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Technology Stocks : Lucent Technologies (LU) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DHB who wrote (13929)	3/14/2000 2:47:00 PM
From: MikeM54321	Respond to of 21876

Thread- A few quotes out of LU via Merrill Lynch Global Telecom Investor Conference. -MikeM(From Florida) ********************* Lucent Sees 50% Growth in Optical Business 3/14/00- Lucent Technologies vice chairman Ben Verwaayen said that the company received a 'tough wake-up call' earlier this year when it missed shipments of some optical devices to customers. Speaking at the Merrill Lynch Global Telecom Investor Conference in New York City on Monday, Verwaayen said, 'we are better positioned today than we were two months ago to serve our customers? needs. We expect a 50% growth in the optical business this year.' Lucent's stock dropped following news that it would miss filling customer orders on its OC192 product. 'The lateness of that product had a domino effect on the other optical products, but we have caught up now and are at the level where we can go forward with increased production,' says Verwaayen. He adds that Lucent has boosted capacity, launched 17 new optical products and has increased its research and development efforts. The company is investing $1 billion per year in optical fiber research and development, Verwaayen says, noting that Lucent's true wave and all-wave optical businesses are expected to grow faster than the overall market, which is predicted to expand at a 25% to 30% rate this year. 'We will continue to invest in the hot technologies which are driving the convergence of voice, data and video,' says Verwaayen. Verwaayen says Lucent is targeting such growth areas as wireless, optical soft wire and microelectronics. He also notes that the company is focusing on the most profitable regions worldwide, including Asia/Pacific, Latin America and Europe. Lucent's global business is up 47% over the last fiscal year, and Verwaayen says that global customers account for one-third of the company's overall business**. Lucent's stock is up $0.75 to $69.19 in Tuesday morning trading. However, it's still off its 52-week high of $84.19. Meantime, on Monday Wit SoundView analyst Truc Do raised his rating on Lucent to buy from hold and set a price target of $90. The analyst also boosted the fiscal 2000 earnings-per-share (EPS) estimate to $1.37 from $1.34 and set a fiscal 2001 EPS forecast at $1.70. Bottom Line: Lucent looks ready to rebound to its old high.