Sam, the "official" explanation of today's tech bloodbath.
For Personal Use Only
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quote.yahoo.com
Friday February 26, 10:44 am Eastern Time
PC maker stocks hit as analysts see Q1
shortfall
NEW YORK, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Shares of personal computer
makers tumbled on Friday after two Wall Street brokerages cut
their first quarter earnings estimates on Compaq Computer Corp.
(NYSE:CPQ - news), the top personal computer maker.
Merrill Lynch analyst Steve Milunovich slashed his first quarter earnings estimate on Compaq to 30
cents a share from 35 cents, while Mike Kwatinetz, of brokerage CS First Boston, dropped his
quarterly projection to 31 cents a share from 36 cents. No further details were immediately available
from either analyst.
Compaq stock fell $6 to $35 in composite U.S. stock exchange trading. Gateway Inc. (NYSE:GTW
- news) dropped $6.44 to $73.69, while Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HWP - news) fell $2.94 to
$68.25, both in composite trading.
Dell Computer Corp. (Nasdaq:DELL - news) lost $3.50 to $79.25, continuing its slide from
Thursday, when it gave up $1.50 in active trading, after Merrill's analyst warned that long-term
industry growth rates may be hurt by tumbling PC prices.
Kwatinetz said in a research note that he cut his earnings, revenue, and gross profit margin
expectations after learning from Compaq that January sales were below the company's goals both in
the United States and Europe. Weakening demand among its network of PC distributors may be a
factor, he said.
He wrote that ''Since Compaq appears to have had a shortfall in January, the question arises: 'How
is the industry doing?' In retrospect, Dell and HP's slight revenue shortfalls may have been more of an
industry issue than we previously believed.''
More Quotes
and News:
Compaq Computer Corp (NYSE:CPQ - news)
Dell Computer Corp (Nasdaq:DELL - news)
Gateway 2000 Inc (NYSE:GTW - news)
Hewlett-Packard Co (NYSE:HWP - news)
Related News Categories: US Market News
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Copyright © 1999 Reuters Limited.
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See quote.yahoo.com
for a nice picture of how high tech is reacting to this "earnings news".
Regards,
Larry
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