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Reuters
S&P Cuts Sun Micro to Junk, Shares Dip
Friday March 5, 5:13 pm ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Standard & Poor's on Friday cut Sun Microsystems Inc.'s (NasdaqNM:SUNW - News) debt ratings to junk, citing losses at the company and fierce competition in the server market, knocking its shares almost 7 percent.
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The company has a decent position in the server market, but that market is relatively competitive, S&P said.
Getting cut to junk often dramatically increases a company's borrowing costs, but Sun has no immediate borrowing needs. The cut to junk will likely not affect the company's operations. The main impact will be on investors' perception of the company, an analyst said.
The company has about $1.3 billion of senior unsecured notes outstanding, and about $5 billion cash and marketable securities, S&P said. The notes mature in August 2004, August 2006, and August 2009.
"Sun has a strong financial foundation of $5.16 billion in cash and marketable securities, which is over three times our outstanding debt," the company said in a statement. "With this strong financial foundation, a broad range of products, technologies and solutions, and a global base of customers and partners, Sun is well positioned to achieve its goals."
Sun, which has posted losses in nine of the last 11 quarters, has been hit harder than its rivals in the prolonged technology slump because of the rising popularity of servers using Intel chips, which Sun only recently started using in its own servers.
Also, Sun Microsystems' key customers, the telecommunications and financial services industries, were hardest hit during the high-tech recession. Sun has suffered falling sales for almost three years.
S&P cut Sun's corporate credit rating to "BB-plus," its highest junk rating, from "BBB."
The company's bonds fell relative to Treasuries on the news.
Spreads, or the extra yield investors earn for taking on a company's credit risk, on Sun notes with a 7.65 percent coupon maturing in 2009 widened about 7 basis points to 157 basis points, suggesting rising credit risk.
Shares of the company fell 36 cents, or 6.98 percent to close at $4.80, on the Nasdaq, where it was among the most active issues. (Additional reporting by Duncan Martell)
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