KLA-Tencor business bottoming, affirms forecast
NEW YORK, June 13 (Reuters) - Chip equipment maker KLA-Tencor Corp. (NasdaqNM:KLAC - News) on Thursday said stabilizing business would keep its quarterly profits in line with forecasts, and sales would be unchanged to slightly higher compared with the previous quarter.
For the fiscal fourth quarter ending June 30, Chief Financial Officer John Kispert said the company still expects revenue of $355 million to $365 million, and earnings of 18 cents to 20 cents a share.
In the third quarter, which ended in March, KLA-Tencor reported revenue of $357 million and earnings of 17 cents a share.
"This is the bottom as far as we can see," Kispert said at a Bear Stearns technology conference here.
Shares of KLA-Tencor, which were lower before the company's presentation, were up 25 cents to $49.35 in afternoon trading on Nasdaq.
The company, which makes measurement and inspection tools, stands to benefit as microchips become smaller and more powerful, and thus trickier to make. But sluggish demand for computers and other electronics has slowed the transition to next-generation chip-making technologies.
Shekhar Pramanick, the chip equipment analyst at Prudential Securities, said KLA-Tencor could easily beat its revenue guidance for the fourth quarter.
He said chipmakers were poised to upgrade their factories. "If you look at it, people have to do the transition to next-generation devices," he said.
Bear Stearns analyst Robert Maire reiterated a "buy" rating on KLA-Tencor shares after Kispert's presentation, saying the chip equipment industry appears to be in a recovery. |
