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Technology Stocks : CheckFree Holdings Corp. (CKFR), the next Dell, Intel? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jjs_ynot who wrote (4808)	4/20/1999 6:11:00 PM
From: TLindt	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 20297

>>>You are EXACTLY right. Well I'm basing it on this...physical hardware isn't going exponential in the next 5 years....virtural hardware is. Physical Hardware units lay the foundation for internet growth, not Physical Hardware profit margin. As soon as they get it....investors will shift into exponential Internet Virtural Hardware Companies like CheckFree. ie the processor that makes a Bank work...like Intel brings life to a Box. Same damm thing but no damm parts...just Virtural CheckFree Hardware plugged into a Bank and who wa la. Like a NetB@nk, a Bank without the Branch and on a server....CheckFree the Post Office without the Post Office & the CheckBook without the Checkbook.

To: jjs_ynot who wrote (4808)	4/21/1999 10:43:00 PM
From: TLindt	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 20297

An Check Out where this Mon ester is growing. Wednesday April 21 7:25 PM ET IBM Earnings Jump 42 Percent By BRAD SKILLMAN AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) - Riding a surge in PC sales and increased revenues in its services business, IBM posted first-quarter earnings of $1.47 billion, a 42 percent increase from the year-ago period that easily surpassed analysts' expectations. In the three months ended March 31, International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM - news) earned $1.55 a share, compared to earnings of $1.04 billion, or $1.06 a share, in the same period a year ago. Analysts surveyed by First Call Corp. had predicted earnings of $1.41 a share for the Armonk, N.Y.-based company. First-quarter revenue rose 15 percent to $20.3 billion from $17.6 billion a year ago. IBM's shares soared $18.121/2 to $189 in trading on secondary markets following the report, which was released after the close of Wednesday's session on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock had risen $2.121/2 to $171.871/2 in regular NYSE trading. An 18-point jump by IBM, one of the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones industrial average, could translate into a gain of more than 79 points by Dow at the start of Thursday's NYSE trading. Analyst reaction was very positive, especially given the troubles at rival Compaq Computer Corp. (NYSE:CPQ - news), which ousted its chief executive on Sunday after warning a week earlier that its first-quarter profit was only half as large as expected. ''There's no question this was a big surprise,'' said George Elling, an analyst with Lehman Brothers. ''It's certainly excellent results in a quarter where Wall Street was wary.'' ''We were expecting a strong quarter, but they beat our bullish expectations,'' said John Jones, an analyst with Salomon Smith Barney. Both cautioned that the increases seen in virtually all sectors needed to be considered in light of a poor first-quarter a year ago. While IBM officials credited software and service revenue for 60 percent of their gross profit, the computer giant's report showed revenue strength across the board, and throughout the world. Hardware sales rose 17 percent to $8.6 billion, with PC sales rising 50 percent to $3.6 billion. Server performance was mixed, though IBM noted strong sales for its System/390 server. Software sales for both IBM and non-IBM platforms rose 10 percent to $2.9 billion. Revenues from business services, through which IBM installs and runs corporate computers, rose 19 percent to $7.6 billion. Chief financial officer Douglas Maine said during a conference call with analysts that IBM had received nine service contracts worth nearly $10 billion in the quarter - including deals with AT&T Corp. (NYSE:T - news), CompUSA, Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F - news) and Mitsubishi Trust - and now has contracts totaling $55 billion. Chairman and chief executive Louis Gerstner said in a statement that the results - which set first-quarter records for earnings per share, revenue and net income - were a ''direct reflection of the power of the strategies we have put in place over the last few years. ''Services is clearly the largest and fastest-growing portion of the information technology industry, and we continue to extend our leadership position in each quarter.'' IBM also said it will continue to explore direct sales over the Internet to businesses and consumers. Maine said that IBM expects to sell $10 billion to $15 billion in hardware, services and software directly over the Internet in 1999, compared to $3.3 billion in 1998. IBM experienced revenue growth throughout the world, rising 13 percent in the Americas, 20 percents in the Europe/Middle East/Africa region, and a 20 percent rise in the Asia-Pacific region. Maine said, however, that the company still remains concerned about the ongoing economic struggles in the region - especially in Japan. Maine also said that IBM was not seeing any signs of a global slowdown in information technology sales, and that IBM had not experienced any fallout from the Year 2000 bug. ''We really saw no significant evidence in changes of customer buying pattern,'' he added. It was the 12th straight quarter that IBM has exceeded Wall Street's consensus, said Chuck Hill, director of research at First Call. dailynews.yahoo.com