). Operating income margin is now at 13.2% even with ERP and new product development costs and the company expects that margin to continue to expand.
Management believes the ERP system will help top line growth and efficiency.
Growth is funded from cash flow. $113 million in cash and no debt. 74% of revs comes from Title IV. Cap ex investment will be down significantly post-ERP implementation which should drive higher FCF.
Q&A: 18% of students are exposed to Fortune 1000 corporate reimbursement programs. Not seeing any pullback or hearing any intention of pullbacks from those programs. No impact from mass layoffs. Wachovia /
WFC integration has not impacted CPLA's business. 65% of enrollments are in the field of health & human services and those are areas that will be less vulnerable to layoffs in new administration.
Breakout Session
• ERP implementation delays in the past hurt previous enrollment trajectory, particularly among prospective social workers who prefer a more human touch. Following the ERP implementation, persistence rates have improved and brand image has not been adversely affected. Enrollment counselor productivity was hurt in
July as counselors got used to the new system.
• Some students had to repackage their loans more than once as lenders shifted -- NOT a lack of available funds, but hurt the time efficiency. Instructional expenses were slightly higher last quarter due to the repackaging of thousands of students. The company is enrolled in the government's direct lending program.
Capella sees no need and has no plans to lend from its own balance sheet.
• Persistence levels are key ---- key driver for operating margin expansion leading to EPS growth.
• Lead costs are flat for the year so far. More recently, advertising pricing has improved and management thinks it will be more favorable in 2009.
• Company doesn't do teacher certification currently, but will look at it as a future offering. It's more difficult, because there are individual state rules. Initial entrance could be from a state in which brand awareness and enrollments are already strong.

November 26, 2008
Company: Career Education (NASDAQ: CECO; Hold)
Presenters: Gary McCollough, CEO, Mike Graham, CFO
The company pointed investors to the idea that it is preparing to transition from "turnaround" to "growth" mode.
With 2007-2008 focused on "strengthening the acquired base," including "operational inefficiencies," 2009 will be focused on accelerating growth. Management pointed to the company's strong balance sheet, $150+ million in FCF and $500 million in cash.
Characterized AIU as a very strong institution now and notes that CTU is doing very well in the military though is not the company's exclusive "military brand." Believe they have a strong on-line platform, with more student-centric features such as mobile utilities and more than 30,000 students. A study they commissioned recently ranked AIU more strongly than many other programs. The online program has broad geographic coverage, including most major cities and ~60 countries. The company intends to open 4-6 ground-based schools per year to augment the online presence. The company would consider acquisitions in order to expand its online footprint and even to add physical campus locations.
The company is standing by the 2010 outlook it offered at its investment day in the spring with revenue in the
$1.9 – 2.0 billion range, margins in the low-to-mid teens and operating income of $225-$275 million and cash flow of $200+ million.
Breakout Session
• Asked about the difference between their experience and that of Art Institutes (Education Management Corp.) in the areas of culinary and art & design, management stated that Art Institutes had more scale in its art and design business with better cost leverage. Art & Design segment has a lot of variability. Want to focus going forward on the programs that have the most focus on outcomes. So far haven't seen an impact on demand from a slowing economy.
• Company is hoping to see improvement in vocational programs from weak economy. Management thinks corporate reimbursement will slow but this only affects AIU and CTU, but military business softens this impact. We note this statement contrasts with assertions made by other companies.
• Continue to expect AIU starts to have more variability. Feel better the way things are going at CTU. Feel that weakness at AIU is the lingering effect of probation, so couldn't offer new programs. Have been slow to get new programs approved and this will be exacerbated by shifting accreditation from SAC to NCA.
• Still in the "early innings" of the turn-around at culinary. Team is focused on taking out the necessary costs.
Took out some excess real estate capacity last quarter and will retire more capacity in future quarters.
• Internationally, there are one or two additional cities that the company would like to expand to. Have teams that continue to look at acquisition opportunities all over the world. Over time, would like to see more international business. Near term focus, however, is on the domestic business. Management credits quality of
Marangoni program to international strength. INSEEC also seeing strength. Company seeking more accreditation for INSEEC for expansion. Have added real estate at INSEEC.

