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Technology Stocks : Alcatel (ALA) and France -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Steve Fancy who wrote (3475)	6/22/2001 2:22:53 PM
From: Steve Fancy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3891

UPDATE 1-Lucent fiber unit bids as low as $3 billion-source (Reuters, 06/21/2001 19:51) (adds background, stock prices throughout) CHICAGO, June 21 (Reuters) - The latest offers for Lucent Technologies Inc.'s (NYSE:LU) fiber-optic cable unit are coming in at $3 billion to $3.5 billion, even lower than last projected by analysts, a source close to the situation said on Thursday. The Atlanta-based unit, which some analysts once thought would attract bids as high as $8 billion, also has attracted interest from Linthicum, Maryland-based Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ:CIEN), the source said. One possibility could include a private equity firm helping Ciena with financing for the deal, the source said. Lucent officials declined to comment, other than to say the sale process is continuing and includes several bidders. Ciena officials declined to comment. Other potential buyers include French telecom gear maker Alcatel (SBF:CGEP) (NYSE:ALA) and Italy's cable and tire maker Pirelli SpA (MILAN:PIRI). The source said other "dark horses" are also involved in the auction. Under its credit agreements, Lucent has until Sept. 30 to raise $2 billion in nonoperating cash so it can complete the spinoff of Agere Systems Inc. (NYSE:AGR.A) The telecom equipment giant has been negotiating to sell the fiber cable unit for months. Lucent's shares closed up 31 cents, or 5.84 percent, at $5.62 in Thursday trading on the New York Stock Exchange after hitting an all-time low on Wednesday. Over the past year, they have underperformed the Standard & Poor's 500 index by about 90 percent. Shares in Ciena, which makes equipment that increases the capacity of fiber-optic telecommunications networks, closed up $1.78, or 4.75 percent, at $39.24 in Nasdaq trading. Over the past year, they have outperformed the Nasdaq 100 index by about 12 percent. Murray Hill, New Jersey-based Lucent is struggling to restructure its operations amid the slowdown in telecom equipment spending by long-distance and local phone companies. The economic slowdown led the world's largest telecom gear maker Nortel Networks Corp. (NYSE:NT)(TSE:NT) last week to announce plans to cut 10,000 jobs and predict a staggering $19.2 billion second-quarter loss. Earlier this month, Lucent said it offered more than 10,000 employees early retirement packages in an effort to speed up its turnaround. Several days later, Standard & Poor's cut its credit rating on Lucent to junk, raising its borrowing costs. The tougher economic conditions have made it more difficult for Lucent to maximize sources of cash from the sale of the fiber cable unit as well as at least two plants. The company also is coping with the increased cost of borrowing and greater difficulty accessing capital markets. benjamin.klayman@reuters.com)) Copyright 2001, Reuters News Service

To: Steve Fancy who wrote (3475)	6/23/2001 3:35:52 PM
From: zbyslaw owczarczyk	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3891

Hi Steve-- Analyst: Worst is over for JDS Uniphase By: Margaret Kane 6/22/01 3:10 PM Source: News.com Shares of JDS Uniphase shot up 10 percent Friday just after Wit SoundView upgraded the stock from "buy" to "strong buy," saying the stock has finally bottomed out. By market close, shares were up 85 cents, or about 8 percent, to $11.76. The fiber-optic component maker was the second most actively traded stock of the day on the Nasdaq Stock Market. "Customer activity levels are unsustainably low and in our judgment the company's September-quarter guidance will prove the low," wrote analyst Kevin Slocum. Slocum added that shares could double over the next 12 months as the trend "takes hold in the December quarter and beyond." The upgrade was part of Slocum's broader message about the optical communications sector. "We believe the shares of most stocks in the photonics sector have reached levels where it is time to be controversial," he wrote. The sector has been slammed in recent months, with companies such as Nortel Networks, Cisco Systems and Lucent Technologies issuing warnings and writing off inventory. Analysts and industry insiders have said the problem was that high-speed networks had been built out as far as they were going to go, at least for the foreseeable future. Rather than continue to spend on expansion, carriers were hunkering down and trying to get the most out of what they had already built. For instance, Nortel's chief finance officer, Frank Dunn, recently pointed to a customer that had planned on ordering around $350 million worth of equipment. As engineers worked on the network, they were able to expand its capacity and ended up ordering only about a quarter of that amount. And several analysts have predicted that spending will not pick up again any time soon. But Slocum challenged that view Friday. "We expect carriers to improve their spending patterns moving through next year. That should drive improving results from the levels that will be reported for the June quarter and predicted for September," he wrote. The economic concerns that exacerbated the slowdown in spending "precipitated an unsustainably low level of equipment investment." In addition to upgrading JDS, Slocum upped Optical Communications Products from a "strong buy" to a "buy," raised Nortel from "hold" to "buy," and reiterated "strong buy" ratings on Ciena, Cisco, Digital Lightwave and Finisar. He also reiterated "buy" ratings on Tellium and Corning. The upgrades boosted just about all the companies he upgraded. By market close, Corning was up 36 cents to $14.85, Optical Communications rose 85 cents to $11.41, and Nortel was up 30 cents to $8.75. Ciena was up $2.26 to $41.50, Finisar rose 87 cents to $14.87, and Tellium was up 54 cents to $15.84. However, Cisco fell 16 cents to $17.52, and Digital Lightwave lost 46 cents to $30. Slocum isn't entirely alone with his upbeat view. CIBC World Markets analyst Steve Kamman recently noted that he expects to see a "massive return" to carrier spending once U.S. residential broadband sales pick up, which he expects to occur toward the end of 2002.