I had enthusiastically recommended this stock when it was selling for a little more than a dime a share in 2014, but it has turned into a major disappointment. To be sure, the company continues to grow its roster of A-list clients with such household names as Pfizer, Sunoco, Heineken, AT&T, Pepsi, Honda, Clorox, Kellogg’s, Walmart, L’Oreal, Nestle, Kraft and quite a few others; however, its share price has fallen steeply nonetheless (see chart inset). Two possible reasons stand out. One is that Snipp expanded its payroll in 2015, mainly through acquisitions, far faster than its revenues. The firm’s CEO, Atul Sabharwal, says the acquisitions were sound and that they will begin to pay off in 2016. In the meantime, though, he admits that Snipp is likely to experience digestion pains until the employees, many of them software engineers rather than salespeople, are assimilated and duplicate positions are eliminated.

Snipp’s other obvious problem is a financial relationship with Canaccord that, as far as one can tell, has caused nothing but trouble for the stock. Canaccord was the lead underwriter for a $12.27 million ‘bought sale’  early in 2015. Although one might have expected this private-placement deal to put Snipp shares in strong hands, the opposite appears to have occurred. Canaccord in retrospect seems to have been more interested in flipping the stock for a quick profit than in helping the company solidify its financial position. The apparent result is that the shares and warrants they and their cronies acquired for a unit price of 55 cents became a supply overhang that continues to weigh heavily on Snipp stock to this day.

As such, I can no longer recommend purchasing or holding Snipp shares. Although I continue to hold stock in the company myself, my patience is wearing thin. If and when I decide to sell all, or perhaps a part, of my position, I will update herein.