Robertson Stephens Tech 2001 kickoff
By August Cole, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 7:00 AM ET Feb 11, 2001
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) - Against a backdrop of widespread layoffs, plunging stocks and Alan Greenspan's semi-annual economic report to Congress, the biggest technology conference of the year will begin in San Francisco on Monday.
The four-day Robertson Stephens Tech 2001 conference will be a chance for technology companies to show their best side to Wall Street, analysts and media, after almost a year of sharp declines in their stock market values.
How economies are reacting to a slowing economy is important, said John Rohal, director of global research at Robertson Stephens. More so, he added, companies that aren't experiencing growth problems need to be able to tell why, whether it's their position or products. In some cases, he said, early-stage technologies in development aren't impacted as often by budget cuts.
Ultimately, though, the company presentations are deliberate expressions of a company's message, positive or negative.
"I think the companies have become pretty sophisticated and wear a much better poker face than before," said Rohal. And in part the full-disclosure regulations from the SEC mandate this, and a flood of obligatory press releases as well.
In particular, Rohal said he's keeping a close eye on network equipment companies and also products tied to consumer demand like personal computers and mobile phones.
For investors though, the conference is a chance to check under the hood and to take a look at the landscape, scarred as it is by reduced profit outlooks and diminished expectations.
Fundamentals like business models and growth rates will be at the fore of company presentations, said Craig Braemer, portfolio manager at Highmark Growth Fund (HMRGX: news, msgs) . Still, it's not likely to be a map to lost treasures.
"I can't say we're looking for a ton of information coming out of the conference," said Braemer.
On Monday: Cisco (CSCO: news, msgs) , WorldCom (WCOM: news, msgs) , Micron Technology (MU: news, msgs) , Intel Corp. (which just presented at the Banc of America conference also in San Francisco) (INTC: news, msgs) , Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM: news, msgs) , among others will present.
Among the companies presenting Tuesday: Microsoft (MSFT: news, msgs) . This comes two weeks before the company is set to begin oral arguments in its landmark antitrust case. See full story. As well, Oracle (ORCL: news, msgs) , CMGI (CMGI: news, msgs) , Sun Microsystems (SUNW: news, msgs) and recently merged AOL Time-Warner (AOL: news, msgs) will give briefings.
On Wednesday, watch out for Nortel (NT: news, msgs) , Corning Inc. (GLW: news, msgs) , Applied Materials (AMAT: news, msgs) , Adobe (ADBE: news, msgs) and EMC Corp. (EMC: news, msgs)
On the conference's closing day, Thursday, IBM (IBM: news, msgs) , Broadcom (BRCM: news, msgs) , CNet (CNET: news, msgs) and Network Associates (NETA: news, msgs) will present, among others. |
