Lucent Posts Another Profit

For the third quarter ending in June, analysts expect Lucent to swing to a 2-cent-a-share profit from the year-ago 7-cent loss. And reversing the recent trend, Wall Street actually expects a year-on-year sales gain, in the neighborhood of 10% to around $2.2 billion.

But as has long been the case with Lucent, it's not just the numbers that tell the story. Recently investors have grown increasingly concerned about other issues at the company, such as a probe of business practices at its Saudi operations and the firing of four high-ranking workers in China.

Meanwhile, after a hot start to 2004, Lucent shares have cooled as the much-discussed spike in telecom-industry spending has failed to materialize.