Dan Snyder‘s ante-liquidated theme park chain, Six Flags, has been hosting a game of chicken for investors this week.
Snyder’s company will release its second-quarter 2008 earnings on Monday. Six Flags is way over $2 billion in debt. Its stock (SIX) has lost more than 90 percent of its value since early 2006.
And, geez louise, the Frighttorium™ just burned down.
A lousy report, therefore, could mean the end of Six Flags’ as a solvent outfit. Good numbers will mean Capt. Snyder’s ship stays afloat for a while longer.
Those who have bought in recently or are still holding onto shares, in other words, are gambling that the end isn’t near.
The money people don’t seem to know what Monday’s report will hold.
The stock sold for as little as a quarter last month, after board member and Snyder partner Dwight Schar dumped TWO MILLION shares.
But SIX climbed back above a dollar last week and has stayed there, despite the demise of the Frighttorium™ (a haunted house and the big attraction of the Halloween season at Six Flags America in Largo) and an announcement on Wednesday from Six Flags that it won’t meet an obligation to pay a dividend to holders of preferred stock. The Wall Street Journal described that move as just “the latest sign of trouble” for Snyder et al.
SIX closed the week at $1.12.
So, what’ll the report say? Or, in memory of the departed Frighttorium™, will Snyder be handing out tricks or treats to shareholders on Monday?
Keep the dial right here for all the breaking news in Snyder’s Six Flags soap opera.