Visual Sciences Inc. officials did not provide an update on their search for a buyer when the company released second-quarter earnings Thursday night, but the results themselves suggest the Web analytics firm will need to do something quickly.

The company formerly known as WebSideStory reported revenues that were within the preannounced range provided last month, but management lowered guidance for the rest of 2007. In a research note put out after the numbers were released, Friedman Billings Ramsey & Co. analyst David Hilal wrote that the decline in Visual Sciences’ business “puts more pressure on management to sell and be part of a bigger company.”

Shares of Visual Sciences were trading at $16.25 early in Friday’s session, down 9.8%. But Hilal notes that an acquisition of the company “is more likely than not,” and that $22 per share represents a fair takeout value. If a deal does not happen, however, shares could come under further pressure. —David Shabelman

See July 13 story in TheDeal.com  

Tags: Visual Sciences, Web analytics