EMC CEO: Goal Is To Beat Financial Forecasts For Year
EMC Corp. (EMC) Chief Executive Joe Tucci said Thursday the storage hardware and software maker's goal is to beat its stated financial targets for the year.
"Through 2003 and 2004 we have met or in most cases beat guidance we gave, and I would like to continue to do that," said Tucci during a presentation at the Goldman Sachs Technology Investment Symposium in Phoenix, which was also broadcast over the Internet. While EMC forecasted 16% growth this year, Tucci said the storage company will try to exceed that target.
In a wide ranging presentation, which was in the question and answer format, Tucci said EMC would not rule out making an acquisition larger, in terms of revenue, than the ones the company has done in the past. EMC's largest acquisition, noted Tucci, was its purchase of Legato Software, which had revenue of over $300 million.
Tucci did rule out doing anything close to a merger of equals. "Those are very painful. Those are the kinds I don't like," said Tucci, adding EMC is not interested in acquiring another $9 billion or $10 billion company.
Despite heated competition in the storage market, EMC isn't seeing any changes in pricing, he said. "So far this quarter we have not seen aggressive pricing," said Tucci, noting that pricing is "more or less" the same for the last few quarters.
Asked why EMC's move to undercut competitor Veritas Software Corp. (VRTS) prices has not resulted in a price war, Tucci said EMC isn't cutting pricing but is putting more muscle behind Legato, its unit that competes with Veritas.
As for component shortages of high-end fiber channel disk drives, Tucci said the company still has not gotten all the drives it has asked for. Tucci said he doesn't expect the shortages to persist in the third quarter, resulting in a better gross margin expansion opportunity in the second half of the year for EMC.
WSJ |
