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Technology Stocks : Western Digital (WDC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: William T. Katz who wrote (8564)	1/29/1998 4:54:00 PM
From: Jonathan Bird	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 11057

WDC says: The Company reported net income of approximately $2.4 million and $.03 diluted earnings per share, excluding special charges of approximately $148 million. But on Dec 2 they said: plan to take one-time charges in the second quarter totaling in the range of $85-$95 million. So thats an unexpected charge of 61 cents past what they said they would take. And yet excluding charges they beat by 4 cents. Will the street buy into it? Smoke and mirrors? What do you guys think? Jon Bird

To: William T. Katz who wrote (8564)	1/29/1998 11:59:00 PM
From: Frodo Baxter	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 11057

Bill, I don't know what conference call the bulls were listening to, but what I heard was pretty pathetic. Of the $148 in special charges, $40 was non-cash, $35 was Dec cash, and $73 is cash in March and June. Cash flow is negative as far out as they were willing to provide guidance and they're going to start dipping into their spanking new $250 BankBoston credit card... WDC is in a precarious financial situation, and the stronger competitors might be tempted to try to further consolidate the industry by squeezing the weaker players. WDC could be targeted, or just caught in the crossfire. As many on this thread has surmised months ago, WDC does not control its own destiny.