Watching the hardware networking company 3Com (NASDAQ:COMS) is a lot like viewing the contestants on the reality show Survivor trying to start a fire. The bottom line is that rubbing two sticks together is just not going to get the job done.
Watching the players in the telecommunications industry has been a lot like drinking one of those freeze drinks too fast. And the industry participants appeared to be experiencing one long case of brain freeze.
It is a bit disturbing when you look at a company and wonder if it will have enough internal fortitude to break out of the doldrums. 3Com's industry is already crowded with Juniper Networks (NASDAQ:JNPR) and Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO), and other companies such as Extreme Networks (NASDAQ:EXTR), Alcatel (NYSE:ALA), and JDS Uniphase (NASDAQ:JDSU) have crossed borders to claim some market share.
The competitive impact of 3Com's business in North America really took hold in the company's second-quarter results. Quarterly revenues dropped 17% compared with the year-ago quarter as 3Com responded to an industry trend of lowering prices to stimulate 10/100 switching products demand. This move to lower prices and increase promotion also led to a sequential drop in gross margin of 300 basis points from the first quarter; on the bright side, gross margins improved about 400 basis points from the second quarter of last year.
3Com reported a $0.13 per-share loss in the second quarter of fiscal 2005, which was a couple of cents worse than analysts' expectations but eons better than last year's $0.37 loss. It's so easy for investors to be disappointed in 3Com's results; after all, the shares have dropped over 58% over the past year from a high of $9.30 to a current near-year-low of $3.80.
With all of the difficulties 3Com has experienced, I am nonetheless inclined to impart the view that the hardest days may be behind the company. While the industry will remain a heated battle, 3Com has made a recent move to acquire a key asset in intrusion preventer TippingPoint (NASDAQ:TPTI). Sinking 3Com might have paid a bit much for the company, but what choice did it really have?
TippingPoint, which experienced 44% revenue growth from the previous quarter and 360% year-over-year revenue growth in its most recent quarter, should provide the much-needed spark that 3Com has been looking for. With 70% gross margins and wide industry support, TippingPoint will be able to expand into international markets with the help of 3Com's diverse distribution channel capability.
As much as the 3Com shares have been beaten down lately, I think it won't take too much for investors to turn a frown into a smile. In the fickle world of investing, corporate fortunes can turn with one strong earnings performance; now that 3Com has found the spark in TippingPoint, it's only a matter of time before things start to heat up.
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Fool contributor Phil Wohl spent over 12 years on Wall Street and does not own shares of any company mentioned.
