TSTN handily exceeds expectations:
Turnstone's 3rd-Qtr Profit Rises 12-Fold on Higher DSL Sales
Santa Clara, California, Oct. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Turnstone Systems Inc., a maker of telecommunications equipment, said third- quarter profit rose 12-fold on higher sales of gear used to deliver high-speed Internet connections on phone lines.
Net income surged to $12.8 million, or 19 cents a share, from $1 million, or 2 cents, a year ago, the company said in a statement distributed by PRNewswire. The Santa Clara, California- based company was expected to earn 15 cents, the average estimate of six analysts surveyed by First Call/Thomson Financial. Sales rose sixfold to $56.2 million from $9.0 million.
Turnstone is benefiting from demand for digital subscriber line services, which can move data over ordinary phone lines at speeds more than 100 times faster than dial-up modems. Phone companies use Turnstone's equipment to install, test and monitor DSL connections from remote locations, lowering the costs of delivering the service to customers.
``Not a blowout quarter, but a good quarter,'' said Kaufman Bros. analyst Barry Sine, who rates Turnstone an ``accumulate.'' ``These guys have been in the habit of exceeding estimates by quite a bit more.''
Turnstone's shares fell 75 cents to $37.63 on the Nasdaq Stock Market, then rose to $38.56 in electronic trading after the results were released. They've fallen 65 percent since their July 12 high of $107. The company sold shares to the public for the first time in January at $14.50 each, adjusted for a stock split.
DSL equipment stocks have tumbled in recent months amid investors' concerns that big phone companies are struggling to hook up the service fast enough and some smaller carriers' financial woes have limited the amount of gear they can buy.
(Teleconference number: (212) 346-6404. The call is scheduled Oct. 17 at 5 p.m. EDT. Reservation number: 16487926. The call also will be available over the Web, www.turnstone.com, by clicking on ``live Webcast.'')
Oct/17/2000 16:46 ET |
