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Technology Stocks : WDC/Sandisk Corporation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: slacker711 who wrote (27980)	4/22/2005 11:34:09 AM
From: pompsander	Respond to of 60323

Kodak earnings...digital o.k., film stinks...Where is Lexar in all this? Kodak Posts Loss, Stock Falls 10 Pct. NEW YORK (Reuters) - Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE:EK - news) posted a quarterly net loss on Friday as sales in its traditional film business fell faster than expected, and its shares tumbled as much as 10 percent. The results were well short of Wall Street estimates as the company took charges to cut costs amid efforts to slim down to compete in a brutal digital photography market, where low-cost Asian rivals dominate and margins are thin. Sales in its film business fell 18 percent in the first quarter, overshadowing gains in digital, where revenue grew 23 percent. One analyst questioned Kodak's ability to move gracefully into the digital marketplace from its shrinking, but lucrative, traditional film business. "I continue to think that the Kodak story is very risky," said analyst Shannon Cross of Cross Research. "They are juggling many balls, and if one of them gets dropped, then their earnings get hit. Kodak, the No. 1 maker of photographic film, reported a first-quarter net loss of $142 million, or 50 cents a share, including one-time charges of 53 cents a share. By contrast, it earned $21 million, or 7 cents a share, in the same period last year. Kodak said operating profit was 3 cents a share, well short of Wall Street expectations. Analysts' average forecast was 33 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates. Kodak said operating profit included higher-than-expected fixed costs of 7 cents a share related to year-end traditional manufacturing slowdowns. The Rochester, New York-based company stood by its outlook for the full year. Its shares were down $2.48, or 8 percent, to $27.92 in morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange after falling as low as $27 earlier in the session. OVERALL REVENUE DOWN 3 PERCENT First-quarter revenue fell 3 percent to $2.83 billion. Excluding the benefit of the weak U.S. dollar, which increases the value of overseas sales when they are converted into dollars, revenue decreased 5 percent. Analysts' average revenue forecast was $2.91 billion. Kodak continues to project full-year consumer film volumes will decline as much as 30 percent in the United States and 20 percent globally. The company, which in September 2003 unveiled a dramatic shift to sell digital photography, media and services, said digital sales were strong in the first quarter, led by cameras, printer docks and do-it-yourself photo kiosks. "While the first quarter's performance was disappointing, such short-term volatility is to be expected as we transform Kodak into a digital company," Chief Executive Dan Carp said in a statement. President and Chief Operating Officer Antonio Perez said that after a soft performance in January and February, the company took actions that resulted in a much stronger performance in March. He said this had renewed his confidence that digital sales and earnings this year will outpace the weakness in traditional film. Despite the weak first-quarter results, Kodak reiterated its forecast for full-year operating earnings of $2.60 to $2.90 per share. Analysts expect $2.61, according to Reuters Estimates. "This is a growth story in its early stages, and you are investing on faith at this point, not on the hard cash flows from a strong traditional film business," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Asset Management.

To: slacker711 who wrote (27980)	4/22/2005 1:56:58 PM
From: slacker711	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 60323

A 512MB version of the Sansa is now available... amazon.com

To: slacker711 who wrote (27980)	4/22/2005 2:37:33 PM
From: clix	Respond to of 60323

so the annual price declines are very likely to be substantially above 50%. That's right -- in fact, in yesterday's PR they said that ASP decline from Q1'04 to Q1'05 was 59%. This is the reason I asked who is driving these declines. AB answered that Sandisk is driving them (because of the elasticity factor) but why would Sandisk be creating 59% YoY declines when their own analyst presentations, as you pointed out, call for much lower numbers? Perhaps the answer is that Sandisk will drive greater declines than what it said it expects as long as it can keep good margins -- which is what seems to be happening.