Even LU stated that they couldn't meet fiberoptic demands,,,and the business was going elsewhere...
January 7, 2000
Lucent Shares Remain Under Pressure After Poor Earnings Report
By DAVID J. MORROW
Lucent Technologies Inc. remained in Wall Street's version of the dog house Friday after the maker of telecommunications equipment said its first-quarter sales and earnings would fall well short of analysts' expectations.
Although Lucent's stock rebounded a bit from the pummeling it took in after-hours trading Thursday night -- rising $1, to $53, by early afternoon -- the shares were still 23 percent below their New York Stock Exchange close of $69. The company issued its earnings warnings right after the 4 p.m. close of regular trading Thursday.
Trading volume in Lucent's stock was enormous Friday, with more than 130 million shares being exchanged by 1:30 p.m.
Lucent blamed several factors for its financial woes. The company said that it could not keep up with customer demand for its 80-channel optical system, which is used in long-distance networks. As a result, many of Lucent's customers bought the equipment from its competitors.
Lucent and Nortel have been involved in a tight race to control the fiber optic market. Analysts said Nortel's sales of fiber optic systems were growing faster than Lucent's, which may also have contributed to the Lucent shortfall in earnings.
Nortel, which is based in Brampton, Ontario, said that it expected that its revenues for last year were near $22 billion, while per-share earnings from operations should have grown 20 percent. John Roth, Nortel's chief executive, said the company was "extremely positive" on its outlook for 2000. |
