Alcatel-Lucent Suddenly The Sector Leader of 2011 (CSCO, ALU)

Despite being grossly disappointed with John Chambers and the earnings guidance from Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), it is still hard for us to believe that Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) is causing the trouble for Cisco.  Alcatel-Lucent did not exactly make that claim on its own either.  Still, shares of the distant competitor are soaring today.

Alcatel-Lucent SA saw its ADRs rally handily in the double digits today after beating its fourth quarter expectations.  Sales grew 22.6% in quarter and about 5.5% for the year.

The company was able to show that it got margins above 5% and it was far more positive for 2011 than what we have seen in recent reports from this turnaround.  What is funny is that management even went as far as to claim that it has the ability to transform back into a normal company again.  Go figure.

Alcatel-Lucent shares were up 25% in the final hour of trading to $4.45 and shares hit a 52-week high of $4.46 today.  The volume was more than impressive at 6-times normal and above 100 million shares.

Consider this: after a $2.96 close on December 31, 2010, shares are up a whopping 50% for 2011 so far.  When compared to a 52-week low of $2.25, the ADRs have now nearly doubled.

JON C. OGG