from Briefing.com
Credence Systems (CMOS) 42 3/8 -1 1/64: It's been a bad couple of weeks for the chip and chip equipment makers, with no exception for CMOS... This former high flyer now trading at a 47% discount to its early Spring high of 79 3/8... Not because of any slowdown in its business or to any disappointment on the earnings front... To the contrary, CMOS reported a blowout number last quarter, earning $1.26 v. a loss of $0.25 in the year-ago period and consensus estimate of $0.88... Marked the seventh consecutive quarter in which the company handily beat estimates... In fact, average surprise over the past five quarters is a whopping 71%... Meanwhile, estimates for Q4, current FY and FY01 have risen over the past 30 days... The Q3 estimate of $0.75 (CMOS due to report on 8/11), which represents a yoy jump of 1267%, has remained unchanged... And valuations not even a concern, as CMOS trades at a modest 16x FY00 projections of $2.59 and 12.3x estimated FY01 results of $3.45, with a long-term growth rate of 24%... So what's the selling about? Basically, stock down along with the sector and the market... But this too will pass... And when the market mood improves, look for investors to come back to this stock in a big way... With CMOS having already come down sharply and the stock trading just above important support at 40, that day may come sooner rather than later. -- Robert Walberg, Briefing.com |
