In the good old days City analysts used to get decent 6 figure salaries for writing non performance related pieces, largely to get publicity for the companies they work for. These days they have been rendered useless by the internet and now social media. However, the need for publicity remains – hence you see reams of boring commentary copy and pasted on FTSE Alphaville to fill out space, and quoted elsewhere.
From the various brokers below we realise that Cobham has been a total dog for several years, is at the top end of conventional ratings metrics, and that a fresh profits warning could still be on the cards at any moment.
This suggests that the latest speculative rumours surrounding the company here could be a sign of a disposal, or interest from a mystery buyer. But just as easily be a bear ramp – of the kind seen at Carillion or Gemalto. Having read the broker notes one would probably want to err on the side of caution, even though if the rumours here are sound.