lots of msft news ... great msft 157 !
Ascend Comm Inc. (ASND)
ASCEND COMM INC executives said on Tuesday they are "comfortable" with Wall Street's 1998 sales and EPS forecasts
for the networking equipment company. "We are comfortable with consensus earnings per share estimate of $0.25 for
the 1Q," Michael Ashby, Ascend CFO, said during a conference call with analysts. He also said the company is
comfortable with Wall Street's forecast of $1.16 for 1998. In the past two quarters, Ascend has seen its net income
drop because of the delayed shipments of new products and weak sales abroad. hile Ascend will face higher costs in
the first quarter when sales are seasonally weak, executives said they expect the company to get back on track in
coming quarters. (Reuters 05:59 PM ET 01/20/98)
Intel Corporation (INTC)
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)
BELL ATLANTIC CORP said it is in talks to join a consortium of computer industry heavyweights and Baby Bell
companies seeking to provide higher speed Internet access using regular telephone lines. As reported by the New York
Times on Tuesday, COMPAQ COMPUTER CORP , INTEL CORP and MICROSOFT CORP , have joined with four regional
Bell companies and GTE CORP to set new standards for digital subscriber line (DSL) technology. (Reuters 05:42 PM ET
01/21/98) For the full text story, see full story
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)
The Justice Department said that MICROSOFT CORP's continued court filings are interfering with attempts to resolve
issues in the government's case against the company. Microsoft has argued that it was unable to understand a court
order requiring it to sell its Windows 95 operating system without tying it to its Internet Explorer Web browser.
Microsoft argued in a filing earlier this month that the government has failed to clearly define how Windows 95 and
Internet Explorer -- which Microsoft says are fully integrated -- can be separated and said the government must
more clearly define Internet Explorer. The government said Microsoft should step aside and let a special adviser to
Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson resolve the issues. (Reuters 10:45 PM ET 01/20/98) For the full text story, see full story
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)
Bill Gates, chairman of MICROSOFT CORP, said he supported competition in the computer industry even as his
company stood accused of abusing its market-leading position. "We are the biggest believers in what competition can
do to drive this market forward," he said, noting that Microsoft had many software competitors that would gladly take
its place if it relaxed its guard. "Because of the way we support the Internet standard, because of the way we let
people build on Windows (software) without ever having to ask us and because of the way we evangelise it, we have
really harnessed competition to help ourselves and help our customers," he added. (Reuters 08:35 PM ET 01/20/98)
For the full text story, see full story
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)
MICROSOFT CORP is laying off about one-quarter of the current staff members at Sidewalk, its local arts and
entertainment online guides, but is expanding its presence to at least 40 more cities this year, a company executive
said. Managers at Sidewalk's existing 10 U.S. offices were holding meetings Tuesday to announce the elimination of
three to five full-time positions plus several contract workers in each city, Matt Kursh, Sidewalk business unit
manager, said in an interview. He said the cutbacks will leave each city office with about 10 full-time employees.
(Reuters 09:26 PM ET 01/20/98) For the full text story, see full story
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)
After market close, MICROSOFT CORP reported 2Q EPS of $0.85 vs $0.57 on revenues of $3.5 bln vs $2.6 bln last year.
Analysts' mean estimates were $0.82, according to First Call. (Reuters 04:34 PM ET 01/21/98) For the full text story,
see full story
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)
After market close, MICROSOFT CORP CFO Greg Maffei said the current economic crisis in Asia could have a "major"
impact on the company's business. "The big problem is Asia," Maffei said in an interview. "Asia could have a major
impact on our business over the next few quarters." He said Asia makes 1998's outlook "cloudy". (Reuters 05:24 PM ET
01/21/98)
Sun Microsystems Inc. (SUNW)
SUN MICROSYSTEMS INC. said it named Ed Zander, formerly president of Sun's computer business, as chief operating
officer in a reorganization that promoted three executives and formed an executive committee. Also joining Sun's
executive commmittee, with Zander, is Michael Lehman, Sun's vice president of corporate resources and chief financial
officer. Lehman will now also oversee finance, human resources, real estate and information resources. William
Raduchel, chief strategy officer, will also join the executive committe, and will be responsible for all corporate
development, long-term strategy and planning. (Reuters 01:56 PM ET 01/21/98) For the full text story, see full story
Dow Jones 30 Industrials (.INDU)
MARKET NEWS: U.S. stocks reeled on Wednesday after computer giant IBM said the Asian currency crisis eroded its
profits in the fourth quarter and could hit earnings going forward. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 79 points to
7794. The Dow opened in the red and immediately spilled lower -- down 136 points at its worst -- before recovering
some in late trade. The Nasdaq, weighted with tech stocks, held up well, slipping only two to 1588, or 0.14%. Declining
issues outnumbered advances by 17 to 11 on heavy NYSE volume of 629 million shares. The S&P 500 fell eight to 971.
The long bond was up 21/32 in late New York trading to yield 5.81%. The dollar slipped to 1.8195 marks and 127.06
yen. For the full text story, see full story
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