November 26, 2008
Company: Corinthian Colleges (NASDAQ: COCO; Buy)
Presenters: Jack Massimino, CEO; Ken Ord, CFO
Overall management was very upbeat about the current momentum in Everest (allied health). While it acknowledges some continued softness at WyoTech, and seems very comfortable with continued operating margin expansion as well as its exposure to student lending. The company sees itself in a growth industry with added acceleration from counter-cyclicality. They feel well-positioned in their verticals, particularly health care with short term programs of 8-9 months leading directly into the job market.
Management was positive on start growth trends pointing to 8% - 10% growth next quarter. Media costs/start are coming down. TV spots are 15% - 50% below what it cost just a few mos ago. TV leads convert at a higher rate and inet leads are still cheap and effective. On line growth should accelerate from current 19% now that they have finished with consolidation of admission rep locations.
Breakout Session
• Advertising rates continue to fall even from last quarter. Would rather take the savings from lower advertising rates than buying more ads. More advertising requires increased staffing and the incremental admissions people are less productive. Gave anecdote about a program in Florida where the company got 900 starts when staffed to handle 300 for purposes of financial aid packaging and student services and it turned out badly.
• WyoTech has weakened over the last month and a half. News of Big Three financial trouble and less car advertising has diminished demand. Parents are less eager to sign up for WyoTech program. At WyoTech
80% students getting non-dealer jobs (Big O. Mom & Pop, Sears, etc), only 20% wind up in dealerships. They have changed their marketing strategy to adjust for that. ie, they are attracting kids with idea of going into lower tier service jobs (not dealerships or high-end).
• Company has a strong cash position with access to capital from good qualified banks.
• Cap ex will run around $50 million per annum for next couple of years.
• Associate and bachelor degree graduation rate is about 40%. Diploma graduation rates are 60-80%.

November 26, 2008
Company: DeVry Inc. (NYSE: DV; Buy)
Presenters: Daniel Hamburger, President & CEO
DeVry management characterized theirs as a very attractive industry with growth in good and bad economies.
The company feels it has strong, diversified brands and that the team is executing very well within a "high integrity" culture. Quality offerings lead to student success and continued growth.
92.1% of DeVry students are employed in their field of practice w/in 6 months and earning an average starting salary of $44,000.
Feeling pressure at Becker CPA Review and Stalla CFA Review with financial crisis.
The company is still working to improve student retention and capacity utilization (still "plenty" of excess capacity) and increase investments in marketing and recruiting. It seeks to continue its diversification into other high-growth programs in health care, medical assisting, radiology, nursing, applied arts and education.
Looking for international expansion most likely into Europe (first), Latin America, and eventually into Asia.
Breakout Session
• Asked about the sustainability of the growth at the healthcare division, company responded that marginal value of new students still far outstrips marginal costs to acquire. Higher marketing costs would continue to result in positive ROI.
• At the recently acquired Western and Apollo colleges, there are some capacity constraints.
• Advanced Academics is slightly ahead of their internal plans. Company is picking up new school district partners. Overall competitive dynamic for the market is very competitive, thus don't want to break out any numbers. Have a vision for a dual program where people can get a high school degree and college degree simultaneously.
• There have been no changes that impact the company's ability to bring in students. There are changes with lenders all the time, but overall nothing that impacts the company in a meaningful way.
• Company currently has the balance sheet and operational capability to do another deal if it wanted to. Have an acquisition group that is doing due diligence on deals. International would be most likely. Most likely would do something small and reasonable that could be a platform for the company to grow. Management recognizes that international is riskier and thus would want a higher return.
• Have looked at some follow-on nursing acquisitions for Chamberlain, but so far buy-versus-build analysis has favored a build strategy. That said, approval for additional nursing locations is a very long and bureaucratic process and they are waiting patiently.
• Believe that online mix will track what Eduventures research says: about 25% want pure online, about 25% want pure on ground, and the rest would be an online/ground hybrid. Management sees hybrid as an opportunity that it has only nominally tapped and believes it has a unique advantage with its national brand and ground locations.

