Chip equipment stocks seen little changed by report
Wednesday February 19, 8:35 am ET
biz.yahoo.com
NEW YORK, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Chip equipment stocks were expected to be little changed a day after the industry's trade group reported that North American suppliers saw orders fall 10 percent in January.
In trading on Instinet before the market opened on Wednesday, shares of Applied Materials Inc. (NasdaqNM:AMAT - News), the industry's largest player, dropped 15 cents to $12.59, while Novellus Systems Inc. (NasdaqNM:NVLS - News) rose 5 cents to $30.43. KLA-Tencor Corp. (NasdaqNM:KLAC - News) shares dipped 22 cents to $34.89.
While considered by some as a poor predictor of chip equipment sales, investors and analysts have scrutinized the monthly numbers from Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International, the trade group, as a guide to the severity of the current chip slump, the industry's worst on record.
"The current outlook remains uncertain with few indications of a strong rebound in the immediate future," said Dan Tracy, director of industry research and statistics for SEMI, in a statement.
Chip makers have trimmed budgets for new semiconductor production tools in response to a sales slump that has left chip factories producing at a rate far below maximum capacity.
On Tuesday, Intel Corp. (NasdaqNM:INTC - News) , the biggest spender on microchip production tools, said it would spend $2 billion to upgrade a U.S. plant in an effort to outpace rivals when the market recovers. Still, Intel had already dampened the hopes of chip equipment makers last month when it said it would cut its 2003 capital spending budget by as much as $1.2 billion from last year's level of $4.7 billion. |
