Live Person ( LPSN - Nasdaq ) - Follow-up Report

Live Person (LPSN $8.50) appears on track to report excellent on target Q3 results.  The company entered the period with 85%-90% of revenue already lined up.  And bookings have continued to climb, fueled by the core enterprise (large customer) segment.  Investments in the sales force and product development that were made in prior periods have begun to bear fruit.  Spending has begun to level off, allowing margins to widen as revenues keep building.  The emphasis on R&D promises to bolster Live Person's competitive advantage in upcoming quarters.  One area that holds substantial potential is proactive website response.  Software tracks each visitor and estimates what his frame of mind is, to determine if it makes sense to jump in and engage the user with some type of communication.  Up to now Live Person has limited those interruptions to an offer to chat with somebody.  Several additional techniques are being rolled out.  Those promise to make it easier for visitors to do what they want to do.  From the website operator's viewpoint, it should increase the sales closing rate.  We are maintaining our 2010 earnings estimate at $.30 a share (excluding non cash stock option and amortization costs).  Next year $.45 a share remains a realistic target.