November 26, 2008
Company: ITT Educational Services (NYSE: ESI; Buy)
Presenters: Kevin Modany –Chairman, President & CEO
Like others the company sees a very favorable environment for post-secondary school market. It is experiencing some counter-cyclical tailwind, but the real basis for their business is demand for a skilled workforce. The company sees long term unit volume growth in line with historic average of 8%.
Disruption in the financial markets is not impacting demand for their programs or students' ability to access funds to go to school. The funding gap is on target to represent approximately 12%-13% of revenue.
Management reiterated that as it has more experience, it will release more information about its lending. Loans remain non interest-bearing until early 2009. The barrier to charging interest has been the requirement for a relationship with an entity with a federal charter as well as loan servicing. Interest rates for the loans will be prime-to-prime+10, which will replicate the program in place in 2007.
The company sees ample opportunity to expand its campus footprint. Online continues to be a growth driver.
The company reiterated is previously announced targets of $150 million in FCF and $4.90 - $5.00 in EPS for
2008.
Breakout Session
• Advertising environment is still cheap. Don't expect any major changes any time in the future. TV costs are very favorable. Internet advertising costs are starting to loosen a bit also, but not as much as TV.
• At any one point the company has 5-6 campuses that need facility expansions. Learning sites aren't done for capacity, but for geographic/commuting reasons. The margins on the Learning Sites are much higher because don't need to do additional advertising and don't need separate administration.
• Not in a rush to sell the internal student loan portfolio. Prices are too low right now. Want to eventually sell it, but not at fire sale prices. There was zero interest from prospective buyers about six months ago, now the company is at least getting some interest. Company has historical data regarding the repayment rates, but prospective buyers discount that information and thus that is what is causing the difference in the price spreads.
• The private funding gap for 2008 as a whole will probably be 17-18% because of the lower Stafford loan limits, but for 2009, should be 12-13%. The company's current lenders have indicated that they do not plan on changing the student lending criteria that they are using now.
• Margin leverage in 2008 comes partly from leverage on enrollment growth above the 8% baseline target and also from one-time efficiency gains. The company has various efficiency projects on the plate for 2009.
Previous source of higher margins was switching to fully-automated scheduling from manual scheduling, which allowed more efficient scheduling and larger class sizes. Company is getting more efficient with putting more students into the same size campus. Totally mature campuses have 40%+ margins, usually reached after 8-10 years.
• ROI on real estate purchases is not as high as it used to be. Company doesn't expect to do many real estate purchases in 2009. Did some opportunistically in 2008 in specific markets.

November 26, 2008
Company: K12 (NYSE: LRN; NR)
Presenters: Ron Packard, Founder & CEO; John Baule, CFO & COO
K12 operates the largest online school in the K-12 market with 55,000 students. The company views the total market size as $550 billion spent annually on K-12 education of 50 million public school students at 98,000 schools. There are 5 million private school students, and 2 million home-schooled students. Growth in online in
K12 is even faster than the uptake in post secondary.
Enrollment is open to all children in a state, with no transportation issues and no limitation in terms of the types of kids that can be enrolled, ranging from special needs to gifted children. Kids can work at their own speed and the program is flexible to meet their needs. The company expects revenue of $310 – 320 million for year ended
June 09. The model mirrors that of a subscription-based model, with high visibility and long-term contracts (the company average is currently 5 years).
Growth remains open-ended with the company adding on average three states per year.
EBITDA margins are demonstrating the leverage of a scalable business model and accelerating revenue growth. The company expects to spend $42 million in cap ex, with $15 million spent on student computers and
$27 million on curriculum development as it seeks to expand its proprietary offering at the high school level.
Free cash flow is expected to be neutral to slightly negative in FY:09 and positive in FY:10.
Breakout Session
• Increased unemployment benefits the company as more parents are staying at home and are more likely to enroll their children in a virtual school.
• Cap on enrollment in Florida has basically been lifted due to recent legislation.
• New states grow at 100% or more. During the first year a state opens it has a negative impact on gross margins. Upfront costs include student recruiting. Some teachers are also hired ahead of revenue. Also have less efficient school since more administrators per student than would have later. If founded in March, the company might spend about $1M. Administrative costs might run $500K-$1M for that year.
• Getting approval from the state requires either working with the legislators, governors, or other state agencies. Takes anywhere from 3-4 months to 3-4 years. The company is working with about 10 prospective states at a time and usually enters 3-4 new states each year.
• The company is focused on academic excellence. It is redoing its math curriculum because it wants to be in the top 2% of math gains rather than just the top 30%.
• In a normal year, the price increase would be 2-4%, but in the current environment it's more like 0-2%. As an impact to the company, this is dwarfed by enrollment growth, however. Enrollment growth excluding new states was 37%+.
• When the company provides an individual course to a student it gets about 12% of what they would get for a full time student.
• States that have a cap on enrollments: Texas, Arkansas, Oregon (haven't hit the cap yet), Hawaii has a ramp up (unlimited after 3 years), South Carolina has a similar ramp up, Chicago has a cap that can be lifted (it's a hybrid school).

