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To: GST who wrote (121446)	3/23/2001 6:53:31 PM
From: Mark Fowler	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 164684

I bought some Manu and Bgen today << No Itwo? I think the sector is close Gst. I'm watching the Q's and they're acting better.

To: GST who wrote (121446)	3/23/2001 10:12:05 PM
From: H James Morris	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

Gst, good luck on your manu trade. >NEW YORK, March 23 (Reuters) - With a flood of bad news pouring in from the software sector, Wall Street will be searching for some good news from business-to-business software vendor Manugistics Inc. (NASDAQ:MANU). Manugistics, which makes software that lets companies share their inventory and purchasing data with suppliers over the Web, earlier this month confirmed it would meet analyst expectations for its fourth-quarter earnings despite the U.S economic slowdown. The news goes against the tide in the software industry, where a host of vendors, lead by giant Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ:ORCL), have recently warned they would miss earnings expectations, citing a decrease in information technology spending. Wall Street analysts on average are expecting Manugistics to earn 5 cents per share in its fiscal fourth quarter, ended Feb. 28, compared with a loss of 2 cents per share a year earlier, according to research firm First Call/Thomson Financial. The Rockville, Md.-company, which is scheduled to announce results Monday, is seen reporting fourth-quarter revenues of $81.3 million compared with $43.7 million a year ago, according to First Call. SAVING BUSINESSES MONEY One of the reasons for Manugistics' success, said analysts, is that its software helps companies be more efficient in times of economic stress. "I think supply chain remains a higher priority than almost all the other enterprise applications," said Brendan Barnicle, an analyst with brokerage firm Pacific Crest Securities. "It's something that really helps drive savings on the bottom line by helping companies run much tighter supply cycles and be more responsive to customers and partners." Those savings can add up. Networking giant Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) had installed Manugistics' software to help it manage its relationships with suppliers over the Web, said Brent Thill, an analyst with Credit Suisse First Boston. "It bought the software five months ago and now it's seeing savings of $100,000 a day in expenses associated with dealing with its suppliers," Thill said. "Before it was using phone, fax and e-mail." The other thing Manugistics has going for it is its smaller size. With revenues of $270 million for calendar year 2000, Manugistics is a lot smaller than the No. 1 in the sector, i2 Technologies Inc. , which last year hit $1 billion in revenues. "People are concerned about i2 because they have a much bigger revenue bar to hit," Thill said, referring to i2's aggressive 60 percent year-over-year revenue growth target. By contrast, Manugistics forecast just 50 percent. Manugistics also is signing smaller deals than i2, which analysts said would be easier to close in harsh economic times. "The companies that have an average selling price that's more in the mid-range, around $750,000 to $1 million, are OK still," said Pawan Malhotra, an analyst with SG Cowen Securities. "It's the one-, two- and three-million dollar deals, where i2 plays, that are getting hit," he said. BUT TOUGH TIMES COULD LIE AHEAD Analysts still cautioned that Manugistics could begin to feel pressure if the economy doesn't improve. "There's a widespread avalanche and I don't think that anyone is completely insulated from that," Thill said. Pacific Crest's Barnicle said that, right now, Manugistics could still be small enough to weather the storm. "But it'll be interesting to see what guidance they give us on Monday," he said. "I'm also interested to see how the various industry markets they're in are reacting," he said, highlighting the consumer packaged goods and apparel sectors as two of Manugistics' traditional strongholds. "We know those industries have thinner margins and have slowed their IT spending considerably."