I isolated five fundamentals and estimates that appeared critical to our analysis of the company: (1) the balance sheet was OK; (2) management seemed competent and motivated; (3) the business was low-margined and otherwise unattractive; (4) as a best guess, revenues might grow at a 5 percent average annual rate; and (5) a projection by Bob Hatch that pretax margins could increase to 3.5 percent within a few years seemed credible.
