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

To: hlpinout who wrote (88824)	1/12/2001 6:54:56 AM
From: hlpinout	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 97611

From Dow Jones. -- Makers of Large Computer Systems Expected to Post Higher Net Updated: Friday, January 12, 2001 12:49 AM ET Those results are expected despite the recent economic slowdown and a sharp downturn in personal-computer sales at Christmas. Still, "a sales slowdown to levels below expectations has hit all the companies very suddenly," says Jay P. Stevens of Buckingham Research. Indeed, Hewlett-Packard Co. (HWP, news, msgs) warned investors late yesterday to expect earnings of 35 cents to 40 cents a share in the first quarter ending Jan. 31, below previous guidance, because enterprise customers have become "increasingly cautious" about information-technology spending. A First Call/Thomson Financial survey of 17 analysts had predicted H-P would earn 42 cents a share in the first quarter. In a statement, H-P said it expects first-quarter revenue growth in the low to mid-single-digits, and "isn't counting on improvement" during the first half. For the technology group overall, Merrill Lynch says it now estimates 4% profit growth for the fourth quarter, down from a 29% growth expectation coming into the quarter. Meanwhile, sales growth is expected to be slow in the first half of this year, but many analysts see rising sales of large servers and computer services in the second half. International Business Machines Corp. (IBM, news, msgs), benefiting from shipment of a new mainframe line and new storage devices starting in December, is expected to show sharp earnings growth and solid sales growth, before reductions for currency adjustment. John Jones of Salomon Smith Barney estimates IBM's fourth-quarter earnings rose to $1.48 a share from $1.12 a share in the year-earlier period. That is slightly above the First Call consensus of $1.46 a share. Revenue grew 6.3% to $25.7 billion, he estimates. If the euro had been as strong in the latest quarter as it was a year ago, he says revenue would have risen almost 12%.