3Com, Cabletron Among Cash-Rich Picks, Barron's Says (Update1)
By Stephen Farr
New York, Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- 3Com Corp. and Cabletron Systems Inc. are among the cash-rich technology companies whose shares may rise this year after plunging from their highs, Barron's said, citing fund managers.
3Com has net cash and investments of around $3 billion, or $8.70 a share, near its share price, Barron's said. That means investors are paying almost nothing for the company's networking business, the magazine said.
``There's virtually no downside from here,'' Alex Cutler, portfolio manager at Brandywine Asset Management, told Barron's. He says 3Com's new data-connection products are promising, as is Cabletron's Riverstone Networks division, which may go public this quarter.
Apple Computer Inc., disk-drive maker Maxtor Corp., and SONICblue Inc., a maker of MP3 players, also are cheap given their cash holdings, Peter Higgins, manager of the Dreyfus Mid-Cap Value fund, told Barron's.
``If you're willing to look out a year, you can make a lot of money,'' said Higgins, whose fund returned 27 percent last year.
Others with depressed shares and solid balance sheets, according to Barron's, are Adaptec Inc., BMC Software Inc., DoubleClick Inc., Electronics for Imaging Inc., National Semiconductor Corp., Novell Inc. and Viant Corp.
(Barron's 1/8 20) |
