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

To: TigerPaw who wrote (58667)	4/19/1999 9:55:00 AM
From: rupert1	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 97611

April 19, 1999 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Compaq Shrs Up In Early Trading After Pfeiffer Ouster By CHRISTOPHER GRIMES Dow Jones Newswires NEW YORK -- Compaq Computer Corp. (CPQ) shares were trading slightly higher Monday after the company's surprise dismissal of Eckhard Pfeiffer from the chief executive's office. The stock was recently trading at 24 9/16, up from Friday's close of 23 5/8. Pfeiffer resigned Sunday after a weekend meeting with two board members, Benjamin M. Rosen and Ted Enlow III. Rosen will act as chief executive until a replacement for Pfeiffer is found. The company has hired Heidrich & Struggles to lead the search. Earl Mason also resigned as chief financial officer, Compaq said. Ashok Kumar, an analyst at U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray, said he was impressed with "the immediacy of the board's action. "The company had all the building blocks to be a world-class player," but wasn't living up to its potential, Kumar said. And he added there was a widening "credibility gap" between management and Wall Street in light of recent missteps. Compaq shares touched 51 1/4 in late January but fell to the low 20s after the April 9 disclosure of a first-quarter earnings and revenue shortfall. Kumar said the stock is "at the absolute bottom or close to it." Dell Computer Corp. (DELL) shares recently traded at 39, up from Friday's close of 38 1/4. International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) shares were up too, with a recent trade at 171 3/4, up from 170 3/8 at the close Friday. Intel Corp. (INTC) shares were down slightly, at 56 5/8 after closing at 57 1/4 Friday. - Christopher Grimes; (201) 938-5253

To: TigerPaw who wrote (58667)	4/19/1999 10:12:00 AM
From: Bosco	Respond to of 97611

hi TP, I don't know Mr Rosen, except he is a seasoned VC who has struck with CPQ all these years. At 1st glance, he does look like a terminator <VBG>! However, the recent [last 1 1/2 years] events at CPQ reflect a certain amount of disarray. It is widely understood that the 18 months is a long cycle for techs in general and PC in particular. I am not trying to blame on Mr EP, he was in a most unenviable position. That said, I think most professional commentators have nailed this one. It is the credibility. Insiders dumping $50MM worth of stock just before the roof caved in doesn't leave any good taste in people's mouth. On top of that, the sale strategies [between VAR and direct, and between offline and online] are unarticulated. Maybe CPQ was chewing off a bit more than it could handle [Tandem and DEC.] In final analysis, to give credit when it is due, PF did forsee the commoditization of the PC segment, and try to branch out to networking, fault tolerant and services, it's just that executions have been less than desireable. best, Bosco

To: TigerPaw who wrote (58667)	4/19/1999 7:38:00 PM
From: rudedog	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 97611

Tiger - Rosen was one of the founders of CPQ. The first CEO, Rod Cannion, just ran out of gas when the company got into the billion-dollar range - he did not have the skill set to run a big company. He was in the saddle for nearly 10 years. EP was in the top job for 8 years. Two CEOs in 17 years is not exactly a revolving door. Both of these CEOs understood the company intimately - Cannion created the original CPQ and every product through the creation of PC servers in 1989. EP was also one of the first employees and also knew the business intimately. But so did Rosen - he was in on the day 0, he funded every aspect of the startup and has kept the board active and involved. I would think that this would be one of the attractions to a good CEO candidate - an active and informed board who knows the business, and, based on history, 8 or 9 years at the helm to look forward to. The real problem is well known - the guy who can create a startup and lead and motivate in an Entrepreneurial environment almost never has the skills to lead it into a more formal large structure - cannion did better than most at that. Likewise the guy who can take a company from #5 to #1 while increasing revenues by a factor of 20 is no slouch, but a $40B company is a different animal than a $2B one. Michael Dell and Bill gates are obvious exceptions to this rule but off the top of my head I can't think of too many others.