|
One of the finer points of being a chief executive is exuding confidence when it appears the world around you is falling apart. IBM's Sam Palmisano and Intel's Paul Otellini did their best to do just that the past two days as they each made presentations to analysts. Palmisano, for his part, took the "Times are tough, but we're different" approach. Specifically, he touted IBM's revenue mix, which is increasingly made up of software and services. "We are not like the other companies in the IT industry," he said in addressing analysts in New York on Wednesday. "We don't have the dependency [on equipment sales]." Fortunately for Palmisano, he had the numbers to back up his claim, reaffirming IBM's earnings outlook of $9.20 a share for this year and 2010, when the company expects to earn between $10 and $11 per share. On an even cheerier note, he said now is the time to invest in growth opportunities. While that surely brought at least small smiles to IBM's bankers' faces, he did qualify his comments by saying the company won't do any "crazy deals." On Tuesday, Intel's Otellini had to go through his presentation with rumors swirling about the European Union levying a record fine on his company (the announcement by the EU of the $1.4 billion fine had not yet been made when he spoke). While he wouldn't address the rumors directly, he did seem to allude to them when describing Intel's sure financial footing. "Solid cash, solid returns, enough to pay the dividends and to handle any kinds of issues we may have, even in tough times," Otellini told analysts at Intel's headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif. His greatest reassurance to analysts, however, concerned the current quarter. "We are halfway through Q2," he said. "In terms of our order pattern and our billing pattern, it's a little better than expected." Otellini also used the podium to impart some classic executive platitudes. "They always say that out of chaos comes opportunity,"he said. "This recession gives us the opportunity to play to our strengths."
Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register. |
