To: joe who wrote (26042 ) 12/10/1998 1:07:00 PM From: Wigglesworth Respond to of 45548
3Com, Cisco Up After Morgan Stanley Lifts Price Targets By JOELLE TESSLER (201) 938-5285. Dow Jones Newswires NEW YORK -- Shares of 3Com Corp. (COMS) and Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) rose after Morgan Stanley Dean Witter analyst Chris DePuy lifted his price targets on both stocks, and Cowen & Co. analyst Chris Stix raised his price target on 3Com. DePuy increased his 12-month price target on Cisco to $100 from $77 and on 3Com to $55 from $45. And Stix raised his near-term price target on 3Com to $50 from $37. In a research note, DePuy said Cisco is heading into two major product upgrade cycles with its Layer 3 switching products and its voice-over-data products. DePuy, who is maintaining his buy rating on Cisco, said, "The stock is not inexpensive, yet the company leads and can continue to take share in its current market, enterprise data networking." He added that Cisco's position in the telecommunications service provider market appears to be strengthening. In a separate research note, DePuy said he believes near-term upside for 3Com will be driven by the growth of the Palm series handheld computer business, easy near-term revenue comparisons and apparent share gains in the modem market. He added that 3Com's revenue growth in the second half of calendar year 1999 should be driven by emerging opportunities, including local area network telephony products from the joint venture with Siemens AG announced Wednesday. DePuy continues to rate 3Com outperform. In his research note, Stix said the LAN telephony products 3Com plans to deliver from the Siemens joint venture a market that is expected to grow to over $4 billion by 2002. Stix, who continues to rate 3Com at buy, said he also expects strong numbers from the company when it releases its fiscal second-quarter results Dec. 22. He expects top-line growth of nearly 10% and earnings per share of 33 cents, up from a restated 1 cent a year earlier. Cisco's shares were recently up 3 11/16, or 4.6%, at 84 7/16, while 3Com's shares were recently up 2 1/4, or 5.4%, at 46 1/4. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------