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Technology Stocks : Global Crossing - GX (formerly GBLX) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jopawa who wrote (9113)	11/17/2000 8:36:13 AM
From: TechMkt	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 15615

Global Crossing Follows Other Telecoms Dn, Hits 2-Yr L DJN: =DJ Global Crossing Follows Other Telecoms Dn, Hits 2-Yr Low By Christine Nuzum Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES (This item was originally published late Thursday.) NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Bettering analysts' expectations Monday has done little to help Global Crossing Ltd. (GX) stock, which has set a two-year low for the second day running. Global Crossing shares fell as much as 10% Thursday to a nadir of $14.88, one day after they set a two-year low of $15.81. Shares finished the day at $15.50, down 6%. In an interview, Chief Financial Officer Dan Cohrs cited three possible reasons for the decline: negative sentiment that has recently surrounded the telecommunications industry, false rumors on the Internet alleging accounting irregularities and a bearish call Tuesday from a Lehman Brothers analyst. Cohrs said "there is no truth whatsoever" to rumors of accounting irregularities that appeared on Internet message boards earlier this week. "First of all these rumors about accounting irregularities start every time our short interest gets high enough," he said. As of Oct. 13, Global Crossing had a short interest of roughly 47 million shares - the second-highest on the Nasdaq. "There are not even any accounting issues that could be misunderstood or misinterpreted," he said. "We've done so many financings that we have been in constant review by the SEC virtually since we went public. "These rumors are particularly vicious in markets like this where people are very, very nervous and their portfolios are down," he added. Monday, Global Crossing posted a third-quarter loss of 65 cents a share, 14 cents narrower than the Wall Street consensus view compiled by First Call/Thomson Financial. The only blemish on the quarter, analysts said, was the company's commercial services revenue, which rose a modest 7% compared with the year-ago quarter. "That's not good enough for a company that wants to be an Internet infrastructure company," said Patrick Comack, an analyst with Guzman & Co. Global Crossing's commercial services business is seen as increasingly important to the company's growth, especially in light of eroding revenue in the consumer long-distance business that has plagued the telecommunications industry as a whole. Those troubles have helped reel in the stocks and business plans of two of the nation's top residential long-distance providers - AT&T Corp. (T) and WorldCom Inc. (WCOM). Both recently announced breakup plans to separate the lagging residential arenas from more rapidly growing businesses. And the stocks of both companies touched multi-year lows in the last week. Although consumer long-distance accounts for only 4% of Global Crossing's revenue, Cohrs, along with some analysts, senses that the company is being unfairly lumped with other telecommunications companies with more traditional revenue bases. However, Comack of Guzman & Co. thinks that professional investors separate Global Crossing from its more consumer-focused peers. Tuesday, Lehman Brothers analyst Daniel Fletcher cut his 12-month price target and his estimates for Global Crossing. He slashed his $50 12-month price target to $28, and adjusted his loss estimate for 2001 to $2.80 a share from $2.15. Cohrs noted that Fletcher's previous loss estimate was far more optimistic than the Wall Street consensus number. Comack concurred that Fletcher's note was scaring investors. Also, Comack thinks some investors may be worried that Global Crossing will soon face competition in a market it now dominates - the wholesale data transport business.