Lucent Technologies filed its 10-K and offers some hope for the ailing giant’s future prospects.

* Backlog: Lucent says that its backlog as of 09.30.2003 was $2.2 billion, up from $1.9B in the prior year.
* Capital spending by service providers: Lucent believes that worldwide capital spending budgets could decline by 5% - 15% versus 2002. For 2004, Lucent sees capital spending as flat. Longer term, Lucent believes the market could return to 3% - 5% growth.

These might be accurate numbers given that Baby Bells and other equipment makers are making similar noises. Or as Loop Capital puts it: “Flat is at least a base to start building on for the beleaguered group.”