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Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Skywatcher who wrote (29779)	11/19/1999 4:57:00 PM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Respond to of 50167

FWIW.. Another LU in making.. Market gives Agilent an 'A' By Nicole Koffey NEW YORK. 4:50 PM EST-As if beating its earnings estimates weren't enough, Hewlett-Packard (nyse: HWP) is causing quite a stir in the market today with its spinoff, Agilent Technologies (nyse: A). By midday it was clear the stock markets were giving Agilent an A grade; its stock was trading around $42 after hitting a high of $47. It opened at $45 this morning, after pricing last night at $30. As a testament to the overwhelming demand for its stock, Agilent decided last night to raise its price range to $26 to $28, up from $19 to $22. Agilent also decided to raise its float to 65 million shares from 57 million. "It comes as no big surprise," says Steven Tuen at IPO Value Monitor. "The stock has a proven track record and has been consistently profitable." Another thing driving this stock is its all-star distribution team. The lead underwriters are Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and Goldman Sachs Group. The colead managers on the deal are Credit Suisse First Boston, Merrill Lynch,Salomon Smith Barney, Bear Stearns, J.P. Morgan, Lehman Brothers and SG Cowen. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based spinoff of HP makes hardware used for testing and measurement services for major telecom companies. The company also manufactures testing and measurement equipment used in health care and chemical analysis. "It's a hot sector right now," said Ken Fleming of Renaissance Capital. "Agilent is providing an essential service to a number of burgeoning telecom companies." Agilent boasts a noteworthy client list, including the likes of AT&T (nyse: T), Cisco Systems (nasdaq: CSCO) and Lucent Technologies (nyse: LU). The decision to float Agilent is part of HP's strategy to focus more on technology and hardware. "It's interesting that HP's choosing to spin off a subsidiary that operates in its old core competency," Tuen said. "It's really a sign of the times." Despite its market success, others are less generous with a grade. One thing that could work against this stock is its rather diverse business portfolio. "Agilent's involvement in chemical and health care analysis makes for somewhat odd business diversification. It's difficult to see the added value from those sectors," said Jeff Hirschkorn of IPO.com. Skeptics also point out that the company has failed to produce revenue growth despite being profitable. For the six months ended in April, Agilent reported sales of $3.8 billion compared with $4 billion in the same period of 1998. "The company experienced a very finite period of flat revenue growth, which occurred as a result of the collapse of the Asian markets," said Fleming. "I expect Agilent's revenue growth to accelerate quickly." It is reflected in the latest quarterly report. Yesterday, Agilent reported that total net revenue for fiscal fourth quarter ended Oct. 31 was $2.4 billion, up 23% compared with the same period last year. Net earnings for the quarter were $146 million compared with a net loss of $51 million during the same period in 1998.