EMC Eyes Midyear Rebound After 4Q LossEMC Eyes Midyear Rebound After 4Q Loss

Storage company EMC Corp. took a fourth-quarter loss as revenue fell to nearly half of the year-ago level, but CFO William Teuber says the company is poised for profitability in the second half of 2002. Revenue for EMC's fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 dropped 42% to $1.51 billion, compared with $2.62 billion a year ago. The company lost $70.6 million during the quarter, compared with earnings of $713.7 million in the same quarter a year earlier.

A year ago, chairman Mike Ruettgers predicted that EMC (EMC--NYSE) would see sales of $12 billion in 2001. Amid declining IT budgets, EMC's revenue for the fiscal year came in at $7.09 billion, down 20% from 2000. EMC lost $507.7 million for the year, compared with earnings of $1.78 billion in 2000. Teuber said in a call with analysts last week that first-quarter sales are expected to decline only 5% sequentially from the fourth quarter, a normal seasonal pattern. EMC also expects to cut $800 million in costs by the beginning of the second quarter, instead of by the end of 2002, as originally forecast.