Credit Suisse First Boston Technology Group Initiates Coverage of Lattitude Communications With a Strong Buy Rating.PALO ALTO Palo Alto, city, California Palo Alto (păl`ō ăl`tō), city (1990 pop. 55,900), Santa Clara co., W Calif.; inc. 1894. Although primarily residential, Palo Alto has aerospace, electronics, and advanced research industries. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 1, 1999-- Credit Suisse First Boston Credit Suisse First Boston was originally the trading name of the Financière Crédit Suisse-First Boston, a London-based 50-50 investment banking joint venture formed in 1978 between the First Boston Corporation and Credit Suisse. Technology Group analyst Paul Weinstein Paul Weinstein is chief operating officer and senior fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute, a centrist think tank based in Washington, D.C. that is affiliated with the Democratic Leadership Council. initiated coverage today of Lattitude Communications (LATD), a pioneer in customer-premised, real-time conferencing systems, with a Strong Buy rating and $20 price target, or 60% above current levels. Weinstein believes a large $8.5 billion underlying opportunity for the conferencing market, coupled with accelerating customer usage trends should drive better than 50% top and bottom line growth over the next 3-years. "Collaborative conferencing will become as ubiquitous as previous communications tools that proceeded it (e-mail, voice mail, fax) resulting in additional opportunities within the knowledge management space," wrote Weinstein in a research note issued this morning. "Latitude trades at just over 4x 2000E revenue compared with an average valuation of 7.5x rev for other high growth comparables, yet Latitude enjoys higher overall growth prospects." Weinstein believes the market's misperception mis·per·ceive tr.v. mis·per·ceived, mis·per·ceiv·ing, mis·per·ceives To perceive incorrectly; misunderstand. mis of Latitude stems from inappropriate comparison to enterprise software companies which have completely different growth dynamics, business models and underlying market trends. Strong recurring revenue sources, high profit margins, significant operating leverage Operating Leverage A measurement of the degree to which a firm or project relies on fixed rather than variable costs. Notes: The higher the degree of operating leverage, the greater the potential danger from forecasting risk. and compelling value proposition to customers define the investment appeal of Latitude. Weinstein believes future sources of upside may include broader indirect distribution, follow on sales from data conferencing, sales force efficiencies and incremental opportunities within the enhanced services business. Weinstein has set EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) A PostScript file format used to transfer a graphic image between applications and platforms. EPS files contain PostScript code as well as an optional preview image in TIFF, WMF, PICT or EPSI, the latter being an ASCII-only format. estimates CY99 and CY00 at $0.12 and $0.23, respectively. For more information or to obtain copies of this research note, please contact Nate Meyer at 650/614-5048 or nathaniel.meyer@csfb.com or Paul Weinstein at 415/836-7724 or paul.weinstein@csfb.com. CSFB Technology Group is a full-service international investment banking firm specializing in technology transactions. The firm has over 150 technology-focused professionals, including 21 research analysts, in Palo Alto, San Francisco, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , Boston, London, and Asia. |
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