One minor upward earnings revision and two downgrades in recommendations. The analysts seem as confused as Corel management. This stock is a real contrarian play at this point.
COS COREL CORPORATION ANN 11/98 0.282 0.275 +2.5%
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1997 AUG 19 (NB) -- By Grant Buckler. Corel Corp. [TSE:COS][NASDAQ:COSFF] is still talking up the Java programming language and planning to use it in a variety of ways. However, the company's strategy for supporting multiple desktop platforms will depend less on Java than previously planned, and more on home-grown technology called Remagen for delivering existing applications to multiple platforms.
Remagen will allow software to run on any client, whether a conventional PC or some form of thin client or network computer, Corel President and Chief Executive Michael Cowpland claimed in a teleconference with reporters this morning. Though he likened Remagen to the protocols developed by Citrix Systems Inc. to allow the user interfaces of applications to run on thin clients
while other logic executes on the server, Cowpland said Remagen goes farther because it permits the entire application to run on the desktop.
Remagen means that Corel won't depend on rewriting its applications in Java to support multiple desktop systems. However, the company denied that it is backing away from Java. In fact, Cowpland said, "we have more resources devoted to Java than ever before."
Corel Office for Java, the Java version of the company's desktop applications suite, is being renamed Corel Central, and will gain communications components. Corel will use Java Beans component technology in the revamped product, which seems to be aimed at customers who need basic application functions and in some ways resembles Lotus Development Corp.'s Kona Java applets.
Corel plans to incorporate Remagen first into the enterprise edition of its Paradox database management software -- by October, said
Paul Skillen, vice-president of software development -- and by year- end into enterprise versions of WordPerfect, Corel Presentations, and Corel Central. The company also plans to offer Remagen as a stand-alone product; officials said it can be used to deliver other vendors' applications as well as Corel's to multiple desktop platforms.
Corel is on the World Wide Web at corel.com .
Happy Investing!
Vanni |
