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Technology Stocks : 3Com Corporation (COMS) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mang Cheng who wrote (30053)	4/25/1999 3:50:00 PM
From: LABMAN	Respond to of 45548

When 3COM gets to 45 everyone will start RECOMMENDING IT April 24, 1999 Search Engine Advanced search Quick Quotes Tool Newsletter Toolbox Calculators Databases Downloads Financial Forbes Lists Surveys Departments Technology Convergence Startups Companies E-Business Personal Finance Publications Forbes Forbes Global ASAP FYI American Heritage Archives Centers Career Center Small Business Mutual Funds Buyer's Guide Forums Forbes Forum On My Mind Streaming Media Conferences Audio Series Media Center Shop at Forbes Services Contact Us Editorial Calendar Employment Masthead Reprints Sitemap Subscriptions Letters to Forbes Magazine Letters to Forbes Digital Tool Letters from Tool Readers Special Sections Conferences An honest mistake always favors the restaurant. - ROBERT HALF April 23, 1999 3Com stock takes off on old buyout rumors By Penelope Patsuris Indexes (Apr 23, 1999 05:00 PM) DJIA 10690.00 -37.00 -0.34% S&P 500 1356.85 -1.97 -0.14% NASDAQ 2590.69 +29.08 +1.14% EW YORK. 02:25PM EST—Rumors that modem maker 3Com (nasdaq:COMS) is in play have been around for months. So it is perplexing that a report posted yesterday on the financial news site StockHouse has made shares of the data communications equipment company today's most heavily traded stock. Volume is at 22 million, more than double its average, and shares are up 17% to $26.71. For months, there have been rumors circulating around Silicon Valley that 3Com is on the block with such possible suitors in the telecom equipment arena as Ericsson, Siemens and Lucent Technologies. Nevertheless, since January its shares have sunk from nearly $50. "It's already been in the San Jose Mercury News," says tech analyst Michael Murphy, who was quoted in the StockHouse interview as saying that 3Com is in talks with Ericcsson. "It hasn't been a secret. I guess a lot of daytraders read StockHouse." 3Com is the second largest data communications company in the nation, second only to Cisco Systems (nasdaq: CSCO). It has good brand recognition from its modems, networking cards, and of course the popular personal digital assistant the Palm Pilot. It's a $6 billion company with $1.7 billion in cash, and the 10% of sales that represents the Palm Pilot is growing at an annual clip of 100%. With Bay Networks already having been snapped up by Nortel, 3Com is really the only game in town for telecom hardware makers who want to get into the data communications market, which is being fueled by the Internet and computer networking. "3Com has a disproportionate share of the modem market," says Lehman Brothers analyst Peter Lieu. He adds that as the market heats up for faster Internet access, whether by cable modem or DSL, 3Com is strongly positioned to profit big with its high-speed connection equipment, strong customer base and distribution channels. "Consumers are a lot more likely to buy a modem or networking card than one of Lucent's routers, so 3Com is the perfect mass market complement to the hard core infrastructure these companies already have," Lieu says. Until today the company has been out of favor. After it reported poor quarterly earnings on March 23, coming in with revenue down 8% when forecasts were coming in for plus or minus 2%, the stock was at 20.5 and Lehman upgraded it to a strong "buy." "People looked at me like I'd lost my head," says Lieu. "But you watch, when 3Com gets to 45 everyone else will start recommending it." top See Also: Today's Wires Page News Wire Archives Sitemap · Help · Search · Contact Us Website Directory · Webmaster · Ad Information ™© 1999 Forbes.com Terms, Conditions and Notices Privacy Statement LM