What direction is it pointing to now?

While some resolution is (potentially) in sight with regard to President Obama's stimulus plan?as of this afternoon?the same cannot be said of the fate of BearingPoint. To recap the firm's current circumstances: Back in November, the firm's stock was delisted from the NYSE, after having plummeted to an "abnormally low" price?even hitting the meager 3 pence mark ? never a good place to be. The firm had brought AlixPartners onboard?naming AlixPartners Managing Director Kenneth A. Hiltz as its chief financial officer?to help restructure some of its debt and devise a new operating plan for the coming year.

Fast forward a few months. This week, BearingPoint was listed as one of the 15 companies that might not make it through 2009, especially now that its stock is down 21% and management has stopped issuing earnings guidance in 2008. Most analysts have a dismal outlook about the future of the firm, considering its low stock price, recent restructuring efforts to right the ship and, of course, there's the recession factor. Moody's has recently downgraded the firm's credit score, and its shares trade for less than $2 on the Over the Counter Bulletin Board.

Yes, BearingPoint's public-sector business is going well (the firm says it's hit record client bookings in that group, and the division has retained all of its top-50 clients), but that won't be enough to deflate the massive debt the firm has run up. BearingPoint was given until April 15, 2009, for lenders to either convert its debt into stock or be paid back the principal. In short, time is ticking, and management needs to make some heavy decisions. Pronto. The firm can either start selling off some (or all) of its units to pay down the debt, renegotiate the debt or declare bankruptcy. I'll leave the third option alone for now.

For a few months, the firm said it was pursuing a sale or merger, having brought on Greenhill & Co as an advisor, though this plan has largely been thwarted due to the crumbling economy, and the offers on the table were too low (in BearingPoint's eyes). One firm that has risen to the slush pile, though, is PricewaterhouseCoopers. Who knows if this rumor comes to fruition, but PwC could be looking to bolster its systems integration and SAP group, making bargain BearingPoint a good target. That said, some bloggers feel strongly that this could be a bad move for PwC.

The other viable option, renegotiating the company's debt, might be a more realistic option, though the downside with that would be that it would dilute the stakes for existing shareholders.

Anyone care to place a wager on how the situation pans out?