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Technology Stocks : Compaq -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Elwood P. Dowd who wrote (71668)	11/12/1999 7:19:00 AM
From: rupert1	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 97611

El: You asked if Capellas is a wimp. I am reserving my judgement on him. I see nothing in his plans which was not authored by Rosen and his three-man committee. I am a bit uneasy about him. On the specific point about his not offering guidance on 4Q earnings - I notice in the attached report of the DELL CC it states that Michael Dell refused to give guidance on 4Q earnings, and that this was normal practice for DELL. ________________________________________________ Dell CFO says company will dodge Y2K slowdown Thu Nov 11 18:59:00 EST 1999 By Eric Auchard NEW YORK, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Dell Computer Corp. is oised to dodge the Year 2000 spending pause that has hit some rivals and its fourth-quarter growth outlook remains unchanged, the company's two top executives said on Thursday. The Round Rock, Tex.-based personal computer maker is focusing on high-growth business segments to offset any possible slowing among big corporate buyers, Dell Chief Financial Officer Thomas Meredith told Wall Street analysts in a conference call. "Our outlook has not changed," Meredith said in opening comments to analysts referring to the company's current fourth quarter ending in January 2000. He added that he still believed that the overall PC industry fourth-quarter demand is healthy. Looking beyond the fourth quarter, the Dell executive added that: "Our view going forward remains unchanged." "Our goal is not to have (possible Year 2000 spending weakness) change our growth outlook at all," Michael Dell, the company's chairman, chief executive and founder, said in response to a follow-up question from an analyst. "We don't see a real concern in terms of customer buying activity and we do see a healthy business," Dell added. The executives declined to offer specific revenue growth or earnings targets, as is their standard practice in such events. Analysts project the company will earn 21 cents per share compared with 15 cents per share in the fourth quarter ended in January 1999, according to First Call/Thomson Financial. Wall Street brokers forecast Dell revenues will continue to grow 40 percent a year, twice the normal industry rate. The conference call followed the company's third quarter financial report, which matched Wall Street's consensus expectation. Net income was 18 cents per share, excluding a previously disclosed 7 cent per share charge for an acquisition, compared with 14 cents in the year ago. During the quarter, Dell said his company extended its market share in the worldwide market for PC servers -- powerful computers used to run networks of other computers or Web sites. "We did finally overtake IBM and become the No. 2 global server provider" behind Compaq Computer Corp., Dell said. Wall Street analysts repeatedly asked the executives how Dell would remain immune from the spending pressures being felt by other computer makers, including International Business Machines Corp. , the world's largest maker of mainframes and also a big supplier of PCs. Some corporate customers, especially buyers of the powerful server computers used to manage big business operations, are expected to pause in buying new equipment around the New Year in order to fix older machines for potential Year 2000 software glitches. Dell contrasted his company's success with computer makers who sell many of their computers into central corporate data centers, such as IBM. "We are benefiting from the buildout of the dot.com world,"Dell said, noting the company's No. 1 market position and focus on the small business market is paying off here. "We are seeing some customers (hesitating)," Dell said of an apparent pause in spending by some corporate computer buyers ahead of the Year 2000. However, he merrily added that: "We see other customers accelerating their spending." Shares of Dell gained more than a point to around 44-7/8 in after-hours trading, up from its closing price of 43-7/16 in the regular Nasdaq stock market session. The third-quarter report and analyst call followed the regular session close. ((-- Eric Auchard, New York newsdesk, 212-859-1840)) REUTERS Rtr 18:59 11-11-99