STOCKWATCH

CHS ELECTRONICS

CHS Electronics will float on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), in addition to its listing on Nasdaq. CHS has a market capitalisation of $940 million and will list 60 million shares of common stock on the NYSE.

The stock is expected to start trading by mid-August.

COMPAQ

Compaq posted a massive loss for its second quarter to 30 June, following the PC vendor's formal acquisition of Digital Equipment on 11 June for about $9.6 billion. The vendor posted a net loss of $3.6 billion on turnover of $5.8 billion, up nine per cent from $5.5 billion a year ago. Operating income, excluding charges, was $32 million, boosted by Digital's $1.1 billion contribution in revenue for the three weeks to 30 June.

INTEL

Intel suffered a 29 per cent profit slide in its second quarter to 27 June. Net income was $1.17 billion, compared with $1.65 billion in the same period a year ago. Revenue fell to $5.92 billion from $5.96 billion a year ago. The company said it expects third-quarter revenue to be flat as a result of poor conditions in the worldwide semiconductor market.

APPLE

Apple has revealed higher earnings than expected for its third quarter to 26June. Net income, including special gains, was $101 million. Net income excluding special items was $75 million. Although revenues for the period fell from $1.7 billion a year ago to $1.4 billion, Interim CEO Steve Jobs said the company ended the quarter with the lowest inventory levels among the main desktop vendors.

MICROSOFT

Microsoft has posted earnings of $1.36 billion and sales of $4 billion for the three months to 30 June. Earnings were up 22 per cent on the same period last year, with revenue increasing 26 per cent. For the fiscal year, net income was $4.5 billion, up 30 per cent from $3.5 billion and turnover of $14.5 billion which was up 28 per cent over the previous period.

Microsoft said it had benefited from strong NT and Office 97 sales.

POINTCAST

Push technology pioneer PointCast has effectively put itself up for sale by abandoning plans for an initial public offering (IPO). The California-based company has been approached by several unnamed potential partners.

In 1997, PointCast rejected a $350-$450 million offer from News Corporation on the basis that it was pursuing an IPO.

SUN MICROSYSTEMS

Sun Microsystems has reported results for the fourth quarter to 30 June.

Net income was $273 million, up 15 per cent from $237million in the same period a year ago. Revenue was $2.881 billion, up 13 per cent compared with the fourth quarter of fiscal 1997.