Cool heads prevail.......conference call:
by: buybuy11
4/27/00 2:49 am
Msg: 30867 of 30870
PALO ALTO, Calif., April 26 (Reuters) - Shares of F5 Networks Inc <FFIV.O> fell sharply
Wednesday, one day after the company reported a generally strong earnings report, and some
analysts attributed the drop to confusion over the company's forward-looking statements.
F5, which makes equipment for Internet traffic and content management, reported a
second-quarter net profit on Tuesday that was in line with earnings estimates, and sales that
exceeded most forecasts.
However its stock lost more than 20 percent of its value on Wednesday, dropping 14-37/64 to
close at 44-1/8. Bob Lam, an analyst with Bear Stearns in New York, said he was pleased with the
numbers, and even increased his revenue forecasts based on guidance provided by the company
in a conference call.
But he said he suspected some investors inadvertently took the company's forecast for sequential
sales growth in the mid-teens to be downward guidance. "Actually, they were guiding their
estimates up," he said. |
