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To: ms.smartest.person who wrote (960)	4/3/2001 3:09:32 PM
From: ms.smartest.person	Respond to of 2248

WSJ: Technology Shares Decline At Start of Second Quarter April 3, 2001 Tech Stocks By KRISTIN HUSSEY WSJ.COM NEW YORK -- Tech stocks aren't getting off to a good start in the second quarter. After wavering at the opening, technology shares went into a sharp decline Monday. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 57.29 to finish 3% lower at 1782.97 and Morgan Stanley's high-tech 35 index lost 20.75 to 503.53. The Dow Jones Internet Index shed 5.39 to 64.31. 1Lucent to Issue 90 Million Agere Shares in Move to Pay Off $519 Million of Debt 2Lucent's Bet on Winstar Hits Snag as Telecom Stalls Report 3Cable & Wireless Plans to Sell Stake in CyberWorks Through Offering 4Art Technology Group Shares Plunge Amid Revenue, Earnings Warning The Nasdaq closed slightly higher Friday to end the first quarter of the year, but overall it was an abysmal period for tech investors. The Nasdaq index slumped 25% in the first quarter. Investors had hoped there would be a rally Monday after the selling at the end of the first quarter when fund managers were trying to rid themselves of heavy tech holdings, said Richard Cripps, chief market strategist at Legg Mason. An uneasy political situation stemming from the collision of a U.S. spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet is exacerbating the market's woes, Mr. Cripps said. "In a market that's uncertain, adding more uncertainty causes marginal selling. This isn't a market with any kind of resiliency." A Merrill Lynch report Monday painted a sober picture of the tech sector's immediate prospects. "We disagree with the view that all the bad news is priced in so it can only get better," wrote Steven Milunovich, Merrill's global technology strategist. The communications subsector "looks like a real mess given debt-laden service providers, high inventories, the optical 'dead zone,' and poor prospects for [third-generation wireless technology]," Mr. Milunovich wrote. Optical-equipment makers lost ground. Nortel Networks fell seven cents to $13.98 and Corning slipped 79 cents to $19.90 on the New York Stock Exchange. The report also noted that stocks with less expensive valuations -- in this case, semiconductors and hardware -- have historically recovered most quickly from a correction, and pointed to Advanced Micro Devices and Dell Computer as possible candidates for early rebounds. AMD lost $1.04 to $25.50 on the Big Board, while Dell lost $1.63 to $24.06 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Software stocks Oracle, Microsoft and Siebel Systems edged higher Monday. PeopleSoft rose 63 cents to $24.06 after it announced it will pay $15 million to settle a class-action shareholder lawsuit that was filed in January 1999. Oracle rose 34 cents to $15.32, Microsoft added 44 cents to $55.13 and Siebel advanced $1.45 to $28.65, all on Nasdaq. The software sector was hit by a slew of earnings and revenue warnings after the close of trading. Ariba issued an earnings warning and disclosed plans for layoffs Monday, as the market for business-to-business software has slowed. Ahead of the news, Ariba lost $1.38 to $6.53 on Nasdaq. Earlier Monday, rival i2 Technologies announced it will post weaker-than-expected first-quarter earnings and announced plans to lay off 10% of its work force (see article5). i2 Technologies gained 94 cents to $15.44 on Nasdaq. Also after the close of trading, software concern E.piphany warned that it expects a first-quarter loss of as much as 40 cents a share, way off a Thomson Financial/First Call analyst consensus of a nine-cent-a-share loss for the period. Before the warning, E.piphany declined $1.94 to $9.75 on Nasdaq. Personal-finance software maker Intuit lost 10% of its value after it announced that Dan Nye resigned as head of its small-business division. The unit includes Intuit's QuickBooks software and accounts for about 20% of total sales (see article6). Shares fell $2.88 to $24.88 on Nasdaq. Elsewhere, Priceline.com rose 53 cents to $3.06 on Nasdaq. The discount travel seller reaffirmed financial guidance for the first and second quarters of 2001, citing product and customer-service improvements. Priceline said it remains comfortable with its February estimate that it will post a first-quarter pro forma loss of five cents to seven cents a share. Revenue is expected to increase about 15% to 20%. Electronic Data Systems lost 81 cents to $55.05 on the New York Stock Exchange. The computer-services company announced a deal to buy fast-growing German computer-services company Systematics for about $570 million in cash and stock, in an effort to expand in continental Europe (see article7). Internet.com fell 44 cents to $3.19 on Nasdaq. The online publisher said it is cutting 15% of its work force, citing various job redundancies and the softening advertising market. A spokeswoman said the company will cut about 50 jobs at various locations, including Lexington, Ky., and San Jose, Calif. Expedia erased intraday losses to add 81 cents, closing at $13.88 on Nasdaq. The company signed an agreement to continue to act as an agent for Northwest Airlines and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, without adding a surcharge to the published price of airline tickets. Financial terms of the agreement weren't disclosed, though Expedia said the terms of the agreement aren't material to its financial results. Last month, Northwest and KLM eliminated commission payments to online bookers. Write to Kristin Hussey at kristin.hussey@wsj.com8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- URL for this Article: interactive.wsj.com Hyperlinks in this Article: (1) interactive.wsj.com (2) interactive.wsj.com (3) interactive.wsj.com (4) interactive.wsj.com (5) interactive.wsj.com (6) interactive.wsj.com (7) interactive.wsj.com (8) mailto:kristin.hussey@wsj.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 2001 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printing, distribution, and use of this material is governed by your Subscription Agreement and copyright laws. For information about subscribing, go to wsj.com Used with permission of wsj.com

