Wireless Facilities Rises After Joining Gilder List
--From AOL. So this is how the Gilder story is being spun.--
Cooters
San Diego, Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Wireless Facilities Inc. shares rose as much as 16 percent after technology analyst George Gilder added the builder and manager of wireless networks to his widely followed list of recommended stocks.
The shares rose 9 3/8 to 74 in midafternoon trading, and earlier reached 75. They had climbed 34 percent since Aug. 10 amid speculation that the San Diego-based company would join the list.
Gilder heads Gilder Technology Group, a research company in Housatonic, Massachusetts. In his monthly report, released today, Gilder wrote that Wireless Facilities has a ``hugely growing backlog of projects'' and ``is situated at the heart of the wireless new world.''
``If he's talking about (Wireless Facilities) becoming a global leader in wireless, then I agree with him,'' said Dirk Godsey, a Chase H&Q analyst who hadn't read the report. He rates the shares ``strong buy'' and predicts they will reach 100 in six to 12 months.
Gilder's report was devoted mostly to the wireless standard known as code-division multiple access, or CDMA, developed by Qualcomm Inc. While Gilder said he thinks CDMA is superior to rival standards, ``the picture is grim'' for it in some areas.
In China, for example, some 45 million cellular phones use the global system mobile standard, or GSM, the report said. About 1 million use CDMA. Yet Gilder wrote that CDMA will win out because it's a superior technology, a conclusion questioned by Chase H&Q analyst Ed Snyder.
``He ignores the business plan and doesn't pay attention to anything else other than the technology,'' Snyder said. ``You can't pick stocks like that.''
Qualcomm shares fell 5/8 to 56. They've declined 68 percent this year.
Qualcomm warned last month that shipments of its semiconductors used in CDMA cell phones could decline 20 percent this quarter because of plunging demand in South Korea, the San Diego-based company's biggest market.
Aug/23/2000 14:47 ET |
