Dow Jones Newswires -- July 30, 2001
Dow Jones Newswires
Wireless Facilities Up 17%; Sales Seen Picking Up In 2H
By Victoria Marcinkowski
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK -- Two wireless stocks swam against the downward tide of wireless communications
companies Monday, but for two separate reasons.
While the Dow Jones Equity Index of wireless communication stocks was among the leading indexes
down in Monday trading - dropping 10 points, or 3% - shares of Wireless Facilities Inc. (WFII) and
SpectraLink Corp. (SLNK) rose.
Wireless Facilities shares rose 17% after Wachovia Securities on Monday started coverage of the San
Diego company with a "cautiously bullish neutral" rating on the stock.
The Wachovia analyst, Kip A. Rupp, said he expects the company's business to pick up in the second
half of this year.
"As of today, it's a tough market for wireless," Rupp said, "but we are hearing that (wireless) carriers
are going to start to pick up activity in the second half of the year - and Wireless Facilities is
well-positioned to take advantage of that."
Officials from Wireless Facilities, which manages wireless networks for telecommunications carriers,
could not be reached for comment.
Separately, shares of SpectraLink jumped 8% on what one analyst said was the result of some
institutional investors stepping in to buy the stock.
"Someone is definitely taking a large position in this stock," said Michael Coady, analyst with Sidoti &
Co, adding that SpectraLink reported "great results and outlook" in the second quarter.
The stock has risen about 47% since the in-building wireless telephone maker reported second-quarter
earnings of $2.1 million, or 11 cents a share, beating analysts' estimates by a penny, on July 19.
"We had very strong revenue and earnings growth in a market that hasn't seen that for a while," said
Bob Husted, a SpectraLink spokesman.
Shares of the Boulder, Colo., company recently traded at $17.60, up $1.45, or 9% on volume of
506,000, compared with average daily volume of 203,000.
Shares of Wireless Facilities recently changed hands at $7.65, up $1.15, or 17%, on volume of 1.3
million shares compared with average daily volume of 531,000.
"cautiously bullish neutral" rating on the stock they should close the bank down with ratings like cbn.. |
