To: John Pitera who wrote (2486 ) 10/12/2001 3:07:59 PM From: John Pitera Respond to Juniper Networks (JNPR) 16.64 +1.64: The networkers are rocking after the close, mostly due to a solid quarter from Juniper as it reported Q3 EPS of $0.10, $0.03 better than consensus. Also, the company authorized a stock repurchase program of up to $200 million over the next two years.all the talk about lower capital spending by its customers: Yes, cap-ex will be down but the greater reductions will be in plans for physical plant buildouts, not so much JNPR's market. The company stressed that there is still a public network being built. While we will see less speculators and unfunded companies, healthy businesses are still investing in the network. Also, the company argued against the notion that the core router market is dead with the edge being the only bright spot ....It's impressive that the company was able to guide Q4 estimates higher including higher gross margin due to lower material costs. Although it did have to take numbers down a bit vs consensus for 2002. With so many networkers in the single digits (including JNPR for a while), the group really need a report like this to spark the group, at least for the short term. Over time, a number of these networkers will disappear or be bought by stronger companies. Relative to the group, Juniper is in great shape with a solid balance sheet including $1 bln in cash/inv. Expect JNPR to be volatile over the coming months, but over the long term JNPR will be just fine. The stock is trading +5.11 vs the 4 pm close. Expect upgrades tomorrow morning from the analysts. -- Robert J. Reid, Briefing.com
