Monster’s stock closed slightly up today, despite being downgraded by Goldman Sachs.
The company’s shares gained 2 cents a share to close at $16.53. It closed Monday at $16.51.
Analyst Ingrid Chung, one of Wall Street’s star analysts, changed her recommendation to a “sell” Monday, saying the recruitment ad company was losing market share to competitor CareerBuilder, while pricing in the job-posting business as a whole “will never fully recover from the contractions brought on by the recent recession.”
A “Top 10 Stock Picker” in 2009, Chung broke with other analysts who follow Monster’s stock, most of whom have rated its shares as either “Hold” or “Buy.” Monster, she said, is challenged not only by CareerBuilder, but by other alternatives including social media. She also said there are other, cheaper alternatives for job postings, and, finally, the current stock price “is more than fully valued.”
According to Yahoo Finance, analysts expect Monster to have lost money in the quarter that just ended. The consensus is that Monster will announce it lost 16 cents a share, when it reports its first quarter numbers later this month or early next.
If that turns out to be the case, Monster may seen prescient for turning to R&B musician Alicia Keys for its current promotion.
The Grammy-award-winning singer is working with Monster to select a lead blogger for her new website iamasuperwoman.com. Still in development and featuring promos for the contest, the website is scheduled to fully launch in July.
Interested in the job, which looks like it includes traveling to London, attending gala events — maybe even the Grammy’s should Keys win her 13th? Then go to the website or here for the official job posting.