Ian;
I read on little more on the Fitzgerald thing; he basically was saying that some companies will not return to the same level of profitability in this cycle as last, ie MTSN. As many of us know on this thread, the analysts know almost nothing about what's really going on at MTSN, ML knows less than that, and, it appears, Fitzgerald is one of the weaker ones at ML :')
But getting back to the profit thing, it's valid to consider that the general investment community will not value MTSN correctly until they are convinced that significant profits will occur. I am now confident profitability will return to the level that a wake up call occurs in 3Q99, although they make figure it out if they listen to the 2Q CC.
And to answer your question, yes, I'm sure sure EPI and RTP are doing well, but frankly strip and CVD are much better positioned at this point to put those numbers to the bottom line. The really big surprise, IMHO, is how well the Aspen III CVD will do as 300mm comes in place. Also, I am now thinking that MTSN will grab more market share than I thought in strip & clean with the 300mm transition. The other thing I'd really like to figure out is when MTSN takes INTC away from GSNX. When they do, and it hits the street, a tidy profit can be made from a well placed short, IMHO.
Best Regards,
John Stewart |
