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Technology Stocks : JDS Uniphase (JDSU) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dalin who wrote (13151)	10/20/2000 1:07:17 PM
From: Jim Lamb	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 24042

Strong earnings light up fiber-optic stocks (UPDATE: In U.S. dollars unless noted.) By Susan Taylor OTTAWA, Oct. 20 (Reuters) - Shares in fiber-optic suppliers lit up on Friday, sparked by market-beating financial results from SDL Inc. (NasdaqNM:SDLI - news) and Corvis Corp. (NasdaqNM:CORV - news) that underscored torrid demand for products that make optical networks carry more information, faster. ``SDL reported fantastic numbers yesterday -- certainly I would say that is a major catalyst for the whole sector as SDL is one of the bigger players in this space,'' said Dave Kang, analyst at ABN Amro who covers optical components. ``Plus, this sector got beaten up so much over the last month or so that we're just seeing a little bit of rebound.'' Accompanied by analyst upgrades, laser maker SDL led net gainers on Nasdaq on Friday, adding $43-7/8 to $333, an increase of more than 15 percent. SDL, an acquisition target of JDS Uniphase Corp. (Toronto:JDU.TO - news), posted earnings of 45 cents a share on Thursday, well above the First Call/Thomson Financial consensus estimate of 38 cents per share. Credit Suisse First Boston analyst James Parmelee lifted his fourth-quarter estimate for SDL to 49 cents a share from 44 cents after the results. For 2001, he raised his outlook to $2.50 from $2.00. ABN Amro increased its earnings estimate for 2000 to $1.51 per share from $1.35 and for 2001 to $2.51 from $1.97. Revenue estimates were also raised for 2000 to $498.0 million from $484.7 million and revenues in 2001 lifted to $1 billion from an earlier forecast of $821.4 million. ``SDL put up pretty good numbers and their acquisitions are tracking to plan,'' said Christian Koch, senior technology analyst at Atlanta-based Trusco Capital Management, which oversees $30 billion in assets. ``And the market is infatuated with optical networking companies.'' Trusco includes fiber-optics maker Corning Inc. (NYSE:GLW - news), which was up $8-8/16 to $103-11/16, in its portfolio. SDL also told analysts on Thursday that the majority of documents in a second request for information about its takeover by JDS have been submitted to the U.S. Justice Department. Canada's JDS Uniphase, the world's No. 1 maker of fiber-optic components and modules, and SDL are confident the deal will close by the end of December. JDS Uniphase shares also found favour on Friday, in advance of what is expected to be a robust round of first-quarter tech results. The average estimate from 27 analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial is JDS will post a profit of 16 cents a share when it reports its earnings on October 26 Kang, who expects JDS earnings of 16 cents per share and revenues of $755 million, said the results will play a key role in whether the rally continues. ``Is this sustainable? That really depends on how JDS Uniphase comes out,'' Kang said. ``I do expect strong numbers...JDS Uniphase certainly is a bellwether company in this space.'' Shares in JDS led gains on the Toronto Stock Exchange with a C$14.50 increase to C$151.30. On Nasdaq, the stock added $10-5/16 to $100-1/4. The spillover extended to optical equipment supplier Ciena Corp. (NasdaqNM:CIEN - news), which added $9-59/64 to $149-13/16. Corvis, which has developed an all-optical switch, enjoyed a second day of market gains after reporting third-quarter revenues on Thursday that beat analyst expectations by 186 percent. The stock added $8-9/64 to $67-3/4 on Friday, after gaining about 12.5 percent on Thursday. The company, which made its stock market debut in July, posted revenues of $22.9 million, which blasted by the average estimate of $8 million in sales from 10 analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial. Corvis posted a loss of 7 cents a share versus expectations of a loss of 9 cents a share. Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Parmelee raised his 2000 sales forecast to $58 million from $33 million and for 2001 to $305 million from $260 million. The analyst also cut his 2000 forecast to a loss of 31 cents per share from 41 cents and for 2001 to 24 cents per share from 26 cents. ``Corvis's top-line outperformance was driven by the demand for next-generation all optical networking equipment,'' Parmelee wrote in a research report. ``We believe sales have the potential to double again during 2002.'' Optical chip makers also basked in the optical market glow with PMC-Sierra Inc. (NasdaqNM:PMCS - news) up $9-1/8 to $201-1/2 and TranSwitch Corp. (NasdaqNM:TXCC - news) added $1-4/16 to $68-3/8.