Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!mcnc!uvaarpa!murdoch!astsun9.astro.Virginia.EDU!gl8f From: gl8f@astsun9.astro.Virginia.EDU (Greg Lindahl) Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st Subject: Re: Atari Financial condition Message-ID: <1990Mar26.053915.2935@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> Date: 26 Mar 90 05:39:15 GMT References: <5780002@acf5.NYU.EDU> <28271@cup.portal.com> <1990Mar25.184244.7530@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> <1990Mar26.044419.11661@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> Sender: news@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU Reply-To: gl8f@astsun.astro.Virginia.EDU (Greg Lindahl) Organization: Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia Lines: 60 In article <1990Mar26.044419.11661@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> cmm1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Christopher M Mauritz) writes: >Greg, I must take issue with your interpretation of the facts and figures. Feel free, but be careful of your facts. >The sales trend for Atari Corp is DOWN. SALES for the first three quarters of fiscal year 89 are DOWN. Sales for the last quarter, the Christmas season, were UP over 4Q88. Yearly sales were down as a whole. Sales for the 4th quarter were up, right when the new produts were delivered. Ergo, Atari's new products are selling. Now, you can choose to quote the yearly figure, DOWN, or you can quote the 4th quarter figure, UP. But please avoid insulting the intelligence of the readers here and tell them which figure you're talking about. > Their "increase" in revenue >does not exist. Sure, their revenue did increase last quarter to >$4 million from an $84 million loss. WRONG. They showed a $4 million operating _profit_ in the 4th quarter. Profit, not revenue. The $84 million dollars lost last year was due to a $100 million dollar write-off for Federated on top of $16 million of operating profit. In short, operating _profit_ for Atari Corp, excluding Federated, was down. But 4th quarter _revenues_ for Atari Corp were up. Of course, they need to fix the expense side of the business to make their normal margins. > C'mon, I know you're a big ST >fan, but your standing up for Atari Corp's finances like this is a >bit foolish. Well, at least I can read financial reports and not totally goof up when it comes time to post. And I make an attempt to specify what I'm talknig about when it comes to trends: quarters, or yearly figures. > Meanwhile, their backoffice expenses are rising alot >more quickly than their "profits." No wonder they fired 15% of the staff. They are watching costs. This is something that Uncle Jack is pretty good at. If you're going to make claims about revenues and profits, please quote the correct numbers. In order to understand Atari's numbers, you have to watch Federated and make sure you're looking only at the Atari Corp numbers, which is their current business operation. And you need to make sure you aren't getting profits and revenues mixed up. And you need to make sure, when you're wondering if NEW products are selling well, that you are looking the right quarter's results. Have a nice day. Greg Lindahl gl8f@virginia.edu I gave my lunch for space-sickness research.