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To: kas1 who wrote (4054)	8/17/2000 3:23:41 AM
From: Uncle Frank	Respond to of 10934

>> Sure seems that way -- or perhaps NTAP's quarterly profit is more predictable than that of other tech companies. They run the company in a Cisco-like manner. The seeming predictability is based on ntap updating the analysts on a regular basis so they can modify their expectations. If you look at the changes in the consensus for FY01 on the Zacks report, you'll see how it works. biz.yahoo.com uf

To: kas1 who wrote (4054)	8/17/2000 6:07:55 AM
From: DownSouth	Respond to of 10934

NTAP does two things: 1) manages the analysts expectations; 2) manages its backlog. So it is not deferring earnings, except in delaying shipments if the revenue is not needed at the end of each quarter. That is what they did Q4 when they reached 120%. Then they shipped those orders Q1, which helped make the 124% number, but also caused the book/bill ratio to be less than 1. It is not "downplaying excessively good results"; it is setting the street's expectations and keeping a close look at performance on a daily basis so that good results are not a surprise. CSCO accomplishes this by being able to perform a trial close in less than 2 hours. They don't have to wait until the quarter is over to know what the quarter is likely to look like--to the penny! I'll betcha NTAP can do the same thing.