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Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-From: The Motley Fool <Fool@MotleyFool.com< X-To: benjamin.rogers@enron.com X-cc: X-bcc: X-Folder: \Benjamin_Rogers_Dec2000_2\Notes Folders\Discussion threads X-Origin: Rogers-B X-FileName: brogers.nsf _________________________________________________________________ B R E A K F A S T W I T H T H E F O O L Thursday, November 30, 2000 benjamin.rogers@enron.com _________________________________________________________________ REGISTER TO BECOME A FOOL -- GET FREE STUFF! http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=220741 _________________________________________________________________ Sponsored By: Scottrade Scottrade: $7 Trades, 120+ offices, personal brokers, FREE REAL TIME Quotes & charts. Check out our financial services: CDs, Bonds, Mutual Funds, no setup fees on IRAs. Apply now! http://www.lnksrv.com/m.asp?i=220742 "No man is great by imitation." -- Samuel Johnson BROCADE COMMUNICATIONS FACES A TOUGH MARKET The company's solid earnings report yesterday may not be rewarded by increasingly skittish investors. By Chris Rugaber Storage network infrastructure company Brocade Communications (Nasdaq: BRCD) reported a fourfold increase in revenues after yesterday's market close, and beat analysts' earnings estimates, but the company's shares declined in after-hours trading anyway. Sales for the company's fiscal fourth quarter, which ended October 28, rocketed upward to $132.1 million, from $30.1 million in the year-earlier period. Net income increased to $27.2 million, from only $3.9 million a year ago. Earnings per share jumped to $0.22, from last year's $0.03 per share, ahead of consensus estimates of $0.20 per share. The company also announced a 2-for-1 stock split that will take effect on December 22, its third split since it became a public company in May 1999. Brocade makes switches and other equipment for data storage networks, and has rapidly increased its market share, from about 30% a year ago to almost 60% today. The company's stock has grown almost as quickly, up about 75% for the year as of yesterday's close. The shares have declined in recent weeks, along with several other data storage companies, due to concerns over valuation, slowing economic growth, and increasing competition in the data storage market. Nevertheless, Brocade is quite bullish about its future. The company projects revenue will grow 150% to $830 million in fiscal 2001, and that gross margins will remain at 60%. The company's CEO, Greg Reyes, noted that "We just happen to be serving a market segment that is one of the fastest-growing market segments on the face of the planet and what I think will emerge as the next major networking category." Despite the positive results, the company's shares, which fell 4.5% yesterday in advance of the earnings report, traded down further in after-hours activity, as investors become increasingly nervous about richly valued technology stocks. As one analyst told Reuters, "I would think [the stock price] would go up, but oh well.... The market environment we are in is not normal.'' For more information on the data storage industry, check out the Fool's computer hardware sector page. In addition, data storage software companies are analyzed in this year's Industry Focus. http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=220743 http://www.lnksrv.com/m.asp?i=220744 AFTER-HOURS COVERAGE GATEWAY WARNS OF DOWNBEAT Q4, 2001 By David Marino-Nachison PC direct seller Gateway (NYSE: GTW) has historically looked forward to a strong start to the holiday selling season, but that didn't happen this year. Now the company not only forecasts a disappointing fourth quarter but upcoming year as well. FULL STORY<<< http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=220745 _________________________________________________________________ NEWS TO GO Telecom giants AT&T (NYSE: T) and NTT DoCoMo officially announced their widely rumored partnership today, with the Japanese mobile communications services provider agreeing to purchase 16% of AT&T Wireless (NYSE: AWE) for $9.8 billion. AT&T Wireless, currently a tracking stock, will receive $6.2 billion and AT&T will receive $3.6 billion in cash. The purchase values AT&T Wireless at $23.50 per share, a 31% premium over yesterday's closing price. DoCoMo, which means "everywhere" in Japanese, has been taking minority stakes in wireless service providers around the world as part of its strategy to extend its services internationally. The two companies also announced that AT&T Wireless would form a wholly owned subsidiary to develop mobile data and multimedia services similar to DoCoMo's wildly successful i-mode service. AT&T Wireless, the third-largest wireless service provider in the U.S., also said it would introduce third-generation (3G) data services in 2002, using the same W-CDMA standard that DoCoMo is planning to use. http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=220746 Leading local phone company Verizon (NYSE: VZ) yesterday announced that it has canceled plans to buy a majority stake in floundering DSL provider NorthPoint Communications (Nasdaq: NPNT), after NorthPoint restated third-quarter financial results on November 20, lowering sales by about 20%. Like its fellow DSL provider Covad Communications (Nasdaq: COVD), which also reduced previously announced sales earlier this month, NorthPoint blamed the restatement on non-payment from financially strapped customers. Nevertheless, Verizon believes it can terminate the deal as a result of the changes in NorthPoint's business and financial condition. NorthPoint's CEO said that she may seek "legal remedies." Struggling retailer Gap (NYSE: GPS) fell in after-hours trading upon reporting a 1% same-store sales drop for the month of November, thanks largely to declines in its Banana Republic and Old Navy stores. The company also said that it is "cautious" in its outlook about next quarter's sales and earnings. Gap's earnings have fallen for the past two quarters. Programmable computer chip maker Altera (Nasdaq: ALTR) yesterday warned for the second time this month that revenues would slow in upcoming quarters, causing the company's shares to fall sharply in after-hours trading. The company said in a conference call that sales for the fiscal fourth quarter would be flat sequentially, and that first-quarter 2001 sales would increase less than 5%, down from an 84% revenue increase in the third quarter. Overall, the company estimates that revenues for fiscal 2001 will grow 35%, below current estimates for 49% growth for the year. The company blamed inventory buildup at contract manufacturers for the slowdown. "November was an awful month," said CEO Rodney Smith. _________________________________________________________________ EDITORS' PICK We're trying to find out if a company's past performance is always a good litmus test when considering it as an addition to your portfolio. http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=220747 _______________________________________________________________ -News & Commentary http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=220748 -Fool Community http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=220749 -Post of the Day http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=220750 -Latest Fribble http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=220751 -Latest Market Numbers http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=220752 ____________________________________________________________ My Portfolio: http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=220753 My Discussion Boards: http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=220754 My Fool: http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=220755 Fool.com Home: http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=220756 My E-Mail Settings: http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=220757 Sponsored By: Scottrade Scottrade: $7 Trades, 120+ offices, personal brokers, FREE REAL TIME Quotes & charts. Check out our financial services: CDs, Bonds, Mutual Funds, no setup fees on IRAs. Apply now! http://www.lnksrv.com/m.asp?i=220758 TEN SECRETS TO RETIRING EARLY Read a free preview of this report on Soapbox.com http://www.lnksrv.com/m.asp?i=220759 FOOL DIRECT E-MAIL SERVICES Need to change your address or unsubscribe? You can also temporarily suspend mail delivery. Click here: http://www.fool.com/community/freemail/freemaillogin.asp?email=benjamin.rogers @enron.com< Have ideas about how we can improve the Fool Direct or new e-mail products you'd like to see? Try our discussion board: http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=220760 ____________________________________________________ © Copyright 2000, The Motley Fool. All rights reserved. This material is for personal use only. Republication and redissemination, including posting to news groups, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of The Motley Fool. . MsgId: msg-13480-2000-11-30_9-25-44-3394434_2_Plain_MessageAddress.msg-09:29:23(11-30 -2000) X-Version: mailer-sender-master,v 1.84 X-Version: mailer-sender-daemon,v 1.84 Message-Recipient: benjamin.rogers@enron.com
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