Chinese jewelry company Fuqi International (FUQI) has been on a turbulent rollercoaster ride over the past three weeks.  The stock plummeted nearly 30% on March 17, after the company reported that accounting errors “exaggerated” earnings in the first nine months of last year.  The company also warned that fourth-quarter earnings would only be about half of what it had previously projected.

On Thursday, the Street was expecting to see just what kind of numbers Fuqi actually put up in the fourth quarter and the full year, as earnings were due out before the opening bell.  But instead of an earnings report, Fuqi issued a press release that read, “We truly appreciate your patience and are working diligently on a plan to further strengthen our internal financial reporting controls and remediate any issues surrounding our financial restatements.”

The company also said it has recruited an “additional experienced internal audit professional” from an international accounting firm to help make its numbers comply with U.S. accounting and compliance rules. 

The translation here — no earnings yet, but we know we have a problem and we’re working on the solution.

Interestingly, the news of Fuqi delay was met with a hefty round of buying in the shares, as the stock jumped nearly 4% midway through the trading session.  Wall Street’s read here seems to be that Fuqi is getting serious about its accounting and compliance issues, and that the stock is a value now that the numbers are on track to becoming legit.

As you can see by the chart here of FUQI, the stock made investors a lot of money in 2009.  And while 2010 has been an entirely different story for FUQI, the beginning of a new accounting era could mean the beginning of a new shine in the jewelry maker’s shares.

Tell us what you think here.

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