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Technology Stocks : Juniper Networks - JNPR -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kayaker who wrote (2384)	4/14/2001 4:45:55 PM
From: Kayaker	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3350

....In brief, on closer inspection, that "bottom" in semiconductors appears nothing more than an optical illusion, a dreadful side effect, no doubt, of going so long without even a morsel of good news. Fechtor, Detwiler relays the sentiment of its distributor sources that, grim as the first quarter was, the second quarter will "most certainly be worse." A retreating tide lowers all boats. We're aware that isn't the usual construction, but right now it seems a heck of lot more pertinent as an economic metaphor. What emerges from the foregoing damage report on the semiconductor business, besides the obvious conclusion that the companies in it are not exactly in the chips, is further confirmation that the slump in technology has spared no one, not even mighty Cisco. And we suspect, despite a solid first-showing, it won't spare Cisco's rival router-maker Juniper Networks . Calling earlier expectations for this year a bit too exuberant, the company projected earnings for all of '01 at 90 cents to $1 (up from 43 cents last year). Juniper's a good company, has been taking market share from Cisco, and the stock's down from above 244 to 50 (it jumped seven bucks on Friday on the earnings report). Trouble is, though, it's dog-eat-dog time in telecommunications and Juniper hasn't been around long enough to really tell how it'll fare in so hostile an environment. Even though it's way down from its peak, the stock still sells at 50 times estimated earnings, a multiple that scarcely discounts the possible -- we'd say, likely -- negatives. Message 15662435

To: Kayaker who wrote (2384)	4/16/2001 4:04:28 AM
From: Herschel Rubin	Respond to of 3350

Juniper CEO Likens Co's 1Q To Golfing Par In The Rain Dow Jones Newswires By PETER LOFTUS April 12, 2001 NEW YORK -- If one were to liken competition in the network equipment sector to a golf match, Juniper Networks Inc. (JNPR) is shooting even par in the rain. That's the analogy proffered by Juniper Chairman and Chief Executive Scott Kriens to characterize the company's first-quarter results, which met expectations Thursday. The company slightly lowered its outlook for 2001, but Kriens believes Juniper is performing well in light of the slowdown in capital spending by telecommunications carriers and other corporate customers. "Should the weather clear and the sun shines, we'll score even better," Kriens told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview. Juniper, Sunnyvale, Calif., said it earned 25 cents a share, excluding goodwill amortization and other items, for the quarter ended March 31, matching the Thomson Financial/First Call analysts' consensus estimate. Revenue of $332.1 million was slightly below the consensus view. A year earlier, Juniper earned 3 cents a share, excluding items, on revenue of $63.9 million. The company expects to report nearly identical results in the second quarter. For full-year 2001, Juniper forecast earnings of 90 cents to $1 a share on revenue 85% to 100% higher than the $673.5 million posted in 2000. The company earned 53 cents a share, excluding items, last year. The 2001 forecast is slightly lower than the previous analysts' consensus, which called for earnings of $1.06 a share on revenue of $1.6 billion. Kriens said Juniper based its cautious outlook on conservative budgeting. The company's ability to accurately predict full-year results has been hampered because customers are ordering Juniper products "only as they need it, as opposed to placing longer-term orders over many quarters," he said. As the year progresses, Juniper will watch for signs that market conditions are improving, and possibly try to accelerate its growth, Kriens said. Until then, Juniper is watching expenses more closely. Kriens said the company will cut its pace of hiring. In each of the last two quarters, Juniper hired about 230 new employees, bringing the work force to 1,162. Kriens said the company won't hire at such rates in the second quarter. But unlike many other Silicon Valley firms, Juniper has no plans for cost-cutting, Kriens said. Numerous tech firms have announced layoffs this year, the latest big one being Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO), which said Wednesday it would cut up to 12% of its work force. On a positive note, Kriens pointed to Juniper's first-quarter gross profit margins, which rose to 65.8% from 65.7% in the fourth quarter. "These financial fundamentals are very important to us," Kriens said. "We'll manage our business to deliver those fundamentals because, in many ways, the new rules in this economy are the old rules all over again. Running businesses on sound metrics has never gone out of style, regardless of the speculation and excess of recent times." Juniper expects to outperform the growth of its primary market - the Internet core router market. Kriens said it's likely that the market will grow 60% to 80% to the low end of the range of industry estimates of $4 billion to $8 billion. Juniper sees 85% to 100% growth in its own revenue. Perhaps the biggest obstacle to its plans for outperformance is Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), which still holds a majority of the market share for Internet core routers. Almost a year after Juniper, Cisco recently introduced a router that's designed to handle the highest-speed networks available. But Kriens said he isn't too worried about Cisco's efforts or Juniper's market share. "We have been successful to date by being focused on customers and not competitors," he said. "There will be competitors in the market who produce all the features we deliver successfully, but our success is a function of continuing to execute." For the record, Kriens says he's not a good enough golfer to shoot even par on a sunny day in Hawaii.