My last post and I'm off.
The Near Term PC Outlook Does Not Compute For Investors
Nightly Business Report, Monday, March 01, 1999 at 21:12
SUSIE GHARIB: The NASDAQ rose today despite a sell off in computer and semi-
conductor stocks. As Scott Gurvey reports, investors are still worried that
demand for personal computers is slowing down.
SCOTT GURVEY, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Stocks of personal
computer makers took a beating as investors paused to evaluate conflicting
reports on the near-term outlook for the sector. Compaq (NYSE:CPQ) touched off the
decline by telling analysts Friday that sales in the current quarter may be
weaker than expected. Compaq is not alone.
KEVIN McCARTHY, TECHNOLOGY ANALYST, DONALDSON LUFKIN JENRETTE:
Compaq has talked about slower sales. Dell Computer (NASDAQ:DELL) missed their
revenue line for their January quarter. Gateway (NYSE:GTW) had a good start to the
year, but now experiencing some softness in February. So it looks across the
board right now, most PC companies are seeing slower growth.
GURVEY: While Compaq stock took a big hit, the other major PC makers were not
so badly affected. That may be because investors face considerable debate
among analysts on the reasons for the sales slowdown. Some fear a cyclical
slowdown is beginning in American and European economies. Others say this is
only a seasonal first quarter slowdown that is traditional for the PC
industry. And then there are those who cite Intel's latest processor, the
Pentium 3, which just hit the stores this weekend. Some buying may be delayed
while purchasers evaluate the new models. Prospects of lower sales put
pressure on Intel in today's trading, but Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD), which
has been successfully competing with Intel in the low-end market, gained.
DAN SCOVEL, SEMICONDUCTOR ANALYST, FAHNSTOCK & CO: We're seeing the rise of
the low-end box. And now we're seeing the rise say, application appliances,
Internet appliances. You know, we used to say, sub-$1,000 PCs. Well, now we're
seeing $500 and $600 PCs.
GURVEY: The year 2000 problem is also adding to the uncertainty in this
sector. Some believe there will be a spurt in computer sales as people rush to
get Y2K-compliant hardware online. Others believe people will be so busy
fixing software bugs, they will not want to put it any hardware at the same
time. Scott Gurvey, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, New York.
Nightly Business Report transcripts are available on-line post-broadcast. The
program is transcribed by
FDCH. Updates may be posted at a later date.
The views of our guests and commentators are their own and do not necessarily
represent the views of Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc.
Nightly Business Report, or WPBT.
Information presented on Nightly Business Report is not and should not be
considered as investment advice.
(c)1999 Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc.
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