Chip Equipment from Briefing
14:59 ET ******
Chip Equipment Preview: As our Technology Earnings Calendar suggests, it's nearly go-time for the tech sector as many companies get set to do battle not only with the market's perceptions of their latest results, but with statements regarding their outlook. Although they are getting beaten up a bit today, Briefing.com believes the chip equipment companies-- many of which are due to report their results this week and next-- will manage to come through earnings season still standing tall as we suspect they will post very strong year/year numbers, and provide optimistic forecasts as their earnings visibility remains quite good given the increased demand for semiconductors, and the need among semiconductor manufacturers to increase capacity to meet that demand. That need was spelled out yet again this morning by none other than Intel (INTC) which said it will invest $6 billion this year to increase its chip production capacity amid rising global demand for computer chips. Fittingly, chip equipment companies do look to be in a sweet spot right now as chip makers struggle to meet demand for chips associated with the communication revolution, and struggle to compensate for under-investing in capacity expansion during the throes of the Asian crisis. Perhaps the best testimony to the strong growth prospects the chip equipment companies enjoy comes from Applied Materials CEO, James Morgan, who noted in a recent interview that he sees ``decades of huge growth' for the industry as the use of microchips spreads far beyond computers. Now, Applied Materials (AMAT) isn't scheduled to report its results until after the close on May 10, but they are included in the table below anyway along with other notable chip equipment companies scheduled to announce their results this week and next. We don't expect these companies to disappoint, and we suspect many, in the wake of their earnings news, will draw added support from analysts reiterating bullish recommendations. Moreover, given that several of these stocks have come well off recent highs during this volatile period for the technology sector, they appear less susceptible, or will likely incure less damage than they would have just a few weeks ago, to sell-on-the-fact reactions.-- PJO
Company Earnings Date Consensus Estimate Year-Ago Earnings Avg. Positive Surpise in Last 3 Quarters 5-yr Projected Growth Rate % off 52-wk High
Cree (CREE) 4/13 (before open) $0.21 $0.12 12.1% 29.5% 40.7%
KLA-Tencor (KLAC) 4/13 (before open) $0.31 $0.11 10.8% 25.3% 7.7%
Novellus Systems (NVLS) 4/17 (after close) $0.37 $0.08 11.9% 27.6% 22.7%
Kulicke & Soffa (KLIC) 4/18 (before open) $0.66 ($0.32) 42.3% 18.3% 28.3%
Lam Research (LRCX) 4/18 (after close) $0.35 ($0.13) 63.4% 22.3% 7.1%
Teradyne (TER) 4/18 (after close) $0.50 $0.10 9.6% 24.0% 4.0%
Applied Materials (AMAT) 5/10 (after close) $0.55 $0.18 14.3% 24.4% 4.9% |
