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Technology Stocks : All About Sun Microsystems -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Charles Tutt who wrote (14875)	3/20/1999 9:43:00 PM
From: JC Jaros	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 64865

With a little margin improvement, we could see an upside "surprise." What does everybody think? I remember Michael Lehman, in the October concall, repeatedly hit on THIS reporting quarter being the quarter that analysts should focus on. If ever SUNW has needed to "surprise", this would be it. I think that domestic margins are likely higher, if for no other reason than growth in services. There wasn't any significant price cutting this quarter, except for the midline, which has been trending lower for a long time. The impression is that low line and high end are both at capacity. It was notable on the low end that Sun upgraded the Ultra IIi models and didn't lower the price of existing machines a nickel. That would indicate that business is as good there as it is on the Ultra Enterprise side. This quarter should reflect the rather big push into the ISP market, and we should see notable storage revenue growth, I'd think. I think too that 20%+ is going to particularly stand out this quarter, and highlight all the more, the great relative investment quality of SUNW, against widespread anemia elsewhere. In any case, there should be a great forward story with Jini and Net Dynamics. I'm curious if they'll continue to suppress the AOL/Netscrape plans until M$ v. * has a ruling. Certainly there's a big giant crate of a business plan there. -JCJ

To: Charles Tutt who wrote (14875)	3/21/1999 12:11:00 AM
From: Crazy Canuck	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 64865

>>I've just been thinking about earnings. It looks to me like Sun will meet expectations (.70 according to Yahoo!) if revenues increase from last year by about 19% _without_ any margin improvement (according to Value Line they were .59 last year in the March quarter). With a little margin improvement, we could see an upside "surprise." What does everybody think?<< If my memory serves me correctly, didn't Sun say that some of their sales last quarter couldn't be processed as a result of the delays caused by their new financial system switch over etc. As a result, these sales would be processed in the next Q (this one). If this were true, I would expect that their revenues would be somewhat higher than they would be for the normal quarterly sales expectations. By how much higher is anyones's guess. I would appreciate it if someone with a better memory than me could confirm, or dismiss, what I have just said. Thank you. Crazy Canuk

To: Charles Tutt who wrote (14875)	3/21/1999 2:44:00 PM
From: Sonki	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 64865

looks like ibm/hwp is having tough time, and server mrkt isHOT. some one's got to to be ripping of the maket w. server sales. wonder who? Shares of INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES slumped Thursday on widespread rumors the computer maker could warn of a shortfall in first- quarter results, but analysts dismissed the fears as normal seasonal investor jitters ahead of the quarter's end. "The rumor was that they were going to miss the quarter," Brown Bros. Harriman analyst Bill Milton said. SoundView Technology Group analyst Gary Helmig agreed. "There are some rumors that IBM is to pre-announce," he said. IBM spokesman Rob Wilson declined to comment on the rumors. IBM stock traded down more than $5 during the day Thursday, but battled back in late afternoon trading to close at $175.56, down $1.50 on the day. IBM's losses were cloaked by strong gains in the broader stock market. (Reuters 07:30 PM ET * Morgan Stanley said that it lowered its price target on IBM CORP to $195 a share from $210. Maintained its outperform rating on the stock. (Reuters 02:40 PM ET 03/19/99) * IBM CORP stock dropped sharply in mid-afternoon trading Friday, after a brokerage analyst cut his price target on the stock amid heightened fears that the computer maker's 1Q revenues could fall short. IBM, which has been hit for two days by rumors that its results for the current quarter would prove disappointing when it reports next month, tumbled still further after Morgan Stanley analyst Thomas Kraemer cut his price target on IBM. In addition, Lehman analyst George Elling remarked early Friday that March quarter results at IBM, and HEWLETT PACKARD CO, would "be a challenge from a revenue perspective." But SoundView Technology Group analyst Gary Helmig argued that IBM's stock decline was closely tied to the market-wide expiration of options and futures contracts, not specific fears about IBM business fundamentals.