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Technology Stocks : COMS & the Ghost of USRX w/ other STUFF -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Scrapps who wrote (15373)	5/13/1998 12:17:00 AM
From: David Lawrence	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 22053

PALO ALTO, Calif., May 12 (Reuters) - Trading of 3Com Corp.'s (NASDAQ:COMS). stock took an unusually heavy turn on Tuesday amid speculation there could be more bad news about upcoming results. However, the worries were not universal. A number of analysts said they believed the computer networking company had already disclosed all its issues of concern. 3Com's stock finished Tuesday's trading session unchanged at 30-15/16, but it was the most active issue on Nasdaq, with more than 21 million shares changing hands. Peter Lieu, an analyst with Adams Harkness & Hill in Boston, said the high volumes were a spillover from last week, when 3Com indicated it was having ongoing problems with its gross margins. The warning prompted several analysts to reduce earnings estimates, and left lingering questions over the extent of the company's problems. "There is some whispering that something untoward is happening," Lieu said. 3Com officials could not be reached immediately for comment. However, Lieu said he thinks the stock is a "tremendous value" at its current level around $30. The stock has fallen sharply in recent weeks. "This is a very good company," said Lieu, who noted that most of the problems it was experiencing, such as weakness in some Asian markets, were industrywide. William Rabin of J.P. Morgan Securities, said, "I have a buy on the stock. The business is basically sound and the company's new products will drive future growth." But Andy Schopick of Nutmeg Securities, who maintains a sell recommendation on 3Com, said, "I don't think we're out of the woods yet." Schopick said he would consider changing his rating to a hold in view of the recent drop in the stock price, but said 3Com faced the ongoing challenge of slowing industry growth as well as transition problems from the merger last June with U.S. Robotics in a stock deal valued at $8.5 billion.