CNN: "Lucent, America's most widely held stock, hit 15 consecutive
quarterly home runs, beating profits estimates. But this last quarter, the streak
ended and Lucent missed its target. So, what lies ahead?" Rich McGinn,
Lucent chairman and CEO: "We set really audacious goals for ourselves,
challenged ourselves to grow rapidly to take share in a fast-growing
marketplace. In 1999, we took six points of share even though we are the
largest in the industry." CNN: "The world's largest telecom equipment maker
competes in the hottest areas of communications battling Nortel in optical
networking and circuit switches, Cisco in data networking, Texas Instruments
in communications chips and Ericsson in wireless. Lucent is the most widely
held stock in America. Even though the company's roots date back to the
first phone, Lucent acts more like a young growth stock than an old- line
industrial. By the end of last year, its stock had jumped more than nine-fold
since AT&T spun it off in 1996. But Lucent's luster suddenly dimmed in the
new millennium. Among Lucent's recent mistakes, it underestimated demand
for fiber-optic equipment, losing some customers to Nortel. Lucent's
solution?" Pat Russo, executive vice president and CEO, Service Provider
Business: "We have ramped up capacity in our factories, particularly in the
optical area. We'll triple capacity this quarter and double it again next
quarter." CNN: "Despite the recent setbacks, Lucent is not stepping back.
The company forecasts sales, will grow by about 17 percent this year, which
would beat the industry average. Lucent insists sales in optical and wireless
technologies are not coming at the expense of traditional equipment sales
thanks to acquisitions and new products from its Bell Labs. And as for
Lucent stock, McGinn vows to win back investor confidence. He doesn't
want to let down 4 1/2 million shareholders."
repost from RB..... |
