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SST expects Y2K bonanza
By Bolaji Ojo
(08/24/99, 10:09:49 AM EDT)
Silicon Storage Technology Inc., a maker of flash memory products, said
yesterday there are signs that some of its customers will increase their
orders in the fourth quarter in preparation for potential Y2K problems.
The increased business will result in Silicon Storage posting a major jump
in fourth-quarter revenue, according to Jeffrey Garon, vice president and
chief financial officer.
Increased demand for the company's products, which is already at a
record high because of the ongoing shortage of flash memory, will help
boost fiscal 1999 revenue substantially while resulting in flat sequential
growth in the first quarter of 2000, he said.
“Many customers, particularly in the PC business, are talking of buying a
boatload of flash memory in the fourth quarter and taking delivery in the
first quarter of 2000 because of Y2K concerns,” said Garon at
yesterday's New York Society of Security Analysts' annual
Semiconductor and Semiconductor Equipment Manufacturers
Conference.
Silicon Storage said it expects to break even in the current quarter and
record a profit of about 20 cents per share in the fourth quarter. Fiscal
2000 revenue will be between 70 cents and $1.60 per share, depending
on how the flash market develops in the next year, according to Garon.
The company said about 50% of its revenue in the current quarter will be
from new products introduced in the last year. That portion is expected to
grow to about 75% by the end of the year.
Silicon Storage also announced it is preparing to raise about $100 million
in a secondary offering in the second half of 2000. A major portion of
that money will be used to ramp production, while the remainder will be
set aside to meet future expansion needs.
Richard |
