TAUB TALK: Who Wins from Microsoft Ruling?
<<Microsoft is like the schoolyard bully who finally got caught. Now it must tip-toe around on its best behavior.
So, many of the little companies that cowered in its presence could now stick their thumbs in their ears, flap their fingers and go ?nah nah nah nah nah.?
?Microsoft will be less aggressive chopping at small competitors,? predicts Grefenstette.
So, who will be the big beneficiaries?
Of course, Dell Computer (NASDAQ: DELL - Quotes, News, Boards), Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: SUNW - Quotes, News, Boards) and Red Hat (NASDAQ: RHAT - Quotes, News, Boards), to name just three examples, he says.
However, two other likely beneficiaries are smaller companies--Citrix Systems (NASDAQ: CTXS - Quotes, News, Boards) and RealNetworks (NASDAQ: RNWK - Quotes, News, Boards).
Citrix is a supplier of application server products and technologies that enable enterprise-wide deployment and management of applications designed for Microsoft Windows operating systems while RealNetworks offers software products and services that enable the delivery of streaming media content over the Internet.
For the first nine months of 1999, Citrix?s revenue was $285.2 million, up 65% from the comparable period in 1998 while net income was $82.9 million, or $0.87 per share versus $38.8 million, or $0.43 per share the prior year.
In the past year, its stock has tripled to $79.81.
RealNetworks recently posted its first ever profit of $4.4 million, or a nickel per share, in the third quarter. Revenue nearly doubled to $17.7 million.
Its stock closed at $127 on Tuesday, down $12 for the day but about eight times its 52-week low.
So, obviously these companies have done well already. It?s just that with Microsoft on its best behavior, ?they will do a lot better,? insists Grefenstette. >>
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