November 26, 2008
Company: Lincoln Education (NASDAQ: LINC; Hold)
Presenters: David Carney, Chairman & CEO; Shaun McAlmont, President & COO
• In terms of advertising spend, the company does not spend enough on television to have experienced significant discounts. Lincoln's students typically work a construction type job during the day, therefore respond mostly to late night TV infomercials which have a higher cost. They have seen some decreases in
Internet advertising prices.
• Guidance includes 7-8% enrollment growth with price increases driving 10%-12% top-line growth.
• The company has had several meetings with accreditors about moving the online platform to Briarwood. It is taking very small steps to ensure that the accreditor is happy. Once these initial hurdles are cleared, they feel should see the benefits in 2H09.
• Lincoln is looking to expand its LPN (nursing) platform. It currently has applications in 3-4 states and hopes for some approvals and launches in 2009. The company is also planning to apply for a Registered Nurse program.
• Bad Debt --- used to run at 5.2% to 5.3% and see it at a run rate of 6.3% to 6.5% over the next 12 months.
• The company ramped up internal lending in June of 07. It currently has $15.7 million of "internal funding commitments."

November 26, 2008
Company: Strayer Education (NASDAQ: STRA; Buy)
Presenter: Robert Silberman, Chairman & CEO
Company addresses the working adult market consisting of 60 million Americans that have a job, a high school degree, but no college degree. The principal driver of growth is the movement towards a knowledge-based economy. The company serves 44,000 students with regionally-accredited programs that are convenient and high-quality via 62 campuses in 12 states. The company's biggest risk is to maintain academic quality and qualitative oversight is easier in contiguous dense regions.
The company believes its business is acyclical. Management describes the business as easy to understand, but difficult to execute.
The company's on-line program is strong and growing. The company offers both synchronous (on line at same time), and asynchronous (professor tapes the lecture and the students pull it down off the servers) programs.
50% of students are taking some or all of their classes on line, 10%-12% are entirely on-line. Serving an online student is more expensive than a classroom student, if your goal is to ensure quality of program experience.
The company is also opening a campus in Utah because of an existing academic presence through a contract serving a large corporate client on-site in Salt Lake City and a separate decision to open an on-line facility there. Strayer does not anticipate growing in states next to Utah.
Operating margins are affected by the rate of new campus openings. The company loses money in the first year in a new market and then scales. Nearly all net income is distributable cash flow.
Breakout Session
• It was an easy decision to increase campus openings from 9 to 11 given that they have enough people to staff them. Of the 11 new campuses for 2009, most will be in new markets.
• Doesn't expect to see a decline in corporate reimbursements. The largest corporate partner has 300-400 students. Active military is about 3-4% of enrollments Management does not believe the current economic climate is likely to affect its business. With traditional universities under pressure, Strayer has seen more faculty available to hire.
• Company sets an amount at the beginning of each quarter for each campus to spend on advertising and the local management picks their mix. Marketing prices have consistently fallen over the past several months.

November 26, 2008
Analyst Certification
I, Trace Urdan, hereby certify that all of the views expressed in this research report accurately reflect my personal views about the subject securities or issuers. I also certify that no part of my compensation was, is or will be directly or indirectly related to the specific recommendations or views expressed in this research report.Signal Hill does not compensate its equity research analysts based on specific investment banking transactions. Signal Hill Equity research analysts receive compensation based on several factors, including overall profitability and revenues of the firm, which include investment banking revenues.
I, Jeff Lee, hereby certify that all of the views expressed in this research report accurately reflect my personal views about the subject securities or issuers. I also certify that no part of my compensation was, is or will be directly or indirectly related to the specific recommendations or views expressed in this research report.Signal
Hill does not compensate its equity research analysts based on specific investment banking transactions.
Signal Hill Equity research analysts receive compensation based on several factors, including overall profitability and revenues of the firm, which include investment banking revenues.
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Meaning of Ratings
Signal Hill uses a three-tiered rating system defined as follows:
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Distribution of Ratings/IB Services
Signal Hill
Rating
BUY
HOLD
SELL
Count
55
35
1
Percent
60.44
38.46
1.10
IB Serv./Past 12 Mos.
Count
35
19
1
Percent
63.64
54.29
100.00
Disclaimer
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