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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SpudFarmer who wrote (66181)	2/7/2000 3:55:00 PM
From: Ruffian	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

Cisco Seen Reporting Higher 2nd-Qtr Profit on Telecom Sales San Jose, California, Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Cisco Systems Inc., the world's No. 1 maker of Internet equipment, will report higher fiscal second-quarter profit tomorrow on rising sales to telecommunications companies, analysts said. Profit excluding acquisition expenses rose to 23 cents a share from 18 cents a year ago, according to analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial. Cisco has said it will take an acquisition-related charge of about a penny a share in the period ended Jan. 29. A year earlier, the company had net income of 8 cents a share. Analysts expect a 41 percent rise in sales to $4.02 billion from $2.85 billion. Cisco has said second-quarter sales growth in its biggest business won't match the 30 percent pace of previous quarters as government agencies and large companies delayed purchases to test equipment for the Year 2000 date change. Sales to smaller businesses and telecommunications-service providers will rise at a faster clip because they weren't affected by the Y2K slowdown. ''They'll be very, very strong'' in the telecommunications area, said Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Paul Sagawa, who rates Cisco an ''outperform.'' Shares of San Jose, California-based Cisco rose 2 to 123 1/8 at midday after touching a record 124 3/4. The shares have more than doubled in the last 12 months as Cisco sold equipment and software to handle the explosion in Internet users and electronic commerce. The company's market value of $424 billion ranks third worldwide to Microsoft Corp. at $547 billion and General Electric Co. at $455 billion. In November, Cisco passed No. 1 chipmaker Intel Corp. to become the most valuable company in California's Silicon Valley, home to many computer-related companies. Several analysts said Cisco might announce a stock split tomorrow. It last split its shares 2 for 1 in June, the eighth split since it sold shares to the public in February 1990. CEO's Caution Chief Executive John Chambers said in November that sales to corporations, government agencies and educational institutions, which account for half of the company's revenue, would be ''flat to down'' in the fiscal second quarter from the first quarter. Sales to those so-called enterprise customers had been rising about 30 percent a year. Cisco has told analysts to expect that enterprise sales rose 20 percent to 25 percent in the second quarter from the year-earlier period, said Tucker Anthony Cleary Gull analyst Christin Armacost, who rates Cisco a ''strong buy.'' Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Paul Weinstein estimates that sales to telecommunications companies rose at least 80 percent, the same pace as in recent quarters. Analysts' earnings forecasts range from 21 cents to 25 cents a share. Cisco usually beats the First Call average estimate by a penny. 'Encouraging' Reports One thing that bodes well for Cisco is that some rivals have given ''encouraging'' earnings reports for the quarter that ended in December, Armacost said. Nortel Networks Corp., the world's No. 3 networking-equipment company, last month said fourth-quarter profit from operations rose on increased sales of its fiber-optic equipment to handle data traffic. Several network-gear makers that were founded just a few years ago, including Juniper Networks Inc. and Foundry Networks Inc., reported surging sales and earnings in the period. Cisco was also helped by a ''very healthy backlog'' of orders, analyst Sagawa said. During the quarter, Cisco completed its $7.15 billion purchase of startup fiber-optic equipment maker Cerent Corp. and agreed to buy an optical-equipment unit of Italy's Pirelli SpA for $2.15 billion. Cerent may have had its first profitable quarter, CS First Boston analyst Weinstein said. It lost $15 million on sales of $36 million in the three months ended Oct. 30; Weinstein estimates sales of Cerent's product rose to $60 million to $70 million in Cisco's fiscal second quarter, making its profitability ''logical.'' Cisco said it will take a charge of as much as 1 cent a share for the November purchase of closely held Tasmania Network Systems Inc., a maker of software that speeds data transmission. In the year-earlier quarter, Cisco had net income of $282 million after charges totaling about $327 million, or 10 cents a share, related to four acquisitions. Feb/07/2000 12:34 For more stories from Bloomberg News, click here. (C) Copyright 2000 Bloomberg L.P.

To: SpudFarmer who wrote (66181)	2/7/2000 3:58:00 PM
From: SpudFarmer	Respond to of 152472

Another Q-uestion: Who would want to buy a company that even has earnings, excellent growth, even better future prospects, and who's technology is taking over its' industry? Especially when there are so many companies that don't fit these Q-ualifications whose stock is rocking. Oh, and don't forget, there's always the 'guaranteed' 6-something% bill, bond, etc... Don't look this way to see the stock price tumble. Although, I'm still salivating for a lower price. Q rocks, don't like 'safe', never will...