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Biotech / Medical : Ligand (LGND) Breakout! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hippieslayer who wrote (16628)	3/6/1998 6:20:00 PM
From: Henry Niman	Respond to of 32384

The former.

To: Hippieslayer who wrote (16628)	3/6/1998 6:21:00 PM
From: tonyt	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 32384

Speaking of watchhing what happens on Monday: Compaq Warns It Will Report A Break-Even First Quarter Computer Maker Cites Price Cutting In Bruising Battle for Market Share Dow Jones Newswires HOUSTON -- Compaq Computer Corp. warned late Friday that it expects to report a break-even first quarter on flat sales, reflecting price cuts taken as the company fought for market share in the highly competitive North American commercial sector. The disclosure by the nation's leading personal computer maker, made after the close of the market Friday, marked the third successive day that a leader in the technology sector warned its first-quarter earnings would disappoint Wall Street. Chip-making juggernaut Intel Corp. warned Wednesday and telecommunications behemoth Motorola Inc. followed suit Thursday. The PC seller said its outlook for the second quarter remains "cautious" as well, as market conditions remain "competitive." Nonetheless, Compaq said it "fully intends" to expand its business and add market share in 1998. Compaq said it cut prices and boosted promotional efforts once it became clear that sales in the North American commercial channels weren't meeting expectations. The company said the "aggressive" price cuts and promotional activity would continue throughout the first and second quarter as Compaq moves to slash channel inventories and accelerate the implementation of its optimized distribution model. Channel inventories are products shipped to retailers but not sold through to the end customer. Compaq said it seeks to achieve channel inventories that support that distribution model by the end of the second quarter. The company said timing its pricing and promotional actions to coincide with the closing of its acquisition of Digital Equipment Corp. "will position us to take full advantage of that merger." Analysts said on the heels of Intel's profit warning Wednesday that it appeared the Santa Clara, Calif., chip maker had been caught off guard by an unforeseen buildup in computer inventories. Aaron Goldberg, an analyst at La Jolla, Calif., market researcher Computer Intelligence Corp., said data show computer inventories at U.S. distributors rose significantly in October and again in January, the latest month for which data are available. Compaq shares weren't hammered along with other leading tech stocks in the sell-off prompted by the Intel forecast. On Thursday, Compaq's shares fell 87.5 cents to $27.125 on the New York Stock Exchange; on Friday, they rose 50 cents to $27.625 ahead of the profit warning. (Shares of Intel dropped 13% Thursday, while PC maker Dell Computer Corp. slid 5% before bouncing back Friday.) But Compaq's shares have nonetheless lost about 20% of their value in the last two weeks even as the overall market has risen slightly. A First Call survey of 32 analysts showed a consensus earnings estimate of 35 cents a share for Compaq's first quarter and 38 cents for the second. The company earned 27 cents a share in its year-ago first quarter and 30 cents in the year-ago second period.