JHY, I found this on Yahoo! I made no attempt for verification of accuracy. Perhaps you can check with your sources?
January Book-To-Bill: Very Strong Bookings Growth
Salomon Smith Barney
Wednesday, February 23, 2000
--------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY:----Semiconductor Equipment Jan. total equipment book-to-bill was 1.34, up from Dec.'s 1.19. Total bookings up 15% with shipments up 2%. Front-end b-to-b increases sharply to 1.33 from 1.17 (Dec.). Orders up an impressive 17%, shipments up 3%. Back-end b-to-b increases to 1.39 from 1.26 (Dec.). Orders up 11%, shipments up a modest 1%. Our top picks are Lam Research ($138 15/16, 1H, Price Target-$191), Credence ($112 13/16, 1H, Price Target $166), and Teradyne ($83 1/4, 1H, Price Target-$98).
--OPINION:------------------------------------------------------------------
Very Strong Bookings Growth For January
Considering the strength of the current upturn and Applied Materials' 43% sequential increase in bookings, we had expected a solid book-to-bill report for January. However, the explosive total bookings increase of 15% is even better than the 8%-12% sequential growth which we expected. Combined with a slower-than-expected ramp in shipments of just 2% (we expected 4%-6%), the total book-to-bill jumped to 1.34 (vs. 1.20-1.25 estimate), the highest level since February-1996.
The front-end was especially impressive with a 17% sequential increase in bookings (vs. expected growth of 8%-12%), the highest increase since March-1999. The more modest shipments growth of 3% (vs. expected 4%-6%) led to a strong front-end book-to-bill of 1.33 (vs. 1.20 estimate), matching the highest book-to-bill of the current upturn achieved in March. The back-end continued to report the most impressive book-to-bill ratio with 1.39 (vs. 1.30-1.33 estimate), its highest of the current upturn ... (go to free site for rest-- look for research on LRCX) |
