Combining growth momentum from a past net-value-positive offering with revenue from a net-value-negative product change to project a future that will disappear when your users find your first competitor is an example of that strategy playing out that is difficult for shareholders to catch. Another is laying off and mistreating your employees while claiming that you're going to stay on the cutting edge.

It's not in the interest of shareholders to buy into tactics that pump up share price at the end of a quarter but we're talking about an information disadvantage; the seller is rearranging their books with respect to intangibles to deceive the buyer.