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Technology Stocks : Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dr. Bob who wrote (12151)	2/4/1998 8:27:00 AM
From: Zoltan!	Respond to of 77400

Zut Alors!!! Cisco said that for the first time its remote-access sales surpassed those of market leader Ascend Communications Inc.!!! from: Cisco Boosts Hiring Plans To Meet Growing Opportunities By Mark Boslet PALO ALTO, Calif. (Dow Jones)--Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) said a wealth of business opportunities will cause it to nearly double hiring plans over the next three to four months. The computer network market leader will add 1,000 to as many as 1,500 new hires during the period when it had originally planned on 700. Cisco needs to move quickly into the new markets - particularly those involving the integration of voice and data networks - if it expects to do well in these markets, said Chief Executive John Chambers. The San Jose, Calif., company outlined its hiring plans during a conference call discussing second-quarter results, which showed sales climbing a solid 27% year over year to $2.016 billion. Earnings for the quarter were 43 cents a share, compared with 34 cents a year ago and analysts' estimates of 42 cents. Cisco stock rose slightly in after-hours trading on the upbeat earnings. The company said the added hiring was part of a plan that would increase expenses, such as those for research and development, during the next three to five quarters. The aim is to move faster than competitors, which no longer include just data network rivals such as 3Com Corp. (COMS) and Bay Networks Inc. (BAY) but telecommunications equipment suppliers such as Lucent Technologies Inc. (LU) and Northern Telecom Ltd. (NT). While the higher expenses should cause Wall Street's earnings expectations to fall slightly, many analysts viewed the expansion plans as a bullish sign. Cisco said it had more business opportunities than it could take advantage of and that it would increase efforts in its service-provider markets as well as its ability to be a full-service equipment provider in Europe and Asia. The company also intends to focus new efforts on product development, sales and support in the growing market for networking gear that can handle voice, video and data simultaneously. But even while some analysts were impressed with the hiring plan, others said it might also be calculated as a message to Lucent and Nortel. Cisco has hoped to strike a partnership with either to address opportunities in network convergence, and talks continue. "We are working on these aggressively," Chambers said. But perhaps the message, some experts speculated, is that Cisco is determined to approach the market, partnership or no partnership. Analysts said Cisco's second quarter showed solid growth for this maker of routers, switches and remote-access devices. All three products are used to link computers in networks such as the Internet. For the quarter, the company's book-to-bill ratio, which measures orders, was "above 1." A book to bill above 1 means orders are coming in faster than products are shipped. Cisco said business was particularly strong in the U.S., which accounted for 55% of orders. Europe also proved robust and made up 28% of orders. Asia showed weakness and accounted for 10% of orders, down from 12% in the first quarter and 16% in the fourth quarter. Cisco said the region could make up only a "single-digit" percentage of sales in coming quarters. "We are modeling a very slow Asia recovery that will last more than a few quarters," Chambers said. On the product front, sales of local area network switches rose at a "comfortable double-digit" pace from the first quarter, and remote-access devices rocketed ahead with more than 100% year-over-year growth. Cisco said that for the first time its remote-access sales surpassed those of market leader Ascend Communications Inc. (ASND). Meanwhile, sales of wide area network switches came to $165 million for the quarter and sales of products for small businesses increased sharply to $250 million. Router sales were "okay but not great," with growth in the "low single digits" expected going forward, Chambers said. Overall, Cisco grew year-over-year 10% to 15% faster than its competitors, Chambers said. Day sales outstanding, meanwhile, a measure of receivables, rose only 1 day to 57 days. While Cisco cautioned that its third quarter can be seasonally slower than the second quarter, analysts noted that the company typically repeats this warning. interactive.wsj.com