RESEARCH ALERT- Bear Stearns cuts EMC, Sun ratings
NEW YORK, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Bear Stearns analyst Andy Neff said he cut ratings to attractive from buy on EMC Corp. <EMC.N> and Sun Microsystems Inc. <SUNW.O>, two top Internet equipment suppliers, he once thought insulated from economic weakness.
"While both companies, EMC and Sun, are leaders...a slowdown in corporate IT spending can impact both companies' financial performance -- gravity is bound to take over," Neff wrote in a note to clients.
In a research note issued late on Thursday, Neff said he was maintaining its earnings estimates on the company, but noted they were at risk of being cut. The move followed Microsoft Corp.'s warning on Thursday of lower results tied to weakness in both consumer and corporate spending.
"When we downgraded the PC stocks in September, we were concerned about signs of weak consumer demand -- which has continued to deteriorate," Neff said.
"Now, we are seeing signs of this weakness spreading into small/medium corporate and of aggressive pricing in low-end servers. This weakness is bound to spread," he said |
