Morningstar Bids Adieu To GateHouse -- With One Last Scathing Note

Fitz: Tom Corbett, the Morningstar analyst who infuriated GateHouse Media executives in July by opining that its stock "could be worthless," will likely soon be abandoning coverage of the community newspaper publisher as it exits the New York Stock Exchange for the penny-stock Over The Counter markets. He took one last shot at GateHouse late Wednesday with a note from the Chicago-based equity research firm that the Big Board's quick decision to boot GateHouse without giving much consideration to its plan to stay listed "suggests that regulators saw little hope for a rebound in GateHouse’s stock price, especially given its declining revenue, profitability, and suffocating $1.2 billion debt burden."

Quoth Corbett:

GateHouse’s removal from the NYSE marks a conclusive milestone in the beleaguered newspaper publisher’s spectacular two-year financial flameout, from high-flying IPO darling in 2006 to the penny-stock pile, as the company’s aggressive acquisition binge, fueled by tremendous amounts of debt, proved to be an unsustainable and unprofitable strategy.