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Technology Stocks : PSFT - Fiscal 1998 - Discussion for the next year -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tom_ who wrote (2484)	10/4/1998 3:52:00 PM
From: Bob Liu	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4509

This is one month old. But again we can see the tones from the PSFT management and institutions after the C/C. Dow Jones Newswires -- September 4, 1998 PeopleSoft Up 8% After Conference Call Reassures Investors NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Shares of PeopleSoft Inc. (PSFT) climbed 8% Friday following a much-anticipated conference call that put investors' minds at ease. "They comforted investors with the fact that their fundamentals remain unchanged and their position among competitors remains strong," Lehman Brothers Inc. analyst Brian Skiba said. The analyst said PeopleSoft's executives emphasized the company's "competitive victories" against software giant SAP AG (SAP) and its ability to retain the second-highest position among competitors in the enterprise-resource planning, or ERP, market. Future opportunities, including the expansion into vertical markets and the further potential for selling products into existing customer bases, also were discussed, Skiba said. Credit Suisse First Boston Corp. analyst George Gilbert said the company also reassured investors with the progress it has made in its manufacturing businesses, its largest industry. He noted that in the first half of the year, the company added 58 customers in the manufacturing sector, as well as 88 in its higher education and public sector and 100 international customers. Shares of PeopleSoft, a Pleasanton, Calif., developer, seller and supporter of client/server business application software, recently rose 2 7/16, or 8.2%, to 32, on Nasdaq volume of nearly 4 million, compared with average daily volume of 4.3 million. According to Lehman Brothers' Skiba, one of the reasons PeopleSoft decided to conduct the conference call - the first in the company's 10-year history - was to address the growing pressure the company's stock has been under. Skiba said PeopleSoft's shares have lost close to half of their value over the past six months, causing many investors to become skeptical about the company's ability to meet expectations. "Eventually, there will be some reconnection between earnings growth and stock price," said Skiba, who rates the shares a buy. But, according to the analyst, that won't be any time soon. Skiba sees more "rough treading" ahead for the company's shares over the next six months or so. CS First Boston analyst Gilbert agreed, saying the company will "have to wade through ankle-deep water for another quarter or two" before investors believe that PeopleSoft can "walk on water" again. "The stock price is set by people's expectations," Gilbert added. "Perhaps (the stock price is low) because it's a challenging environment for everybody." -By Nicole Ridgway; 201-938-5174