Once-Pearly Gateway Wanders in Turnaround Purgatory

Five months will not this turnaround make.

Gateway (GTW Quote) investors should remember that as they prepare for the company's second-quarter earnings report in less than two weeks. The results will likely be mediocre: Analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call expect it to lose a penny a share. And the beleaguered PC maker could easily do worse: Tuesday afternoon, rival Compaq (CPQ Quote) owned up to an uninspiring second quarter.

Either way, save your strength. The turnaround story at Gateway is going to be a long, slow, difficult process.

The A-Team

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