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Technology Stocks : Novell (NOVL) dirt cheap, good buy? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Paul Fiondella who wrote (26004)	3/11/1999 7:16:00 PM
From: DJBEINO	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42771

Microsoft to Report $400 Mln 3rd-Qtr Sales Shortfall (Update3) Microsoft to Report $400 Mln 3rd-Qtr Sales Shortfall (Update3) (Adds details from Microsoft CFO. Adds earnings estimates.) Redmond, Washington, March 11 (Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp. said it expects to report a $400 million revenue shortfall in the March quarter, far short of analysts projections of as much as $4.9 billion, because of a four-month delay in the introduction of Office 2000, the next generation of the popular group of word- processing and spreadsheet software. Chief Financial Officer Greg Maffei said the company would defer $400 million in revenue in the fiscal third quarter ending March 31. The revenue must be deferred because the company issued coupons to buyers of Office 97 that can be redeemed for a free upgrade to Office 2000 when it is available. Maffei expects to report most of that revenue in the fiscal fourth quarter. Office 2000 was originally expected to be in stores by the end of March, though the company in November moved that introduction to the end of June because of software snags. A revenue shortfall could knock Microsoft's shares. Last month, Dell Computer Corp., the largest direct seller of PCs, reported revenue rose a less-than-expected 38 percent in its fourth quarter. Dell shares then declined 21 percent over three days. Microsoft said the revenue impact could lower earnings per share by 10 cents in the third quarter and boost earnings per share by 10 cents in the fourth quarter. The company still expects to meet consensus estimates of 65 cents a share in the third quarter because of gains from investments, according to Maffei. ''The business is fine and (personal computer) demand is definitely there,'' said Maffei. He made his comments on PC demand in response to concern that computer companies are seeing slowing demand. ''We are seeing the usual seasonal trend in our business,'' he said. ''Nothing more or less.'' Microsoft expects Office 2000 to be widely available by the end of June. The company expects ''good customer demand'' for Office 2000, Maffei said. The Office line of software products accounted for about a third of Microsoft's total revenue of $14.5 billion in fiscal 1998, analysts estimate. Among its upgraded features, Office 2000 relies more heavily on the Web than previous editions. Maffei also said Microsoft is seeing its business in Japan improve, though it may only be a cyclical improvement in demand because of the end of the fiscal year. ''Japan does appear to be getting a little better,'' he said. Shares of Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft rose 1/16 to 161 7/16. The disclosure on Office 2000 and Microsoft's revenue shortfall were made after the close of regular U.S. trading.