RECAP & STOCKS TO WATCH FOR FRIDAY, 2-23-01
In a day best described as a “yo-yo,” the Nasdaq Composite ended in the red for a 4th straight session, and also turned the clock back to 1998. Bulls and bears fought a heated battle as the major indexes rallied back again and again during the seesaw session, but ultimately failed. Most tech sectors slipped again, with the few bright spots being the networking and hardware stocks.
The Nasdaq Composite slid another 23 points to close at 2,244, after testing levels not seen since December, 1998. Volume was a heavy 2.46 billion shares, with decliners beating advancers by 25 to 13. Blue chips held their ground as the Dow closed unchanged to finish at 10,526. Volume on the Big Board was 1.35 billion shares with decliners beating advancers by 19 to 11.
From a technical standpoint, the Nasdaq Composite has support at 2,200 and 2,185, Thursday’s intra-day low. The DJIA has support at 2,300, with resistance at 10,700. Support on the Semiconductor Index (SOX) stands at 600 with resistance at 650.
BEA Systems (BEAS): Reported Q4 earnings of $0.10 a share, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.09, vs year-ago earnings of $0.05. CEO Bill Coleman commented in the conference call that “Companies continued to build their e-businesses, resulting in increased revenue and pipeline, and improving our confidence in our ability to meet our goals for the first half of fiscal 2002, even in this challenging economic and IT spending environment.”
PUMATECH (PUMA): Reported Q2 loss of $0.09 a share, in line with the First Call consensus of ($0.09). Revenues rose 53.7%, to $11.31 mln from a year-ago of $7.36 mln.
Sun Microsystems (SUNW): On conference call, company said that Mar qtr revenues will be up 10-13% yr/yr and EPS will be $0.07-0.09 vs current consensus of $0.15 as US recession is impacting IT spending. The 10-13% yr/yr revenue guidance for the Mar qtr produces an estimate range of $4.41-4.53 bln, well below the consensus of $5.07 bln, and down 12-14% sequentially from the Dec qtr. Company also announced additional stock buyback of $1.5 bln as it believes stock is undervalued. Company hasn't offered guidance beyond Mar quarter, but its comments regarding the economic scene are quite pessimistic.
Stamps.com (STMP): Reported Q4 loss of $0.60 a share, $0.09 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.69). Revenues rose 1391.0% to $5.32 mln from a year-ago of $0.36 mln. For fiscal year 2001, Stamps.com is expecting revenues of approximately $23 mln. |
