JP Morgan geiling repeats buy
Lucent May Beat Estimates for 2nd-Qtr Earnings, Sales (Update1)
Lucent May Beat Estimates for 2nd-Qtr Earnings, Sales (Update1) (Adds analyst
comments,
background.)
Murray Hill, New Jersey, April 13 (Bloomberg) -- Lucent Technologies Inc., the
largest
telephone-equipment maker, said it expects fiscal second-quarter earnings and
sales to meet or
exceed analysts' estimates amid strong demand for its products.
The company, moving to end speculation that caused its shares to drop almost 11
percent in the
last two days, said it expects profit of 15 cents a share or more and sales of more
than $8 billion
for the quarter ended March 31. Lucent said it's seeing strong demand from
phone companies for
equipment that updates their networks to carry more data and Internet traffic.
Investors have been on edge about Lucent since January, when the company's
fiscal first-quarter
sales lagged estimates for the first time because of an accounting glitch.
Speculation about a
another surprise in the second quarter pushed Lucent shares down. ''This is
going to reassure
investors that telecom equipment is going to be a high-growth business to be in
and Lucent's
going to be the leader,'' said Gregory Geiling, an analyst at J.P. Morgan
Securities Inc., who rates
Lucent ''buy.''
Geiling expects the shares to rise tomorrow. Lucent fell 2 1/2 to 56 15/16 today,
on top of
yesterday's 4 3/16 drop.
After seeing the stock drop this week, Lucent decided to issue a statement to
reassure investors.
Chairman Richard McGinn, who is traveling, gave permission for the
announcement late this
afternoon. ''We wanted to set the record straight,'' said Jeff Baum, a Lucent
spokesman.
The Murray Hill, New Jersey-based company plans to report earnings on April
22. ''Lucent saw
strong growth this quarter both inside and outside the U.S.,'' McGinn said in a
statement. ''We
remain very confident about our short-term and long-term prospects as our
customers continue to
invest in the communications networks of the future.''
The company still expects to boost fiscal 1999 per-share earnings 35 percent and
sales 19 to 20
percent, McGinn said.
NYSE/AMEX delayed 20 min. NASDAQ delayed 15 min. |
