Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : How high will Microsoft fly? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Geary Kwong who wrote (5583)	3/27/1998 1:47:00 PM
From: Tom Kearney	Respond to of 74651

Probably the pre-announcement is to fend off anti-trust action. MSFT already knows their earnings will be $.52 - $.55. If analysts are at .42 - .44, then on reporting day, news is 'Blowout Quarter'. MacNealy and Barksdale go nuts, and a cry and hue goes throughout the land to breakup MSFT. Now MSFT pre-announces that analysts are 'at least' .04 low (most people have left out the 'at least' - the two most important words in the statement). Analysts, being a cagey bunch, raise earnings .06, so now we're at maybe .49 consensus. But, the 'Whisper Number', it goes to maybe .56. Earnings day comes, and the wizards in the financial press scream 'MSFT misses whisper by $.03!!!'. Now, Balmer shows up at the press conference, head hanging, says 'Aw gee, we TOLD you we're just working stiffs in shark infested waters. We may not even survive another year!' The pressure's off. Meanwhile, in Seattle, Starbucks has record one day sales as the MicroSofties celebrate buying TRIPLE half/caf lattees in mass quantities. Stock drops $10 the next morning. That afternoon MSFT buys 10M more shares for above mentioned 'softies. That night on the MSFT campus the midnight oil burns. Over here they're working on NT 6.0 which will handle 32 cpus. There they are writing a speech recognition system that handles 40 languages, including 7 dialectics of Chinese and 9 languages from the Indian sub-continent. And back there is an SQL-Server that will handle a 1000 tera-byte database. Love 'em or hate, as an investor....you ought to know what to do. Regards, TK