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Sun Microsystems posts small third-quarter profit
San Jose, Apr 17: Computer server maker Sun Microsystems Inc. reported a small profit for its fiscal third quarter despite a 10 per cent drop in sales and the persistent downturn in spending by its corporate customers.
San Jose, Apr 17: Computer server maker Sun Microsystems Inc. reported a small profit for its fiscal third quarter despite a 10 per cent drop in sales and the persistent downturn in spending by its corporate customers.
For the three months ended March 30, the company said it earned USD four million, essentially break-even per share, on sales of USD 2.79 billion. That compares with a loss of USD 37 million, or one cent per share, on revenue of USD 3.1 billion in the same time last year.
Excluding one-time items, the company would have earned USD 11 million, break-even per share, compared with a loss of USD 20 million, or one cent per share, last year. Analysts were expecting the company to break even in the third quarter but had been looking for higher revenue, USD 2.93 billion, according to Thomson First Call.
"This quarter's results indicate we continued to make the appropriate actions in areas such as cost improvements, productivity enhancements, discretionary expense management and cash generation," said Steve McGowan, Sun's chief financial officer. Sun's expensive systems helped power much of the growth of the Internet during the high-tech boom. It was hit hard when many customers, including countless dotcoms, went out of business during the tech downturn that began in 2000.
Its equipment, which runs on Sun's own Unix Operating System, now must compete with rival machines based on less expensive chips and software. Bureau Report
Excluding one-time items, the company would have earned USD 11 million, break-even per share, compared with a loss of USD 20 million, or one cent per share, last year. Analysts were expecting the company to break even in the third quarter but had been looking for higher revenue, USD 2.93 billion, according to Thomson First Call.
"This quarter's results indicate we continued to make the appropriate actions in areas such as cost improvements, productivity enhancements, discretionary expense management and cash generation," said Steve McGowan, Sun's chief financial officer. Sun's expensive systems helped power much of the growth of the Internet during the high-tech boom. It was hit hard when many customers, including countless dotcoms, went out of business during the tech downturn that began in 2000.
Its equipment, which runs on Sun's own Unix Operating System, now must compete with rival machines based on less expensive chips and software. Bureau Report