note- ASND just warned of lower earnings!!
Hi Steve, here's a post from tech option's.
To: Heg Heg (24355 )
From: Autumn Henry Sep 28 1997 10:24PM EST
Reply #24361 of 24453
OH, OH......ASND.....Mont. Conf. gossip from the street.com:
Top Stories: Montgomery Conference: Ascend Can't Summon Cheering Words, and Stock Dips
By Kevin Petrie and Cory Johnson
Staff Reporters
9/26/97 2:07 PM ET
"Lack of visibility" is a big complaint about Ascend (ASND:Nasdaq) these days. But when investors get a peek, they don't much like what they see.
Executives parted the curtains slightly at the Montgomery conference on Friday morning. They indicated that Ascend's crucial MAX TNT upgrade will not ship in Europe until the fourth quarter, which marks a significant delay from original plans. (The product began shipping in other areas in mid-July.) One money manager attending the conference believes the product might be flawed, and that Ascend's powerful customer UUNet might run to the competition.
Negative noise has batted Ascend's stock before, and attendees at the presentation apparently were not bolting for the door with the word "sell" on their lips. But a glance at the tape would indicate that Friday's message made a clean cut. The meeting began at 11:30 a.m. EDT. Shares of Ascend dropped from 37 1/16 at 11:30 -- roughly even with Thursday's closing price -- to 36 1/4 by 12:30; earlier in the morning they had traded higher. The shares have since recovered slightly.
One attendee was disconcerted that CEO Mory Ejabat did not appear at the meeting as originally scheduled; his office said that due to "traveling conflicts" he sent Vice President Bernie Schneider instead.
"You know how this crowd is," says Nancy Casey, general partner with Valhalla Capital Management. "They weren't sure that Ejabat was going to be here, but when they saw that he couldn't even make the 40-minute drive -- that was enough reason to sell." In the breakout session (which the press is banned from) Casey said that Schneider seemed uneasy.
"He didn't say much," she said, "but people here know that he's usually so glib, you just didn't get a good sense about it."
Ascend has been buffeted in recent weeks by nagging concerns about heightened price competition, soft reception of new products and delays in the standardization of new 56k modem technology. The heavily traded stock has lost 32% since July 31. Some investors intend to buy big when they spot a bottom; many others find the cloud of questions very disconcerting.
Just a few weeks ago, Pat Adams, portfolio manager of the Berger 100 fund, had been bullish on Ascend and looking for an opportunity to buy more shares. Now he says he has been selling his Ascend position, which totaled 550,000 shares earlier this month. Ascend is widely expected to preannounce disappointing earnings for the current quarter, Adams says. He says people worry that Ascend's key MAX TNT device is fundamentally flawed, and that UUNet wants a better product or it will shop elsewhere.
Equity analysts also have cut their outlook for Ascend, which builds remote access products to link corporations and consumers to the Internet. A First Call survey of estimates for the third quarter ending Sept. 30 has edged from 36 cents per share six weeks ago to 31 cents per share this week, ....
Autumn
Steve- i am watching ASND and hope to buy when it upturns.
good luck, ag |
