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Technology Stocks : Son of SAN - Storage Networking Technologies -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Douglas Nordgren who wrote (1421)	8/12/1999 4:42:00 PM
From: trendmastr	Respond to of 4808

Brocade Communications Reports Record Revenues and Earnings for Third Quarter Of Fiscal 1999 SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (BROCADE(R)) (Nasdaq: BRCD), a leading supplier of Fibre Channel fabric solutions for Storage Area Networking, reported net revenues for the third quarter of fiscal 1999 (Q399) ended July 31, 1999 of $20.1 million, a 339 percent increase over $4.6 million reported for the same quarter in fiscal 1998. Net income was $1.6 million in Q399, a $9.7 million increase over the net loss of $8.1 million reported for the same period a year ago. Net income per share was $0.06 per share compared with net loss of $0.46 per share for the third quarter of fiscal 1998. All per share amounts are computed on a pro forma diluted basis, which assumes conversion of the convertible preferred stock (using the if-converted method) from the original date of issuance. During the quarter, the Company generated $6.9 million of cash from operations, reduced its short- and long-term debt by $4.0 million and purchased $800,000 of capital equipment. In addition, on May 24, 1999, BROCADE completed its initial public offering of its common stock, which raised approximately $65.1 million. Total cash and short-term investments at July 31, 1999 were $76.3 million. Accounts receivable days sales outstanding decreased by 27 percent from Q299 to a total of 52 days at the end of Q399. Inventory declined $130,000 from Q299 and represents approximately 24 days of sales on hand (annualized turns of 15 times per year). During the quarter, deferred revenue increased to $6.6 million from the $3.9 million reported at the end of Q299. The deferred revenue balance at the end of Q399 consists principally of revenue associated with the shipments of BROCADE's new SilkWorm(R) 2000 family of products that were made during Q399. This revenue will be recognized as BROCADE's OEM partners launch their solutions that incorporate the BROCADE SilkWorm 2000 family of products. BROCADE also announced that Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, the lead underwriter for BROCADE's initial public offering, which was effective on May 24, 1999, has agreed to an early release of the underwriters' lock-up restrictions on up to 2.3 million shares of BROCADE's common stock. Shares will be available for sale no earlier than Wednesday, August 18, 1999. "We are very pleased with BROCADE's third quarter results," commented Greg Reyes, BROCADE president and CEO. "The quarter had three fundamental hallmarks: outstanding execution, a continuation of our string of major OEM account wins, and the announcement of our SilkWorm 2000 family of fabric switches. "The BROCADE family of Fibre Channel fabric switches offers the fundamental building blocks for Storage Area Networks (SANs). SANs allow companies to migrate storage from a monolithic data center to an open, networked model for storage. BROCADE's leading Fibre Channel fabric switches enable any-to-any connectivity of networked servers and storage devices," concluded Reyes. BROCADE has recently signed OEM agreements with Groupe Bull, IBM, and NEC. With these announcements, thirteen of the industry's major systems and storage vendors have selected BROCADE as their supplier of Fibre Channel fabric switches, including CNT, CLARiiON, Compaq Computer, Data General, Dell Computer, Groupe Bull, IBM, McDATA Corporation, NEC, Network Appliance, Sequent, Siemens Computer Systems, and StorageTek. This quarter BROCADE also announced the SilkWorm 2000 family, the next generation of its fabric switch solutions. This product line is now generally available and in volume production. The SilkWorm 2000 family introduces three new Fibre Channel switches to the market: the SilkWorm 2100, 2400 and 2800 models, which incorporate the latest advancements in Fibre Channel fabric technology and software. SilkWorm 2100 is the industry's first Fibre Channel Loop switch that, through a software upgrade, provides a simple migration path from an arbitrated loop-based storage environment to a fabric-based SAN. There has been strong acceptance of the SilkWorm 2000 product family. All of BROCADE's OEM customers