Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : Clown-Free Zone... sorry, no clowns allowed -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mishedlo who wrote (153848)	2/27/2002 9:47:56 PM
From: Knighty Tin	Respond to of 436258

mish, I'm a believer in a mixed economy, but socializing Wall Street is like privatizing the Marine Corps. I can see a trader saying "Da Bass Brothers want to sell billions of Disney. Oh, yeah, I'll put it up. Just have them fill out all these forms and stand in line." And a Marine private would say "Charge that hill? Where's my shop steward?" <g> But, these govt. vigilantes on Wall Street make me think socialism is finally creeping into the bastion of capitalism.

To: mishedlo who wrote (153848)	2/28/2002 7:49:54 AM
From: patron_anejo_por_favor	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 436258

I'm sure this will be spun as positive for INTC, MU and Softee: online.wsj.com Gateway Expects First-Quarter Loss Of $120 Million Before Tax, Charges By GARY MCWILLIAMS Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Gateway Inc., citing a continuing sharp drop in sales, warned it expects a first-quarter loss before taxes and charges of as much as $120 million and doesn't expect a return to profitability until next year. The personal-computer maker projected revenue for the period ending March 31 of about $970 million, down 52% from $2.03 billion a year earlier. It also plans to take a first-quarter charge to earnings of between $75 million and $100 million as a result of a previously announced restructuring that will slash 3,000 of its 14,000 workers, and close 19 stores and other manufacturing and sales centers. The projected loss greatly exceeds analysts' estimates. Excluding charges, Gateway forecast a per share loss of between 18 cents and 24 cents. Analysts forecast a loss of eight cents a share, according to First Call/Thomson Financial. Facing brutal competition in the PC market, the Poway, Calif., company said it will change the mix in its stores by stocking them with PCs, software, digital cameras and wireless hand-held devices. Gateway's 277 stores will stock about 10 PCs per store by the end of March in addition to building computers to customers' orders. Joseph J. Burke, chief financial officer, told an investors' conference, "We know enough about cash-and-carry [sales] to say it's going to be the right thing for our customers." The company plans to add digital cameras, wireless devices and software during the course of the year. Ted Waitt, chairman and chief executive, said price cuts intended to lift unit sales will drop gross margins to a range of 14% to 15% this quarter, from 21.2% in the fourth period. Profit margins on PCs "are going down pretty significantly," Mr. Waitt said. Over time, he said, the gross margins would pick up as the company sells more add-on products with its PCs. Mr. Waitt said recent tests at 117 of its Gateway Country stores show the "potential for fairly significant upside" in sales by adding inventory to the outlets. Gateway used its stores only as demonstration and training centers. To avoid inventory costs, it avoided stocking computers except during Christmas. For last year, Gateway reported a net loss of $1 billion on a 34% decline in sales, to $6.1 billion, in the face of weak demand for its home PCs and stiff price competition. Its share of the U.S. PC market in the fourth quarter fell 2.5 percentage points to 6.3%, as direct rival Dell Computer Corp. saw its consumer units jump 40%. For the full year, Gateway projected a pretax loss ranging from $200 million to $250 million, excluding charges. Sales will drop from 18% to 26%, or to a range of $4.5 billion to $5 billion. The company put the loss in a range of 39 cents to 49 cents a share, more than twice analysts' forecast.