Steven Milunovich Quotations

We believe that the accounting seems to proper and the company reports that it has been reviewed and approved by its auditors.

We believe that IBM is a second-half story and now we're there. We believe earnings growth should take the stock higher and we'd be even more optimistic if we had confidence in execution. We think the key to long-term appreciation is figuring out if IBM is a new technology or old technology stock. It's some of both now.

Many corporations upgraded their PCs in preparation for Y2K, which boosted demand last year, ... If you figure on a three-year upgrade cycle, companies will not feel a need to upgrade in 2001. Corporate IT budgets are focused more on adapting to the Internet, which includes networking hardware, storage, and e-commerce software.

Most vendors will face pressure as Asia worsens.

Next year IBM is probably going to come in roaring back into the second half, but in between it's a mess,

It appears the economy is approaching the moment of truth. Will it double dip as in the early 1980s or continue to recovery as in the early 1990s?

People are starting to realize that technology is cyclical.

I think this Internet gold dust can be sprinkled around a bit.

The PC is not the driver of technology anymore, ... We are big believers, however, in handheld devices, such as those made by Palm and Research in Motion. A lot of applications are going to migrate to handhelds.

We believe that this services review -- due to complete in mid-August -- is necessary, but will again detract from the main goal of increasing revenue just as the sales force realignment did in previous quarters,

This transaction does not appear to be unusual.

The press writes about questionable practices such as excluding option expense from the income statement and the use of pro forma earnings, but few calculate the earnings impact.

The good news is that tech is getting oversold and could stage a rally, but we doubt the rally would last long.

Beyond Y2K, IBM's hardware business, PCs and storage servers, it's not been acting well. They are not a leader in many of those product lines. I think they still have more work to do to get into the position where the entire company can then grow at double digits.

Tech valuations have fallen by about one-third since early-September. Although technology stocks are not at bargain basement prices, semis, communication equipment, and hardware are trading at the lower end of their five-year ranges. These sectors are also looking attractive relative to the S&P 500. Wireless, storage, and software remain expensive.

Tepid company guidance makes us cautious in extrapolating.

This is the best tech durable goods report we have seen in a while. The book-to-bill increased to 1.07, the best figure since September, while the inventory-to-shipment ratio was flat at 1.14.

This contrasts with some surveys that find flat to down spending in 2002. We wouldn't split hairs; our conclusion is that users see a modest pickup.

Although there are puts and takes along with substantial integration risks, we think our support of the deal will be rewarded. Cost savings and a more powerful vendor should result in a trade to at least the mid-$20s; our sum-of-the-parts analysis comes up with $28 per share.

Although (IBM) CEO Gerstner said in May he has no concerns about services, we do. EDS, SCS, and Perot have each suffered recently. Contract signings appear solid, but the time between outsourcing order and implementation may be increasing in the mature U.S.

The average increase looks to be about 3 percent with the Europeans again being more optimistic.

suggest that UNIX server growth across the industry is accelerating due to a solid Internet build-out. Sun is becoming the new IBM.

I'm looking for a new challenge. There comes a point when, as a consultant who suggests to other people what they should do, you want to do it yourself.

Clearly they were bullish and they were really pointed to (the fact) that IBM is getting a benefit from the Internet.