Sun Shrs Dip After Co. Meets With Analysts
Sun Microsystems Inc.'s (SUNW) shares recovered somewhat after taking a 6-point dive
Wednesday morning. Executives from the company met in New York with analysts to give a
mid-quarter update, and analysts came away with differing opinions.
Market sources said a bearish call from SoundView Technology Group helped send the stock down,
but other firms made more positive pitches to their sales forces in late morning calls. SoundView
analyst Russ Crabs didn't immediately return calls for comment.
Laura Conigliaro, an analyst at Goldman Sachs, said she "walked out of the meeting feeling very
secure."
"I think (Sun's) management would generally describe the tone of their business as fine."
Sun shares were recently trading down 4 5/16, ir 4.3%, to 96 1/8.
Portfolio managers said there was little in this week's high-tech earnings reports to cause them to
change their strategies.
Nick Moore, a technology analyst for money managers Jurika & Voyles, said the good news from
Hewlett-Packard and Dell was that neither company 'complained about demand for PCs.'
Jeff Diecidue, portfolio manager at Unicom Capital, agreed, saying the PC industry growth rate
appears strong.
He expects big computer servers will help drive demand in 1999, as companies expand their Web
and intranet capabilities.
Moore said the technology sector overall has been in 'a bit of a correction for three weeks,' a
phenomenon he considers typical for this time of the year.
'That's really par for the seasonal course that we should have a tech pullback,' Moore said.
In afternoon trading, the Nasdaq Composite Index fell further, and many semiconductor companies
gave back their earlier gains.
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