hi mary... here is the full text of the businessweek cs article... very long here too!!
kathy :)
businessweek.com
Big Cabletron Buzz
The low-priced stock of Cabletron Systems (CS) is finally getting attention on the Street: It's up 49% so far this year, to 12 1/2. In early June, it hit nearly 17--a 52-week high.
Two things are behind the new awareness of Cabletron, a provider of intelligent hubs and switching products for networking and Ethernet systems. Some players note that the sum of Cabletron's parts is greater than the current price. More tantalizing: Takeover buzz is running high.
There have been takeover rumors before. But this time, a global telecom giant is considering buying Cabletron, say several pros who claim to be in the know. ''There are several potential buyers'' intently looking at Cabletron, says Jim Marquez, who heads Bayou Securities in Stamford, Conn. Among them: Italy's Alcatel, Germany's Siemens, and Canada's Northern Telecom, according to Marquez, who has been accumulating Cabletron shares.
Analyst Chris Stix of SG Cowen, who has a buy rating on the stock, says that ''as one of the last large free-standing enterprise networking players,'' Cabletron could be attractive to a telco-equipment supplier. Based on breakup value, he says, the stock is worth at least 20 a share.
Among Cabletron's assets is the Layer 3 switch business, which could be worth up to $25 a share, figures Stix. Cabletron's cash hoard totals $500 million, or $2 a share. Another division, SPECTRUM, maker of network software products, may be worth a further $3, says Stix. Cabletron says it may make SPECTRUM a stand-alone company. The betting: Cabletron will take it public.
Analyst Al Tobia of Bank of America Securities, who rates Cabletron a buy, expects the company will earn 25 cents a share in calendar 1999 and 79 cents in 2000. Cabletron declined comment as a matter of policy.
BY GENE G. MARCIAL
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