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Strategies & Market Trends : Market Gems:Stocks w/Strong Earnings and High Tech. Rank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kimberly Lee who wrote (63215)	9/25/1999 7:22:00 PM
From: kendall harmon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 120523

NDC-still more on this one from the atlanta journal constitution <<An earnings report that missed Wall Street's expectations by 1 cent triggered a slide that took 26 percent off National Data's stock (ticker symbol NDC) Friday. The shares closed at $25.12 1/2, down $8.81 1/4, on 2.9 million shares, 16 times the average daily volume. At one point Friday, the stock traded as low as $24. National Data traded as high as $55.25 in February. "We're surprised by Wall Street's reaction," said Betty Feezor, vice president for investor relations. She cited the market's early slide Friday and general weakness in the health care sector as possible contributors. The company thought the earnings news was positive, Feezor said, with growth in line with National Data's expectation and "very strong" earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Some analysts saw it differently. "We are lowering our rating on NDC from 'buy' to 'long-term buy' on the heels of continued weakness in the company's health care business," J.P. Morgan analyst Raimundo C. Archibold Jr. wrote in a research note Friday. He also cut his earnings per share estimate for fiscal 2000 by 2 cents to $2.28 a share. The earnings announcement was made after the market closed Thursday. After the market closed Friday, National Data said it would buy up to 2 million more shares in a repurchase program. That would be in addition to a 500,000-share repurchase plan announced in October 1998. "In light of the current price level of NDC stock, we believe this program represents an attractive investment," Chief Executive Officer Robert A. Yellowlees said in a statement. Yellowlees is also chairman of the company, which processes electronic health care claims and provides electronic commerce services. Its headquarters is just off I-85, south of Clairmont Road in Atlanta. The company reported net income of $18.9 million, or 53 cents per share, in its fiscal fourth quarter. The Wall Street consensus estimate was 54 cents a share. National Data earned $16.3 million, or 47 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue was $204.1 million in the latest quarter against $191.7 million a year earlier.>> accessatlanta.com