The abrupt resignation of Bob Quatermain, as president and CEO of Silver Standard Resources Inc. could be just the thing for the company's limping stock price.
At least, that's how Trevor Turnbull, analyst at Scotia Capital Markets, sees it and last week, he offered up some suggestions for the next CEO.
"It can be debated whether or not Silver Standard needs a different approach, but the recent share price performance would indicate it does," he said in a note to clients.
"In our opinion, the company is striving to regain the confidence of the market in terms of being able to provide targets for the Pirquitas mine that are attainable. We believe a new CEO should have an easier time of this, but it is imperative that the mine delivers as promised this time."
Mr. Turnbull said the pace of Silver Standard's production development needs to improve. While Silver Standard declared commercial production at Pirquitas this past December, the mine is not expected to generate positive cash flow until the second quarter of 2010.
In addition, the analyst believes the Pitarrilla and San Luis projects should be moved ahead quicker than is now estimated so that lucrative cash flow can be realized sooner than later.
As for Silver Standard's dozen non-core silver and gold deposits, Mr. Turnbull said they should be monetized as soon as possible.
"These assets may not have hurt anything, but the majority of them have not helped either."
Since hitting a high of $27.19 on June 2 last year, shares in Silver Standard have fallen 24% to Friday's close of $20.58. The S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 7% over the same period.