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Technology Stocks : Ciena (CIEN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: nghi vu who wrote (1344)	2/20/1998 6:08:00 PM
From: Maverick	Respond to of 12623

Ciena Warns Of Weak 2Q (02/19/98; 5:21 p.m. EST) By Larry Dignan, TechInvestor Ciena topped Wall Street estimates with first quarter earnings of $39.8 million, or 37 cents a share, but warned that a slowdown in orders from WorldCom will make the second quarter rocky. Ciena [CIEN] , which makes telecommunications equipment, reported first quarter revenue of $134 million, compared with $53.9 million in the same quarter a year ago. Earnings were also up dramatically from the $13 million, or 13 cents a share, reported in the first quarter a year ago. Wall Street was expecting first quarter earnings of 35 cents a share. The rest of 1998, however, could be shaky, the company said. Ciena relies heavily on orders from WorldCom, which reported earnings earlier Thursday, and other major telecom players such as AT&T. The company said a slowdown in orders combined with increased R&D spending will lead to "sequentially lower net income for the secondquarter." "As it is still early on in the quarter, it is difficult to assess the impact the WorldCom news will have on our top line," said Ciena CEO Patrick Nettles. "It appears likely that revenue in the second quarter of fiscal 1998 will be sequentially flat or possibly lower than that reported in the first quarter." Ciena said WorldCom is changing its network deployment policies, which will result in a substantial reduction in system requirements from the company as compared with the prior year. WorldCom purchased equipment during 1997 based on a policy designed to meet an estimated two years' worth of anticipated network-capacity requirements, but now will go to a just-in-time bandwidth deployment, the company said.

To: nghi vu who wrote (1344)	2/20/1998 6:09:00 PM
From: Maverick	Respond to of 12623

Cien wans of weak Q2, part II According to Jackson, Miss.-based WorldCom, there may be an increase in orders from Ciena in the second half of 1998. "While there may be a short-term slowdown in WorldCom's order rate to Ciena, WorldCom has not changed its commitment to being the bandwidth leader and intends to continue to aggressively provision the capacity afforded by Ciena's DWDM [dense wavelength division multiplexing] systems throughout our growing network," said John Sidgmore, WorldCom's vice chairman and chief operating officer, in a statement. On AT&T, Nettles said he was optimistic about the revenue potential from the telecom giant, but volume and timing of equipment purchase were unpredictable. Nettles added that Ciena is broadening its product line and diversifying its customer base. As a result, operating expenses can be expected to grow, the company said. "I am very optimistic we have a realistic opportunity to achieve the consensus revenue expectations for fiscal 1998, which at approximately $600 million, would represent a solid achievement in year-to-year growth," said Nettles. "Our product-line expansion and diversification will lead to a broader customer base and a stronger, more robust revenue stream."