Mr. Mullen: I have generally thought of small cap as stocks with market caps of roughly $1 billion or less. We could stretch the definition to include the few medical device stocks with market caps up to $3 billion. Stocks at the other end of the spectrum, say under $400 million in market cap, are sometimes referred to as emerging growth. But for this discussion, let's just say $1 billion or less.
TWST: Rick, are we talking about companies under $1 billion, under $500
million? What are the smallest companies that you include in your
universe?
Mr. Wise: The definition of less than $1 billion market cap for the
small cap universe is a very good one. One challenge in this
environment, in regard to the current stock market environment, is that
many people are expanding that definition, and as I go around and talk
to institutions, to my surprise, they sometimes consider smaller cap
names or medium cap names in the $1-5 billion market cap range. This
could just reflect the appreciation in the market. But certainly, in my
mind, less than $1 billion for small caps is an accurate statement. We
then have the emerging technology companies that are less than $100
million these days. So in conclusion, I believe that the small cap
universe can be summed up as, beauty or size , is in the eye of the
beholder'.
Tickers included in this excerpt: ACN, BDX, BEAM, CBMI, DGX, DSCP, GDT, IDXX, KERA, MDT, MNMD, NOVT, OCLR, PERC, SMPX, STJ, SYK, VISX, VMSI, WJCO, XOMD
For more information call (212) 952 7433. The Wall Street Transcript does not endorse any of the comments made by interviewees, and does not make stock recommendations.