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

To: Jan Crawley who wrote (34490)	2/12/1998 1:14:00 AM
From: Gary Korn	Respond to of 61433

2/10/98 Computergram Int'l (Pg. Unavail. Online)(SEE BOLD) 1998 WL 7308976 Computergram International COPYRIGHT 1998 Apt Data Services Ltd. (UK)) Copyright 1998 Information Access Company. All rights reserved. Tuesday, February 10, 1998 No. 3344 DELOITTE & TOUCHE ISSUES TECHNOLOGY FAST 500 Subscription: $995 per year as of 1/97. Contact APT Data Services Ltd., 12 Sutton Row, London WIV 5FH, UK. Phone 44-171-208-4200. Fax 44-171-439-1105. Deloitte & Touche LLP has issued its new Technology Fast 500 list of the fastest growing companies high technology companies in the US. Heading the list is Integrated Process Equipment Corp, the San Jose, California-based CMP, or chemical mechanical planarization company. CMP is a process vital to the fabrication of advanced semiconductors, and IPEC sells equipment and related products to just about every major semiconductor manufacturer in the world. It's seen an astonishing 71,136% growth rate in its revenues between 1992 and 1996, when it reported revenues of $184.5m. Number two on the list is Cascade Communications Corp, recently acquired by Ascend Communications Inc, itself at number 27, with 41,686% revenue growth over the last five years. Number three is McLeod USA Inc, the Iowa-based integrated telecommunications services company ((32,429% growth) and at number four, Optiva Corp, which makes sonic toothbrushes. Software companies made up 24% of the 500, telecoms and computer peripherals 12% each and s emiconductors 10%. To qualify, companies must have had revenues of at least $50,000 in 1992, and at least $1m in 1996. The average growth rate amongst all the companies was 2,500%. ---- INDEX REFERENCES ---- KEY WORDS: COMPUTERS INDUSTRY: Computers; Communications Technology (CPR CMT) REGION: United States (US) Word Count: 189 2/10/98 COMINTL (No Page) END OF DOCUMENT

To: Jan Crawley who wrote (34490)	2/12/1998 1:17:00 AM
From: Gary Korn	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 61433

2/10/98 San Diego Union & Trib. C1 (SEE BOLD) 1998 WL 3991326 The San Diego Union-Tribune Copyright 1998 Tuesday, February 10, 1998 DON BAUDER Psssst! Wanna buy a stock selling for well under its book value? Hey, if you're loaded, maybe you can buy the whole company. The company is San Diego's money-losing GTI Corp., maker of magnetics-based fcomponents for computers and telecommunications products, among other things. Yesterday, the stock jumped 75 cents to $4.63. That was in response to late Friday's announcement that GTI has engaged a Wall Street firm to help it map out future strategies, including possibly putting itself up for sale. Book value per share is about $6, including convertible preferred shares, according to Peter Harker, controller. Back in heady, halcyon 1993, this stock sold for more than $40. GTI's products are quite labor intensive, but the company would appear to have a juicy position in low-wage nations. It has manufacturing plants in China and the Philippines. Indeed, most of its employment is in Asia: 7,000 in China, 1,000 in the Philippines and only 150 in the United States, according to Harker. However, it also has significant sales exposure in Asia. Its biggest customer is Santa Clara's 3Com Corp., which recently said it had exposure in Asia. GTI's major competitors -- which also have manufacturing facilities in China -- are New Jersey-based Bel Fuse, and Pennsylvania-based Technitrol, which in 1995 paid $61.5 million for San Diego's Pulse Engineering. "Technitrol and Bel Fuse have pulled themselves away from the prior industry leader, which was GTI," says David N. Allen of Torrey Pines Securities. "GTI has been going through an internal reorganization that has not resulted in profitability yet," says Allen. For its third quarter, GTI lost 17 cents a share -- an improvement on the 58 cents a share loss for the same period a year earlier. Sales declined to $19.1 million from $20.6 million. For the first nine months, the loss per share dropped to 20 cents from $1.09, but sales declined to $64.5 million from $70.2 million. For full-year 1996, GTI lost $2.42 a share on sales of $92.5 million, down from $114.8 million in 1995 and from $127.6 million in 1993. The company cited a drop in selling prices. "The magnetics industry has matured," says Harker. However, he does not agree that GTI is now lagging its two main competitors. "I don't think any one company has market dominance. Pulse and Bel Fuse are roughly similar in size (to GTI)," says Harker. One thing that hurt GTI was a disastrous acquisition. In early 1995, GTI completed the $19.1 million cash acquisition of 72 percent of Promptus Communications, which had a position in the videoconferencing market, among other things. It was a dog. "Promptus was up against Cisco, 3Com, Ascend Communications, particularly Ascend," says Allen. "It was a bad strategic acquisition." The company dumped the investment and lost $11.5 million. Great Britain's Telemetrix PLC owns 57 percent of GTI's common and preferred shares, and controls three of the five seats on the board. It is pretty clear who decided that GTI had to go in a new direction. "I definitely think there is a sense of frustration," says Bud Leedom of San Diego Stock Report. Although the company has done well trimming costs, "it needs a catalyst for growth; it is floundering around. It needs capital and clearer vision. Because of the uncertainty, nobody has gone after the stock."