Sun Microsystems Posts 18% Gain
Sun Microsystems Inc. said Thursday that its fiscal third-quarter profit rose 18%, paced by better-than-expected sales of its computer servers in the U.S. and Europe.
Net income for the quarter ended March 29 rose to $232 million, or 59 cents a diluted share, compared with profit before a gain of $197 million, or 51 cents, in the year-ago period. The results matched analysts’ expectations.
Sun’s profit rose on sales of its powerful and profitable servers and storage products. The Palo Alto-based company is on track to exceed $10 billion in annual revenue for the first time.
Revenue rose 12%, to $2.36 billion from $2.11 billion.
Chief Financial Officer Michael Lehman said the company’s third-quarter revenue in Europe increased 20% from a year ago. Revenue fell 12% in Japan and 50% in South Korea. Lehman said he expects the company’s fourth-quarter revenue growth to be no more than 12%. He cited the economic crisis in Asia. Sun shares fell $1.44 to close at $40.75 on Nasdaq.
At a Glance:
* Texas Instruments Inc.’s first-quarter profit rose 28% on strong sales of semiconductors for mobile phones, auto air bags and other products. The company’s profit before charges rose to $176 million, or 44 cents a diluted share, from $138 million, or 35 cents, in the year-earlier period. Revenue fell 3.4% to $2.19 billion, as the growth in sales of so-called digital signal processors was offset by a decline in memory chip sales.
* Bay Networks Inc. said its fiscal third-quarter profit fell more than analysts expected on slowing demand for its networking products, including a key line of switches. Profit before charges fell to $9.9 million, or 4 cents a diluted share, in the quarter ended March 28, from $20.7 million, or 10 cents, a year earlier. The company had been expected to earn 12 cents a share. Estimates were reduced from 28 cents on March 17 after Bay warned of slowing revenue growth. Revenue rose 6.7%, to $547.2 million from $512.9 million. That’s down 15% from $645 million a year ago.
* Digital Equipment Corp. said its fiscal third-quarter profit more than doubled, exceeding analyst estimates, as the computer maker cut costs at a faster rate than its sales fell. Profit before a gain rose to $106 million, or 65 cents a diluted share, from $51 million, or 27 cents, a year earlier. That beat the average estimate of 49 cents from analysts.
* Excite Inc. said its first-quarter loss widened, as the Internet search engine boosted advertising revenue and attracted more users. Excite said its loss, excluding an acquisition charge, was $5.98 million, or 28 cents a share, compared with a loss of $4.51 million, or 38 cents, a year earlier. Revenue more than tripled to $23 million from $7.5 million. Analysts expected a loss of 34 cents a share.
* AtHome Corp. said its first-quarter loss from operations narrowed because of higher sales and more subscribers for its fast Internet access services. The company said its operating loss, excluding charges, was $11.7 million, or 10 cents a share, compared with a loss of $11.8 million, or 11 cents, a year ago.
