Cisco's revenues beat the whisper numbers, and then they guided down 3-4%. OK fine, so how does that compare to what the estimates actually were for next qtr? I say flat to up. The problem is after 3 years of no spending we know this can't go on forever and if you want proof of how that can rally a stock all you have to look to is intel (who's business is even DEADER than cisco).
fwiw from gartner
According to Al Case, senior vice president at Gartner, "the draconian budget cuts of the past two years have flattened while demand continues to build." This natural economic phenomenon will create a gap between IT budgets and IT demand for the next six to 12 months."
Mark Loehr, CEO of SoundView Technology Group, explains that "while 2003 is not likely to be a watershed year for spending, the increase in demand for technology products suggests the likelihood of a spending increase by the second half of the year. If a spending delay does occur throughout 2003, then 2004 will be a significant spending year."
The survey also identifies certain IT product areas that will likely experience better growth in 2003. Those areas include application integration and development, storage, network hardware, Linux servers, as well as desktop and portable computers. |
