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Microcap & Penny Stocks : Globalstar Telecommunications Limited GSAT -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rocket Scientist who wrote (11581)	4/7/2000 7:42:00 PM
From: leo_bloom	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29987

More bad press after the closing bell: From CBS Marketwatch: <Circling Globalstar There's a lot of anxiety these days with investors of Globalstar Telecommunications (GSTRF: news, msgs), the would-be pioneer of global satellite phone service. Just a few months after the company launched service, sales of phones and the addition of new subscribers are moving slowly. By itself, that's no cause for alarm. But in the wake of the spectacular failure of the very first global satellite phone carrier, the $5 billion Iridium service, investors and analysts are scrutinizing every detail for clues to whether Globalstar is going to succeed. After surpassing the $45 mark at the start of 1999, Globalstar's stock had slide all the way down to $10, highlighting the jitteriness. Shares closed Friday up 1/8 to 13 9/16, 70 percent below its year-to-date 52-week high. William Kidd of C.E. Unterberg Towbin, who's monitored the progress of Globalstar, says demand for its phones has been less than expected, according to a survey of the carrier's partners. In Italy, for example, Globalstar distributor Elsacom sold 1,100 handsets in December alone, but in the three months since then it's sold just 400 more, Kidd notes. More worrisome, he said, was the level of minutes used -- less than 20 a month. If that level is indicative of what other countries operating on the GSM wireless standard are experiencing, "there is clearly a problem." Kidd had been expecting a level twice that amount. Based on the information he's culled from Globalstar partners, Kidd estimates the company will end the first quarter with 3,000 to 5,000 customers, about 788,00 billable minutes of use and $370,000 in revenue. Despite the slow start, Kidd says distributors remain optimistic Globalstar will succeed, but that it will take longer than expected. The company is not starved for cash, it has a good distribution system in place and generally has tried to avoid all the errors that sank Iridium. While wireless phone networks have raced across the planet at an unexpected pace, Globalstar executives point out that hundreds of millions of people still lack adequate phone service. Satellite can provide it. One potential cautionary sign: service providers in the Globalstar's markets around the world seemed "less comfortable today discussing sales results than they have been in the past," Kidd notes. He remains "neutral" on the stock.> Any thoughts on Kidd's research? Leo