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Strategies & Market Trends : VOLTAIRE'S PORCH-MODERATED -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dealer who wrote (9341)	10/23/2000 2:11:51 PM
From: Dealer	Respond to of 65232

INTC--PC stocks get good news October 23, 2000 08:30 AM PT by Stefani Lako Baldwin NEW YORK -- The PC sector got some good news today as two research firms said third-quarter PC shipments were strong overall and that 2001 looks like a strong year for sales. The findings come as the hardware and software sectors have been rocked by bad news from Intel (INTC: +1.62, 44.69), Apple (AAPL: +0.81, 20.31) and Dell (DELL: -0.38, 28.06) and by good news from Microsoft (MSFT: -1.56, 63.62) and Gateway (GTW: -1.42, 55.56). In other news, Seagate Technologies (SEG: -2.38, 76.56) and Veritas Software (VRTS: -4.94, 161.88) jumped over regulatory hurdles one week after settling a shareholder lawsuit. The plan to take Seagate private now awaits shareholder approval on Nov. 21. New PC data Two technology industry research firms found strong third-quarter PC shipments, while differing on the fourth-quarter outlook. IDC's survey found that third-quarter worldwide shipments increased 18.3 percent, while U.S. shipments had almost half the growth with 9.5 percent. IDC attributed the U.S. slowdown to a cooling in corporate demand. It sees consumer demand, however, driving up fourth-quarter shipments to 20 percent. IDC analysts remain optimistic about the fourth quarter, saying problems in the PC sector are vendor- and segment-specific. Dataquest, using a different data collection methodology, found that worldwide PC shipments rose 15.2 percent and forecast fourth-quarter growth at 18.6 percent, although it likely will lower that number to 16 percent. The study is a welcome addition to the debate on whether PC sales are slowing. It has been a rough two months for the PC sector as Intel, Apple and Dell warned they would not meet analysts' earnings estimates due to sales slowdowns. Intel did manage to meet pre-lowered forecasts, while Apple did not. Dell has not yet reported. Microsoft, on the other hand, reported stronger-than-expected earnings and Gateway met estimates. The mixed bag of trouble has hurt the stock prices of these companies as analysts and investors try to determine whether a slowdown existed in the past quarter and is hurting PC makers going forward. Both IDC and Dataquest, who differ on fourth-quarter growth, have favorable outlooks for 2001, when they expect faster PCs to attract more buyers and more companies to upgrade to Windows 2000. Individually Hewlett-Packard (HWP: +2.94, 98.94) led worldwide growth in the third quarter, seeing a rise of 40 percent, according to IDC. Compaq had a 13 percent increase and Dell an 18 percent increase. Domestically, Dell grew its PC shipments 22 percent, Compaq 18 percent and HP an eye-opening 47 percent, according to IDC. Gateway and Dell were the lone PC makers with their share prices trading down this morning. The rest of the stocks in the PC sector were enjoying modest gains. SEC assent to Seagate sale Veritas Software and Seagate Technology said this morning the SEC has approved its S-4 filing, removing any regulatory roadblocks to the proposed three-party sale of Seagate's operating assets to a group of private equity firms. The two companies last week settled a shareholder lawsuit acting as a barrier to plans to take Seagate private. Shareholders will vote on the plan at a stockholder meeting for both companies on Nov. 21. Early indices At about 11:10 a.m. EDT, the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 25.23, or 0.72 percent, to 3,508.37. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 97.30, or 0.95 percent, to 10,323.89.