Sybase sees loss in quarter and plans layoffs of 600; software maker tries to regain ground
Article Abstract:
Sybase anticipates it will lose $20 million in 2nd qtr 1996 and announces plans to eliminate approximately 10% of its 6,200 workforce. The news reinforces the impression that Sybase has yet to recover from bugs in the 1994 version of its database software and the late introduction of the SQL Server System 11 database. The revelation is contrary to analyst expectations, which had forecast that Sybase would have sales of nearly $300 million with profits of $12 million for the quarter. Sybase CEO Mark B. Hoffman says that sales are more likely to be in the $250-million range. The layoff is the first the company has been forced to implement since going public in 1991. Hoffman attributes some of the problem to the fact that expenses outpaced revenues, which the company had overestimated. Analysts say that Sybase is facing strong competition from Microsoft at the low end of the market and from Informix and Oracle at the high end. They also point out that Sybase was slow to embrace the Internet.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1996
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Software maker works to digest and recover from acquisition spree
Article Abstract:
Sybase Inc scrambles to regain its market share after two quarters in a row of losing money. Sybase had consistently achieved over 70% growth annually for several years until its losses in 1995. Sybase Chmn Mark B. Hoffman says that the $1 billion company needs to recover from a series of acquisitions. He also contends that Sybase's failings are as much a result of marketing as of any technological weakness. Sybase's strength lies in extremely rapid relational databases. Sybase's chief performer, the Sequel Server DBMS, allows only four coprocessors, and Sybase's competitors recently offered DBMSs that support more than four processors. Companies looking to the future are choosing these products, despite Sybase's assurance that its own products will be available by the time companies actually need more than four co-processors.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1995
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Anatomy of a highflying I.P.O., nosebleeds and all
Article Abstract:
Shiva Corp, a Massachusetts-based software company, experienced one of the industry's most spectacular initial public offerings (IPO) in Nov 1994 when its stock value increased by more than a factor of two. Interested investors drove the price up to $30.50 a share in Nasdaq trading, making Shiva's two founders, Frank Slaughter and Daniel Schwinn, instantly worth $30 million each. Shiva's IPO capped off a year when only $5 billion was raised for 116 companies in IPOs, a poor showing when compared to previous banner years. However, Shiva differed from other IPO seekers in being a solid performer backed by industry leaders such as Lotus founder Mitchell Kapor and the Goldman, Sachs investment firm.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1995
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