Sun Micro Looks to Break Through Clouds

In the quarter through September, Sun posted a $1.68 billion loss, or a loss of $2.24 per share, which included a $1.45 billion writedown related to its unsuccessful 2005 acquisition of Storage Technology.

Last month, Sun announced it would slash 5,000 to 6,000 jobs from its payrolls, a reduction of as much as 18% of its workforce.

The consensus of analysts, as can be seen in the accompanying table, is that Sun's net for the current fiscal year will amount to negative 30 cents. They predict the firm will turn marginally profitable -- to the tune of 20 cents per share -- next year.

The Street.com Ratings' financial evaluation algorithms current assign Sun a grade of "D," which equates with a "sell" recommendation.

SLOW GROWTH TO PROFITABILITY IN STORE FOR SUN MICROSYSTEMS
Company	SUN MICROSYSTEMS INC
Ticker	JAVA
Industry	Computers & Peripherals
TheStreet.com Ratings Reward Grade	D
TheStreet.com Ratings Risk Grade	D-
TheStreet.com Ratings Overall Grade	D
TheStreet.com Ratings Recommendation	Sell
Recent price	3.49
Market Cap ($Mil.)	2,577.7
Total Assets ($Mil.)	14,340.0
Total Debt ($Mil.)	1,265.0
Latest Fisc. Yr. Revenue ($Mil.)	13,880.0
EPS - Latest Avail. 12 Mos.	-1.86
EPS - Curr. Year Consensus	-0.30
EPS - Next Yr. Consensus	0.20
Earnings Before Interest & Taxes ($Mil.)	644.0
Cash Flow from Operations ($Mil.)	1,329.0
Price/Book Ratio	0.7
Ret'n on Equity (%)	-36.2
P/E - Current Year	N/A
P/E - Next Year	17.5
Dividend Yield (%)	0.0
Source: TheStreet.com Ratings (Data as of 12/8/2008) For an explanation of our ratings, click here.