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Technology Stocks : PALM - The rebirth of Palm Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: BobInBush who wrote (1554)	9/5/2000 8:50:25 PM
From: TechieGuy-alt	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 6784

There is no comparison between PALM and 3COM. 3COM has lost direction. They tried to compete with Cisco, in the business that had high margins, proprietery content, and that set the direction for the future. They lost so badly that they skunk out of there with their tail between their legs. First the edge was king and the PALM would be the center of it all. Then PALM was no longer the center- heck they decided that it was no longer a core business. Then Storage networks was the next big thing, 6 months later it wasn't! Now it's DSL. 3 years ago they paid 7(odd) billion $$'s for a consumer (low margin) business. Now they are looking to sell it. 3COM's management has no idea where they are going! PALM on the other hand, is growing at 100+ % YoY. They are beating back the toughest competitior in the business- MS! They have companies like Sony/Nokia lining up to license the OS. Valuing PALM by P/E at this stage would be a serious mistake. Never underestimate the potential valuation of a "Gorrilla" stock/company- one that is defining the direction of a whole industry. Especially an industry that is the next big growth thing. PALM has become an icon for products in their industry. Heck even Cisco does not have that status (as far as consumer brand recognition goes). Consumer brand recognition means a lot and PALM gets free mileage everytime someone writes about this industry or mentions a handheld. You want to compare PALM and 3COM. Go right ahead. I've made that mistake before and missed out on MS, CSCO etc. Not again. TG

To: BobInBush who wrote (1554)	9/5/2000 9:36:49 PM
From: David E. Taylor	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6784

BinB: Where do you get your "facts"? (1) COMS trailing 12 month revenues (including $1 billion from PALM) were $4.3 billion, EPS was $1.88. Forward 12 month revenues are estimated at around $3.4 billion, EPS will be negative (i.e. a loss). (2) PALM trailing 12 month revenues were $1 billion, EPS was $0.09/share. Forward 12 month revenues are estimated at around $2+ billion (100%+ growth rate), EPS will be higher than last year but estimates are all over the place due to spending on corporate infrastructure, brand building, and business segment expansion as fast as they can take it. So on revenues it wasn't 5-10%, not even close - more like 23% for last year and 37%+ if the two companies were still combined. P/E a concern? Not for me, not right now. I'm looking for them to hold decent market share in the face of the increasing competition, establish the PALM platform as the de facto standard, and grow their licensing, content and enterprise businesses as fast as they can. The "E" can come later, and it will if they can execute and manage the growth. David T.