Carl,
Glad you liked the table. I agree with you that billings could increase significantly over the next quarter or two which is certainly encouraging. However, I had really hoped that the PE bookings would have been higher given the current migration to GMR. Also, like Zeev, I would like to see consistent PE booking increases. I purchased VECO a few days ago with the thought that this stock should be valued more like a semi-equip company (where price tracks bookings fairly well) rather than a DD company (as has been pointed out before on this board, VECO's price tracks SEG's, QNTM's, RDRT's, etc.). Whether the market will come around to my way of thinking in the future I'm not sure, but I can easily see comparisons between AMAT/MU and VECO/SEG.
I would still like to know about the role of metrology in the migration to MGR heads. Do you know whether met. tools will have to be upgraded along with the semi-equip tools, and if so, what the timetable is for purchasing met. tools relative to the semi-equip tools?
While I am disappointed with the current bookings, I don't think that I will jump out of VECO; I have some patience. I would guess that unless the DD companies start sending out press releases to the effect that pricing pressures are letting up (unlikely I think), VECO will drift about where it is until sometime close to the next earnings release date. Some selling pressure may develop tomorrow if others think like me about the drop in PE bookings, however.
Steve
P.S., Do the metrology bookings and billings make for a nice scatter plot or what? |
