Cymer Updates Fourth Quarter 2004 Guidance
16:30 Wednesday, December 08, 2004
SAN DIEGO, Dec 8, 2004 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Cymer, Inc. (Nasdaq:CYMI), the world's leading supplier of deep ultraviolet (DUV) light sources used in semiconductor manufacturing, today announced that the company expects fourth quarter 2004 revenue and gross margin to be below the guidance ranges provided in the company's October 19, 2004 press release and conference call. The company also indicated that research and development (R&D) expenses are expected to be at the low end of the October guidance range, while selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses are expected to be within that range."Current demand for new light sources remains at previously anticipated levels, although our fourth quarter demand schedule is heavily back-end loaded,"said Bob Akins, Cymer chairman and chief executive officer."Demand for consumables and service has continued to slow, and therefore we now expect fourth quarter revenue to decline 12 to 13 percent from third quarter 2004 revenue of $107.1 million, compared to our original guidance of a 10 percent reduction. The significant decline we had noted in chipmaker utilization of our light sources early in the quarter has, over the past six weeks, translated into lower than anticipated demand for consumables and spare parts. This, in turn, leads us to expect that gross margin will be in the range of 34 to 36 percent, below our previous guidance range of 37 to 39 percent, due primarily to the lower level of factory loading in our factory to work down our consumables and spares inventory. At this time, our business has become more volatile and less predictable than it was a short time ago, and visibility remains limited to less than one quarter."We expect that R&D expenses will be at the low end of our October 19 guidance range of $14.8 to $15.5 million, while SG&A expenses are expected to be within the previous guidance range of $13.2 to $13.7 million,"Akins commented."In line with our October guidance, we continue to anticipate that our currency adjusted average selling price (ASP) will grow to approximately $920,000 for the fourth quarter from the third quarter 2004 level of $798,000. We continue to model Net Other Income and Expense at breakeven for the quarter, excluding the net effects of foreign currency exchange gains or losses, and to estimate that our annual effective tax rate for 2004 will be approximately 25 percent."Forward Looking Statements
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