Bernstein analyst Paul Sagawa predicts the trough is in.
marketwatch.com
Sector split; big equipment makers up
By Jeffry Bartash, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 10:28 AM ET March 25, 2002
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - Telecommunications stocks divided in Monday action, as mild gains among large equipment makers were offset by declines in phone carriers.
On Monday, Bernstein analyst Paul Sagawa predicted that the trough in telecom-equipment spending is near and that spending will accelerate in the second half of 2002. Two years ago, Sagawa was the first Wall Street analyst to predict a slump in equipment spending.
Berstein said Lucent Technologies (LU: news, chart, profile) is best positioned to gain from the industry rebound. Shares added 1.7 percent to $4.67.
In recent trading, the American Stock Exchange's Networking Index, which represents large manufacturers, was up 1.4 percent.
Aside from Lucent, Nortel Networks (NT: news, chart, profile), Alcatel (ALA: news, chart, profile), Ciena (CIEN: news, chart, profile) and Juniper Networks (JNPR: news, chart, profile) all rose around 2 percent.
The Nasdaq Telecommunications Index, which tracks younger equipment manufacturers and phone carriers, slid 0.5 percent.
Ten of the top 20 stocks advanced. A 4 percent loss in Nextel Communications (NXTL: news, chart, profile) pulled the index lower.
Meanwhile, big phone stocks, as measured by Standard & Poor's Communications Services Index, slipped 0.1 percent.
In the phone sector, Verizon (VZ: news, chart, profile), SBC Communications, (SBC: news, chart, profile), Sprint (FON: news, chart, profile) and Qwest Communications (Q: news, chart, profile) resided in the black, while BellSouth (BLS: news, chart, profile), AT&T (T: news, chart, profile), WorldCom (WCOM: news, chart, profile) retreated.
WorldCom dropped 3 percent and MCI Group, its consumer long-distance arm, shrank 5 percent to head the decliners.
Elsewhere, wireless stocks were narrowly mixed.
Jeffry Bartash is a reporter for CBS.MarketWatch.com in Washington. |
