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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: FNS who wrote (91648)	1/11/2001 5:11:39 PM
From: Ruffian	Respond to of 152472

HP Cuts Forecasts, Blames Economy SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Computer and printer maker Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HWP - news) on Thursday warned its earnings for its fiscal quarter ending this month would fall short of Wall Street expectations, citing a tough economic environment and weak buying by consumers and businesses. The warning was just the latest in a slew of cautions from technology companies such as Compaq Computer Corp. (NYSE:CPQ - news), Apple Computer Inc. (NasdaqNM:AAPL - news), and Intel Corp. (NasdaqNM:INTC - news). It was swiftly followed by a surprise early report of lower-than-expected earnings by computer seller Gateway Inc. (NYSE:GTW - news) Hewlett-Packard cut its first fiscal quarter earnings per share target to 35-40 cents, compared to the 42 cents expected by a Wall Street consensus reported by First Call/Thomson Financial. ``We believe conservative growth assumptions are appropriate near-term. Therefore our revenue guidance for Q1 is in the low- to mid-single-digits and we're not counting on improvement during the first half of our fiscal year ending April 30,'' Chief Executive Officer Carly Fiorina said in a statement on Thursday. Fiorina said the company expected its gross margins to come in at the low end of the 27.5 to 28.5 percent range it had previously provided, with expense growth in line with revenue growth. ``Given rapidly changing market conditions and increasing economic uncertainty, at home and abroad, we're refraining from providing an update to full-year guidance at this time,'' she said. Palo Alto, Calif.-based Hewlett-Packard had said in November that it was comfortable with the consensus forecast, which was then 44 cents per share. Fiorina said the company had based those assumptions on a so-called soft landing for the economy, with a slowdown in spending by consumers but continued strength in corporate information technology spending. ``It's clear there's been a significant change in market conditions in recent weeks,'' Fiorina said. ``Consumer spending in the U.S. has been below even our own conservative estimates and our enterprise customers -- responding to the growing economic uncertainty -- have become increasingly cautious about IT (information technology) spending.''