Sunday 23 August

Chip Maker's Finance Chief Walks Out Abruptly

Synaptics said its finance chief resigned effective immediately to chase a new opportunity, and the stock slipped about 4% on the news. A sudden exit at the top of the money desk is the kind of thing we watch closely. When we looked back at 115 similar cases, the stock lagged the market by about 3% over the next three months and only beat it roughly half the time.

What would change this — A fresh 8-K naming a permanent replacement, or the next quarterly report showing no cracks in the numbers, would ease our concern; a burst of insider selling would deepen it.