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Technology Stocks : JDS Uniphase (JDSU) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hank Stamper who wrote (19481)	3/15/2001 2:12:35 PM
From: Tunica Albuginea	Respond to of 24042

Shares of Ciena rebound, boosted by upbeat outlook biz.yahoo.com Thursday March 15, 10:52 am Eastern Time NEW YORK, March 15 (Reuters) - Shares of Ciena Corp. (NasdaqNM:CIEN - news) jumped 9 percent on Thursday, recovering some losses seen earlier in the week after the fast-growing optical networking equipment maker told analysts that it has not been hurt by the slowing economy. Shares of Ciena, a Linthicum, Md., maker of equipment that increases the capacity of fiber-optic telecom networks, gained $5 to $58-3/8 in heavy morning trading on Nasdaq. The stock had fallen about 20 percent earlier this week and is down 15 percent over the past year amid a broad sell-off in technology stocks. Shares of communications equipment makers have been hurt by concerns that telephone companies, Internet service providers and other customers will cut their purchases due to softness in the economy. But on Wednesday, Ciena provided a bullish overview of its business operations and market opportunities. Analysts said that was a positive contrast to more cautious comments made recently by rivals such as Cisco Systems Inc. (NasdaqNM:CSCO - news) and Tellabs Inc. (NasdaqNM:TLAB - news). Fiber-optic powerhouses JDS Uniphase Corp. (Toronto:JDU.TO - news)(NasdaqNM:JDSU - news) and Nortel Networks Corp. (NYSE:NT - news)(Toronto:NT.TO - news) have cut forecasts and warned of slowing demand. ``We always seem to be the contrarian,'' Ciena Chief Financial Officer Joseph Chinnici told analysts and investors Wednesday at the Merrill Lynch Global Communications Investor Conference. ``Basically, visibility is as good as it always was,'' Chinnici said. ``...At this point in time, we've not had any surprises.'' He said the company's growth outlook remains unchanged. Ciena last month raised its earnings outlook for the year ending in October to between 73 cents and 75 cents a share. At the time, analysts had estimated a 66-cent profit, according to First Call/Thomson Financial. The company projected full-year revenues of $1.67 billion to $1.76 billion, compared with analysts' consensus estimates at the time of $1.53 billion. ``We have a pretty good relationship with almost every major customer out there,'' Chinnici said on Wednesday. Ciena now has about 44 customers, he said, some of which have not yet been publicly disclosed. The company said its main rival is Nortel Networks, and competition from Lucent Technologies, the struggling telecommunications equipment maker, has eased significantly. When asked about competition, Chinnici said Nortel was ``a very strong competitor. We respect them. We watch them night and day. But we don't see Lucent as much as we used to.'' The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Ciena had won several sales wins over Nortel and penetrated some of the Canadian rival's core accounts. Ciena President Gary Smith told Reuters in February that the company's networks are much lower capital cost, much lower operating cost and easier to operate than those of competitors. ``In a more constrained capital environment, the carriers are looking very carefully into how they're going to spend their dollars,'' Smith had said at the time. Others in the fiber optic networking market also got a boost on Thursday as investors snatched up depressed stocks. JDS Uniphase rose 5/8, or 2.5 percent, to $25-3/16. Sycamore Networks Inc. (NasdaqNM:SCMR - news) gained 7/16, or 3.5 percent, to $12-13/16. Corning Inc. (NYSE:GLW - news) rose 72 cents, or 3 percent, to $24.70. ``It's simply from oversold conditions,'' said Dreyfus Fund portfolio manager Tim Ghriskey. ``It's a group move. People are looking at valuations and stocks are coming back. It's a good thing.''