Networkers
Falter
by Randy Befumo
(TMF Templr)
ALEXANDRIA, VA, (June 3, 1997)/FoolWire/ -- CABLETRON SYSTEMS <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: CS)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: CS)") end if %> plunged 33% to $30 this morning after the manufacturer of networking
equipment warned it would not meet first quarter earnings expectations. This
news sent networking-related shares reeling in sympathy. The Rochester, New
Hampshire-based concern will report earnings well below consensus earnings
estimates, causing many analysts to re-evaluate their ratings on Cabletron
this morning. Management at Cabletron is at a loss to explain why their
performance was such a complete bust, although management did hold a conference
call for analysts this morning.
Cabletron will meet or slightly exceed the $0.37 earnings per share (EPS)
it reported in the first quarter of last year, well below consensus estimates
of $0.50 EPS. Revenues will come in at $360 to $370 million, only 11% to
14% higher than the $324 million that the company booked in the same period
last year. Flat profits on a slight increase in revenues indicate that the
company's net margin will contract. What could explain an unexpected
disappointment of this magnitude? Slow growth in older products, weak European
sales, and production delays for a new product were the only things the company
could point out that explained the severity of the shortfall.
Cabletron stated that revenues from shared media hubs and some other "mature"
products were "soft" in the quarter. "Mature" is an industry codeword for
"receding edge" technology, meaning that growth in the product category has
slowed substantially as customers have moved on to newer, better solutions.
Shared media hubs have undergone a series of price cuts in the last four
months as market-share leader 3COM <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: COMS)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: COMS)") end if %> has chopped prices,
and INTEL <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: INTC)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: INTC)") end if %> introduced new, lower priced hubs in
April.
Widely viewed as a 15% per year grower, the price cuts in the segment have
probably taken all of the growth out of the product category for this year.
European sales were also well below internal targets, perhaps exacerbated
by production delays for Cabletron's new SmartSwitch 6000 product. Europe
has been an area of disappointment for software and computer equipment companies
for the last few quarters, including major names like ORACLE <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ORCL)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ORCL)") end if %> and COMPUTER ASSOCIATES <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: CA)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: CA)") end if %>. The unexpectedly weak revenues
came in spite of a strong sales effort by the company, adding insult to injury
as more spending on the sales, general and administrative (SG&A) line
failed to bring tangible benefits in the form of higher revenues. Add to
all of this that the company is experiencing these problems right as it begins
its summer quarter, traditionally the company's weakest, and it is easy to
understand why there is a flurry of selling from investors with six to eighteen
month investment time frames.
The disappointment is ironic considering that until yesterday Cabletron was
the only member of the networking group within $1 of its 52-week high. Although
many of the networking-related companies have come back strongly since their
lows in mid-April, Cabletron by-and-large has side-stepped a lot of the carnage.
By market capitalization and revenues, Cabletron is number four in an industry
increasingly dominated by multi-billion dollar end-to-end systems providers
like CISCO SYSTEMS <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: CSCO)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: CSCO)") end if %>, 3COM and BAY NETWORKS
<% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: BAY)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: BAY)") end if %>, so it tends to get less press -- a good thing when investors
are tripping all over themselves to sell networking stocks.
This disappointment at Cabletron comes only weeks after Wall Street had managed
to develop renewed confidence in the industry after 3COM <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: COMS)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: COMS)") end if %> led the group lower throughout the first quarter. Price cuts from Intel
in
February
and again in
April
caused many analysts to conclude that 3Com's substantial network interface
card (NIC) business was about to become Intel roadkill. Networking-related
shares plunged in sympathy with 3Com as investors became increasingly concerned
about the vitality of the group, particularly after comments by some industry
executives that implied corporate sales were weakening in the first quarter.
At that time, Cabletron's stock price was hit, but its fall was nothing like
larger and more widely owned institutional darlings like Cisco and Ascend
had to endure.
Cabletron has long been one of the smaller players in an industry increasingly
characterized by consolidation as providers seek to provide a complete solution
for an enterprise's networking needs. Although the company's stock has shown
resiliency in the past few months -- a fact the company bragged about in
its last conference call in what in retrospect was a moment of hubris worthy
of Oedipus Rex -- there have been some lingering questions about whether
the number four company can make it in a business where number three based
on revenues (Bay Networks) has been getting crushed for more than two years.
Very few mature industries have a significant number four player. The number
four name in personal computers, database software, petroleum, discount retailing
or designer clothing is not something most investors can normally name, although
many can get the top three pretty easily. Based on sales, the company is
larger than the ASCEND COMMUNICATIONS <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ASND)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ASND)") end if %> and CASCADE
COMMUNICATIONS <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: CSCC)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: CSCC)") end if %>, but Cabletron specializes in bread and
butter enterprise networking gear instead of ultra-hot, fast-growing
remote-access solutions like Ascend and Cascade. Without a roster of products
that allow it to differentiate itself from its larger competitors, Cabletron
may face increasing challenges as it tries to sell networking gear to skittish
information technology managers who need some kind of guarantee that their
system will be reliable. Whether or not the company is up to this challenge
in the coming months remains to be seen.
RELEVANT MESSAGE BOARDS:
3Com
Corp. (COMS) *
Ascend
Comm. (ASND) *
Cabletron
Systems (CS) *
Cascade
Comm. (CSCC) *
Cisco
Systems (CSCO) *
US
Robotics (USRX) |