Despite a drop off in spending by Internet companies, Hopkinton, Mass., data storage leader EMC
expects revenue growth of between 25 percent and 35 percent for 2001.
“Overall demand from large global companies, deployment of networked information storage, and the growth of international business continue to be strong,” the
company said in a statement. “EMC continues to march toward its revenue goal of $12 billion in 2001.”
EMC’s comments may have been prompted by the pasting its stock has taken in recent weeks. At midday, shares of EMC were trading at 42.95, well off its
52-week high of 104.937 and close to its low of 41.5.
In addition, analysts at Banc of America Securities and Morgan Stanley Dean Whitter downgraded the issue on anticipated slow spending by large companies in the
near-term.
Also contributing to pressure on EMC stock was bad news from Brocade Communications, a maker of routers and software for
data storage systems. The San Jose, Calif., company cut its annual sales forecast saying computer storage customers are wary of the economy.
Other data storage players Storage Networksand EMC spin-off McDatawere down in morning
trading.