To: ms.smartest.person who wrote (960)	4/3/2001 3:09:51 PM
From: ms.smartest.person	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2248

WSJ: Steady Slate of Profit Warnings Depresses Technology Stocks April 3, 2001 Tech Stocks By KRISTIN HUSSEY WSJ.COM NEW YORK -- Technology stocks skidded lower Tuesday as investors sold shares in anticipation of a rocky first-quarter earnings reporting season. In midday trading, the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 91.90 to 1691.10, slipping below 1700 for the first time since Oct. 26, 1998. Morgan Stanley's high-tech 35 index was off 26.10 to 477.50 and the Dow Jones Internet Index fell 9.50 to 54.90. 1Heard on the Net: With Ad Sales Down, Yahoo! Gambles on Fees for Quotes 2Lucent to Issue 90 Million Agere Shares in Move to Pay Off $519 Million of Debt 3Lucent's Bet on Winstar Hits Snag as Telecom Stalls Report 4Cable & Wireless Plans to Sell Stake in CyberWorks Through Offering A parade of earnings warnings from technology companies continued after the close of trading Monday and began anew on Tuesday, sparking the selloff. The software sector was hit hard as MicroStrategy, Ariba, BroadVision, Inktomi and E.piphany issued warnings. MicroStrategy fell 63 cents to $1.94 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The software maker on Tuesday warned of weaker-than-expected first-quarter results and unveiled plans to reduce its work force by one-third as it cuts back on "speculative" technology initiatives (see article5). Ariba late Monday said it is likely to post a fiscal second-quarter operating loss of 20 cents a share and will lay off a third of its staff, or 700 workers. Wall Street was expecting the leading maker of business-to-business software to earn five cents a share in the quarter ended March 31. Ariba also called off its planned $2.4 billion purchase of Agile Software (see article6). Merrill Lynch cut its rating on the company to "intermediate/neutral." Ariba fell $1.50, or 23%, to $5, while Agile Software edged up 17 cents to $10.69, both on Nasdaq. Software makers BroadVision and E.piphany also issued warnings late Monday. BroadVision plummeted $1.44, or 32%, to $3.06 and E.piphany fell $1.88, or 19%, to $7.88, both on Nasdaq. BroadVision, a maker of electronic-business software, said it would post a surprise loss for its first quarter and disclosed plans to lay off 325 people, or 15% of its work force. E.piphany, a provider of customer-relationship-management software, said it expects to report a wider first-quarter loss and smaller revenue than analysts were expecting. Inktomi plunged $3.23, or 52%, to $2.99 on Nasdaq. The company, which makes software to speed the delivery of data over computer networks and search the Web for information, warned of lower revenue and a bigger-than-expected loss and said it would cut its work force by 25%, or 250 employees (see article7). Merrill Lynch analyst Henry Blodget lowered his rating on the stock to "neutral/accumulate" from "accumulate/buy," citing the company's "eye-popping 70% [quarter-to-quarter] decline in Network Products revenues." Mr. Blodget said that despite Inktomi's "plans to cut headcount by 25% and other cost-saving measures, we do not see profitability until June 2002" and he questioned the long-term impact falling bandwidth prices will have on demand for Inktomi's caching technology. The software rout continued as Oracle, Siebel Systems, Veritas Software and Commerce One posted heavy losses. Oracle fell $1.79, or 12%, to $13.53; Siebel declined $4.58, or 16%, to $24.07; Veritas skidded $6.76, or $14%, to $40.64 and Commerce One fell $2.39 to $5.46, all on Nasdaq. Elsewhere, Redback shed $1.29 to $10.41 on Nasdaq. Redback, a company that makes Internet-switching gear, said it expects revenue for the first quarter of $85 million to $90 million, roughly one-third less than the $132.3 million expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial/First Call. Redback said it expects to post an operating loss of approximately 15 cents a share. Analysts had expected earnings of four cents a share. PSINet was halted at 19 cents Tuesday by Nasdaq officials pending more information from the Internet-services provider. PSINet said that it likely will file for bankruptcy-court protection and may be delisted from Nasdaq. The company also warned that it may record fourth-quarter restructuring and impairment charges (see article8). Entrust Technologies fell $3.03 to $4.25 on Nasdaq. Entrust said it expects to post a quarterly loss instead of the profit Wall Street was expecting because of a big drop in software-license sales (see article9). Write to Kristin Hussey at kristin.hussey@wsj.com10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- URL for this Article: interactive.wsj.com Hyperlinks in this Article: (1) interactive.wsj.com (2) interactive.wsj.com (3) interactive.wsj.com (4) interactive.wsj.com (5) interactive.wsj.com (6) interactive.wsj.com (7) interactive.wsj.com (8) interactive.wsj.com (9) interactive.wsj.com (10) mailto:kristin.hussey@wsj.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 2001 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printing, distribution, and use of this material is governed by your Subscription Agreement and copyright laws. For information about subscribing, go to wsj.com Used with permission of wsj.com