Brian, they got the April btb wrong [it's 1.20] >The new forecast places the worldwide chip equipment book-to-bill at 1.10 for May, down slight from a two-year high of 1.15 in April<
An analyst predicted btb of 1,28 for May today. We shall see soon enough. >Shekhar Pramanick of Prudential Securities said contrary to concerns that chip equipment orders will slow in the summer months, there will be sequential monthly order improvements over the course of the year.
"We believe there could be further upside potential for semi equipment orders in the September quarter," wrote Pramanick in a research report.
Pramanick reiterated his buy rating on shares of Applied Materials, Novellus, KLA-Tencor, Lam Research, Rudolph Technologies Inc. (RTEC), FEI Co . (FEIC), Teradyne Inc. (NYSE: TER - News) (TER) and Kulicke & Soffa and said weakness in these stocks represents a buying opportunity.
Echoing Pramanick's assessment, Edward White, an analyst at Lehman Brothers, said he expects orders to increase 14.4% in May and that the overall book-to- bill ratio will continue its upward trend, reaching 1.28 in May.<
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