| BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : NOVEMBER 15, 1999 ISSUE | ||||||||
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| BUSINESSWEEK INVESTOR -- INSIDE WALL STREET
JDS Uniphase Clicks A sharp runup and a high price-earnings ratio may put a scare into many investors, but they don't faze Robert Gillam, president and chief investment officer at McKinley Capital Management in Anchorage, Alaska. Gillam likes companies that consistently give Wall Street pleasant earnings surprises. One such stock is the high-flying JDS Uniphase (JDSU) in San Jose, Calif. The company makes advanced fiber-optic components, which it sells to telecom and cable-TV companies. This is the kind of high-tech stuff that sends investors swooning nowadays, and JDS shares have more than doubled so far this year. The company was established in July, when San Jose's Uniphase merged with Ottawa's JDS Fitel, in a $6.5 billion union. The combined company is well-placed to compete with rivals such as Lucent Technologies. ''In terms of technology, it really has a tailwind behind it,'' says Gillam, who has been buying JDS shares. The company, he notes, has a strong balance sheet, with $1 billion in cash. In the quarter ended Sept. 30, pro forma sales jumped 104%, from $113 million to $230 million, and profits rose from $23 million to $51 million--from 14 cents a share to 29 cents. With the stock selling at 191 and mean Street earnings estimates of $1.30 a share for the fiscal year ending June, 2000, the p-e-ratio is a lofty 147. Even so, Gillam thinks the stock has a long way to go. By GARY WEISS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP |
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RELATED ITEMS JDS Uniphase Clicks CHART: Breathtaking Climb INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online | |||
