I think this meeting has to do with the movement.....
Techs Rise On BancBoston Conference,Stk
Recommendations>AOL
By Maria V. Georgianis
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--The kickoff of a technology conference sponsored by BancBoston
Robertson Stephens and positive comments from some high-profile tech companies is providing a
punch to technology stocks after last week's lag.
America Online Inc. (AOL), Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), and Sun Microsystems Inc. (SUNW)
gave positive presentations earlier Monday at the BancBoston conference, said Ciaran O'Kelly,
managing director of equity trading at Salomon Smith Barney. The San Francisco conference ends
Thursday.
The technology sector is also being lifted by investment banks' comments. Hambrecht & Quist
Monday started Compaq Computer Corp. (CPQ) and Gateway 2000 Inc. (GTW) with buy ratings.
Piper Jaffray Inc. analyst Ashok Kumar also pounded the table on Gateway dubbing 1999 as "the
year of the cow," referring to the computer maker's black-and-white cow-spotted logo.
Kumar raised his first-quarter earnings estimate to 90 cents a share from 59 cents and his 1999
estimate to $3.87 from $2.82. In a research note, Kumar said Gateway's expansion of its Country
Stores is expected to generate sequential revenue growth of 4% in its March quarter.
In addition, better execution in Europe is expected to be a positive contributor this year, the analyst
said. He said he expects Gateway to triple its 200,000 current subscribers to its gateway.net Internet
service by year-end.
The technology-laden Nasdaq Composite Index is up 46.31 points at 2329.91. The Dow Jones
Computer Index is up 41.91, or 4.4%, at 993.765, The Dow Jones Software Index is up 178.32, or
1.0% at 17823.1, and The Dow Jones Semiconductor Index is up 143.90, or 3.3%, at 4448.24.
Among some of the gainers in hardware, Dell Computer Corp. was recently up 4 5.8, or 5.8%, at 84
3/4, Gateway 2000 Inc. (GTW) rose 5 7/8, or 8.1% to 78 3/4, Hewlett-Packard Co. (HWP) rose 5
13/16, or 8.5% to 74 1/8 and Sun Microsystems Inc. (SUNW) climbed 7 3/8, or 7.6%, to 103 5/8.
In semiconductor names, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) was recently up 1 7/16, or 8.16%
to 19 1/16, Intel Corp. (INTC) was up 4 3/16, or 3.27%, to 132 1/4, Micron Technology Inc.
(MU) was up 3 9/16, or 5.6%, to 67 11/16, and Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN) was up 6 1/2, or
7%, to 99 1/2.
Some of the biggest software advancers included Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS), up 5 7/8, or 7.8%, at
80 13/16, Compuware Corp. (CPWR), up 5 11/16, or 10%, at 62 5/8, Intuit Inc. (INTU), up 9
1/8, or 11.4%, at 89, and Siebel Systems Inc. (SEBL), up 3 1/8, or 7.7% at 43 1/2.
Internet stocks were also up sharply Monday after PaineWebber analyst James Preissler said in a
research note that "there are near-term opportunities for investors" following the sector's recent
pullback.
The analyst cautioned, however, that investors should focus on the companies that are "best
positioned for future success." In the Web portal space, he said, this means the companies that have
mass market reach, marketing resources and access to differentiating content, and that are building
user loyalty and locking in users.
"Partnering with traditional media companies could be the best way to achieving at least the first two
of these criteria," he added.
Preissler said he believes America Online Inc. (AOL) and Infoseek Corp. (SEEK) best fit these
criteria in the portal business.
The analyst also cautioned that investors should not blindly buy "category leaders" in the Internet
sector and pointed to Atari, Tandy and Commodore, as well as Netscape Communications Corp.
(NSCP), as examples of early leaders in the technology industry that later stumbled.
"As the industry matures, leadership positions could change and new players could emerge in this not
only hyper-growth, but also hyper-competitive, and rapidly-changing market," Preissler wrote.
Infoseek shares were up 6 9/16, or 10.7%, at 68 1/8. America Online's shares were up 11 1/8, or
6.9%, at 171 1/2.
Among other Web stocks, eBay Inc. (EBAY) was up 33 1/2, or 14%, at 173. And Yahoo! Inc.
(YHOO) was up 12 9/16, or 9.3%, at 147 7/8.
-By Maria V. Georgianis; 201-938-5244;
maria.georgianis@dowjones.com
(Joelle Tessler contributed to this story.) |
