Arkansas' Public Companies

Arkansas Business, July 30, 2001

52-WEEK STOCK PERFORMANCE REVIEW

THE NUMBER OF publicly traded companies headquartered in Arkansas has continued to dwindle since mid-2000, when Arkansas investor profiled the 24 most notable corporations. Since then, American Freightways Corp. of Harrison has been acquired by FedEx Corp. of Memphis; First United Baneshares Inc. of El Dorado has been acquired by BancorpSouth Inc. of Tupelo, Miss.; Southwestern Energy Co. moved its headquarters from Fayetteville to Houston; and StaffMark Inc. has divested itself of all but its e-commerce division, changed its name to Edgewater Technologies Inc. and moved to the Boston suburb of Wakefield, Mass.

The 20 companies profiled this year range from gigantic Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the largest retailer in the world and the second largest U.S. company, with market capitalization of more than $200 billion, to struggling building supply retailer National Home Centers Inc. of Springdale, with its market capitalization of less than $7.5 million. Some have a remarkable track record for return on investment -- Wal-Mart is up almost 300 percent in the past five years, and Arkansas Best Corp. of Fayetteville has a five-year return of more than 200 percent. But there are also big-name companies like Dillard's Inc. of Little Rock and Tyson Foods Inc. of Springdale, whose adjusted stock prices are about half what they were at the end of June 1996.

In the first half of 2001, most of Arkansas' publicly traded companies enjoyed rebounding stock prices, especially trucking companies like Arkansas Best, Cannon Express Inc. of Springdale, J.B. Hunt Transport Services of Lowell and USA Truck of Van Buren. Publicly traded banks and thrifts have become scarce in Arkansas, but the ones that are left -- especially Simmons First National Corp. of Pine Bluff and Little Rock's Bank of the Ozarks and Superior Financial Corp. -- have seen their stock prices begin to climb out of the cellar.

ACXIOM CORP.

LEADERS AT ACXIOM Corp. of Little Rock spent much of the spring tempering expectations, but they remain optimistic about the company's prospects, both short- and long-term.

Acxiom stock plunged 45 percent in a single day after company officials announced that earnings for the fourth quarter that ended March 31 were some 72 percent below analyst projections. The price at the next market close was $11.50, its lowest point in more than two years, compared to a 52-week high of $45.75.

Officials responded by announcing a rash of cost-cutting moves, the most obvious of which was a 5 percent pay cut for most employees. And during the last week of June, upon issuing an earnings warning for the second consecutive quarter, Acxiom officials announced that 412 employees were laid off to allow the company to improve its bottom line amid the nation's continued economic doldrums.

Acxiom's leadership laid the blame for the reversals on the overall economic downturn. Other companies' financial nervousness cost Acxiom dozens of contracts for AbiliTec. Other costly events included federally mandated accounting practices and onetime write-offs arising from such anomalies as Montgomery Ward's bankruptcy proceedings.

On the plus side, company revenue exceeded $1 billion in fiscal 2001 for the first time ever. AbiliTec generated $110 million in revenue for 2001, with 37 contracts signed. Those numbers included 10 contracts and $35 million in revenue for the fourth quarter, when PricewaterhouseCooper licensed the service. That company joined such first-year blue-chip licensees as CitiGroup, GE Capital, Microsoft, Bank One, American Express, USA Networks, JP Morgan Chase, Mercedes-Benz USA, Nissan North America Inc., Meredith Corp. and BMC Software.

ADVANCED ENVIRONMENTAL RECYCLING TECHNOLOGIES INC.

ADVANCED ENVIRONmental Recycling Technologies Inc. of Springdale fought torrential flooding at its Texas manufacturing plant, ending up with a balance between net sales and an overall net loss for 2000.

Net sales increased to $27.5 million for the year ended Dec. 31 -- an increase of $7.6 million, or 38 percent over sales of $19.9 million for 1999 figures. However, the company took a net loss of $2.2 million, or 8 cents per share. This compares to a 1999 loss of $1.8 million. Of the net loss in 2000, $1.3 million, or 59 percent, was experienced in the fourth quarter. More than $850,000 of the loss was attributable to weather-related and operational problems at AERT's Texas plant.

During the year, AERT's stock traded as high as $3.56 and as low as 66 cents. For a while, the company risked delisting from the NASDAQ market because the price dropped below $1 in the beginning of the year.

This year, unaudited gross sales for the first quarter, ended March 31, 2001, were $8.12 million, up 26 percent from $6.44 million for the comparable period last year.

AERT manufactures composite building materials made from recycled polyethylene plastic and waste wood fiber. The company's products are marketed under the trade names MoistureShield and ChoiceDek. AERT operates a manufacturing facility that employs 120 people in Junction, Texas, and a recycling and manufacturing facility that employs 200 people in Springdale.