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Business Briefs

Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire

Monday, February 12, 2001

Emulex shares halved on warning

COSTA MESA, Calif. -- Emulex Corp. shares lost more than half their value today after the maker of computer-circuitry cards said fiscal third-quarter earnings may miss estimates if customers continue to delay orders.

Shares of Emulex plunged $37.13 to close at $40.38 on Nasdaq. They had risen 40 percent in the past year. More than 38 million shares changed hands, the second-most active volume in U.S. markets.

Emulex said it may miss analysts' estimates by 3 cents to 5 cents a share in the period ending in March, a sign that the company received fewer orders during the quarter from customers such as International Business Machines Corp., Compaq Computer Corp. and EMC Corp. Emulex's cards speed data transmission within computer networks.

"What we're seeing right now is that information-technology budgets are coming under scrutiny, and deployment of Emulex's products will be significantly cut back," U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray analyst Ashok Kumar said. He downgraded Emulex to "neutral" from "buy."

Orator Clinton reaps apology, 2nd booking

NEW YORK -- Credit Suisse First Boston said former President Clinton will remain on the schedule at a conference the firm is co-sponsoring this month, even after Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. said it "made a mistake" by hiring Clinton last week.

Clinton is slated to speak for 45 minutes on the afternoon of Feb. 27 at a conference in New York called "The Front Row: The Conference of the Business of Media and Entertainment." CSFB is co-hosting the event with Variety magazine.

The former president's first speech since leaving the White House at a conference last week sponsored by Morgan Stanley prompted an outcry from clients, some of whom threatened to pull their brokerage accounts. Chief Executive Philip Purcell sent an email to individual investors last week saying the firm "clearly made a mistake" by hiring Clinton.

Clinton's estimated pay for the 45-minute CSFB speech will be $100,000.