Re: Merrill Lynch publishes ‘run is done' list
Beware of the snitch - you can trust Toy Soprano more than this guy. Is he talking billings or bookings? All the fundamental blah, blah does not matter as long as profits can be optimized no matter how. Two month ago this guy was suckering in short sellers.
March 1, 2007, 1:45 pm
Semi Equipment: Merrill Sees Boost From High Short Interest; Possible Big Sales Drop In Second Half
Posted by Eric Savitz
Brett Hodess, the semiconductor equipment analyst at Merrill Lynch, notes today that short interest in semiconductor equipment stocks remains close to peak levels, providing some support for the semi equipment names “in the face of the fundamentals potentially weakening” in the second half.
Hodess notes that if you use the entire universe of semi equipment names, short interest was down 9% in the month, decreasing for the fourth month in a row; but he says that is a bit misleading, due to a big drop in short interest in Applied Materials (AMAT), a factor which was tied not to any shifting view on the stock but rather to a large short position established by an investment bank late last year as part of AMAT’s large stock repurchase plan. Factor that out, Hodess notes, and short interest in the stocks “remains close to peak levels.”
Meanwhile, Hodess says that the rapid fall in memory prices could drive a reduction in spending for new capacity in the second half. He says the risk “remains very real” that second half sales could be down 10%-20% from the first half.
The semi equipment stocks showing the biggest increase in short interest in the quarter included Electro Scientific (ESIO), Asyst (ASYT), Photronics (PLAB) and ATMI (ATMI). |
