>>> Funny how one man's signal is another man's noise. They are saying just the
opposite on the BULL thread. <<<
I imagine that's investors wishing they sold a few weeks ago (90's). Anyone watching the trading volume (blks) should have a pretty good idea what's going on. I'm short 85.
DJ Wire:Micron Electronics Inc. shares surged Wednesday after
the company's newly installed chief executive, Joel Kocher, described his plans
for restructuring the computer maker's business.
Speaking at the PaineWebber Technology and Growth conference Tuesday
afternoon, Kocher said the the company hadn't taken advantage of the benefits
of selling directly to consumers in the past. But he said Micron is working to
become more like competitors Dell Computer Corp. (DELL) and Gateway Inc. (GTW)
by reducing the company's inventory and improving its sales and marketing
efforts.
Unlike Dell and Gateway, Micron, two-thirds owned by chip maker Micron
Technology Inc. (MU), has stumbled lately in exploiting the direct-to-consumer
sales model. Dell's sales have grown at an average annual rate of more than
50%, while Micron grew at 11% from 1996 to 1997. That is in contrast to
Micron's performance a year earlier, when net sales grew 76.5%.
Kocher, a former Dell executive, was named chief executive of Micron
Electronics in January. He said when he arrived, the company held about 30 days
of inventory. In contrast, Dell typically turns its inventory over every 7
days.
Since then, Micron Electronics has reduced the time it holds its inventory,
although he declined to say by how much. He said his company now was within
"hailing distance" of Gateway and Dell's inventory performance.
He also said Micron Electronics had scrapped earlier plans to try and win
corporate clients. That opportunity has likely passed for Micron, he explained,
so the company will focus on consumers, small businesses and home-office users.
Micron also had a problem in pricing its computers, Kocher said. But the
company is working to cut the amount it spends on components like chips and
disk drives, and recently lowered its desktop computer prices by as much as
17%.
Kocher's comments didn't result in any changes in analysts' opinions on the
stock, according to First Call. But investors were cheered by his comments: In
midday trading, the stock (MUEI) was up $1.938, or 19%, to $12.438 on heavy
volume of 2.1 million shares compared with average daily volume of 815,612
shares. |
