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

To: Kenya AA who wrote (58683)	4/19/1999 10:57:00 AM
From: Andreas	Respond to of 97611

To Thread - CNBC wants to take away the 5/16 rise! I guess CNBC wants to add salt to our wound so they're putting Dan Niles on shortly. I don't remember Niles being computer friendly.

To: Kenya AA who wrote (58683)	4/19/1999 11:04:00 AM
From: Elwood P. Dowd	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 97611

K... I am very surprised that CPq opened higher today. Even got an upgrade fron hold to accumulate. I have heard for years that Rosen is a very sharp guy AND ethical. If he plays his cards right over the next few days and comes with some positive news, CPQ might get another boost. Would help if some $$$ would start flowing back into the techs, however. kumar said something to the effect that "this should be absolute bottom for CPQ." We'll see. Could be a long road back, but we could see high 30s by Christmas if we get a new CEO that WS likes, seasonal sales kick in, AV spins off, and $$$ come back from the cyclicals. El

To: Kenya AA who wrote (58683)	4/19/1999 11:11:00 AM
From: Elwood P. Dowd	Respond to of 97611

<- Previous Next -> Message 3082 of 3083 Reply successors, soltrader (48/F/Toronto) Apr 19 1999 11:04AM EDT as reported in today's wsj... Mr. Rosen said the board is beginning a search immediately for a new chief executive. "We want someone who has a vision that is operational," he said. As early as 1993, Compaq's board had urged Mr. Pfeiffer to groom potential CEOs, but the company doesn't appear to have internal candidates strong enough for the top job. Gerard Roche, Heidrick & Struggles Inc.'s veteran CEO hunter, is expected to conduct the search, although Compaq may hire a second firm in order to widen its potential pool of candidates. Potential Candidates Mr. Rosen wouldn't identify any candidates, but recruiters said a list of possibilities could include Richard E. Belluzzo, chairman and chief executive of Silicon Graphics Inc. since January 1998 and former head of Hewlett-Packard Co.'s computer organization; Richard Notebaert, the head of Ameritech Corp., a major telecommunications company that is being acquired by SBC Communications Inc., parent of Southwestern Bell; and James McNerny, a top GE executive seen as the possible heir to longtime chief Jack Welch. In addition, two senior executives at International Business Machines Corp. -- John Thompson and Sam Palmisano -- are seen as potential candidates, along with Percy Barnevik, the highly respected former head of ABB Asea Brown Boveri who now is helping to run Investor AB, a Swedish investment company controlled by the Wallenberg family. Compaq, says the company's former strategist Robert W. Stearns, is "stuck in the middle of a business model that the current management has had a difficult time getting through." The first hurdle for the next CEO will be to unravel the complicated distribution system that has been created in the past year. Compaq recently reversed course on a line of PCs that were originally intended to be sold directly via the Internet and telephone. After dealers protested, the company made the machines available to resellers, adding to the sales costs and undermining investments in its Compaq.com Internet sites. 'Difficult Choices' The next executive also faces challenges integrating the $9 billion acquisition of Digital Equipment, which the company has promised would add to earnings. But it is now perceived as having been a drag on first-quarter results. "There are difficult choices there on what to continue to fund and what the business is about in the future," said Mr. Stearns, now a venture capitalist with Sternhill Partners. Mr. Pfeiffer was paid $1.5 million last year in salary and got a $3 million bonus, less than his bonus in 1997. According to the company's proxy statement, he is entitled to a severance payment of four times his base salary under certain circumstances. He also owns about 10 million shares, including 9.5 million exercisable options that were valued at $340 million when the proxy came out in early March. William C. Conroy, an analyst at Sanders Morris Munday, said investors may perceive the boardroom coup as "reflecting the depth of the problems. On the other hand, it's the beginning of a fresh start." But with the stock Friday trading more than 50% below its 52-week high, any swing Monday "won't be major either way," he said. Compaq's shares were unchanged at $23.625 on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday. This Is a Reply to: Msg 1 by TonyL106 <- Previous Next -> Message 3082 of 3083 Reply Go to: Start \| Most Recent or Msg #: