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Technology Stocks : Creative Labs (CREAF) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mark Brophy who wrote (13502)	2/2/1999 8:06:00 PM
From: Doug Fowler	Respond to of 13925

OT - Mark, Ingram and Dell are very different. Dell is primarily a PC manufacturer (top-notch, obviously), while Ingram distributes for everybody (except the direct marketers). Ingram is the first line distributor for PCs, modems, CD/DVD/hard drives, printers, and tons of software. Their primary competition is companies like Tech Data, Merisel, etc. They all work on very slim margins, but Ingram has been the leader for many years. Even with its "hiccup", Ingram grew earnings about 20 percent in the latest quarter and about 30 percent during 1998. Prior to that, they were growing between 35 and 45 percent per year. So, based on the LAST 12 months earnings, which were about $1.65, Ingram is trading at a 17 PE. The big question on everyone's mind regarding Ingram is whether there has been a fundamental shift in the technology distribution business. Will more technology companies go direct to the customer and bypass the distributor altogether? With regard to Ingram building boxes, I'm not sure that this will be a successful strategy for them.