currently selling the SilkWorm 1000 product line have indicated their intention to launch the new SilkWorm 2000 family. In addition, during the quarter, the Company's first generation of the SilkWorm product family was named the outstanding product of 1999 by Network Magazine. This news release contains forward-looking statements based on current expectations that involve risks and uncertainties. BROCADE's actual results may differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such a difference include risks surrounding the development of the emerging market for Storage Area Networks and for SAN switching products, the timely development, production and acceptance of new products and services, and BROCADE's ability to compete in a highly competitive and rapidly changing marketplace. These and other risks are detailed in BROCADE's prospectus dated May 24, 1999, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. BROCADE assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this press release. Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (BROCADE) is the leader in open, standards-based Fibre Channel fabric switches for Storage Area Networking. News and information are available at www.brocade.com. Financial Results Below Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. Balance Sheets (in thousands) July 31, Oct. 31, 1999 1998 (unaudited) Assets Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $10,360 $10,420 Short-term investments 65,976 -- Total cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments 76,336 10,420 Accounts receivable, net 11,269 3,430 Inventories 2,628 1,744 Prepaid expenses and other 1,623 220 Total current assets 91,856 15,814 Property and equipment, net 5,454 5,323 Other assets 115 164 Total assets $97,425 $21,301 Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity (Deficit) Current liabilities: Accounts payable $6,950 $3,247 Accrued liabilities 6,617 3,061 Deferred revenue 6,591 543 Current portion of capital lease obligations 540 784 Current portion of debt -- 1,231 Borrowings under line of credit -- 1,672 Total current liabilities 20,698 10,538 Long-term liabilities: Long-term portion of capital lease obligations 121 478 Long-term portion of debt -- 1,731 Redeemable convertible preferred stock -- 35,261 Warrants to purchase redeemable convertible preferred stock -- 648 Total long-term liabilities 121 38,118 Shareholders' equity (deficit): Common stock 116,702 2,225 Warrants 60 -- Deferred stock compensation (3,720) (300) Notes receivable from shareholders (6,530) (450) Accumulated deficit (29,906) (28,830) Total shareholders' equity (deficit) 76,606 (27,355) Total liabilities and shareholders' equity $97,425 $21,301 Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. Statements of Operations (in thousands, except per share data) Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended July 31, July 31, July 31, July 31, 1999 1998 1999 1998 (unaudited) (unaudited)(unaudited) (unaudited) Net revenues $20,051 $4,569 $38,598 $18,839 Cost of revenues 9,921 4,351 18,679 12,720 Gross margin 10,130 218 19,919 6,119 50.5% 4.8% 51.6% 32.5% Operating expenses: Research and development 4,148 5,016 9,782 11,311 Sales and marketing 3,691 1,444 7,777 3,820 General and administrative 1,000 1,979 2,415 3,242 Amortization of deferred stock compensation 280 -- 1,657 -- Total operating expenses 9,119 8,439 21,631 18,373 Income (loss) from operations 1,011 (8,221) (1,712) (12,254) Interest income, net 633 114 669 277 Income (loss) before income taxes 1,644 (8,107) (1,043) (11,977) Provision for income taxes 33 -- 33 -- Net income (loss) $1,611 $(8,107) $(1,076) $(11,977) Pro forma net income (loss) per share $0.06 $(0.46) $(0.05) $(0.70) Shares used in the calculation of pro forma net income (loss) per share 27,507 17,636 20,312 17,189 NOTE: BROCADE, SilkWorm, SilkWorm Express, Fabric Integrator, FABRIC OS, and FABRIC 2000 are trademarks or registered trademarks of Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. in the United States and/or in other countries. All other brands, products, or service names are or may be trademarks or service marks of, and are used to identify, products or services of their respective owners. SOURCE Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. CO: Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. ST: California IN: CPR SU: ERN 08/12/99 16:21 EDT prnewswire.com ------ Ê

