Well, I guess Nortel must define "after the markets close" as sometime before midnight given the PR-challenged company finally issued its Q3 results late last night. Without belaboring the point, the "earlier than expected" release of its Q3s turned out to be yet another public relations/investor relations setback as people waited for the numbers to come out before they could head home for the weekend. The company's puzzling inability to publish the Q3s, which had been promised in a press release early yesterday morning, did nothing to score points with the investment community.
Conspiracy theorists, who may have thought Nortel was trying to hide something, will be disappointed - although the company was light on revenue while gross margins fell to 36%, compared with earlier estimates of 37%.
Nortel's historical financial performance - for what it matters - have been buffeted by its accounting scandal, which has distracted senior management, and tough market conditions in the telecom equipment market. Carriers, cablecos and corporate customers continue to be pragmatic about spending while return on investment (ROI) remains a paramount consideration. It is a challenging selling environment for everyone - let alone a company struggling to right itself internally. On a positive note, Gary Daichendt, Nortel's new president and chief operating officer, apparently impressed employees during town hall meetings, and insuated job cuts are not part of the strategic future. One wonders, however, where Daichendt is going to squeeze out more savings so Nortel can reduce its operating expenses.