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: rupert1 who wrote (59823)	4/24/1999 10:42:00 PM
From: Captain Jack	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 97611

Victor--- Two things,,, the easiest way to save a bundle quickly is to eliminate employees that are not required. It seems everyone at cpq wants to be a nice guy and only Rosen has the cojones to eliminate people--- but those were positions that will be filled. Call it downsizing, restructure, combining DEC and Tandem,,, whatever and get rid of the dead weight,,, probably at the direction of an outsider... you said "COMPAQ sells more PC's than DELL and a greater variety of other products and services. COMPAQ leads DELL in every category." And that is all we have going for us for now. That will not be true forever if things do not change from some of the recent postings. Federal Computer Weekly last week had a comparison of available workstations. Most were closely equiped. The closest high end were DELL and CPQ. The biggest difference was cost with cpq about 10% higher than DELL. Postal and federal budgets are being effected by Y2K associated costs. These were not cheap workstations so who do you think will get more work? My IS mgr is under budget constraints and requires machines,, do you see much choice? You are also correct--- very tempting to add more down here but there may be a lot of time...this is a huge company to move "at the speed of the internet" and will take more time to regain the trust of investors of every size. Q4 if we are fortunate will see us all at least not with a constant frown... and a good Q1 of 2000 and we will all be smiling again..

To: rupert1 who wrote (59823)	4/24/1999 10:58:00 PM
From: Merlo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 97611

Ok so the company only earned 9.3 Billion dollars or $.16 cents per share this quarter. Now lets get on with the search for a new CEO. I would like to see cable legend and Liberty Media Chairman John Malone as a possible pick. Maybe he can become a member of the board or serve as an advisor for a spin off of Alta Vista. CPQ stock is dirt cheap right now plus Compaq needs a little good news to boost it's stock price. Anyone have any names for a CEO?

To: rupert1 who wrote (59823)	4/25/1999 1:10:00 AM
From: Chuzzlewit	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 97611

Victor, I think we shall have to disagree. When I decided to invest in a boxmaker I investigated CPQ, DELL, GTW, and HWP. I chose DELL for precisely the reasons I mentioned (and was critical of CPQ and HWP for the same faults). Compaq's great strength in Wintel machines is volume, but its Achilles' heel is inventory. It will never mount a decent showing until it permanently cleans up its inventory problems. With respect to accounting, I am frankly dumbfounded by your answer. The purpose of SEC accounting is to let shareholders know company financial performance. Accounting needs to reflect that performance, or it is useless. I think you are in a state of denial. Ask yourself this: precisely why was profitability so low? What can be done to improve it? If you don't think that inventory overhang is the problem, I'd be very curious to find out exactly where you think the problem is and why you believe that to be the case. I'll tell you this: if CPQ's problems were as simple to solve as some people on this thread believe, I'd be in this stock in a heartbeat. TTFN, CTC

To: rupert1 who wrote (59823)	4/25/1999 9:48:00 AM
From: Key West	Respond to of 97611

<<I don't think COMPAQ's "problems", which are problems of profit and not of units or revenues, have anything to do with its accounting principles. >> If the markets have taught us anything of late it is that it will pay huge multiples for essentially three concepts. First is the absolute, long-term predictability of earnings, as in KO with its 3% profit growth and its 40ish p/e. Second, and more dramatic, is the evidence of huge explosive earnings growth. Witness the valuations on AOL, Yahoo, and Dell. Third, and most dangerous, is the reasonable expectation ( in the absence of any other fundamentals ) of exposive growth. But, it is absolutely, positively ALWAYS about earnings. Compaq may lead Dell in every sector as you state, but the Street has blatantly clear concerns ( very real IMO ) that Compaq is losing market share to Dell, and that Compaq, rudderless and without credibility, is unable to reverse this inevitable reality. If this is indeed correct, it certainly precludes Compaq from any of these three catagories. To the contrary, the expectation of diminishing market share and eroding profitability, while not necessarily fatal, can doom a situation to another classification called "dead money" Just MHO Gene Piccoli