Sun Microsystems (JAVA)

[chipguy]

Sun Microsystems: Ye Gads, That Was An Ugly Quarter

http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2009/07/14/sun-microsystems-ye-gads-that-was-an-ugly-quarter/

Hey, Oracle (ORCL) CEO Larry Ellison! Are you totally sure you want to buy Sun Microsystems (JAVA)?

Sun today pre-announced extremely ugly results for its fiscal fourth quarter ended June 30. The company said revenue for the quarter will range from $2.58 billion to $2.68 billion, about flat with the $2.614 billion reported in the March quarter, well below last year’s $3.78 billion, and short of the Street at $3.03 billion. Sun said it sees a non-GAAP EPS loss of 6-16 cents, which is far worse than the penny-a-share loss the Street had expected.

So, why was the quarter so bad? Sun isn’t giving any detail, and there isn’t going to be a conference call, given Sun’s pending acquisition by Oracle. But there are a few obvious possibilities:

Sun’s salespeople have been distracted by the deal.
Sun’s customers aren’t keen on the company being acquired by Oracle.
IT spending isn’t improving as fast the Street had expected.
All of the above.
Let’s hope it is some combination of the first two; otherwise, we could be in for a very ugly earnings period in the tech sector.