Thursday January 24, 7:55 am Eastern Time
EMC posts Q4 net loss as sales tumble
HOPKINTON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - EMC Corp. (NYSE:EMC - news), the world's largest
maker of data-storage systems, on Thursday reported its second consecutive quarterly net
loss on sales that were cut 42 percent amid a pricing war with International Business
Machines Corp.
EMC said it posted a net loss of $70 million, or 3 cents a diluted share,
for the fourth quarter that ended Dec. 31, compared with net income of
$562.8 million, or 25 cents a diluted share, in the year-ago quarter.
EMC's net loss was smaller than Wall Street estimates. Analysts were
looking for EMC to lose 4 cents to 10 cents a share, with a consensus
loss estimate of 7 cents a share, according to Thomson Financial/First
Call.
EMC Chief Executive Joe Tucci said the firm finished 2001 with
momentum after a dismal third quarter when the company posted its first
net loss in a dozen years. But some analysts worried that EMC had to cut
prices sharply in the fourth quarter to remain competitive.
The company's gross margin, as a percentage of revenue was 36.9 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with 59.2 percent
in the year-ago period.
EMC's key storage systems revenue tumbled to $842 million, down from $1.8 billion in the year-ago quarter. Software sales,
which many see as EMC's future, dropped to $352 million from a year-ago level of $483 million.
EMC's total consolidated revenue tumbled to $1.51 billion, down from $2.62 billion in the year-ago period.
EMC's stock closed down $0.07, or 0.48 percent, to $14.56 Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. Its shares are
down 82 percent in the past year.
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