from WS transcript
ALCATEL alsthom S.A. (ALA); Paris, France ' Management at Alcatel, led
by Chairman & CEO Serge Tchuruk, is focusing on the U.S., states a buy
sider. 'Alcatel has been a little more responsive to the investment
community this year, and, as a result, the stock has been performing
accordingly. Last year Alcatel misinformed their investors and the stock
suffered because of that. Their strategy this year has been to mainly
focus on the U.S. market, because they were criticized for being more
European than the other communications companies. Alcatel has done a lot
of acquisitions in the U.S. this year, and that has helped the company
change its image from that of a European company to an international
one.'
Tough slugging ahead for Alcatel, states a pro. 'Alcatel has a very
tough road ahead. That's a company that has very much had captive
markets. They have been very aggressive in some areas, optical and DSL
especially. They've been close to the top there. Going forward, however,
it's going to be tough slugging for Alcatel because these captive
markets, as well as some of the European markets, are going to come
under assault by American companies and also by the Ciscos of the world.
Of course, Alcatel is an American company, but they face tough
competition from such telecommunications equipment companies as the
Lucents, Nortels, as well as from some of the much faster companies such
as Cisco. They have a lot of streamlining to do.' |
