Scott McNealy continues to gather my respect for candidness,and not being a spin-meister <<CEO: Sun Can Ride Out 2-3 Year 'Storm'
Oct 31 7:21pm ET
MENLO PARK, Calif. (Reuters) - Sun Microsystems Inc Chief Executive Scott McNealy said on Wednesday the network computer maker could survive through years of economic turmoil and that the outlook for the recessionary economy was still unclear.
"We've got $6 billion in cash, no debt. Short of a multi-billion dollar embezzlement, I think we are in pretty good shape to ride out, you know, a two or three year economic storm," he said.
"We're dealing with a recession that was there before Sept. 11, McNealy added. "We're going to see more effects of the continuing recession."
Earlier on Wednesday, Sun vice president of finance Steve McGowan said that orders were tracking higher this quarter than the previous one. But McNealy noted that McGowan had been referring only to the first month of the quarter, and that most of the quarter's business was done in the final two months.
"Eighty percent of the quarter is typically done in the second two months, so (McGowan) was very cautionary about drawing any conclusions, and apparently the market has run away with it," McNealy said.>> end quote--- |
