wsj_0928.xml
WSJ891026-0130
WSJ891026-0130
=
891026
=
891026
891026-0130
.
891026-0130
.
Sun
Microsystems
Inc.
@
Posts
1st-Quarter
Net
@
Totaling
$
5.2
Million
Sun
Microsystems
Inc.
@
Posts
1st-Quarter
Net
@
Totaling
$
5.2
Million
10/26/89
10/26/89
10/26/89
WALL
STREET
JOURNAL
(
J
)
WALL
STREET
JOURNAL
(
J
)
SUNW
SUNW
EARNINGS
(
ERN
)
COMPUTERS
AND
INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
(
CPR
)
EARNINGS
(
ERN
)
COMPUTERS
AND
INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
(
CPR
)
MOUNTAIN
VIEW
,
Calif.
MOUNTAIN
VIEW
,
Calif.
Sun
Microsystems
Inc.
,
snapping
back
to
profitability
after
its
first
quarterly
loss
as
a
public
firm
,
said
it
earned
$
5.2
million
,
or
seven
cents
a
share
,
in
the
fiscal
first
quarter
.
Sun
,
a
maker
of
computer
workstations
,
reported
sales
of
$
538.5
million
for
the
quarter
ended
Sept.
29
,
up
39
%
from
$
388.5
million
a
year
earlier
.
In
the
1988
period
,
the
company
earned
$
20.6
million
,
or
26
cents
a
share
.
Sun
's
results
were
slightly
better
than
expectations
.
Earlier
this
month
,
the
company
said
it
expected
to
break
even
for
the
quarter
on
sales
of
$
530
million
.
In
a
statement
,
Scott
McNealy
,
Sun
's
chief
executive
officer
,
said
the
company
's
performance
was
hampered
by
problems
tied
to
the
introduction
of
a
major
new
family
of
computers
in
April
.
One
of
those
new
computers
,
called
Sparcstation
1
,
accounted
for
nearly
half
of
the
28,000
systems
Sun
shipped
in
the
quarter
,
he
said
.
More
than
two-thirds
of
the
systems
shipped
,
meanwhile
,
were
products
introduced
in
April
.
But
problems
in
manufacturing
,
forecasting
demand
and
getting
the
bugs
out
of
a
new
management
information
system
made
it
extremely
difficult
for
Sun
to
meet
demand
for
its
newest
computers
well
into
the
summer
.
These
problems
also
resulted
in
Sun
reporting
a
$
20.3
million
loss
for
its
fourth
quarter
ended
June
30
.
Mr.
McNealy
said
the
issues
that
hurt
Sun
's
performance
earlier
this
year
are
now
``
largely
''
behind
the
firm
,
and
he
indicated
that
Sun
's
profitability
should
increase
throughout
the
fiscal
year
.
Sun
also
reported
a
record
backlog
of
orders
.
While
this
indicates
continued
strong
demand
for
the
company
's
desk-top
computers
,
Sun
faces
increasing
competition
from
Digital
Equipment
Corp.
and
Hewlett-Packard
Co
.
Recently
,
analysts
have
said
Sun
also
is
vulnerable
to
competition
from
International
Business
Machines
Corp.
,
which
plans
to
introduce
a
group
of
workstations
early
next
year
,
and
Next
Inc
.