Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Compaq -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tonyt who wrote (56584)	4/10/1999 8:43:00 AM
From: rupert1	Respond to of 97611

April 9, 1999 Analysts Surprised By Size Of Compaq's 1Q Shortfall By CHRISTOPHER GRIMES Dow Jones Newswires NEW YORK -- Compaq Computer Corp. (CPQ) confirmed Friday what Wall Street had fretted about for a month: that demand for its PCs wasn't as good as hoped for in the first quarter. any said Friday after the market closed that its earnings would come in about 15 cents a share - 17 cents below the First Call Corp. mean of 32 cents a share. Total sales should come in at about $9.4 billion, the company said. Compaq, due to report earnings April 21, wouldn't comment further on the announcement. Lou Mazzucchelli, an analyst at Gerard Klauer Mattison, said Compaq probably didn't sell enough high-profit enterprise computers to offset pricing pressure in the desktop PC market. And he said investors probably won't treat PC stocks kindly when the market opens Monday. "I wouldn't be surprised if the whole group isn't painted same with the same brush," he said. "It could get pretty ugly." Only Thursday, Dell Computer Corp. (DELL) held an upbeat meeting with investors. Chief Executive Michael Dell repeatedly said that industry demand looked healthy. Compaq's announcement also could rekindle the anger some analysts felt in February, when company executives told a group of visiting investors that some sales were trailing expectations. David Wu, an analyst at ABN Amro, said he was angry at the company for not putting out a general announcement in February. Now, he said, he was surprised that the preannouncement came over a week after the close of the March quarter. "When you miss by 15 cents (a share) ... how could they have not known a week ago?" he said. "We will have a public lynching" Monday. A source at Compaq said the preannouncement was made as soon as the shortfall was recognized. Daniel Kunstler, an analyst at J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., said he thought Compaq was going to "muddle through" the quarter after it didn't preannounce a few weeks ago. "It is shocking," he said. "I'm surprised at the amplitude of the shortfall."