I see that and up you a Novellus which also guided higher and said has seen the bottom :) Now the real test is how well the market reacts to these by the end of next week.
ST
Novellus (NVLS:Nasdaq - news - commentary - research - analysis) confirmed its suspicion that the December quarter was its down-cycle bottom, raising its estimates for the first quarter of 2002.
Painting a rosier outlook, Novellus believes it could possibly return to profitability in the second quarter, three months earlier than its predictions and Street expectations. The company plans to lose 9 cents a share in the first quarter, a penny better than its former guidance but in line with analyst consensus estimates as tracked by Multex.com. Wall Street currently expects a 4- cents-a-share loss in the second quarter.
The chip-equipment maker pointed to strength in its copper-process products, 300-millimeter lineup and 200-millimeter sales in China for a positive midquarter update delivered Thursday afternoon. Novellus had predicted $150 million in revenue on Jan. 22, but raised that figure to a range between $150 million to $160 million. Putting a potential second-quarter profit in perspective, Novellus has reported that it would take $175 million in revenue to get the company to the break-even point.
CEO Rick Hill said bookings are improving, and increased expectations from $130 million to a range between $130 million and $150 million, opening up the possibility that bookings could rise 36% from the fourth quarter's $110 million. A year ago, Novellus counted $458 million in revenue and a 62-cents-a share-profit in the first quarter of 2001.
"This is not a broad-based recovery at this point," Hill said. "But based on quoting activity, it's becoming broad-based." Hill articulated that quotes precede orders, however, and that heightened quote numbers may not affect first-quarter orders. |
