Infrastructure companies take a hit
Morning News Over Easy
January 02, 2001 07:34 AM PT
by Kathleen Williams
Analyst Dane Lewis at Robertson Stephens got out his machete today, downgrading a number of Internet infrastructure companies. Lewis said he expected weak IT spending to plague these companies in the first half. Among those downgraded to "long-term attractive" from "buy": storage giant EMC (EMC); Inktomi (INKT); Veritas (VRTS), VeriSign (VRSN), and Network Appliance (NTAP). All were being hammered in morning trading.
Cry me a river
A number of tech billionaires saw a few billion shaved off their bottom lines in 2000, thanks to the Internet/tech bust. Some actually had to replace the B with an M. According to CNET's News.com, the biggest losers included CMGI (CMGI) CEO David Wetherell, from $2.1 billion to $100 million, down 95 percent; Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer, from $27.9 billion to $11.2 billion, down 60 percent; Dell Computers (DELL) CEO Michael Dell, from $15.6 billion to $5.3 billion, down 66 percent; and Amazon (AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos, from $8.9 billion to $1.9 billion, down 78 percent.
A few folks, though, watched their fortunes grow, including Oracle (ORCL) CEO Larry Ellison, from $37 billion to $40 billion, up 10 percent; and Siebel Systems (SEBL) CEO Thomas Siebel, up $1.2 billion.
Intel outside
Intel (INTC) is making a push into consumer products and will unveil a portable digital music device at the Consumer Electronics Show later this week in Las Vegas. Yep, "Intel Inside" -- its world-famous branding campaign -- is going outside.
CEO Craig Barrett will kick off the show with a keynote and put Intel's newest baby on display. (The music device will retail for $299.) He'll also promote two products expected from Intel later in 2001: an instant-messaging and e-mail device called the ChatPad and a WebTablet the size of a hardcover book, the Wall Street Journal reported today.
Besides the revenue that will be added to its bottom line from sales of the gizmos, Intel believes its new strategy can boost demand for PCs that use its Pentium 4 microprocessors, since these devices need to swap information with PCs.
Morning deals
Extreme Networks (EXTR) will buy Optranet, a closely held provider of broadband Internet protocol products, for about $78.3 million in stock. Extreme, a maker of network switches, will issue 2 million of its shares for Optranet. Shares of Extreme closed Friday at $39.13 a share, down $3.27.
WebMD (HLTH) has revised its strategic alliance with media company News Corp. (NWS) and will take a $275 million noncash charge in the fourth quarter. Under the revised terms, News Corp. will provide WebMD with $205 million in domestic advertising and branding services during 10 years, down from the original $700 million of such services, with $300 million of the total devoted to promotions in international markets. News Corp., meanwhile, will take back the 50 percent ownership stake it had granted to WebMD in the Health Network
Spectrian (SPCT) completed the sale of its UltraRF semiconductor division to Cree (CREE) for stock valued at nearly $95 million.
Pink slips
Enterprise portal company Viador (VIAD) announced this morning it is restructuring to accelerate profitability and reduce negative cash flow, aiming to achieve profitability by the third quarter 2001 -- a quarter earlier than prior projections. Among the casualties: Its workforce is going to 155 from 242.
"With the lower cash burn rate, and with approximately $15 million of cash, we are positioned to both grow and become profitable," said President and CEO Jonathan Harding.
Wire services contributed to this report.
Morning News Over Easy
January 02, 2001 07:34 AM PT
by Kathleen Williams
Analyst Dane Lewis at Robertson Stephens got out his machete today, downgrading a number of Internet infrastructure companies. Lewis said he expected weak IT spending to plague these companies in the first half. Among those downgraded to "long-term attractive" from "buy": storage giant EMC (EMC); Inktomi (INKT); Veritas (VRTS), VeriSign (VRSN), and Network Appliance (NTAP). All were being hammered in morning trading.
Cry me a river
A number of tech billionaires saw a few billion shaved off their bottom lines in 2000, thanks to the Internet/tech bust. Some actually had to replace the B with an M. According to CNET's News.com, the biggest losers included CMGI (CMGI) CEO David Wetherell, from $2.1 billion to $100 million, down 95 percent; Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer, from $27.9 billion to $11.2 billion, down 60 percent; Dell Computers (DELL) CEO Michael Dell, from $15.6 billion to $5.3 billion, down 66 percent; and Amazon (AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos, from $8.9 billion to $1.9 billion, down 78 percent.
A few folks, though, watched their fortunes grow, including Oracle (ORCL) CEO Larry Ellison, from $37 billion to $40 billion, up 10 percent; and Siebel Systems (SEBL) CEO Thomas Siebel, up $1.2 billion.
Intel outside
Intel (INTC) is making a push into consumer products and will unveil a portable digital music device at the Consumer Electronics Show later this week in Las Vegas. Yep, "Intel Inside" -- its world-famous branding campaign -- is going outside.
CEO Craig Barrett will kick off the show with a keynote and put Intel's newest baby on display. (The music device will retail for $299.) He'll also promote two products expected from Intel later in 2001: an instant-messaging and e-mail device called the ChatPad and a WebTablet the size of a hardcover book, the Wall Street Journal reported today.
Besides the revenue that will be added to its bottom line from sales of the gizmos, Intel believes its new strategy can boost demand for PCs that use its Pentium 4 microprocessors, since these devices need to swap information with PCs.
Morning deals
Extreme Networks (EXTR) will buy Optranet, a closely held provider of broadband Internet protocol products, for about $78.3 million in stock. Extreme, a maker of network switches, will issue 2 million of its shares for Optranet. Shares of Extreme closed Friday at $39.13 a share, down $3.27.
WebMD (HLTH) has revised its strategic alliance with media company News Corp. (NWS) and will take a $275 million noncash charge in the fourth quarter. Under the revised terms, News Corp. will provide WebMD with $205 million in domestic advertising and branding services during 10 years, down from the original $700 million of such services, with $300 million of the total devoted to promotions in international markets. News Corp., meanwhile, will take back the 50 percent ownership stake it had granted to WebMD in the Health Network
Spectrian (SPCT) completed the sale of its UltraRF semiconductor division to Cree (CREE) for stock valued at nearly $95 million.
Pink slips
Enterprise portal company Viador (VIAD) announced this morning it is restructuring to accelerate profitability and reduce negative cash flow, aiming to achieve profitability by the third quarter 2001 -- a quarter earlier than prior projections. Among the casualties: Its workforce is going to 155 from 242.
"With the lower cash burn rate, and with approximately $15 million of cash, we are positioned to both grow and become profitable," said President and CEO Jonathan Harding.
Wire services contributed to this report.
