What nonsense. Remember, Fool, that sequential growth pales when compared with year-over-year growth. The former could easily signal that a big deal slipped a few months. The latter (usually) signals real business progress. By highlighting its relatively meaningless sequential gains, StarTek’s management appears as if they’re trying to head-fake the reader into believing this stock story is better than it really is.

How about we check the real numbers? First, year-year-over-year revenue growth was up 2.1%, a far cry from the 7.4% management was touting. Second, free cash flow is running negative, and that’s without a single penny paid for the once-meaty, yet dangerous dividend that kept bulls in this stock. Third and finally, net income would have also run negative if not for a one-time tax benefit.