Kulicke stock drops, weak day for chip equipment
biz.yahoo.com
(updates with closing prices, adds new industry data)
NEW YORK, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Shares of Kulicke & Soffa Industries Inc.(NasdaqNM:KLIC - News) fell 10 percent on Tuesday, a day after a downbeat presentation in which the chip equipment maker said it has hit a bump on the road to business recovery.
Chip equipment stocks were generally weak with the industry's largest player, Applied Materials Inc. (NasdaqNM:AMAT - News), off 2.8 percent and other players such as Teradyne Inc. (NYSE:TER - News) and Credence Systems Corp. (NasdaqNM:CMOS - News) down even more sharply.
"The last few weeks have been a roller coaster ride for the company," Kulicke & Soffa chief executive C. Scott Kulicke said in the company's mid-quarter update on Monday.
Credit Suisse First Boston chip equipment analyst John Pitzer cut his estimates for the company's current quarter, adding that he would stay "on the sidelines" when considering whether to buy the stock.
Kulicke shares were off 45 cents, or 10.0 percent, to $4.06 on Nasdaq.
Companies that sell the tools used to build and test microchips had been upbeat as recently as a few months ago, but recent budget cutbacks by chip makers and concerns of a new U.S. economic recession have deflated many executives' hopes.
Also on Monday, microchip testing equipment maker Credence Systems reported a wider third-quarter loss and said it was cutting about 11 percent of its staff in response to fears that a business recovery may be delayed.
Banc of America Securities analyst Mark FitzGerald said investors may do better to avoid Credence stock, which fell $1.20, or 8.5 percent, to $12.91 on Nasdaq.
"We would defer committing funds to the the stock until the market acceptance of new products ... is clearer," FitzGerald wrote.
Shares of Teradyne, another maker of testing tools, fell 99 cents, or 6.1 percent, to $15.25 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Other stocks trading weaker were DuPont Photomasks Inc.(NasdaqNM:DPMI - News), which fell $2.72, or 9.6 percent, to $25.51, and Novellus Systems Inc.(NasdaqNM:NVLS - News), which dropped $1.52, or 4.9 percent, to $29.27.
Data released on Tuesday indicated that capital spending cuts by chip makers took their toll last month on chip equipment makers.
North American makers of semiconductor equipment recorded $1.15 billion in new orders in July, a decline of 2 percent, trade group Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International said.
Equipment billings, a measure of the value of equipment accepted by customers and booked as revenue, rose 7 percent in July to $995 million from $927 million in June.
"The July bookings data likely reflects renewed questions about the robustness of the economic recovery and the prospects for the consumption of electronic goods," said Dan Tracy, director of industry research and statistics for SEMI.
Gottfried, I have been very impressed by the constructive nature of this latest rally. I would have liked to see more volume but even today's selling was also light volume. Maybe volume just does not matter much anymore. I wish I could make myself believe that and start buying the dips again.
RtS |
