05.31.07
Novell’s CEO Talks About Buybacks (Updated)
Talks about speculated and even recommended buybacks have begun to materialise. According to Reuters, Novell is now looking at the possibility of using its savings and assets to offset the losses and stablise the stock.
Hovsepian said during an analyst conference call he is looking to find the proper “balance” between those two potential uses for Novell’s cash war chest.
Meanwhile, MarketWatch chooses a headline which would make Novell raise a brow:
Novell’s profit slumps; Microsoft business drops
The Free Software Foundation, which controls licensing of open source code, has criticized the partnership. The Foundation is expected to soon release a new version of an open source license that could punish Novell, by preventing the company from distributing future versions of open source software. Hovsepian declined to comment on the new license, which is still in draft form. “When we see the final draft then we’ll have a better way to respond,” Hovsepian said.
It does not seem like Novell is as confident as it would like us to believe.
Addendum: Here is another important item which we seem to have overlooked.
Novell Cuts 2007 Revenue Outlook
Novell said Wednesday that revenue would be between $925 million and $955 million for the year. In December, the company said it expected 2007 sales of $945 million to $975 million.
Linux Journal seems to have become concerned about this.
Highlight: Novell was the first to acknowledge that Microsoft FUD tactics had substance. Novell then used anti-Linux FUD to market itself. 
Highlight: Xandros let Microsoft make patent claims and brag about (paid-for) OOXML support. 
Highlight: Linspire's CEO not only fell into Microsoft arms, but he also assisted the company's attack on GNU/Linux. 
Highlight: Microsoft craves pseudo (proprietary) standards and gets its way using proxies and influence which it buys. 
Highlight: The invasion into the open source world is intended to leave Linux companies neglected, due to financial incentives from Microsoft. 
Analysis: Xen, an open source hypervisor, possibly fell victim to Microsoft's aggressive (and stealthy) acquisition-by-proxy strategy.