Merrill Analyst Says Compaq May Beat His Views For 4Q
12/13 9:53 AM (DJ)
Story 3885 (CPQ)
By Donna Fuscaldo
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Merrill Lynch analyst Steven Fortuna said Thursday that Compaq Computer Corp. (CPQ) is tracking to meet or beat his forecasts for the December quarter.
The analyst, who expects Compaq to post a loss of four cents a share, a penny higher than the consensus for a loss of three cents a share, said Compaq's consumer business appears to be experiencing "nearly normal seasonality."
But given the uncertain environment and three weeks left in the fourth quarter, Fortuna maintained his neutral rating on the stock.
In the case of revenue, the analyst said Compaq will likely report $7.62 billion in the fourth quarter, at the low end of the company's target for sales between $7.6 billion and $7.8 billion.
While the Merrill analyst said Compaq is seeing a "positive seasonal uptick in Europe," although pricing is very aggressive, there are little indications that U.S. corporate demand for computers have improved.
"There is also some concern that the company will not see any of the typical year-end kicker form corporate budgets that need to be used up," he wrote.
Shares of Compaq were recently trading down 3%, or 29 cents, at $9.50 on volume of 2 million shares. Average daily volume is 19.3 million shares.
-By Donna Fuscaldo, Dow Jones Newswires; 201 -938 -5253; donna.fuscaldo@dowjones.com
(END) DOW JONES NEWS 12 -13 -01
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