Here is the Bloomberg feed
Santa Clara, California, March 20 (Bloomberg) --3Com Corp.'s
third-quarter earnings beat expectations by a penny on a 30
percent increase in sales.
Net income rose to $87.6 million, or 47 cents a share, from
$74.6 million, or 42 cents, in the year-earlier quarter.
Analysts were expecting 46 cents for the quarter ended Feb.
28, based on the average estimate of a 29 analysts from IBES
International Co.
Sales rose to $786.8 million from $606 million, yet were
down from the second quarter's $820.3 million.
``It's broadly in line with expectations,'' said Chris Stix,
an analyst at Cowen & Co.
3Com shares rose 1 7/16 to 33 5/8 on the Nasdaq Stock Market
and climbed as high as 35 after the earnings were released.
3Com warned investors and analysts in February that the
company's profit and sales would be hurt by reduced orders and
increased competition in its main products, adapter cards and
switches. Adapter cards, which account for more than 40 percent
of 3Com's revenue, are used to connect PCs to networks.
Intel Corp. cut its prices for adapter cards by 40 percent
in February, a price cut that was matched within days by 3Com.
On Tuesday, 3Com chairman Eric Benhamou told the Bloomberg
Forum he did not expect further large price cuts in adapter cards
or switches this year. |
