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Technology Stocks : Ascend Communications (ASND) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: invest04 who wrote (21103)	11/4/1997 4:53:00 PM
From: SIPCEO	Respond to of 61433

Does anybody still trust that bastard?????

To: invest04 who wrote (21103)	11/4/1997 4:54:00 PM
From: Gary Korn	Respond to of 61433

Ascend's New CFO Says Company to Meet '98 Earnings Estimates San Diego, Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Ascend Communications Inc.'s new chief financial officer, Michael Ashby, said the company will meet earnings estimates this quarter and next year as it cuts expenses and lowers prices. Ascend, a maker of computer network equipment, reported its profit declined in the third quarter, breaking a string of more than a dozen straight quarters of record earnings. The decline came after technical problems delayed shipments of its products in the second quarter and international sales slumped. ''The company will be able to maintain its (profit) margins through both cost reductions and changing the discount levels that are offered to some of their major customers,'' said Ashby, 48, who was hired on Friday. Shares of Alameda, California-based Ascend, a maker of computer network equipment, are down 69 percent since peaking at 80 1/4 on Jan. 23, with lost market value exceeding $10 billion. In today's trading, Ascend fell as much as 6 percent to 24 11/16, a new 52-week low, and recently were down 1 1/2 to 24 13/16. Ashby said he expects the company to meet analyst estimates of 23 cents a share in the current quarter, which ends Dec. 31, on revenue of $280 million to $290 million. The company plans to lower ''street'' prices for its products by about 10 percent in the first half of 1998, Ashby said, and he expects to meet estimates of $1.15 to $1.20 a share in earnings next year. For the first nine months of the year, Ascend lost $172 million, or 92 cents a share, compared to a profit of $119.4 million, or 61 cents, in the year-earlier period. The loss included acquisition charges of $18 million for its purchase in the first quarter of InterCon Systems Corp. and $11.3 million in the second quarter for buying Cascade Communications Corp. and Whitetree Inc. Revenue increased 45 percent to $874.8 million from $602.5 million. Ashby said gross profit margins are now targeted at 62 percent to 64 percent for 1998, down slightly from the company's historic 65 percent margin level. The gross margin is the percentage of sales remaining after deducting the cost of goods sold. 'Growth Track' ''We need to produce a couple of good, credible and consistent quarters,'' said Ashby. ''Over the next two or three quarters, we'll start to rebuild the business and get back onto the growth track.'' Ascend's net income soared to $113.1 million last year from $1.3 million in 1993 before the company stumbled in the second quarter this year, when technical problems with 56-kilobit modems delayed shipments of new products. Ascend is the No. 1 maker of remote-access concentrators, used to link telephone callers into the Internet. Ashby replaced Bob Dahl, who became executive vice president and chief of planning. Ashby was previously chief financial officer for Pacific Bell, a unit of SBC Communications Inc. He was interviewed at the American Electronics Association's financial conference in San Diego. ''This is a baptism by fire at the AEA conference, meeting with investors,'' he said.

To: invest04 who wrote (21103)	11/4/1997 4:55:00 PM
From: Moenar	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 61433

THE PAIN IS OVER!!!????? Ascend's New CFO Says Company to Meet '98 Earnings Estimates San Diego, Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Ascend Communications Inc.'s new chief financial officer, Michael Ashby, said the company will meet earnings estimates this quarter and next year as it cuts expenses and lowers prices. Ascend, a maker of computer network equipment, reported its profit declined in the third quarter, breaking a string of more than a dozen straight quarters of record earnings. The decline came after technical problems delayed shipments of its products in the second quarter and international sales slumped. ''The company will be able to maintain its (profit) margins through both cost reductions and changing the discount levels that are offered to some of their major customers,'' said Ashby, 48, who was hired on Friday. Shares of Alameda, California-based Ascend, a maker of computer network equipment, are down 69 percent since peaking at 80 1/4 on Jan. 23, with lost market value exceeding $10 billion. In today's trading, Ascend fell as much as 6 percent to 24 11/16, a new 52-week low, and recently were down 1 1/2 to 24 13/16. Ashby said he expects the company to meet analyst estimates of 23 cents a share in the current quarter, which ends Dec. 31, on revenue of $280 million to $290 million. The company plans to lower ''street'' prices for its products by about 10 percent in the first half of 1998, Ashby said, and he expects to meet estimates of $1.15 to $1.20 a share in earnings next year. For the first nine months of the year, Ascend lost $172 million, or 92 cents a share, compared to a profit of $119.4 million, or 61 cents, in the year-earlier period. The loss included acquisition charges of $18 million for its purchase in the first quarter of InterCon Systems Corp. and $11.3 million in the second quarter for buying Cascade Communications Corp. and Whitetree Inc. Revenue increased 45 percent to $874.8 million from $602.5 million. Ashby said gross profit margins are now targeted at 62 percent to 64 percent for 1998, down slightly from the company's historic 65 percent margin level. The gross margin is the percentage of sales remaining after deducting the cost of goods sold. 'Growth Track' ''We need to produce a couple of good, credible and consistent quarters,'' said Ashby. ''Over the next two or three quarters, we'll start to rebuild the business and get back onto the growth track.'' Ascend's net income soared to $113.1 million last year from $1.3 million in 1993 before the company stumbled in the second quarter this year, when technical problems with 56-kilobit modems delayed shipments of new products. Ascend is the No. 1 maker of remote-access concentrators, used to link telephone callers into the Internet. Ashby replaced Bob Dahl, who became executive vice president and chief of planning. Ashby was previously chief financial officer for Pacific Bell, a unit of SBC Communications Inc. He was interviewed at the American Electronics Association's financial conference in San Diego. ''This is a baptism by fire at the AEA conference, meeting with investors,'' he said. \| Bloomberg PERSONALr \| News \| Markets \| Products and Services \| \| Who/What/Where/When \| Ask Bloomberg PERSONAL \| Financial Analysis c Copyright 1996, Bloomberg L.P. All Rights Reserved. We welcome your feedback on these pages.