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Technology Stocks : Compaq -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: johnd who wrote (87621)	12/7/2000 4:18:17 PM
From: PCSS	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 97611

INTC HALTED in AHT duck Michael

To: johnd who wrote (87621)	12/7/2000 4:48:40 PM
From: tonyt	Respond to of 97611

>is compaq expected to announce revenue, earnings shortfall? No. It's MSFT that is expected to miss rev's & eps (per GS) [...And INTC just warned "Intel warned late Thursday that fourth-quarter revenue will be flat or possibly below the $8.7 billion the company reported in the third quarter."] Microsoft falls after Goldman lowers estimates (UPDATE: updates with Microsoft comments, Lehman revisions) LOS ANGELES, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) shares fell nearly 7 percent to their lowest level in nearly two months on Thursday after one of Wall Street's most influential voices on the world's top software maker cut his earnings and sales estimates due to lower personal computer demand. The stock fell $3-7/8 to $52-13/16, nearing its 12-month low of $48-7/16, which it hit in mid-October. With trading volume at nearly 70 million shares, Microsoft was the most active issue on the Nasdaq. Goldman Sachs' Rick Sherlund, who has been following the Redmond, Wash.-based company since it went public, said in a report that personal computer software sales were likely to slump for the second quarter, which ends on Dec. 31. Sherlund cut his fiscal 2001 earnings estimate by 3 cents a share to $1.88. That's a couple of cents below the company's October guidance and 3 cents lower than the analysts' $1.91 consensus estimate compiled by research firm First Call/Thomson Financial. Sherlund also trimmed his quarterly revenue estimate by $125 million to between $6.775 billion to $6.8 billion and lowered his third and fourth quarter estimates. He kept his market perform rating on Microsoft. Microsoft responded to the influential analyst. ``Microsoft has not updated their guidance since the last earnings call,'' said spokeswoman Caroline Boren, "and we understand that Rick (Sherlund) adjusted revenues down based on what he saw in the consumer PC market. ``While consumer PC demand is important,'' she said, ``Microsoft's business is much more heavily tilted towards business computing.'' When Microsoft reported its fiscal first-quarter earnings in October, Chief Financial Officer John Connors said he expected second-quarter revenues and operating earnings per share to rise in the low teens in percentage terms from a year earlier. Connors said revenues for Microsoft's full fiscal year should climb in the mid-teens, while earnings per share would be ``a couple pennies higher'' than earlier forecasts of $1.88. ``We haven't changed our numbers,'' said Scott McAdams, president of Seattle-based brokerage McAdams Wright Ragen. ``This company has pockets of weakness and pockets of strength.'' McAdams noted that recent concerns over lackluster personal computer sales were not likely to affect Microsoft's earnings, given its diverse businesses. Later Thursday, Lehman Brothers said it lowered its fiscal year outlook for Microsoft, citing lower worldwide spending on information technology. Analyst Michael Stanek cut his earnings-per-share estimate to $1.88 from $1.91 and reduced his revenue forecast by $630 million to $25.9 billion for fiscal 2001. Microsoft shares have fallen by about 65 percent from record high levels at the end of last year, largely as a result of its antitrust fight with the U.S. government.