To: Douglas Nordgren who wrote (1421)	8/13/1999 12:57:00 AM
From: David A. Lethe	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 4808

I also went to the LinuxWorld show, but to be fair, it isn't a hardware show, and the lack of FC disk subsystems was to be expected.

To: Douglas Nordgren who wrote (1421)	9/12/1999 7:00:00 PM
From: J Fieb	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 4808

Hi Douglas, You still out there...... EDS is at the Nov. FCTC..... Issues Roundtable Topic: What Should Users Expect from a SAN - And at What Price? Organizer: Mark Brownstein, Computer Technology Review Panelists: Barry Burke, Mercury Computer Systems Al Lounsbury, EDS Systemhouse Doug Fierro, EMC Kevin Liebl, MTI Technologies Brian Reed, Vixel Bill North, Veritas Software Eric Burgener, ConvergeNet Tracy Crowe, JNI George Mele, Tivoli Systems New EDS look. They sold their HDS, who they gonna call? EDS sees progress in turnaround, starts ad blitz By Eric Auchard NEW YORK, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Electronic Data Systems Corp. (NYSE:EDS - news), the hobbled No. 2 computer services provider, plans to spend as much on advertising during the rest of 1999 as it did over the past decade, betting that a revival-in-progress under new management is making headway, executives said. Raising the profile of the pioneering computer services firm, which was founded in 1962 by Ross Perot, its former chief turned U.S. Presidential candidate, is vital to boosting the number of contract competitions where the company, second to IBM, is invited to bid for new business. EDS was kicking off a humorous, sometimes even mocking, print and electronic media advertising campaign Sunday, under the catchphrase ``EDSolved' that plays on people's fears of being left behind by the speed of change in the Internet Age. ``We have been too low too long,' Richard Brown, EDS chairman and chief executive, said at press briefing Friday as he unveiled the campaign. ``It's time we get the word out (about) what we do and what we have been doing,' he said. The marketing campaign follows last week's announcement of plans to streamline its corporate organization by restructuring its 90 to 100 existing business units into four businesses. These units include A. T. Kearney, its business consulting arm, E.Solutions, its recently created Internet business unit; Business Process Management, its customer services and claims processing business; and Information Solutions, its centralized outsourcing business, which manages customer mainframe data. Brown, who joined EDS in early 1999 from Britain's Cable & Wireless Plc (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: CW.L), has set out to reignite the company after several years of sluggish performance, laying out higher growth goals, while paring its work force and hiring new management. ``We'll give our sales and marketing team the air cover they need,' Brown said. He was referring to the need to raise the profile of EDS and get itself put on more shopping lists of potential customers looking to contract out their computer services work. EDS plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars advertising its brand, although officials declined to specify exact figures. The integrated media campaign was developed by Fallon McEilligott of Minneapolis. ``What we will spend from Sept. 12 through Q4 (fourth quarter 1999) is probably what this company has spent in the past decade,' said Don Uzzi, a successful consumer products marketer who joined EDS in August as its marketing chief. One new EDS print ad takes a dig at rival IBM's successful electronic business marketing slogan. The EDS ad notes the complexity of electronic business, adding that the ``e' in e-business encompasses a lot of ``possibilities for your company. And a whole lot of questions and problems and complications,' the text reads. ``That's where we come in. From a budding idea to managing the most complex systems,' the text of the ad runs. Computer services, a roughly $400 billion market, remains fragmented, with no single player holding greater than a 10 percent share, not even No. 1 ranked IBM (NYSE:IBM - news). This leaves EDS plenty of room to recover from its years of listless growth. The total services market could double to $800 billion in five years if the trend continues that companies rent hardware and software services, instead of trying to own and manage complex systems in-house, EDS officials believe. Investors are slowly regaining faith, as shares of EDS have doubled since Brown took over in January. Still, the stock remains almost exactly where it was three years ago, a time during which rival IBM's stock has multiplied 4-1/2 times. ``This is a stock that should be at $140 or $150 if the company had not let some opportunities slip away,' said Rick deNey, EDS's newly hired chief strategist, a former investment banker who led the revitalization of consumer products Borden. The frank-talking deNey is leading a planning process dubbed Project Breakaway that includes reorganizing EDS divisions to operate along more entrepreneurial business lines and to refocus the company into higher growth markets. Brown said EDS remains on track to meet earnings targets this year while focusing on reinvigorating its hiring and human resources practices. EDS is seeking to stabilize its growth by moving away from relying on a few key customers, such as U.S. automaker General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM - news), its former owner, which still accounts for a quarter of EDS revenues. In response to reporters' questions, Brown downplayed the failure so far to reach a final deal on a multi-billion dollar services pact it agreed to with telecommunications giant MCI WorldCom Inc. (Nasdaq:WCOM - news), saying there's a ``better than even chance it (the deal) may be signed' during this calendar year. ``We're going to have a record year .... (Even) without that contract, we're not changing our comfort zone with the consensus of $1.86,' Brown said, referring to EDS's commitment to Wall Street to meet a 1999 year earnings target of $1.86 per share. Content is.....BOSS Bulldog, Oracle and Sun in partnership deal The Bulldog Group, Oracle and Sun Microsystems are expected to announce today a partnership to develop asset management systems based on the companies' products that would appeal to large entertainment and broadcast clients, writes Carolyn Giardina. Dubbed Content BOSS, the aim is to provide clients with a joint approach to make it easier to find the right product and reduce risks. The companies also plan to team up for sales and marketing efforts including training and events. Bulldog chief executive Chris Strachan says the companies have been working together for about six months and that today's announcement represents "a more formal relationship". The technology may include Bulldog's latest version 2.4 content management software, Oracle8i and interMedia, and Sun's Storage Media Central. Sony Pictures Entertainment is currently implementing products from all three companies, although this pre-dates the agreement. "We are firmly committed to developing and implementing a digital asset management strategy and operating system at Sony Pictures," says Kenneth Williams, president of Sony Pictures Digital Studios.