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To: Andrew Vance who wrote (14865)	7/17/1998 7:06:00 AM
From: Robert F. Newton	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 17305

Good news for SYBS holders/traders - Nice call TM Sybase posts Q2 profit, Wall St. pleasantly surprised EMERYVILLE, Calif., July 16 (Reuters) - Sybase Inc. <SYBS.O> posted a second-quarter profit on Thursday, as a cost-cutting effort boosted the software company's bottom line and enabled it to beat Wall Street forecasts that it would post yet another loss. The Emeryville, Calif.-based company said it earned a profit of $450,000, or one cent per share for the quarter, ended June 30, compared to a loss of $17.8 million, or 23 cents per share, in the second quarter a year ago. Analysts had expected the company to report a loss of nine cents per share for the quarter, according to First Call, which tracks Wall Street estimates. First Call said analysts had also forecast that Sybase would post a loss in the third quarter before finally returning to profits in the fourth quarter. Sales for the quarter were $217.8 million compared to $215.5 million a year-ago. Earlier this year, Sybase laid off 600 employees, or about 10 percent of its work force as part of a realignment of its business. Chief Executive John Chen said the cost cuts are now yielding results. "We actually expected the restructuring to take effect much later in the year but we were fortunate that business has picked up and we have done a lot better much earlier than we expected," Chen said in an interview. "We expect to remain operatingly profitable throughout the (rest of) the year," Chen said. Sybase writes computer programs that allow big companies to store and retrieve business information in computer networks. For the past three years, the company has been struggling to revive sales in the face of competition from rivals such as Microsoft Corp <MSFT.O>. and Oracle Corp <ORCL.O>. Sybase said it won a number of new customers during the second quarter. Chen said one of the highlights for the quarter was that Sybase's software played a role in the web site for the World Cup soccer tournament. He said the site recorded 74 million hits in one day on June 30. "There is a lot yet to be done," Chen said. "We feel that we are on the right path but the job is not finished yet." 00:37 07-17-98

To: Andrew Vance who wrote (14865)	7/17/1998 4:03:00 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 17305

Andrew, As usual, thank you for the comprehensive answer. One more question though. As an equipment holder who has been eviscerated by this downturn, I am somewhat pied off at the thought of a pushout of 300mm, after AMAT alone has already spent a billion dollars to bring their tools to fruition. In the future, to circumvent these types of problems wouldn't it make sense for the chipmakers and the equipment suppliers to somehow pool their R&D to develop these tools? Some type of collective R&D on new generations of products IMO be engaged between the chipmakers and the equipment suppliers, whereby the interests of both would be to create a viable next-generation tool. Because INTC and the other chipmakers would also have $$ at stake, they most likely would not help develop a tool that never comes to market.** There is the possibility now that the equipment suppleris may have to eat all of the R&D $$ they have put into their programs. TIA Brian