Goldman cuts ratings on computer cos

NEW YORK: Goldman Sachs cut its revenue and earnings outlooks on all four of the major U.S. computer hardware makers, saying it was no longer realistic to hope these companies would rebound faster than the industry.

Goldman analyst Laura Conigliaro said she also was reducing her investment ratings on two of the four, storage equipment maker EMC Corp. and Internet business computer maker Sun Microsystems Inc. Both were cut to "market outperform" from Goldman's "recommended list."

The respected Wall Street analyst, who has often led the way in downward revisions of consensus forecasts for the computer hardware sector, said she was also cutting her three-year growth targets for a range of companies she follows.

"Our decision to wait out the slowdown for a number of our companies under the presumption that they would rebound faster than others has long since ceased to be realistic," Conigliaro said, noting that the industry was now in the third year of a slump.

She cut her 2003-year revenue estimate on Hewlett-Packard Co. to $74.2 billion from $76.7 billion and cut her earnings per share estimate to $1.30 from $1.36. Conigliaro cut her International Business Machines Corp. revenue estimate to $83.8 billion from $84.4 billion, which was already well below the consensus Wall Street view of $85.2 billion.

© Reuters