looks good...anyone have an after mkt quote
Wednesday January 28, 4:00 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Sequent Reports Record Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 1997 Revenue and
Earnings
BEAVERTON, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 28, 1998--Sequent Computer Systems announced today that the
company's revenue topped a quarter of a billion dollars for the first time in the fourth quarter of fiscal 1997, ended Jan. 3,
1998.
Revenue of $258.5 million was up more than 41 percent from record fourth quarter revenue a year ago. Net income of $19.1
million ($0.45 per share basic/$0.42 per share diluted) was the highest in the company's history and more than seven times net
income of $2.5 million ($0.07 per share basic/$0.07 per share diluted) in the fourth quarter of 1996. The company's strong
fourth quarter results helped drive annual revenue up more than 40 percent, from $595.4 million last year to $833.9 million for
1997. At nearly five times last year's net income, 1997 net income of $38.7 million ($1.02 per share basic/$0.95 per share
diluted) was the highest in the company's history.
As announced separately today, the company's strong year-to-year growth made Sequent the fastest growing Midrange Server
vendor in 1997, according to a preliminary report by International Data Corp. (IDC). John McAdam, Sequent president and
chief operating officer, said solid references from Sequent's growing base of NUMA-Q customers were a key driver of the
company's industry-leading growth.
''First shipped in December 1996, NUMA-Q 2000 systems accounted for over half of the company's system sales in the first
half of 1997. The majority of those systems are currently in the data centers of large organizations, running some of the biggest
open systems applications in the world,'' McAdam said. Fueled by the product's visible success in dozens of demanding
production environments, fourth quarter sales of NUMA-Q were strong across all geographies, accounting for 81 percent of
systems revenue during the quarter.
During the fourth quarter, Sequent's evolving roadmap for the NUMA-Q architecture was also a compelling attraction for
customers building new data center applications or planning a migration from mainframes to open systems, McAdam said.
''Today, UNIX systems are the only real alternative to mainframes. However, most data center managers believe Windows
NT will establish itself as a second data center alternative within the next several years. For customers planning a move to open
systems, this presents a major dilemma: UNIX or Windows NT? In the second half of 1998, we will effectively eliminate this
dilemma by enabling data center users to run both UNIX and Windows NT applications on a single NUMA-Q system with
shared resources. In addition, our recently announced partnership with Digital Equipment Corporation [NYSE:DEC - news]
ensures that our customers will have a clear and easy path to 64-bit UNIX optimized for Intel's IA-64 (Merced) processor
architecture.''
While Sequent's strong growth in 1997 reflects broad acceptance of the NUMA-Q architecture, McAdam emphasized that
consulting and professional services continue to play an expanding role in the company's ability to win large projects in new and
existing accounts. ''In the fourth quarter, systems revenue from projects greater than half a million dollars was up nearly 80
percent from Q4 of 1996 and represented approximately 82 percent of total product sales. More than half of those were
projects with system sales greater than $1 million and 13 projects included system sales greater than $2 million.''
Facing a tough comparison between the company's 1997 performance and expectations for the current year, McAdam said he
believes Sequent is positioned for strong growth again in 1998 but at rates more in line with management's $1 billion-plus
revenue goal.
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements relating to the company's goals for 1998, growth
opportunities, product development schedules and anticipated benefits from partnering arrangements. Readers should carefully
review the risk factors described in the company's prospectus dated July 29, 1997, filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
About Sequent Computer Systems, Inc.
Sequent is a leading provider of high-end scalable data-center-ready open systems solutions for large organizations spanning
diverse industries. In 1996, Sequent was first to market with large-scale cache coherent non-uniform memory access systems
based on Intel's Pentium Pro architecture and designed to run the UNIX operating system. The Company's products are used
primarily as database servers for large on-line transaction processing and decision support data warehousing applications built
with relational database management system software. Sequent sells its products and services worldwide through its direct sales
force, through distributors and; increasingly, through arrangements with systems integrators. For further information, phone
Sequent at 503/626-5700 or 800/257-9044, or visit our World Wide Web site at sequent.com.
Three Months Ended Year Ended
Jan. 3 Dec. 28 Jan. 3 Dec. 28
1998 1996 1998 1996
Revenue(A) $258,539 $183,245 $833,886 $595,362
Net income(A) $ 19,084 $ 2,512 $ 38,687 $ 7,771
Net income per share
Basic $ 0.45 $ 0.07 $ 1.02 $ 0.23
Diluted $ 0.42 $ 0.07 $ 0.95 $ 0.23
(A) Amounts in Thousands
Contact:
Sequent Computer Systems, Inc.
Investor Relations
John Eldridge, 503/578-4155
johne@sequent.com
or
Sequent Computer Systems, Inc.
Public Relations
Mike Fay, 212/750-9300
mikefay@sequent.com
or
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