ADC Telecom beats Street in 4Q

ADC Telecom topped analysts' estimates in its fourth quarter Tuesday, earning $138 million, or 18 cents a share, on sales of $1.03 billion.

First Call Corp. consensus expected it to earn 17 cents a share in the quarter.

Ahead of the earnings report, ADC Telecom (Nasdaq: ADCT) fell $1.28 to $17.53.

The $1.03 billion in sales marks a 63 percent improvement from the year-ago quarter when it earned $71 million, or 10 cents a share, on sales of $634 million.

Broadband connectivity sales soared up 102 percent from the year-ago quarter while broad band access and transport and integrated solutions sales improved 22 percent and 48 percent respectively.

"ADC continues to show strong growth fundamentals as communications service providers are increasing capital expenditures on the last mile/kilometer of their networks to deliver broadband services to consumers and businesses," said CEO William Cadogan in a prepared release.

CS First Boston predicted ADC Telecom would post sales of $998 million in the quarter and earnings or 17 cents a share.

For the fiscal year, it recorded net income of $868.1 million, or $1.13 a share, on sales of $3.29 billion compared to a profit of $77.9 million, or 11 cents a share, on sales of $2.15 billion in fiscal 1999.

Looking ahead, company officials expect to earn between 68 cents to 70 cents a share in fiscal 2001, in line with current analyst estimates. It expects sales to improve between 25 percent to 30 percent this year.

Last quarter, ADC Telecom topped analysts' estimates when it raked in $137 million, or 20 cents a share, on sales of $634 million.

Its shares moved as high as $49 in July after falling to a 52-week low of $13.19 last November.

All 22 analysts following the stock rate it either a "buy" or "strong buy."