Michael, >The recent rally in Microsoft Corp.'s shares could be short-lived because of
signs the company's Office 2000 software package has not been selling as well as expected, the Wall Street
Journal reported in its ``Heard on the Street'' column. While the company wouldn't talk about Windows 2000
sales, analysts said businesses are now spending more on specialized Internet software than on big operating
system platforms such as Windows 2000 -- a change that already hurt shares of software makers Computer
Associates International Inc. and BMC International Corp. The future of Microsoft's shares will also depend on the
success of its new Microsoft.NET product line of Internet-based software, the paper said.
Shares of Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, have regained 29 percent of their value since the
government's antitrust suit drove them to 61 7/16 on May 26, their lowest level since Nov 20, 1998.
(WSJ 7/12 Interactive Edition)
Jul/12/2000 7:05 ET Tony, Below has to be Mike Murphys inside info. If earnings affected, could this be a problem for intc,csco,lsi etc??
Do you mean below instead of above re Murph?
I don't know about W2K sales, except that I had been reading that sales of it were good. We'll find out July 18, after the market when Microsoft reports (same day as Intel). Sure, if Microsoft were to disappoint, it would hit the techs for a while, unless Intel has a great Q. I don't know how Gates and Ballmer want to spin the earnings or 2H prospects this time, with the gummint action. They probably don't want to blow the roof off the sucker, but OTOH, their employees undoubtedly would like the stock to go up for purposes of their options. Gates and Ballmer have to want that also.
We'll see.
Tony |
