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To: Scrapps who wrote (22916)	10/19/1998 1:43:00 PM
From: Moonray	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 45548

Let us not forget that Ascend reports after the market closes. o~~~ O

To: Scrapps who wrote (22916)	10/19/1998 2:07:00 PM
From: Moonray	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 45548

Ascend Rises on Optimism For Strong 3rd-Qtr Earnings Alameda, California, Oct. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Ascend Communications Inc. shares rose as much as 5.7 percent amid optimism the No. 5 computer-networking company will show strong sales and profit growth when it reports quarterly results today. Ascend rose 1 5/16 to 48 1/4 in midafternoon trading of 4.8 million. Earlier, shares touched 49 5/8. Ascend is set to release earnings after the close of U.S. markets. The company is expected to earn 31 cents a share for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 20 cents in the year- earlier period, on higher sales of its powerful computer switches. The company had quarterly net income of $40.1 million on revenue of $270.4 million a year ago. Ascend won a number of large contracts in the quarter from phone companies, who are using Ascend's equipment to handle the burgeoning Internet traffic that is clogging their networks. ''They've been gaining a larger share of the (telecommunications) switch market,'' said Nikos Theodosopoulos, an analyst at Warburg Dillon Read who rates Ascend ''buy.'' ATM Switches Ascend's so-called asynchronous transfer mode, or ATM, switches contributed nearly half the company's revenue in the quarter ended June 30. Sales of Ascend's remote access products, which route incoming Internet calls to the ATM switches, made up 42 percent of revenue in the June quarter. Ascend faces fierce price competition in the remote access market from larger rivals Cisco Sytems Inc. and 3Com Corp. Ascend Chief Financial Officer Michael Ashby said during the company's last earnings call in July that Ascend expects overall annual revenue growth to be around 35 percent for 1998. Some analysts have speculated that Lucent Technologies Inc., North America's No. 1 telephone equipment maker, may be interested in buying Ascend as Lucent pushes into the market for Internet equipment. Still, Theodosopoulos said any buyout of Ascend in the near term is unlikely. Ascend officials declined to comment on any possible takeover talks, citing company policy. o~~~ O